Just Radio Only: Secret Discussions Managers Need To Hear

Secret Board Discussions Managers Need To Hear ....And How I Almost Blew It Bluffing A Message from Radio Ink Publisher Eric Rhoads I'm not on the boards of any radio companies at the present time, though I have been in the past. I am, however in daily contact with CEOs of radio companies big and small, and with people who sit on many radio boards. The challenge every CEO faces with his or her board of directors is the buzz factor from the things board members are reading and hearing. Most members sit on the boards of several companies, and they're smart investors who provide valuable insights to the companies they steer. And every day they're hearing about the boom in social media, the boom in digital media, and the lag of legacy media like radio and television. Challenging The CEO Great board members are a wonderful asset because of their keen observations and their deep-rooted networks of other smart people. Great board members are continually challenging their CEOs to move into opportunity zones not presently being explored. Great CEOs are smart enough to listen. In my consulting practice and in my role as publisher of Radio Ink, my phone frequently rings with questions from board members who are telling me what they're thinking and seeking validation of ideas they intend to float at upcoming board meetings or sessions with the CEO. Though I am not in those meetings, I hear tales of discussions with CEOs about digital media and why the radio stations are not capturing more of it. As these investors are hearing stories of some companies doing between 6 and 15 percent of total revenues from digital, they're asking questions like, "Why aren't we at 15 percent digital revenue?" or "How is it that Groupon has a multibillion-dollar valuation from capturing local revenues? Revenues they're stealing from local media, when we could do it better? Why don't our sellers understand digital? Why don't our managers understand digital?" The Fear Of Extinction As a radio manager, sales manager, or programmer, your biggest fear should be being considered irrelevant in today's media world. Maybe if you've got three years left before retirement you can bluff till you drive into the sunset in your motor home, but if you plan to have a future in the media business, and more specifically the radio business, you need to be aware of digital media at a high level or face extinction. Boards are demanding digital expertise of their radio operators. "I'll Just Replace 'Em With Digital Executives" One prominent radio CEO recently told me, "I don't have time for my managers to learn how to manage digital media organizations, but that is where we must focus. If my people don't get it already, we'll just replace 'em with people already living and selling in a digital world." Will that manager who doesn't get it be you? Imagine for a moment that you were a radio manager in the pre-rock 'n' roll radio days. What if you had clung to your Sinatra records? Running a radio station requires you to be current and on top of every trend in media, and you may not be aware that you're unaware. It's time to get with the program and up to speed if you're not. The digital revolution is bigger than most people understand and is as significant for radio as the shift to rock 'n' roll. My Recent Embarrassing Moment I pride myself on being on top of digital media trends, but I recently found one I missed. Two weeks ago I went to dinner with the executive team of a Silicon Valley Internet company I'm consulting, and a discussion ensued about a technology I should have been aware of. I was mortified when one of the 30-something executives asked me a question about this topic. In a split second I had to decide: Do I bluff and take a chance of looking like a fool? Or do I tell them I don't know what they are talking about and certainly look like a fool? After all, I was there to consult them. I never bluff, so I quickly made light of it and said, "I've been living under a rock, and I don't have a clue what you're talking about." Everyone had a good laugh at my expense and then brought me up to speed. I'm thankful I didn't get busted by bluffing. I'm also thankful I learned something I needed to know so I wouldn't look like a buffoon in the future. Are You Bluffing? Will you even know when your answers sound like you've been living under a rock? Do you feel sufficiently qualified to manage a radio station in the digital media era? Do you understand the trends that started just this year that will change everything about your strategy? Are you willing to bet your future on it? My Success Formula The biggest successes in life have been from asking, "What would I want?" I invented Radio Ink because I was pacing the floor at my radio station one Saturday trying to solve a problem. I didn't know whom to turn to. At that moment wished there was a resource I could pick up that would solve the problems I face as a radio manager. That's how Radio Ink was invented. That is also why I invented the Convergence conference. Knowing what's going on in the tech and digital media world, I asked myself "What would I want to know if I were a manager facing digital media extinction? What would I need to know about how radio converges with digital media? How can I help radio managers embrace these trends and make money on them?" If you're running a radio station in 2011 and plan to succeed in the future, it's imperative that you become immersed in digital media thinking. Yeah, we all read the blogs. It's not enough. Every time I go to a non-radio tech conference, my head gets packed with new things I need to understand, and that I didn't know existed when I went. Keeping You Relevant You need to train your brain to become competent in 2011 digital media because it's not just your future, its today's reality, and the pressure will be coming down from the boards and the CEO to push for more digital media revenue even though radio billing is moving up again, because they know growth is going to come from digital. I've always said you cannot manage what you don't understand. It's my goal to keep you relevant. Radio Ink's Convergence conference plays an important role in helping radio managers, sales managers, programmers, and even group heads understand what's going on and how it relates to their operation. It's not a radio conference where we rehash the same 30 topics from the past 30 years; it's a digital media conference for radio people (terrestrial and online). My goal each year is to bring you speakers you probably have never heard of who will rock your world, stretch your brain, make you uncomfortable, help you grow, tune you in to digital media, and keep you from extinction so when the CEO says, "More digital," you'll be up to speed and relevant. Join us in San Jose/Silicon Valley at the Microsoft Campus on May 18-19. (Yes, we will once again arrange for employee discounts at the Microsoft store.) Consider it career insurance. When registering, you should know this: 1. We limit attendance to 250 seats. 2. This conference is usually sold out. 3. Most years people want to get in and cannot get a seat. 4. People who could not come because of the economy in previous years are planning to come this year. 5. This conference has a high return rate. People who come tend to come every year. Don't miss your opportunity. As usual, we're pacing ahead of previous years, and we hope to have another sold-out conference. You have my money-back guarantee that you'll walk out of this conference with more new ideas than you can implement. In all these years, out of thousands of people, only one person has ever asked for a refund. Sign up today at www.radioink.com/convergence or call 561-655-8778. Eric Rhoads Publisher RADIO INK PS: How cool is your digital initiative? Many of you have attended in the past and are doing some cool things online. We want you to enter to win our first Digital Media Awards. Click here to make your nominations. Convergence 11: Radio's Digital Media Conference May 18-19 Microsoft Silicon Valley Campus Mountain View, CA Click here to register now, or call 561-655-8778. Seating is limited.

Secret Board Discussions Managers Need To Hear
....And How I Almost Blew It Bluffing
A Message from Radio Ink Publisher Eric Rhoads

I'm not on the boards of any radio companies at the present time, though I have been in the past. I am, however in daily contact with CEOs of radio companies big and small, and with people who sit on many radio boards.

The challenge every CEO faces with his or her board of directors is the buzz factor from the things board members are reading and hearing. Most members sit on the boards of several companies, and they're smart investors who provide valuable insights to the companies they steer. And every day they're hearing about the boom in social media, the boom in digital media, and the lag of legacy media like radio and television.

Challenging The CEO
Great board members are a wonderful asset because of their keen observations and their deep-rooted networks of other smart people. Great board members are continually challenging their CEOs to move into opportunity zones not presently being explored. Great CEOs are smart enough to listen.

In my consulting practice and in my role as publisher of Radio Ink, my phone frequently rings with questions from board members who are telling me what they're thinking and seeking validation of ideas they intend to float at upcoming board meetings or sessions with the CEO.

Though I am not in those meetings, I hear tales of discussions with CEOs about digital media and why the radio stations are not capturing more of it. As these investors are hearing stories of some companies doing between 6 and 15 percent of total revenues from digital, they're asking questions like, "Why aren't we at 15 percent digital revenue?" or "How is it that Groupon has a multibillion-dollar valuation from capturing local revenues? Revenues they're stealing from local media, when we could do it better? Why don't our sellers understand digital? Why don't our managers understand digital?"

The Fear Of Extinction
As a radio manager, sales manager, or programmer, your biggest fear should be being considered irrelevant in today's media world. Maybe if you've got three years left before retirement you can bluff till you drive into the sunset in your motor home, but if you plan to have a future in the media business, and more specifically the radio business, you need to be aware of digital media at a high level or face extinction. Boards are demanding digital expertise of their radio operators.

"I'll Just Replace 'Em With Digital Executives"
One prominent radio CEO recently told me, "I don't have time for my managers to learn how to manage digital media organizations, but that is where we must focus. If my people don't get it already, we'll just replace 'em with people already living and selling in a digital world." Will that manager who doesn't get it be you?

Imagine for a moment that you were a radio manager in the pre-rock 'n' roll radio days. What if you had clung to your Sinatra records? Running a radio station requires you to be current and on top of every trend in media, and you may not be aware that you're unaware. It's time to get with the program and up to speed if you're not. The digital revolution is bigger than most people understand and is as significant for radio as the shift to rock 'n' roll.

My Recent Embarrassing Moment
I pride myself on being on top of digital media trends, but I recently found one I missed. Two weeks ago I went to dinner with the executive team of a Silicon Valley Internet company I'm consulting, and a discussion ensued about a technology I should have been aware of. I was mortified when one of the 30-something executives asked me a question about this topic.

In a split second I had to decide: Do I bluff and take a chance of looking like a fool? Or do I tell them I don't know what they are talking about and certainly look like a fool? After all, I was there to consult them. I never bluff, so I quickly made light of it and said, "I've been living under a rock, and I don't have a clue what you're talking about." Everyone had a good laugh at my expense and then brought me up to speed. I'm thankful I didn't get busted by bluffing. I'm also thankful I learned something I needed to know so I wouldn't look like a buffoon in the future.

Are You Bluffing?
Will you even know when your answers sound like you've been living under a rock? Do you feel sufficiently qualified to manage a radio station in the digital media era? Do you understand the trends that started just this year that will change everything about your strategy? Are you willing to bet your future on it?

My Success Formula
The biggest successes in life have been from asking, "What would I want?" I invented Radio Ink because I was pacing the floor at my radio station one Saturday trying to solve a problem. I didn't know whom to turn to. At that moment wished there was a resource I could pick up that would solve the problems I face as a radio manager. That's how Radio Ink was invented.

That is also why I invented the Convergence conference. Knowing what's going on in the tech and digital media world, I asked myself "What would I want to know if I were a manager facing digital media extinction? What would I need to know about how radio converges with digital media? How can I help radio managers embrace these trends and make money on them?"

If you're running a radio station in 2011 and plan to succeed in the future, it's imperative that you become immersed in digital media thinking. Yeah, we all read the blogs. It's not enough. Every time I go to a non-radio tech conference, my head gets packed with new things I need to understand, and that I didn't know existed when I went.

Keeping You Relevant
You need to train your brain to become competent in 2011 digital media because it's not just your future, its today's reality, and the pressure will be coming down from the boards and the CEO to push for more digital media revenue even though radio billing is moving up again, because they know growth is going to come from digital. I've always said you cannot manage what you don't understand. It's my goal to keep you relevant.

Radio Ink's Convergence conference plays an important role in helping radio managers, sales managers, programmers, and even group heads understand what's going on and how it relates to their operation. It's not a radio conference where we rehash the same 30 topics from the past 30 years; it's a digital media conference for radio people (terrestrial and online). My goal each year is to bring you speakers you probably have never heard of who will rock your world, stretch your brain, make you uncomfortable, help you grow, tune you in to digital media, and keep you from extinction so when the CEO says, "More digital," you'll be up to speed and relevant.

Join us in San Jose/Silicon Valley at the Microsoft Campus on May 18-19. (Yes, we will once again arrange for employee discounts at the Microsoft store.) Consider it career insurance.

When registering, you should know this:

1. We limit attendance to 250 seats.
2. This conference is usually sold out.
3. Most years people want to get in and cannot get a seat.
4. People who could not come because of the economy in previous years are planning to come this year.
5. This conference has a high return rate. People who come tend to come every year.
Don't miss your opportunity. As usual, we're pacing ahead of previous years, and we hope to have another sold-out conference. You have my money-back guarantee that you'll walk out of this conference with more new ideas than you can implement. In all these years, out of thousands of people, only one person has ever asked for a refund.
Sign up today at www.radioink.com/convergence or call 561-655-8778.

Eric Rhoads
Publisher
RADIO INK

PS: How cool is your digital initiative? Many of you have attended in the past and are doing some cool things online. We want you to enter to win our first Digital Media Awards. Click here to make your nominations.

Convergence 11: Radio's Digital Media Conference
May 18-19
Microsoft Silicon Valley Campus
Mountain View, CA

Click here to register now, or call 561-655-8778. Seating is limited.