5-15-2012
Last week about 120 managers from Cumulus gathered at the Buckhead Theater in Atlanta for the first high level meeting since the Citadel merger. At the get together, managers had a chance to spend time with the Dickeys and Jon Pinch, they were given demonstrations from vendors and the meeting concluded with a performance by Rascal Flatts. We were given access to all the managers to ask them about the meeting and the company, with no strings attached. According to several managers who attended the meeting, and despite some of what you may hear about Cumulus, they are pumped up about the future of the company. Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey said, ?To get a chance to meet all these guys and to spend time with them over 2 and half days was invaluable for us.?
WPLJ New York General Manager Steve Borneman is a former Citadel Manager who remained with the company 
after the merger. He says the meeting was absolutely awesome. ?I said to Lew (Dickey) as I was walking out of one of the meetings, I don't throw this word around very often, but it was actually inspiring. That is the word that really sort of set the tone for me. It was an inspiring meeting. It was informative. It was motivational. It was productive. It's a good feeling to have a a good feeling about your company. All the things that had been in the rumor mill prior to sale, all the negativity, you are going to get that, but Lew and John are smart operators. Jon Pinch is a smart operator. They are very passionate about what they want to do. They are a company that is being very aggressive in acquisitions as opposed to companies selling off radio stations. You fight the systems and it's not going to work. The systems that they have are phenomenal. They are cutting edge. Some of the systems that they presented to us over the course of the meetings, the demonstrations were tremendous. They?ll help us to do a better job. It?s a great company to work for. They care about their people. They treat us well. It was really a wonderful meeting. I hadn't been to a corporate meeting since, really, the ABC days. We didn't have them at Citadel.?
Donna Baker is a market manager for Cumulus on Houston. ?This isn't fluff. It really genuinely isn't. I have been to a lot of meetings in my career, and I can genuinely say I feel more positive and uplifted about the forward focus than I have in many, many years in my career. I see that we truly are on the verge of making something incredible happen in our industry. It was all forward focus. It was so positive. We get beat to death day to day in the media and the critics. It's big stuff and it's happening fast. They want everybody to understand it and be a part of it. I think they are so well positioned to take advantage of the opportunity. I really believe that Lew is brilliant. I genuinely think that he's the most brilliant mind in radio. He thinks so far forward. But he is also not one to just knee-jerk react. He put a lot of thought into how the execution, for the long term, needs to be set up to win.?
Ann McManus is the market manager for Cumulus in Bridgeport Connecticut. McManus was named market manager of the year - for medium markets - at the Atlanta meeting and says she absolutely loved what she heard. ?I can't say
enough good things about what I saw down there. I have been with Cumulus for ten years. I am a huge fan of Lew Dickey. I am absolutely crazy about working for them. They have given me some opportunities to meet with the Citadel people during the introduction period. It was such an eye-opener for the people from Citadel to see how great Cumulus is. There was so much rumor out there, and all this innuendo. Then to see how brilliant and visionary Cumulus is, I think that they were blown away by it. They are the most visionary people that I have ever worked for. I have been in the radio business since I as 12 years old. I have seen the mom and pop's. I have seen the big companies. I worked for a jackass (name deleted) and I worked for a wonderful man named Marty Pompadur. There is no company like Cumulus.?
Also at the meeting, Dan Bennet was market manager of the year for large markets and Jim Christopherson for small.
(5/15/2012 7:15:17 AM)
How much did Cumulus pay for this article? This is insulting to your readers.
(5/15/2012 7:11:48 AM)
I was also there...and share the same feelings about the meetings.They were great meetings with great information. The company is not looking at next year, they are looking forward five and ten years out. Lew Dickey and his senior team have a great vision for the company, I am glad to be on their team
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