"Magic doesn't come to those who don't expect it." Diana Vreeland

"The future has several names. For the weak, it is impossible; for the fainthearted, it is unknown; but for the thoughtful and valiant, it is ideal." Victor Hugo

"Storytelling reveals meaning, without committing the error of defining it." Hannah Arendt

Today's image: lined and ready by Darwin Bell. Great shot. Thank you for sharing.

Everything is impossible until it's done

Excellent post by Web 2.0 ace Steve Safran, Forbidden or compulsory: newsroom culture and the hive mentality...

"It's all impossible until it's not. Then it's required. And here lies a serious flaw in newsroom judgment...How many times have you heard of the news manager who saw blogs or some other feature on another site and insisted the next day the station's site have that feature? We follow, and we do it with ease. We are told something is 'Not Done,' so we don't do it. Then, once it's 'Done,' we do it.

What's the problem with this? It doesn't take experimentation into account. In this binary language, we don't have the luxury of 'Not Done, But Try It Out.' We don't get the message that something is 'Done, But May Not Be Right For Us.'

The media revinvention (sic) requires the reinvention of this code. We have to experiment and be there first."

Bravos, Steve! Spot-on. Read Steve's entire post here.

Charming and delightful: Little Tommy's video intro used at the NAB Radio Hall of Fame induction of Superjock, Ol Uncle Lar here. My thanks to radio programming ace John Rook for the tip. Kudos to all involved.

Off the charts, still in our hearts: Legendary radio star Big Ron O'Brien passes. Dan Kelley remembers and links here.

Mileage may vary: The first tribe of wireless has had a problem with successfully telling its own story since those FM with pictures guys crashed the party. The latest initiative to tackle this creative self-promotion challenge is Radio 2020 a collaboration involving NAB, RAB and the HD Radio Alliance. Predictably, the early reviews are mixed. My friend Kurt Hanson thinks the campaign is misguided. Kurt's post w/comments here. Rather than opine on the creative I'll stand on the critical need for transparency (related post here). Until we get serious and start keeping score this new initiative will remain another brawl without rules. It's fighting about whether a tune is a hit or not after an out of the box first listen, making a final call without benefit of time, research or charts. About as much sense as arguing about how successful a station is without Arbitron and Miller-Kaplan. Keeping this thing at a purely subjective level is just not lucky, playing smash or trash here is less than smart. My thought is that's the last thing we need. Could we please get some adult supervision into the mix. Disclosure, transparency, and serious industry conversation/collaboration are the right things to do. I remain optimistic; you gotta start somewhere and they do deserve kudos (they are not yet getting) for blogging here (George Williams) and here (Doug Zanger). Blog on guys! Related: Branding ace Kelly O'Keefe blogs here. Closed circuit to Debbie Durben - would you please link to the campaign from your domain. A confused buyer, planner, CMO, writer (insert decision maker/thought leader/key influencer here) we don't need. Fix this on the landing page? Help, SEO issues here.

Bonus: Who's Your City. Good stuff. Kudos and thanks to Richard Florida and team. Make sure you check out maps and best cities.

Tonight's hot ticket in Chicago is free: The Second City hosts a chat about bigger than life icon, the great Del Close. In celebration of the new Kim "Howard" Johnson book about Del. Event info. Book info via Amazon.

Congrats & cheers: Carrier, Icon, WETA & PBS. "Life, liberty and the pursuit of all who threaten it." An American Family revisited. This round starring a serious boat, water, warbirds and the US Navy Family. Radio star Alan Kabel in the air with the new syndi offering, 2nd Shift via Entercom. Winter winners, WBLS, #1 25-54 in the city, Z100 leads 18-34, 1010 WINS w/ Lee Harris takes morning drive 12+. OMD on getting Intel inside. John Gallagher, prexy and general manager of WLS radio steps down after leading the charge for three years, stay tuned.

Who do you trust? Data and chart courtesy of Forrester. Click on chart to enlarge. My thanks to Josh Bernoff for sharing.

"The victory of success is half won when one gains the habit of work." Sarah K. Bolton

"The fact that people do not understand and respect the very best things, such as Mozart's concertos, is what permits men like us to become famous." Johannes Brahms

"When I die, I'm leaving my body to science fiction." Steven Wright

Today's image: Atardece el sol by Hernan P. Wonderful. Thank you for sharing.

Good reads: Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies by Charlene Li and Josh Burnoff. (Amazon info, blog) The Wealth of Networks by Yochai Benkler (WikiNotes, free PDF download). Both highly recommended.

Congrats & cheers: Steve Safran bows MediaReinvent now in Very Beta. Add it to your reader.

A call for disclosure and transparency
Promise vs Performance

The NAB, RAB and HD Radio Alliance have joined forces to create the Radio 2020 initiative. The HD Radio Alliance is now in the second quarter of their third calendar year of efforts and running their second campaign of radio creative ("Upgrade") so far this year.

Opinions of the ongoing efforts by the HD Radio Alliance and early judgments of Radio 2020 are mixed. For the purposes of this post let's stipulate that the goals and objectives of both Radio 2020 and the HD Radio Alliance are the stuff of noble ambition. Further, let's agree, without objection, that the magnitude of resources being invested is not insignificant. Therefore, it seems fair and reasonable to ask "What's the ROI?" My thought is - absent all of any industry feel good generated by these endeavors - what measurable results are being produced? It's time for some pragmatism about execution.

Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely - S.M.A.R.T.

Radio 2020 and the HD Radio Alliance will each benefit by establishing goals and openly sharing those with industry.

Scorecards.

Once goals are established related scorecards should be created.

Let me suggest scorecards be behavior focused and employ standards. For Radio 2020 a number of metrics are now available including ratings and share of ad spend. For example, should the goals of Radio 2020 be to improve 18-34 listening levels and increase share of ad spend, performance against these goals can be tracked. For the HD Radio Alliance we'll need retail sales data (e.g., NPD) to determine if the current drive to upgrade is working and if so how effectively.

Perceptual research involving consumers, customers and industry can be valuable in gaining a better understanding of expressed behaviors. Additionally research could help "course correct" initiatives providing insights into any patterns, trends or changes in perceptions, attitudes, values and beliefs.

Accountability separates the schnapsidee from the serious.

We need to be able to recognize and differentiate activity and progress. We also need to be able to grasp the true context of any progress. Therefore, leadership of Radio 2020 and the HD Radio Alliance should commit to nothing less than full and complete disclosure. Transparency will ensure a more robust and honest industry discussion. Moreover, transparency will provide a clarity of focus and the safeguards needed to lessen if not prevent ineffective investment of valuable resources.

It is in the best interest of all involved that leadership be held accountable for producing results. For this to happen we have an urgent need for specifics, a need for the deep detail; we need to know the goals and we need to know the results being produced. We need to have a serious and open industry discussion about what's happening and what's not happening. The work of Radio 2020 and the HD Radio Alliance should be work that matters, work that makes a difference.

Let's agree, the potential benefits of this work merit nothing less than full and complete disclosure.

Transparency will more fully engage an industry, promote a deeper, richer creative collaboration and it's the right thing to do.

"I have learned that it pays to fight for concepts and causes that may appear unpopular at the moment, rather than following the course of quick and easy agreement." Leo Burnett

Great to catch up with Dennis Lyle, President & CEO of Illinois Broadcasters. Illinois will join Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio in staging a super-sized summer conference. July 8-10 at French Lick, Indiana. Great idea!

Congrats & cheers: Ira Glass and his This American Life crew win a Peabody. Todd Cavanah VP/PD for Chicago's WBBM-FM adds oversight of co-owned Jack FM. (My thanks to Robert Feder for both tips here. Good to have you back Robert.)

Complete list 2006 Peabody winners: Kudos to HBO, Ugly Betty, The Office, StoryCorps, CBS News, our favorite Food Network dude Alton Brown and all the winners. Winners list here.

Ready for his closeup: The Man Who Would Change Microsoft: Ray Ozzie's Vision for Connected Software via Knowledge@Wharton here:

"What we as an industry need to deliver are seamless experiences -- however those things are accomplished -- to do the appropriate thing in the browser and the appropriate thing on a laptop or on a device to solve that problem.

So the way I view it is, first generation 'software as a service' really just meant browser. Second generation means weave together hardware, software and services to accomplish a specific solution.

The iPod is a great example of that. You have hardware, the embedded software on the device and an associated [online] service. The BlackBerry is another great example [of the combination of] hardware, software and service. The Xbox is a terrific example -- you've got amazing software in the games, hardware to support it and Xbox Live as a service."

"Is it difficult to compete with somebody who has executed as well in search as Google? Absolutely. We've spent the last few years putting some amazing people on it and the core relevance of search has increased progressively.

But I think you will find that Microsoft will take a different approach toward search than simply trying to copy Google's success. History has shown that any time you have a fairly significant market leader, the best way of competing is not to just simply take the same approach. You have to find your own unique approach. And Microsoft has a number of different ways that we could do that because of the different touch points we have with the market and how people use our products."

The emphasis and boldface above is mine. To count Microsoft out would be a significant error. Ozzie is driving things forward and doing so with the right attitude - they have to develop their own unique approach.

Survey says: Fred Jacobs is blogging about his firm's latest research - Tech Survey III. 25,000 rock radio listeners weigh in on all things tech. When asked to select the most important new feature they wanted in an MP3 player 33% of respondents said FM tuner. Read more here. Bravos and thanks to Fred and his Jacobs Media team for sharing the findings and for taking a leadership role in fielding the research.

Bonus: Steve Safran shares his "Things Viewers Never, Ever Say" to wit: "The police want MY help in solving this crime. Cool." Part One here. Part Two here. Steve's update, "Things Web Viewsers Never, Ever Say" here. Bravo Steve! Very well done.

"I don't know" Sam Zell. Now there's the sign of one very smart guy. He has the courage to admit, to say out loud "I don't know." Read the Sam Zell - Tribune interview here.

Which reminds me of something said by one of my heroes, Richard Saul Wurman...

"Perhaps the three principles closest to my heart - and the most radical - are learning to accept your ignorance, paying more attention to the question than to the answer, and never being afraid to go in an opposite direction to find a solution."

Nothing but a guess dept: What if? Should Tribune be required to spin broadcast. Here is one happy ending...TV to Randy Michaels accretive to his NYT portfolio. WGN Radio and Cubs to Emmis. WGN Radio would also be accretive to the portfolios of Dan Mason's CBS and Farid Suleman's Citadel/ABC. Of course the dark horse bet would be ESPN. Please allow me to mark 30 saying "I don't know."

"ABC put up what we call a 'lower third' with my name and identity. It has been a longstanding newsroom joke of mine that you are defined by whatever you were doing at the time of a news story. Hence, if you are hit by a car, you are a 'pedestrian'...Well, sure enough, I was listed as 'Steve Safran: Blogger.' There it is. The summary of my life in one word. 'Blogger.' I want to stress that, as a former TV news producer, I had this coming." Steve Safran

Congrats to Steve for being the first to crack the code, break and (with Cory) own the story on the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim-Mooninites stunt. Read Steve's 15 hours of fame: my day as a media whore here. Steve's LR colleague Cory Bergman asks the right "after-action" question Any publicity is good publicity, right? Cory's post with comments here. Congrats & Bravo to Steve and Cory! Outstanding coverage. Related: Jaffe tags the "Boston mass-a-scare" as "ugly stuff" and invites your comments here. My sense is Boston, unlike the other DMAs involved, failed to put this stunt into proper perspective, crisis management thin on good judgment calls. Further, the tone of Boston's "response" leads this former reporter to question...did 819, or others involved, "spike" the stunt, after days without notice? A "concerned citizen" call to the police or some other "look at me" stuff, the kind of thing that would demand police attention? A coup de theatre gone wrong? btw, Boston Mooninites is #1 on Technorati as I post this. CNN's Boston storyline here. Boston Globe's Michael Levenson, Maria Cramer and staff write Marketing gambit exposes a wide generation gap here. UPDATE: Turner accepts blame, agrees to pay $1 million via Boston Globe's Michael Levenson, Raja Mishra and staff here

Seth Godin writes on Creativity...

"99% of the time, in my experience, the hard part about creativity isn't coming up with something no one has ever thought of before. The hard part is actually executing the thing you've thought of. The devil doesn't need an advocate. The brave need supporters, not critics."

Agree with Seth, however, getting "the thing" green lighted is increasingly difficult. While Virgil and Seth are correct - fortune favors the daring ("audentes fortuna iuvat") - the mediocre, the safe, not the daring, gets the majority of green lighting. It was ever thus. The dirty little secret is we are too often working harder to get better at executing ideas of lesser consequence. The "big idea" as defined by the legendary George Lois might be a scary, dangerous experiment. Years ago I engaged George to create a campaign for one of our New York city properties. His "big idea" was brilliant (it reached that certain threshold the great Scot Ogilvy once established: "it takes your breath away"). Knowing George had created the perfect creative solution we set the pitch meeting. As I watched George pitch his amazing idea it became evident, the suits were scared. We later went with another idea. Our boring, safe, researched creative, the one everyone agreed was "fine" and "on message" was executed perfectly...without any meaningful result. My suggestion is we added to the clutter on that one, we helped to raise the noise floor. We have all walked out of a movie theater, seen a billboard, a TV commercial, a POP and said "what were they thinking?" The average executed to perfection is, well, average. Wasn't it also Ogilvy that said you can't bore the customer into buying?

Execution is certainly critical and Seth might well be right that it's the last 99% of the job (Edison arrived at a similar finding "success being 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration"). However, leadership with the courage to green light the big idea, that 1%, is priceless. The right 1% remains elusive because it has risk and a measure of fight baked into it. The big ideas are out there and they win big. Perhaps the greatest recent success in wealth creation, YouTube, happened only when two young dudes all but said "copyright badges, we don't need no stinking copyright badges"...their execution was daring, messy, users posting copyrighted material created extreme exposure. Lawyers, and other grown ups would have killed their idea at any company of size on the ip issues alone. More than one critic said, before the sale, "these guys are not making money, their gonna get sued, when the copyrighted material comes down their traffic will vanish, their platform is shaky, two kids with a case of red bull could create what they have created over a weekend but it's still not a business." They were right. Nobody liked it but the users. The big idea will out!

LATER: Breaking...Viacom demands that Google pull more than 100K clips from YouTube. Staci is on the story via paidContent here