10 Questions with ... RJ Curtis

INTRO:

Since joining Country Radio Broadcasters (CRB) as Executive Director in late 2018, RJ Curtis has never faced a bigger challenge then he did last year. That challenge was figuring having out how to transition the group’s hugely popular signature event, Country Radio Seminar (CRS), from an in-person Nashville conference into a virtual one as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. With that event now set to take place next week (February 16th-19th), Curtis shares details with All Access about how he and his team made it happen, how they are financially weathering the pandemic, and what to expect from “CRS 2021: The Virtual Experience.” If you haven’t yet registered, you can do so here.

1. You and your team have done an amazing job of pivoting from a live conference to a virtual one, and made it look effortless. But of course, it was not! How difficult was that pivot, and what kind of work/scrambling went on behind the scenes that we don’t know about?

Well, maybe it looks effortless, but let me go on record here and say without hesitation, this may be the most complicated and challenging project I’ve ever been involved with. I’ve had this conversation with some of our label partners who stage the larger musical performances at CRS. A virtual event is probably twice as hard on a logistical level, and it’s also more expensive than a typical seminar.

The pivot you mention was hard on two levels. Starting in June, we realized there was a chance CRS 2021 as a live, in-person event could be compromised due to the pandemic. So we began discovery on how live events transitioned to virtual, and what components are necessary to execute online. Concurrently, we had to get into our normal rhythm of planning a live event, and that process literally starts within days of the conclusion of [the previous] CRS. From June until the October decision to go all virtual, my team was planning CRS as we all know it, plus learning how to conduct a virtual event, and planning that too.

But there’s an emotional part, too. Everybody loves coming to CRS. It’s a yearly ritual, and part of the fabric of our format. The camaraderie, the bonding, the euphoria of being together and collaborating for the greater good of this genre – all the feels – is powerful for attendees and cannot be understated. But it’s just as – if not more – powerful for the CRS staff, because they touch every single piece of what makes up CRS as you know it, and they turn themselves inside out to create this amazing experience.

When we finally got to the fork in the road and knew the 2021 seminar would have to be virtual, there was a mixture of disappointment about not gathering live, and relief that we knew exactly what kind of event we were planning. We immediately set our minds on creating an all-new, amazing experience that will be specific to 2021 realities. We didn’t get sad or nostalgic about being an online event. I’ve said this a lot and I mean it – we are owning it, and leaning in hard to make this CRS virtual event robust, unique and memorable.

2. A few people have privately raised the question, “Why is the conference still $199 instead of free when it’s virtual?” Can you detail the significant costs still associated with putting on a virtual event, including fees to stream it, etc., that people perhaps don’t understand?

We did two big attendee surveys in late summer, asking a ton of questions about a traditional versus virtual event. One series of questions was about price point, because we felt we had to get that right. I talked to Executive Directors and organizers for other industry events such as Christian Music Broadcasters, Music Biz, Don Anthony at Morning Show Boot Camp, and Erica Farber at the Radio Advertising Bureau. The usual registration rate – in our case, the fee ranges from $549 early bird to $700 on site – had to be drastically reduced, of course. And, in a follow up series of questions with past attendees conducted in late fall, we got high marks for our $149 early bird and $199 full registration rates. But nobody expected it to be free.

That would be virtually (no pun intended) impossible, because to stage CRS online, we’ve had to design and build a custom website (CRSvirtual2021.com) from the ground up. We didn’t want to compromise any of the usual musical performances, which is ambitious, because we produce the Amazon show, Acoustic Alley, New Faces, and two of the three label lunches. BMLG decided to pause on its usual luncheon this year, and WMN and UMG are producing theirs [in house] this time. So we still had three tent pole events to bring attendees. That required securing a production facility, bringing in our longtime event music production team, DeLux, complete with full crew to capture performances in advance. Oh, and let’s not forget: you have to COVID test everybody who walks in the building every day for about 10 days. Band, crew, guests, staff, all of them.

CRS is paying for all that by asking less than a third of our usual registration rate, and at least half the sponsorship fees, while bringing attendees all the music I just mentioned, an added day of educational sessions (the all-new Streaming Summit on Tuesday, 2/16), 20 panels, three breakfasts, four workshops and additional on demand content. We think $199 is a ridiculously good value proposition.

Something else I’m not sure a lot of people realize: Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc. is a non-profit organization. If we break even in a typical CRS year, we look like heroes. So, virtual CRS for free? Not possible, unless people are OK with CRS never coming back in any form. On behalf of our staff, and our board, I feel comfortable telling you we are not OK with that scenario.

3. You lost a major source of income not being able to hold the Country Radio Hall of Fame dinner last year, and now will not be able to bring in anywhere near the kind of income you normally can with CRS registrations and sponsorships. Forgive the blunt question, but how are you weathering those losses, and are there other ideas in development to augment the bottom line?

You’re 100% accurate, this has been and will continue to be a difficult year. And so will 2022, for that matter. But we’re not the Lone Ranger in that regard. Everybody we know is facing real challenges. Sponsorship, which makes CRS viable, is very hard this year because we’ve drastically discounted packages for this year’s virtual event. But we have some incredible long term, institutional partners, who continue to support CRS in a virtual year, and I cannot express how much we appreciate their belief and commitment. The biggest void for 2021 is all the transactional business we usually realize, the kind that comes in last minute and helps us cross the finish line on revenue goals. Even entry-level sponsor activations are hard for small companies to participate in. In spite of these challenges, which are out of our control, our sponsorship team of Brooke Sanders and Ashley Bourque continue to amaze me with their tenacity and creativity. Activations on a virtual space are completely different than a physical one, but they continue to find ways to bring awareness and engagement to all CRS partners. All that said, the organization has been fiscally responsible during the past 10 years in particular, with a very sound, long term investment portfolio strategy, which makes our position very stable right now.

4. You were committed to the Omni Nashville hotel for an event that can’t technically happen there. How did you satisfy that obligation by originating content from there that people will be watching from home?

First, let me say that the Omni Nashville has been a fantastic partner to CRB since we moved our event there in 2016. Prior to CRS 2020, we extended our commitment to hold CRS at the Omni through 2023. The phone call we had to make to that team … sharing our decision to make CRS 2021 a virtual seminar was painful – like breaking horrible news to a dear friend.

Our initial intent was to try and execute some CRS content there to be streamed live. The logistics for that proved to be too complicated and fraught with peril, so we’ll be utilizing a dedicated production facility for some segments. But you will see some familiar Omni sights, especially on day one (2/16), when we officially kick off CRS. Our “CRS Honors” segment will take place from the Omni, and they are a title sponsor. We want attendees to know the Omni Nashville is and will be the home of CRS moving forward, and we have every intention of returning there for CRS ’22.

5. Can you describe how the seminar will physically be put together? My understanding is that all of the panels, events and performances are being pre-taped, and then will be stitched together into each day’s agenda. Is that correct and, if so, how will you navigate the traditional Q&A portion at the end of the sessions. Will the opportunity to ask questions still exist?

You’re right, most sessions will be pre-recorded, but very close to when CRS occurs. Ditto [for] the performances, and those needed to be recorded and produced much like a television show to ensure a higher quality. This was especially critical for New Faces, which is such an important night for those five talented artists. They deserve to be seen in the very best possible light.

The quality of every live CRS music event will be stronger than if we did so via Zoom, and all the potential bugs that go along with that platform. Radio has seen a ton of online, virtual showcases, but these will be nothing like that at all. That said, there will be some important live content at CRS. Our annual Friday (2/19) “CRS Artist Interview” with Luke Bryan will be a totally live, in studio conversation, moderated by CRB President Kurt Johnson. The Wednesday (2/17) interview with Luke Combs and Maren Morris will also be totally live, albeit remotely, as both artists and our moderator (NPR’s Ann Powers) are in different locations. Our four workshops will also be conducted live, via Zoom, accessible on a link we’ll post directly on CRSvirtual2021.com, our custom platform.

6. How will the three breakfast mentoring sessions work to allow attendees to move about among the mentors and get the one-on-one time they would at an in-person event?

The three mentoring breakfasts (label, programming, women’s) will take place in a virtual meeting room on a platform called Social Hour. This room has multiple tables, with seven spots per table where attendees can sit in front of a mentor and have a live video conversation. They are free to move around the room to different tables, with each stop essentially its own video call. We’ll utilize Social Hour for the St. Jude Networking Lounge too. This is where we see an opportunity for Q&A. Following sessions, we’ll announce what panelists will be in the St. Jude Lounge and when, giving attendees the chance to meet with them on a more direct, personal context and ask questions.

7. What one panel/session do you predict will be this year’s most talked about, and why? And which one are you personally most excited about?

If past is prologue, our annual CRS research project will be well attended, offering data and insights for attendees they could never buy. CRS has a long history of presenting studies commissioned exclusively for our event. For 2021, NuVoodoo is taking a hard look at how the pandemic may have changed radio and other consumption habits with Country users. We believe this is timely and will have actionable information, which is always our goal with these projects.

I have been excited about the artists we’ve brought to attendees for intimate, one-on-one conversations about their careers, and how they see Country music. We’ve upped our game the past two years. Luke Bryan will be great on Friday, but pay attention to Wednesday at 3p (CT) for Luke Combs and Maren Morris. Following the unfortunate event with Morgan Wallen last week, Luke and Maren – who we had previously confirmed, but not yet announced for CRS – decided to pivot from the original theme of that Q&A to one they are both passionate about right now: accountability, responsibility, and the future of Country music. This topic is driven by these two young artists, who now hold an important leadership role in our format. I’m excited to hear what they have to say, I applaud them for wanting to speak up, and I believe CRS is the perfect place to have these conversations, even if they may be difficult ones.

I am also excited about our first-ever Streaming Summit on Tuesday (2/16). It’s an aggressive, ambitious schedule, which is very focused. And it ends with YouTube Head of Culture & Trends, Kevin Allocca, which is a huge get and something everybody should really watch.

8. As you mentioned, you added an extra day to the seminar this year with a full track dedicated to streaming. Why did you decide to do that, what has the response been, and is the expectation that the Streaming Summit will continue into the live event in 2022?

We’ve felt the need to bolster our streaming and digital content at CRS for two reasons. One, to continue educating radio on these data points and statistics. Our yearly “Metrics” panel, presented by Jeff Green of Stone Door Media, has been one of the most attended and highest scoring CRS sessions, and that signaled a need to expand this curriculum. Second, since assuming this role, I have believed it’s important for CRS to expand programming that was helpful and appealing to the streaming and digital sides of our industry, while making CRS a necessary, important event in their world.

As we planned CRS 2021 last June and believed we’d be a live event, the plan was to use Wednesday morning, the [originally-planned] first day of CRS, to present a series of sessions focused entirely on streaming. The newly-created streaming team of our agenda committee, led by Annie Ortmeier of UMG, came up with an ambitious and dynamic list of sessions – too many for a Wednesday morning. But when we made the pivot to all virtual, it seemed ridiculous to waste those great ideas. At the same time, we wanted to add value to a virtual event, which could easily accommodate more content. A full day wouldn’t be possible at the Omni due to space and load in limitations. In the virtual space, there are no limitations, so we decided to create an entire day of streaming-centric information.

I’m excited about this first-ever CRS event, especially with YouTube’s Kevin Allocca speaking at the end of the day. He’s the perfect finish to the Streaming Summit. It is my intent to continue this Summit next year and moving forward. I think it’s critical, in order to broaden our appeal, while acknowledging the influence and importance of streaming platforms in the Country music ecosystem.

9. Can you describe how you plan to honor the 2020 Country Radio Hall of Fame honorees during CRS, and also what the plan is for the 2021 honorees?

We’ll induct the Class of 2020 virtually throughout the week, twice per day on Wednesday (2/17) through Friday (2/19). The just-published pre-event agenda has a schedule of when each of the six inductions will take place. We began using recorded formal inductions from presenters chosen by each respective Hall of Fame inductee at our 2019 event, and that proved to be a success. For these virtual inductions, we asked all honorees to record their acceptance remarks, which will play right after the induction video. We’ve accompanied that with a timeline of their career highlights, featuring vintage and current photos submitted by each incoming Hall of Famer. It’s an exceptional video package that Darcie Van Etten, our Dir./Marketing, designed and produced. Each one is unique, and custom built for each inductee. All specific times of inductions will be re-promoted during the week, and each HoF induction video will be available to view at the On Demand page of our custom “CRS: The Virtual Experience” platform.

At past CRS events, we’ve revealed the next year’s class, but Country Radio Hall of Fame Co-Chairs Tim Roberts and Joel Raab felt that would be confusing, and potentially steal some of the attention from the 2020 Class. So we’ve extended the nomination deadline for Class of 2021 consideration through the end of March. The Hall of Fame dinner is traditionally held in June, but we moved that to October in 2021 to provide some breathing room between our February inductions for the 2020 Class and the incoming 2021 honorees.

10. One of the great benefits of a virtual event this year is that you haven’t had to navigate turning people away from an always sold-out New Faces Show. What are some of the other unexpected benefits you’ve discovered along the way as you and your team have put this event together?

The New Faces piece is huge, because it’s always been the hardest event to accommodate everybody who wants to go. The Broadway Ballroom at the Omni has a capacity of 1,200 for this show. There is literally no limit to this show on the virtual space. And that goes for the entire CRS event. In marketing registration, we said, “Now, everybody can come to CRS!” And I hope people really think about that.

In a typical year, the registration fee is higher, out of town attendees have to book an airplane ticket and hotel room, plus incur additional travel expenses. We’re asking $199 and, as I said earlier, that gives attendees a ton of educational, musical and networking content. We talked about a fourth day, which isn’t possible at the Omni. We were able to confirm several speakers who ordinarily wouldn’t have committed due to travel or schedule conflicts. All of this makes me believe there’s an opportunity to evolve CRS, potentially as a hybrid event, with a live CRS at the Omni, and a virtual component for a completely new audience made up of a new, possibly younger constituency interested in digital and streaming, the music business in general, or simply those who don’t want to travel.

The challenge will be creating or discovering a unique ecosystem for that, comprised of registration, sponsorship and curriculum. The board has talked about how to evolve CRS as we’ve watched the radio industry and its key decision makers get smaller during the past few years. CRS will always be an industry event designed to support and educate radio, but we need to include other areas of distribution and development. This year’s virtual experience may end up being serendipitous, by accelerating that evolutionary process.

It’s a credit to your leadership that CRB/CRS is one of the few companies that got through all of 2020 without having to lay anyone off. How did you manage it?

We’re a very small team of five full-time employees at CRB, which some may find surprising when you think about the scale of CRS. We employ seasonal contract employees who are critical to executing our event, but the day-to-day, core team (besides me) are Chasity Crouch, Darcie Van Etten, Ashley Bourque and Brooke Sanders. I genuinely love these people, so as the head of this family, I was determined that nobody should worry about being furloughed or, heaven forbid, losing their livelihood. Chasity, our Business Manager, was quick to get us approved for a PPP loan as part of the first stimulus bill, and that was helpful. But Chas and I also work hard throughout the year to maintain financial discipline when it comes to expenses and operating costs. Without going into specifics, we also made a couple of sacrifices (legal ones, LOL) that helped this effort, so we’re fully intact, I’m very happy to report.