Personalization. Pandora, Spotify, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, and radio's other digital competitors all offer it, in different ways. Listeners today want a personalized choice. For listeners, it's not about the broad choices on the local radio dial anymore, it's about narrowing choices to fit their specific needs! Listeners want to be able to station- and genre-hop around the country and around the world, and they expect to have a lot of input on the music they hear. And they want to hear their music with few, or no, commercials.
So what can local radio do to keep these demanding listeners happy? Can your station offer a personalized experience, and can you make money on it? As it turns out, we've found examples you can emulate at your station and create a personalized example -- and you can hear about all of it at Radio Ink's Convergence, set for March 4-5 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in California's Silicon Valley, where brilliant digital strategist Daniel Anstandig will moderate a panel on "Radio and the Age of Personalization." Radio can meet the demands of today's listeners and keep them engaged and involved. You won't want to miss this important session. Read more.
Radio isn't driving alone anymore. Along with CD players and a line-in for an iPod, AM and FM are being joined on the dashboard by radio apps like TuneIn and iHeartRadio, and by competitors like Pandora. And that's only the beginning. More WiFi in cars, apps, true integration of online and automobile; it's already begun, and much, much more is on the way. And radio will have to compete with it -- all of it.
At Radio Ink's Convergence, set for March 4-5 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in California's Silicon Valley, Buzz Knight will moderate the panel "The Digital Dashboard and Beyond." Here's where you can get all the details on what radio is up against -- and, more important, on how radio can take advantage of new technologies to innovate, adapt, and preserve its prime place on the dashboard. This panel includes experts in in-dash technology and the connected car -- exactly the people you need to hear from on this crucial topic for radio's future.
The connected car is here. Will you be run over? Or will you be in the driver's seat? Read more.
Radio Ink has named the finalists in our third annual Convergence Awards, sponsored by Presslaff Interactive Revenue.
The Radio Ink Convergence Awards were established three years ago to recognize excellence in digital platforms, from station websites to database marketing and client-focused solutions.
From the hundreds of entries received this year, Radio Ink is proud to present the 2013 Convergence Award finalists. Click here to see the list.
You know the numbers: 93 percent of the U.S. population hears radio every week. Everybody listens to the radio. But radio has been stuck at 7 to 8 percent of ad dollars for years, and growth, when there is any, is slow. But over in digital, they're seeing double-digit increases in the hottest categories (place-based media is growing six times faster than media as a whole) and steady-to-spectacular gains overall.
Radio today has most of the capabilities of the hottest digital offerings -- and all those loyal listeners. So where's the disconnect? What do digital sellers get that radio doesn't? That's the subject of a must-hear panel at Radio Ink's Convergence: "Integrated Sales Strategies: Why You Can't Sell Digital With Legacy Sales Strategies," moderated by iRadioSales creator Gregg Murray.
This panel of experts, from inside and outside the radio business, will explain why trying to sell digital as though it were radio is attempting the impossible. And, more important, they'll explain what everyone in radio sales must know about what new advertising technologies can do and how to sell them so advertisers understand what radio can really do for them. The digital abilities radio has right now can meet -- and exceed -- the expectations of today's demanding advertisers. Come to Convergence, March 4-5 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in California's Silicon Valley, and find out how. And register soon: The host hotel is almost sold out! Read more.
If you had to define what radio is about in one word, that word would probably be "communication." And that is a word being redefined every day -- sometimes it seems like every moment -- as new platforms and tools are invented and catch on (and sometimes just as quickly fade away). Learning how to make the most of these new social media platforms and digital tools is key to radio's future.
Do you know the best places to invest your multi-platform resources -- in time, money, and people? At Radio Ink's Convergence, set for March 4-5 in Santa Clara in California's Silicon Valley, a panel of leading digital and research experts, moderated by social media specialist Stephanie Winans, will explain where you need to be, and where developing trends are leading. And just as important, they'll talk about how to create the compelling content that will bring the audience engagement you need, and that marketers and advertisers crave.Read more.
The names Leo Laporte and John C Dvorak strike fear into the hearts of tech companies. Their ability to drive consumer adoption with their reviews — or kill a product or service stone dead if they don't like it — gives them huge power and influence in Silicon Valley. And Radio Ink has arranged for a rare appearance of the two men together, for a keynote at Convergence, being held March 4-5 in Santa Clara, California. Read more.
If you think advertisers got excited about online advertising, wait until you see what's happening with mobile. Just about any app can show an ad, and that anywhere, anytime interaction is very tempting to advertisers -- so tempting that their money is moving to mobile -- fast. And they're not going to be satisfied with just putting their logo on a screen.
Do you have a mobile app that advertisers will want to be a part of? And once they're on board, do you know how to get listeners to respond to offers and engage with your clients? You'll need to learn how to create better, more targeted, and more efficient opportunities or risk missing the boat on mobile.
Paul Jacobs, who runs the successful JACApps program at Jacobs Media, is moderating a panel at Radio Ink's Convergence where you can learn all about it. Read more.
Each year Radio Ink's Convergence works to bring the very best minds together, to help stretch your mind. This year at Convergence, one of the greatest minds in Silicon Valley will share his thoughts on the future, what all businesses need to be focused on, and how you can thrive in the Internet economy.
No one knows it all better than Tim Draper, a brilliant visionary and the venture capitalist behind many of the top brands you know today. Draper has a powerful view of the future that he's helped create, and as a VC, he's been pitched to invest in new technologies you've not (yet) even heard of. Tim brings a fascinating view of the real world behind tech and behind success, and he'll offer his thoughts on what radio and traditional media must do to thrive in this world. His talk will be one of the most memorable moments in Convergence history. Read more.
"Radio may need a new definition," says Norm Pattiz. "I love new definitions!"
Norm Pattiz has been around the radio business for a while now. You know his name -- everybody does. He founded Westwood One, essentially inventing modern radio syndication, and led it through its powerhouse days as the largest provider of news, sports, talk, and traffic to the industry. He was appointed to the Broadcasting Board of Governors by both President Clinton and President Bush, overseeing, among other things, Voice of America and Radio Free Europe. He's in the National Radio Hall of Fame, and the Library of American Broadcasting named him one of the Giants of Broadcasting.
So when Norm says now is the time for the radio industry to change, it's time to listen up. And you can hear him at Radio Ink's Convergence 2013, set for March 4-5 in Santa Clara, in California's Silicon Valley. Read more.
So your station or group has taken all the right steps in social media. You've got a Facebook fan page, you're on Twitter all day long, you're even pinning station and event pics on Pinterest. But what are you doing it all for?
Sure, you're probably learning a lot about your listeners, and that's great. But time and effort are too precious these days to spend on anything that doesn't contribute to the bottom line. How can you get that from social media?
Nichole Kelly, CEO of Social Media Explorer/SME Digital and author of How to Measure Social Media, will explain it all at Radio Ink's Convergence 2013, set for March 4-5 in Santa Clara, in California's Silicon Valley. Kelly is a respected innovator in measuring social media results against real core business objectives: sales, revenues, and costs. Read more.
At Radio Ink's 
Radio today has most of the capabilities of the hottest digital offerings -- and all those loyal listeners. So where's the disconnect? What do digital sellers get that radio doesn't? That's the 
Each year Radio Ink's 
"Radio may need a new definition," says Norm Pattiz. "I love new definitions!"
Nichole Kelly, CEO of Social Media Explorer/SME Digital and author of How to Measure Social Media, will explain it all at Radio 
