...what Dave said

34° - overcast at 8:54am. Right: view out my office window this morning.

I've received more than a few quick emails welcoming me back to the blog. While I've responded privately, let me thank you here too. It makes it all worthwhile.

On Wednesday, I promised something great from David Martin. Clearly almost every blog written by an industry pundit wanna-be focuses far too much energy on the negative (and sometimes the obvious, since much of what they write is old news if you read the headlines in the industry trades). I've done my best to avoid treading in those waters.

Dave observed last week:

"My sense is too many blogs appear to be the work of old white guys not happy with the way things are going, folks clearly upset about change in the industry. Moreover, too many of these bloggers seem to be either obsessed with bringing back some new version of the past or possessed by a compulsion to deliver little more than critical rants about the present. It's not healthy. To be brutally honest, it's a waste of bandwidth. But there's good news. Doing the math it's easy to project that these old guys have more days behind them than ahead. Let them live out their days shouting at the tide or barking at the moon. None of what they say really matters."

Indeed.

Next month, Mr. Martin makes an appearance here in Michigan at Great Lakes Broadcast Conference and Expo in Grand Rapids, an annual event by the Michigan Association of Broadcasters. (Yes, that's a plug).

I'm looking forward to his two sessions. Let's get on with things. Dwelling on the past and the negative is counter to moving forward.

End Of My Writer's Block

38° - overcast at 10:27am

My first post of the year. And it's almost March. Haven't had much inspiration to write. Much has happened in our industry over the last several months, most of it leaves an uneasy feeling. That said, my vision now much clearer; as I hope yours is.

One ritual I have early almost every morning is first reading Tom Taylor's daily column. And R&R's Kevin Carter with his Street Talk Daily. Plus Jerry Del Colliano (pictured above left).

I've had this love/hate thing with Jerry since the days of Inside Radio...going way to the pre-net days when it was a black-on-yellow newsletter that would come in the mail. I feel Jerry focuses far too much on the negative.

But Jerry often makes some great observations - and this morning he wrote:

"We've got lots of ways to direct our listeners to someone other than the person playing the music. And don't get me started on texting. Radio stations by and large don't understand how to use texting in a way consistent with how their audience uses it. It is not a blatant promotional tool even if you think it is. To them, it is social connection.

Someone needs to be home."

More soon - including something brilliant I recently read from David Martin.