Hivio 2015, 'Audio Future Festival,' Begins Today

Starts Today

MARK RAMSEY and JAIME SOLIS' annual HIVIO conference began TODAY (6/4) at the HOLLYWOOD IMPROV in WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA, with a two-day schedule of presentations looking at the future of radio, streaming, podcasting, audio advertising, and branding.

The "audio future festival" is available to those who can't make it to L.A. on a live video stream at hivio.com.  FRIDAY's schedule begins at 9a (PT).

After an introduction by co-host RAMSEY on "The Power of Audio" (with an audio introduction produced by JEFF SCHMIDT), THURSDAY's agenda included THEBLAZE's SCOTT BAKER discussing his company's philosophy ("we did broadcasts and shows that we would like"), the value of "knowing and being your audience," and what THEBLAZE looks for in podcasts ("have a unique perspective, have unique things to say, then DOM (THEODORE) can work with that... give me a reason to listen to your podcast.  There has to be a story"); TV GUIDE and SANTA MONICA COLLEGE Triple A-News-Talk KCRW/SANTA MONICA "THE SPIN-OFF" host MICHAEL SCHNEIDER on how TV people see the audio space ("'SERIAL' got people talking... people are saying, "what is the TV version of 'SERIAL'?... it's a little cynical"), the importance of owning intellectual property ("content is more important than distribution"), and lessons learned so far in podcasting ("more, more, more... (monthly) is not enough"); and consultant TOM ASACKER with a rapid-paced presentation on how brands are dealing with change, including how people are "supersaturated with choice" and faced with a glut of conflicting information, demanding transparency, no longer passive receivers of messages, and "know too much," and how aesthetics, identity, and control are essential questions for success in branding.  The first half of the schedule ended with a presentation by CLIP INTERACTIVE's BILL FREUND and SARA SISENWEIN showing their system's ability to attribute listening to client stations while offering new digital sales opportunities.

PRX's JAKE SHAPIRO offered insight into his company's RADIOTOPIA podcast network, which he said is "optimize(d) around individuals with creative spark" and looking for "story-driven narrative journalism/entertainment," and discussed the Kickstarter that got the network going and the "upside potential of the true fan."  He also noted that "there is no YouTube of the (audio) space -- it's up for grabs," but noted that ceding control of the "last mile" to consumers, and the data that goes with it, is a problem.  And he pointed at a lack of data as holding back monetization of podcasts, although he noted that his network has "finally clicked into (revenues) in a powerful way" but mostly through "referral code" advertising (direct response) until proper measurement and data are available.

PR guru RICHARD LAERMER gave his thoughts on building celebrity through personal branding, while SUN BROADCAST GROUP syndicated talker and actress MARILU HENNER energetically proclaimed her love for radio in a discussion with RAMSEY; FEDERATED MEDIA's JAMES DERBY closed the day's sessions with an overview of the innovative digital offerings his company has instituted at its INDIANA radio clusters, including prep sports, regional sports, and "foodie" websites and customizable streams based on terrestrial stations.

Coming up FRIDAY morning, iHEARTMEDIA's DENNIS CLARK, digital ad agency (NO SUBJECT) founder JACLYN JOHNSON, SLACKER's DUNCAN ORRELL-JONES, PODCASTONE's MIKE AGOVINO, XAPPmedia's PAT HIGBIE, SPOTIFY's BRIAN BENEDIK, and STARCOM WORLDWIDE's KIRSTEN WOLF are scheduled to appear.

Find out more at hivio.com.

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