Conclave 43 Friday: Podcasting, Marketing, Mentoring And Lots Of Talent

Friday

The CONCLAVE LEARNING CONFERENCE's final day on FRIDAY at the DOUBLETREE PARK PLAZA in ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA featured sessions on podcasting and marketing and a panel of top talent, plus the annual "speed mentoring" session.  The convention, headed by CUMULUS VP/Social Media LORI LEWIS, drew a large, room-filling crowd for the three-day event, bringing radio professionals and newcomers together.

On Demand

The podcasting panel, moderated by veteran programmer and FRYMAN CANYON STUDIOS founder DAVE BEASING, included BONNEVILLE News-Talk KSL-A-F/SALT LAKE CITY Dir. of Audience Development SHERYL WORSLEY, music marketing maven MICHAEL BRANDVOLD, JACOBS MEDIA Digital Dot Connector SETH RESLER, and ALL ACCESS VP/Editor, News-Talk-Sports-Podcasting PERRY MICHAEL SIMON (who explained, in response to BEASING's curiosity, the reason for his needing to use three names -- there's another "PERRY SIMON"); the group discussed the podcasting business' growth, the power of passion for podcasters, the problem of using music in podcasts (BRANDVOLD, who hosts a music podcast, said "don't," noting both licensing issues and the likelihood of being snagged by music-sensing bots for suspension even if the music is properly licensed), and using video along with audio podcasts.

More About Marketing

HUBBARD Classic Rock WDRV (THE DRIVE)/CHICAGO PD ROB CRESSMAN stepped in for HUBBARD TWIN CITIES VP/Regional Manager DAN SEEMAN as the moderator of a panel of marketing aces -- ENTERCOM/PORTLAND VP/Marketing RANDI P'POOL, iHEARTMEDIA NEW ORLEANS SVP/Programming ANGELA WATSON, and ENTERCOM VP/Digital Audience KIM REIS -- discussing a wide range of issues with radio marketing, from dealing with talent and social media to talent tweeting about politics and the pitfall of actively trying to go "viral."

The Talent Pool

The annual panel of talent included PREMIERE NETWORKS' BOBBY BONES, NBC SPORTS and CUMULUS Classic Rock KQRS/MINNEAPOLIS' MICHELE TAFOYA, COMPASS MEDIA NETWORKS and SERVICE BROADCASTING Urban KKDA (K104)/DALLAS' DEDE MCGUIRE, and "THE KIDD KRADDICK MORNING SHOW"'s J-SI CHAVEZ, with iHEARTMEDIA EVP/Programming- Country ROD PHILLIPS filling in for TONY COLES as moderator.  The panelists were asked about their radio origin stories: CHAVEZ told the story of how he got hired for the late KRADDICK's show by ignoring the instructions in the ALL ACCESS classified ad for the job and sending an email directly to KRADDICK himself, while BONES related the story of breaking into a rival Country station and taking it over when he was a young Top 40 DJ ("by the way, I'm not saying to do this").  MCGUIRE hearkened back to her start as a receptionist at a station in KILLEEN, TX, and TAFOYA remembered her early work behind the scenes in TV and interning for MARK AND BRIAN at KLOS/LOS ANGELES ("radio is like a playground"), then her road from graduate school at USC to making it to KFAN/MINNEAPOLIS, where she worked for six months before getting hired at CBS SPORTS.

BONES' development into a national talent included self-syndication, and he discussed the risk and reward of doing so, paying out of his own pocket for equipment to get the show on other stations.  He said that he knew that a show like his would require being in more than one market; he also spoke of developing his podcast network as "guessing at what's coming," wanting to be on whatever platforms might develop into the next business.  He said that PDs should be counseling talent to develop podcasts because, even though it is not profitable now, "you have to work at Plan B while there still is a Plan A."

TAFOYA counseled women in the business not to put hurdles in front of them, relating how she told another female sports reporter hesitating to go into the locker room to just go in and do the job (she said she always looks the athletes in the eyebrows so she won't be accused of looking anywhere else).

Career Counseling On The Fly

The festivities concluded with a Speed Mentoring and Air Checking Brunch with HUBBARD Hot AC WTMX (101.9 THE MIX)/CHICAGO PD MARY ELLEN KACHINSKE, URBAN ONE/HOUSTON OM/PD TERRI THOMAS, RUBBER CITY RADIO/AKRON VP of Operations SUE WILSON, CUMULUS VP/Hot AC Programming and Hot AC WRQX (MIX 107.3)/WASHINGTON PD ROB ROBERTS, and CPR PROMOTIONS' PAIGE NIENABER among the pros available for career advice.

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