Friday, May 02, 2008

"All the fun's in how you say a thing." Robert Frost

"A good style should show no sign of effort. What is written should seem a happy accident." Somerset Maugham

"Do one thing, and do it so well that people will return and bring their friends with them." Walt Disney


Today's image: Cannon Beach's Sunrise by Arnold Pauteau. Beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

The one, the only, Superjock: Thanks to radio programming ace John Rook for the tip. The Larry Lujack acceptance speech at his induction into the NAB Radio Hall of Fame. Video courtesy of Bob Hamilton via his New Radio Star here. Bravos, Larry!

Bonus: What makes a design "Googley"? Sue Factor, a writer in Google's User Experience Group, shares some insights...

1. Focus on people—their lives, their work, their dreams.
2. Every millisecond counts.
3. Simplicity is powerful.
4. Engage beginners and attract experts.
5. Dare to innovate.

The complete list of ten and more here. Kudos to Sue and thanks for sharing.

They're not users: Some chatter recently suggesting radio listeners be called, simply, users. The suggestion encouraged by the things listeners do beyond listening (e.g., visiting your web site). Not able to agree with that notion. First, job one is getting folks to listen; listeners are special, heavy listeners are priceless, neither should ever be taken for granted. What's in play here is attention (and that yet to be defined vogue term of art - engagement). Getting listening credit remains the critical economic engine, we're in the business of audio first no matter the platform. Second, your listeners can also play a variety of other roles including visitor, sponsor, patron, game player, winner, friend, member, evangelist, caller, et al., the more the better. Third, user is anachronistic, pre-cluetrain vocabulary. The words of that famous Chris Locke gif are relevant here, to wit "we are not seats or eyeballs or end users or consumers. we are human beings - and our reach exceeds your grasp. deal with it." The habit we have to break is "thinking of business as a way to 'capture,' 'own' and 'manage' customers." As Doc Searls reminds "Relationships are voluntary." Let me add, relationships are precious.

Word to the wise: Tom Asacker, again, favors us with a post that's a must-read...

"...instead of developing models to explore the mysteries, most established brands are moving into the madness phase as they place more and more emphasis and pressure on their worn-out methods. Successful brands will continue to come and go. But the great ones will discover answers to and methods to leverage the new marketplace mysteries of their time. Will you?"

Bravos, Tom! Well said. Read Tom's entire post here.

Tom's writing reminds me of a quotation by Canadian banker Leon Courville...

"Management, a science? Of course not, it's just a wastepaper basket full of recipes which provided the dish of the day during a few years of plenty and economic growth. Now the recipes are inappropriate and the companies which persist in following them will disappear."

Congrats & cheers: 2008 Radio-Mercury Awards finalists. Thanks to Doug Zanger for the tip. She's back - Amanda set to return, sometimesdaily and Monday is the debut. Don't miss it if you can.

All together different: Jump over and enjoy French made Radio Deliro. Bravos to presenter and programmer Sylvain Robert. Got some really cool audio you'd like to share? Please pass along your favs via comments. Thank you very much.

See you next week with a brand new show. Have a wonderful weekend.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

David, my guilty pleasure listening is worj.com an internet station I first heard of reading this blog.

Anonymous said...

Thank you David! That user thing strikes me as just another lame attempt by some to be cool. People in radio have gone internet crazy 1999 all over again. You are 110% correct about listeners. Next someone will start pushing that other 1999 meme "the group formerly known as the audience."

David Martin said...

Alex, thanks for stopping by. Hope all is well. Programming ace Lee Arnold is the driving force and wizard behind the very cool WORJ, glad you're tuned in.

Anon, actually I agree with the second meme in the sense that the audience is no longer as passive as they were when they were first given that label or tag. We have in fact moved from producer-centric to audience-centric media (TV or video being exhibit A). The rules of engagement are changing at a blinding velocity. Thanks for your comment.