NABOB 38th Annual Conference Concludes

FCC Commisioner Tom Wheeler

THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLACK OWNED BROADCASTERS and the NABOB FOUNDATION concluded the 38th Annual Fall Broadcast Management Conference in cooperation with the 14th POWER OF URBAN RADIO FORUM.  This years event was held at the WESTIN CITY CENTER HOTEL in WASHINGTON.

THURSDAY started with an early panel "Dialogue With The Commissioners."  Moderated by NABOB's Exec./Dir. JIM WINSTON, the panel focused on the Quadrennial ownership rule review, Television's Incentive Spectrum Auction, timetable for considering the recommendations of the Diversity Advisory Committee, and the prospects for Congressional passage of a minority tax certificate.  Panelists included FCC Commissioners MIGNON CLYBURN, AJIT PAI, and MICHAEL O'RIELLY.

The panel was followed by Honorable MAXINE WATERS from the 43rd Congressional District of CALIFORNIA.  She addressed the continuing struggle for minority ownership and the lack of inclusion even in the discussion of some of the recent meg a-mergers.

NIELSEN SVP/Marketing Management BILL ROSE chaired the panel, "NIELSEN: Measuring The Power of the African-American Consumer."  Joining him on stage were EMMIS COMMUNICATIONS SVP/Market Manager DEON LEVINGSTON/NY and COX MEDIA GROUP VP/Programming TONY KIDD/ATLANTA.  The discussion covered the existing products and the soon to be released report on the African-American consumer.  LEVINGSTON and KIDD also covered what and how data is used and measurement improvements they would like to see.

AXA ADVISORS, LLC Retirement Specialist JAN J. WILLIAMS gave a presentation before lunch "Succession Planning For African-American Businesses."  He explained it often takes a lifetime to build a successful family business and only a few months of planning to transition it into a multi-generational legacy, yet only 30% of such businesses successfully transfer to second generation and just 15% to 3rd among African-Americans.

The highlight of this year's NABOB conference followed at noon with SHERMAN KIZART's THE POWER OF URBAN RADIO FORUM.  The luncheon included special guest speaker FCC Chairman TOM WHEELER and Keynote Speaker COMMONGROUND Managing Partner/Founder SHERMAN WRIGHT.  There were also National Marketers Awards given to AARP VP/African-American Marketing EDNA KANE-WILLIAMS and TOYOTA USA VP/African-American Strategy JAMES COLON.

The first afternoon session, "Global Media Agency Panel," provided insights on how major buys are placed and how NABOB members can participate.  RAB VP/Business Development ANNETTE MALEVE was the Moderator.  The panel included AGENCY OF OTHERS VP/Dir. of Broadcast Buying TOURAAN CHESTNUT, MEDIA VEST 42 SVP/Managing Dir. CALEB WINDOVER, OMD U.S. Dir./National Radio Investment NATALIE SHEDSTONE, LOWE CAMPBELL EWALD Dir./National Broadcast and Video Integration HELEN GILES, and OPTIMEDIA USA Senior Broadcast Negotiator RHONDA THOMAS.

The following session, "National Marketers Panel," had key executives from major national advertisers discussing the ways they developed media strategies.  They even described the process of working with their ad agencies to decide buys.  The moderator was TARGET MARKET NEWS Pres. KEN SMIKELE.  The panelists were AARP VP/African-American Marketing EDNA KANE-WILLIAMS, TOYOTA USA VP/AFRICAN AMERICAN STATEGY JAMES COLON, LOREAL USA-SOFT SHEEN CARLSON DIVISION Assistant VP/Marketing SIVONNE DAVIS, and AUSTIN CONSULTING GROUP CEO LYNN AUSTIN.

RAB Pres./CEO ERICA FARBER gave a special address providing a look at the usage, growth and financial revenues in a variety of areas concerning African-American Consumers.  FARBER made special note of how African-Americans outpace others in terms of smart phone usage and how much revenue could be generated by it.  

Following her address, FARBER moderated the final panel of the day and the conference, "Radio Executives Session," with panelists RADIO ONE Pres./Radio Division CHRIS WEGMANN/WASHINGTON D. C., iHEARTMEDIA SVP/Urban Operations EARL JONES, EMMIS COMMUNICATIONS SVP/Market Manager DEON LEVINGTON/NY, and SERVICE BROADCASTING CORP. VP/Dir./Sales STEVE WATKINS/DALLAS.  The session covered strategies for getting advertising from major national sponsors and ad agencies.  They also covered the challenges and opportunities created by new technologies and how they have adapted their companies to compete in the market place.

NABOB's JIM WINSTON told ALL ACCESS, "I am more than pleased with this years level of participation and the exchange of information over the past two days."

KIZART added, " I was inspired by the positive exchange of information we heard and the level of expertise we had on the panels and in our packed sessions."  

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