Friday, January 7, 2011

Radio Is Not Alone In Solving Social Networking Puzzle...

Can social networking become a profit center or is it simply a necessary programming element for radio? That question is far from being answered but radio is not alone in seeking to find one. The Montreal Gazette reports "A growing number of businesses and organizations of all sizes are searching for ways to tap the power of social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, which millions of people now use to stay connected online. This has been the year where every organization has come to realize the importance of social media, rather than just a handful of organizations," says Augie Ray, a Forrester Research analyst who specializes in social computing. Clear Channel's Chicago operations manager Tony Coles believes social networking has the potential to play a bigger role in the future if done right. "We must give our social sites the same brand protection and maintenance we give out on-air, online, and onsite assets." ...

Coles believes the potential is there but radio needs to first focus on building relationships. "Most stations and businesses have not realized that we first need to use these tools to benefit the listeners. Only then will we be able to see a return on our investment." Mark Krupinski, social-media director for MindComet, a Florida-based interactive-marketing agency says "Social media is a little all over the map right now. It reminds me a great deal of the late 1990s with where we were in respect to the web. At that time, companies realized they needed a new set of skills that they historically had not valued or needed. They went out seeking those skills, but at the time, many didn't know what they didn't know." ...

Most experts believe that radio and other businesses are going blindly into the use of social networking. All agree that you better outline a plan before you get heavily involved. Shawn Vincent, digital-marketing director for Brand Advance, an interactive-marketing agency says with social media, the real work begins after the launch because someone has to keep track of how people react to the campaign, then respond to their comments and switch gears if needed. That could require hiring someone capable of creating an overall digital strategy and employing a variety of online tools or simply adding someone who could monitor and respond to public comments on Facebook, Twitter and other social-media websites." ...

10 Timeline Memories:
1.1922] Birth of a station: KQV Pittsburgh is licensed and launched and I am proud to be one of the former program directors of the legendary station (1/9)…
2.1953] Dropping a bomb: President Harry S. Truman announces the development of the H-bomb (1/7)…
3.1956] Premiered on this date: Abigail Van Buren’s ‘Dear Abby’ first appears in newspapers (1/9)…
4.1982] Ring my bell: American Telephone & Telegraph settles the Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit against it by agreeing to divest itself of the 22 Bell System companies. They were broken into ‘baby’ Bell’s (1/8)…
5.1989] Going to Hall: Carl Yastrzemski and Johnny Bench are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame (1/9)…
6.1992] A landslide election: Tom Seaver of the Mets is elected to Baseball’s Hall of Fame with the highest (98.8%) percentage of votes in history. Seaver won 311 games (1/7)...
7.1994] Guilty as charged: Tonya Harding wins the U.S. Lady’s Figure Skating Championship in Detroit but is stripped of the title for involvement in the Nancy Kerrigan knee bashing (1/8)…
8.2005] “D-I-V-O-R-C-E“: Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston separate after 4 years of marriage. ‘Bradgelina’ becomes part of the Hollywood vocabulary (1/7)…
9.2007] Ring my bell: Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveils the iPhone (1/9)...
10.2009] Blago bagged: The Illinois House votes to impeach Gov. Rod Blagojevich who's facing federal corruption charges. Blago is removed from office by the state Senate later in the month (1/9)...

Music Memories:

"Happy Birthday...happy birthday": (1/7) Jon Lester (27), Nicolas Cage (47), Katie Couric (54), David Caruso (55), Kenny Loggins (63), Jann Wenner (65), Bob Kwest (68), Paul Revere (73) and William Peter Blatty ("Rosemary's Baby")(83)...(1/8) Mike Reno (Loverboy) (56), David Bowie (64), Yvette Mimieux (69), Stephen Hawking (69), (Little) Anthony Gourdine (71), Bob Eubanks (73), Shirley Bassey (74), Charles Osgood (78) and Larry Storch (88)...(1/9) Kate Middleton (29), Dave Matthews (44), Crystal Gayle (60), David Johansen aka Buster Poindexter (61), Jimmy Page (67), Susannah York (72), Joan Baez (70), Dick Enberg (76), Bart Starr (77) and Judith Krantz (83)...

Timeline Countdown: NFL Wildcard Playoff Games this weekend, 8 Days until the NFL Divisional Playoffs, 9 days until MLK Day, 16 days until the Conference Championships & 30 days until SB XLV...



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