Beyond the Trophy: More Reasons to Enter Station/Personality of the Year Competitions

A while back I posted 5 reasons why your station should enter Station/Personality of the Year competitions (click to read).

Here are three more just in time for the Academy of Country Music’s Station of the Year and On-Air Personality of the Year competition which is open for submissions through December 6th (get information here or give me a call, text or email).

1.   As a programmer, putting together a ‘best of’ audio, ratings, and community service presentation makes you think about how compelling your station/show actually is. What are the stand-out aspects? Are there opportunities to further leverage your strengths and do what you do best even more frequently?   Does your talent shine and are they sufficiently showcased? What community efforts have you led that are so unique and meaningful to your listeners that awards judges will be impressed? How are your ratings vs. one year ago and beyond? Win or not, you can use the time you spend entering an award competition to help create an even better station or show – something that pays benefits all year long.

2.   Relatedly, use your presentation as a coaching and leadership tool to challenge the entire staff.  For every event in the coming year, challenge co-workers to help make it bigger, better, or improved in some meaningful way.  Remind the staff of the challenge throughout the year by using it as a theme for meetings or by publicly acknowledging co-workers for special efforts. You’ll reap a product benefit while making your next submission a true collective undertaking that all can take pride in.

3.   Re-purpose your presentation to create a multi-media sales piece. Add video from your talent, PD, GM and SM. You can even embed a sales contest at the end of the video to encourage viewership and interaction. Create an edited version and post on YouTube for listeners and fans.

It’s a great honor to take home the trophy of course. But you’re also a winner just by participating in the process.

I hope you enter.

Congraulations to KUZZ AM/FM, Bakersfield, the reigning ACM Radio Station of the Year/Medium Market. The team is shown above including Jerry Hufford (second from left), Tom Jordan, Toni-Marie, and Mel Owens along with Gary Allan.