These days it’s
hard to find time in a schedule or money in a budget for attending industry conventions.
That’s unfortunate,
because when great minds - passionate about radio - get together, good things
happen.
If you’re in
country radio and have been to CRS, you;ve experienced that first hand (register for CRS
2016 here )
Similarly, the Conclave 40 Learning Conference which took place in Minneapolis earlier this month was both a solid, non-format-specific learning/sharing experience as well as a chance to connect with others who share a passion for great radio (learn more about the Conclave here).
As programmers and
consultants, we spend time a lot of time with listeners. But being a part of
the Conclave’s Speed Mentoring Panel Friday morning turned the tables. For two
hours it was about spending time with those in our industry seeking their next career
step or looking for sounding boards for their ideas.
It was quite a
wide funnel of people that I had the privilege of spending time with (in 7
minute increments) - from college students with designs on careers from station
management to artist management (shout out to Seaton Hall who sent multiple students
to Conclave) to major market talent - from those who had a detailed personal growth
plan to those who didn’t have an immediate answer for, “What are you best at?” (but
that’s a future blog).
The mentoring
panel was just two hours of the two-day agenda. There were multiple
high-quality sessions with great thinking and usable ideas.
In the spirit of,
“we’re all smarter when we share what we’ve learned,” here are 40 bullet points
from Conclave 40 (includes paraphrases and, when possible, attributions).
You can also search #conclave40 on Twitter for convention tweets.
If you attended
and have other bullets to share, feel free to leave them as a comment below.
Love to share them!
Opening Session:
“Ask Me Almost Anything”
Ginny Morris, CEO/Hubbard;
Mary Quass/CEO NRG Media; Dave Paulus VP/GM Max Media Norfolk; Pierre Bouvard, CMO/Cumulus
Media; Brian Kelly/VP Programming Entercom discuss timely issues. Moderator
Joel Denver
1 - The industry cannot afford not to invest in talent. The pendulum swings…things are swinging back to appreciation of talent. (Morris)
2 - The time it takes
listeners to come back to the station after they tune out is getting longer
because there are more choices and nothing to bring them back.
3 - We have to have
the courage to ask for more money for commercials. Figure out what cost is and
have the courage to sell it. (Quass)
4 - No other medium in the world does so much to denigrate commercials (Bouvard)
4 - No other medium in the world does so much to denigrate commercials (Bouvard)
5 - Every station
should implement NextRadio...it provides an enhanced experience for listeners
and advertisers (Bouvard)
6 - IBM employees use
social media to send out success stories and case studies.
7- Streaming is the
coat of doing business. If that's what the consumer demands we have to provide
it. (Paulus)
Make Your App
More Than Just The Station Stream, and Monetize It Too
Angie May-Cook
(Emmis), J. T. Tarrants (WCSX Detroit), J. Pat Miller (Scripps, Milwaukee); Moderator:
Paul Jacobs
8 - Your station is
unique and your app should look unique as well. Great mobile apps start with
great strategies
9 - Don’t build apps
for listeners; build them for lifestyles.
10 - Mobile revenue is low
because radio sells it like spots. Two different approaches: “Where Hip Hop Lives”
app (free and subscription) and WCSX’s client-integrated Deer Hunter app.
11 - Don't think of mobile as receiver but as the hub of listeners’ digital lives. As such mobile must supply content listeners truly value.
11 - Don't think of mobile as receiver but as the hub of listeners’ digital lives. As such mobile must supply content listeners truly value.
Taking Your
Show Online: Podcasting, Streaming and Beyond
Perry Simon (All
Access), Sean Ross (Edison Research). Moderator: George Woods (Radio George)
12 - Reasons to podcast:
because you want to do something that conventional Radio doesn't do, you have
something to say, to help get a job. Reasons not to podcast: It's hot, someone
told me to do it, make money.
13 - All social – but Facebook
especially – drives a huge portion of podcast audience
14 - Monetization:
brand advertising (not ‘spots’) will be the future – as well as subscription
models including selling of archives, P.I.’s, merchandising, live or on–location
events
15 - Think
“60 minutes of music” instead of ‘replacing commercials.” For extra music consider songs you wouldn't
play on FM
16 - Streaming
alternative: “File On Demand”
Edison’s Share
of Ear Results
Larry Rosin/President,
Edison Research
(For these notes, Millennials
defined as 13-34 year olds)
17 - AM FM Radio share
of ear 55% of all audio combined BUT just 39% for Millennials
18 - Millennials’ Distribution
of Time Spent with Streaming Audio: Pandora 49%, Spot iffy 27%, I-heart 10%, iTunes 8%, other brands 11%
19 - Millennial Device
Usage: 35% listen on a radio receiver but 32% is listening is via mobile; computer
17%. In cars, music is 86% of audio content
20 - Location of listening
to streaming audio: Home 52% - AM-FM gets 25% while streaming audio gets 29%; Vehicle
29% (AM-FM 68% which is nearly identical by generation); Work 13%; Other 6%
21 - 85% use radio in the car regardless of age but newer car owners use a higher percent of other
platforms/devices besides FM/FM. The challenge is to provide content that will
make people want to choose you: unique content you can't get elsewhere drives
even limited FM users back to FM: sports, NPR-style content, morning
shows.
22 - The big challenge
is people who just want music... Radio needs interaction and relationship with
music.
23 - Nothing has hurt
radio’s perception more than its lack of advertising
Beyond The News
Feed
Garrison Cummings
(Digital Manager, Green Bay Packers), Glenn Woods (Radio One); Moderator: Lori
Lewis
24 - Understand and
create messages for each segment/persona of the audience. The Green Bay Packers
identified three fan types and created messages for each: Hardcore:
stats/infographics/advance info; Casual: family posts/it's game time
conversations; International: history/packers roll call (where are you
watching)
25 - Focus on end users
feelings
26 - "Shares" are significantly more valuable than "Likes"
If You're Doing
Your Job The Same Way You Did Last Year, You're Behind
David Moore,
Madison, WI, Tom Langmyer, Milwaukee, Scott Masteller, Baltimore; Moderator:
Chuck DuCoty
27 - Identify the core
competencies you want your radio station to focus on (example from WBAL: Ravens
Flagship, big local stories, social, ratings, production)
28 - Get production
pieces done in advance so they can be used immediately after an event;
demonstrates to listeners that the station is really on top of everything.
29 - “When we look for sellers we look for high bandwidth people who are engaged in their
community. Radio needs problem solvers.”
30 - Non negotiables in hires: demonstrates passion for the business; recognizes that it's a privilege to work in this industry; ambitious with strong work ethic; ability motivate and coach talent (Programmers)
30 - Non negotiables in hires: demonstrates passion for the business; recognizes that it's a privilege to work in this industry; ambitious with strong work ethic; ability motivate and coach talent (Programmers)
What
Your Audience is Doing When They’re Not Listening to You
Fred
Jacobs/President, Jacobs Media
Results
are from Jacobs’ Tech Survey 11
31 - Emotional-related
reasons are significant in driving listenership
32 - Women are more social than men; Facebook
is #1; country women index higher on Pinterest than women with other format
preferences
33 - Acknowledgement is extremely meaningful to listeners. “Want to connect with Millennials? Acknowledge them.”
34 - Create good content. Make it easy to share and people will.
35 - Email is #1 way to interact with listeners.
36 - Podcasting is not a phenomenon yet so
there is an opportunity to create something good and have it stand out. Country
users index low for podcast consumption; sports is highest
37 - The younger the listener, the more likely they are to do most of their radio listening in the car. Almost 60% of country users can connect a device in a car; 20% own a connected car
The
Next Frontier in Audience Databases
Erica Dreyer (NRG), Paul Cramer (Triton),
Jennifer Williams (Greater Media)
38 - Use databases to create moments of
surprise and delight (send tickets, freebies, etc.). Whatever surprise and
delight you deliver will wind up on social media
39 - Have an option to use a social login. 86% do not want to create another username and password. Facebook is most used; Google + is #2
40 - Initially ask for age, gender and zip. Over time, ask for small additional bits of information. Meanwhile, move anyone who has not interacted with the station in a year (i.e., opened an email) to an inactive file so your database count is always accurate
Bullets from a convention are great – but
being there is better – from the opportunity to extract
something specific for your situation, to post-session discussions, to spending
a couple of days with people who are as passionate as you are about our industry.
Hopefully 2016 will find a line item in your budget to attend a
conference where you can come away with new ideas and be re-energized about our
business.
2 comments:
Man I miss the Conclave. I was there for 2 years in a row many summers ago and I've missed it every year. It's a shame we can't afford to go anymore but I remain a supporter. Thanks for the insight for posting on your blog. -Bill Wood-
Thanks for the comment, Bill. Conclave was a quality event again this year. Hopefully we'll soon re-enter a time when programming ROI includes 'knowledge sharing' events like this. Stay in touch! Mike.
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