Free Seminar, A Thank You & A Book....

32° - light snow mist at 8:39am

Good Morning from downtown Lansing.

Busy week at the day job (The Michigan Assocation of Broadcasters) as the organization's annual conference takes place next week in Grand Rapids. A wonderful staff of 14 who pull it all together every year; and I'm honored to be a co-worker.

Tonight: Talent coach Jay Mitchell presents a free no-strings teleseminar with the legendary Jay Trachman. The two Jays will be talking about "the changes that have taken place in the radio industry ... what it takes to succeed in radio today ... and why it's still all about the "1-2-1."

The live seminar begins at 8:30pm eastern. Register online today here. And feel free to pass on.

Great story. I love to hear things like this. Had an email a few days back from WKLH/Milwaukee Rock 'N Roll Roots host Steve Palec.

This past Sunday he was featuring Fleetwood Mac and writes:

"The whole show was pretty much ready to go and I saw your comment about seeing Bob Welch's website and having him return your email. So I did the same and we had a great long recorded conversation with amazing insights I was able to add to the show this morning."

Very cool Steve!

The book. Been chatting via phone the past few days with another Jay: Jay (J) Blackburn. His long-awaited book "The Radio Gypsies". Its due for release March 17th...a week from Monday.

As I've written here before its a novel based-on-real life events from his years of programming and management. Jay's story is fascinating as a radio turn-around pro.

Order via Amazon here.

Tuesday Tuesday

22°- overcast at 8:09am

Good Morning From Michigan.

The Show After The Show. Turning on the radio after leaving a concert and hearing a set of music by the artist you just saw has always been great. One of the best things about album rock radio back in the 70s and 80s.

Its capturing the moment - and might include a phoner and show wrap from the venue by another station jock. Capturing and sharing the moment with the audience.

Sean Ross reviews what some NYC stations did following a recent Eric Clapton/Steve Winwood tour stop.

Read here.

Mark Ramsey. Mark posts a great piece about listener engagement citing Oprah as an example. At the very least, it might make you rethink the name of your online "listener club". But Mark's piece goes beyond that. Read here.

Related: Building Relationships. They do take time. And my feeling is that the long term health of any radio station is time spent building and harvesting relationships with its listeners.

Hard to do in a world that desires quick fixes and fast results.

Seth Godin shares a note from a member of the Bruce Springsteen "Tribe"....its a great read here.

Speaking of Seth. The "Agent of Change" has posted a piece on the music business. Its an excellent piece here.

Posted later: Bad day for both Led Zeppelin and Green Bay Packer fans. Lee Arnold blogs here.

Added: Bob Lefsetz on "Plant says no". Here.

Its hard not to get angry...

...since the news that hit Friday afternoon and what has taken place since.

My prayers are with the players. They're taking the hit for the prior decisions of the front office.

Many I know; some of the industry's best.

And I wish them all well.

Sunday Morning Odds & Sods

37° - mostly cloudy at 10:45am

Good morning from Michigan.

Listening this morning: To Rock 'N Roll Roots on Chicago's WDRV. A time warp this morning to this week in 1968; 40 years ago.

I remember buying much of the music Bob is playing this morning at my hometown "Deerfield (Illinois) Record Shop"; most of it on 7-inch vinyl. Thanks for the memories.

Later: more Rock 'N Roll Roots...the Steve Palec version on Milwaukee's WKLH.

These guys get it: Syndicated country radio morning personalities Big D & Bubba are encouraging listeners to post show audio and content on sites like You Tube and MySpace. Jay Albright with more here.

Big D & Bubba are 180° from the TV networks and others who feel the need to stay in control of their content with C&Ds and take-down notices.

Just on Friday consultant Paul Jacobs (on JacoBLOG) quoted a Michigan State University Professor: "Buzz is created when people are talking about an event, or a message gets spread all over YouTube."

Don't follow the lead of the TV folks and discourage "the buzz". Encourage and give permission to listeners to post your content.

"What it all comes down to is that thing....the undefinable thing when somebody catches something from your music. What I'm talking about is....wait, what am I talking about?"

"The buzz"

"The buzz...and the chicks...the whatever...is an offshoot of the buzz. Like you saying you like Fever Dog...that is the f*cking buzz"."

-Dialogue between "Fever Dog" musician Jeff Bebe
and journalist William Miller in the 2000 film
"Almost Famous" (one of my all-time faves!)

This ties in: another quote on radio's future from blogger Doc Searls:

"Brands and reputations will matter more than ever. Familiar call letters, program names, personalities and institutions will have countless new ways to leverage their incumbent advantages, and to relate to their listeners and viewers, without both real and conceptual constraints imposed by transmitters and entailments such as "range".

What will matter most about those names and reputations, however, will not be limited to their familiarity. Instead they will be enriched or impoverished by the degrees to which they participate in a marketplace sustained by real relationships, and not just by marketing that goes by that name."

Complete post here. Doc Searls a reader and contributor to Bruce Elving's FMedia! newsletter years ago (as was I). Props to Mark Ramsey for the tip.

Cara Carriveau. Cara is back with another podcast from her basement. This time its legendary rock band Shooting Star.

Listen to that plus her interview with Rik Emmett of Triumph here.

Thanks for the kind words: from rock radio voice station voice guru Joe Kelly - who just stumbled across this blog. I'm honored to have you Joe!