It wasn't that long ago when I was one of the geeks standing in line at the Apple Store the day the iPad was first released. I arrived at 7:40a ... I waited till 11a ... I was 25th in line... I was 4 away from getting my hands on one ... and then ... "Sorry, folks - we're all out today." Seems those iPads on reserve had until 3p to be picked up by their loving pre-ordering, early adopters! I was crushed! Until one helpful gentleman walked up and down the line whispering, "They have them at Best Buy!" (Frankly, I think he worked at Best Buy!)

OMG! It was a mad dash by everyone on the line. We each literally ran to our respective cars to get to Best Buy before they ran out; sometimes racing each other the six miles on the I-15 to get from Apple to Best Buy! When I got inside, the guy behind me said, "Nice race! I got stuck at the light you about blew through, or I'd have beat you!" I walked up to customer service, and without even asking for anything she said, "Which do you want? We only have 32 and 64 gig left." "32 gig, please," I responded hopefully! "You're lucky," she answered, "only two left!" I thought to myself, "Well, that's okay ... I would have happily spent an additional hundred dollars on the 64gig if the 32's were gone!"

Never try to solve everything in 24 hours. When you try to attack a single problem, you really face a whole set. All too often, a rookie department head or manager tries to do it all right now, hoping to solve a myriad of problems at the same time. If you fall into ...

With Spring ratings underway, how your station engages your listeners is an essential aspect of growing your ratings. How do you use your listeners' time? Listeners "vote" their attention in three ways: engaging, ignoring, and tuning out. Don't waste their time. ...

When you've been doing anything for a long time, it often becomes a challenge to question some of the basic underpinnings of your profession. That is especially true in radio where the fundamentals of consumer appeal and preference have been rocked by the Internet ...

Cover, or not? It's always interesting these days to scan local radio when any catastrophe occurs. In Denver, on the Monday that the bombings occurred, a local sports FM (owned by LFG) was talking about the Boston bombings, and one AM NT station (owned by Salem) was in ...

For the first 12 years of the new millennium, we've been mesmerized by technological determinism. We became practitioners of a tenuous bargain: We've learned to covet systems and technology while subordinating the role of people. This worked to an extent if you were a ...

How do you measure up? One of the mysteries of consolidated radio is how we define those whom we label "successful." Earning million-dollar bonuses for laying off hundreds or thousands of people doesn't feel "successful" to me, especially since I know many of those ...

"I refer to my hands, feet and body as the tools of the trade. The hands and feet must be sharpened and improved daily to be efficient..." --Bruce Lee When I first read this line, I loved it. It's a reminder to use what tools you have available and to maintain them at ...

This week, we prepare for Spring ratings with a focus on morning show formatics and execution. Plan the show the day/night before. Then add late-breaking content before airtime. Research your content. Find interesting bits, news and topics via the Internet, prep ...

No matter the field of endeavor, when a potentially great team's performance declines through complacency, members will constantly search for new and more inventive reasons to explain away a defeat. As time goes by, that same team becomes much more accomplished at ...