"The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. There comes a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or what you will, and the solution comes to you and you don't know how or why. All great discoveries are made in this way." Albert Einstein

"I get the facts, I study them patiently, I apply imagination." Bernard Baruch

"Either do not attempt at all, or go through with it." Ovid

Today's image: Royal Poinciana by Sanibeljac. Wonderful. Thank you for sharing.

"It's all in the casting"

That's wisdom attributed to the great directors. Steven Spielberg said "I feel that 40% of my creative effort has been realized once the people have been cast in the film. I use actors to service me in what I'm doing." [via]

This blogger holds a few truths to be self-evident including this one...

"We believe the recruitment, development and retention
of exceptionally gifted talent is the wellspring of every great enterprise."

Your business is only as good as the talent involved. The potential of your venture is equal to the potential of the talent engaged. The most critically important job of the manager is to recruit, develop and retain exceptionally gifted talent. Talent = Everybody. As Tom Peters has written...

Your brand = Your talent

Radio programming ace and marketing maven Lee Arnold pays tribute to Dick Meeder, the best manager he never worked for and in the process tells a good story and talks leadership..

"...Some were great at what they did. Some were 'dear' friends. Some left me alone to do my job. Others meddled constantly. Some were generous and out going. Some were cheap. Some were leaders. Some were afraid of leaders."

Read Lee's post here. Bravos, Lee!

Word to the wise: General Georges Doriot, Harvard Business School professor and president of American Research and Development (ARD)...

• One should not only be able to criticize but should always have a suggestion to make.
• Ask about prospects who didn't buy product.
• Always challenge the statement that nothing can be done about a certain condition.

My thanks to Fred Wilson for sharing these quotations. More here. Fred added another Doriot quote, a killer, via Tumblr "A team made up of the younger generation, with courage and inventiveness, together with older men of wisdom and experience, should bring success." Fred is taking these quotes from the book - Creative Capital by Spencer E. Ante [Amazon info]


Memorial Day 2008.

A day to remember.

The joys of our liberty were purchased by those who paid the ultimate price.

No matter your politics, those women and men who wear the uniform, those who once wore the uniform, honorably, deserve our respect and appreciation.

Those that put themselves into harms way in our name deserve more than they're getting.

This is especially true with regard to the discussions concerning a new revised GI bill. Let your elected representatives know how you feel about this important issue.

Image: Half-Mast by Tom Rydquist. Thanks for sharing.

Bonus: Tag Galaxy. [Related - backstory via Mashable]


Congrats & cheers: WGN America. Sean Compton, Randy Michaels, Lee Abrams & crew on the rebranding of Superstation WGN. Kipper McGee and company at WLS. The Big 89 Rewind is a smash. Kudos to Jim Smith for cooking a very cool, tight music log. [Related - Sneak of Art's 2008 video via YouTube]. NASA & JPL on the Phoenix Mars Lander touch down. HBO, Recount!

Grapes - overlooked reds: Some good values in red table wine under $10. Secret de Campane 2006 (60% Grenache, 30% Old Carignan, 10% Cinsault). Beringer Founders' Estate, Merlot 2004. Bogle Merlot 2005.

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; the essential is invisible to the eye." Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"An original writer is not one who imitates nobody, but one whom nobody can imitate." Francois-Rene de Chateaubriand

"Comedy is the blues for people who can't sing." Chris Rock

Today's image: Certain Angles by Celine C. Awesome shot. Thank you for sharing.

Today, we welcome Joel Denver as special guest blogger. As my readers from radio are no doubt aware Joel is president and publisher of All Access. Previously, Joel served with distinction as a talent and programming executive at a variety of major market radio stations. From baby dj to one of the industry's most successful entrepreneurs, Joel has been celebrated for his dedication and passion. He and his organization have consistently demonstrated generosity in their support of important continuing professional education programs for industry. Joel was the founding sponsor of The Conclave College making that event possible. He writes in response to yesterdays writing by Kelly O'Keefe on the subject of Radio 2020 and the Radio Heard Here campaign.

Kelly,

Well done! You have laid out some grand ideas and thoughts -- and I would like to see more detail on these bulletpoints:

*Encouraging users to fully explore the variety of content available to them

*Stimulating usage in new ways and places

*Generating positive discussion about radio - particularly among young listeners

*Communicating progress in content, technology and education

*Developing and supporting a growing community of radio evangelists

Our industry is long on broad generalities and is often short on specifics or actionable moves that will make a difference.

We are long on AM -- what I call "apparent motion." Look, we're doing something -- it may not work, but we're doing something.

I've been in radio since 15 years of age and my passion for it is unending. It's all I've ever done is be involved with radio.

I am, however, not a fan of window dressing. Unless what's in the box is as pretty as the fancy outside packaging ... well you know the punchline here.

Also, I'm not a fan of not knowing when to cut losses -- as in the current direction we are taking with HD Radio.

That's blashphemy, I know -- but there, I've said it.

If these formats on HD are so great, why aren't broadcasters putting them on standard AM or FM frequencies where they can be heard?

Maybe they should!

The unit sales of HD Radio is slow -- and in a tight economy how many folks are going to rush out to buy a new radio? Is it essential?

The truth is there is an intern programming many of these HD stations -- cutting their teeth learning how to use a Music Master, Selector, or PowerGold -- and the overworked PD hasn't the time to devote to teaching them the fine points of it all.

Suggestion: Let's focus on fixing the content on AM & FM to raise ratings and revenues and rebuild confidence in our content to keep younger listeners using radio for years to come. Let's make radio essential again!

And, let's focus on using the Internet to help spread the power of radio -- everyone has a computer, and the beginnings of Internet is already in your cars!

Thanks for your time!

Joel Denver

Thanks to Joel for his comments. Join the conversation. Add your comments. [Related: original post by Kelly O'Keefe here, today's guest blog first appeared as a comment here]

Bonus: Your tax dollars at work. Census Atlas of the United States

Congrats & cheers: Randy Michaels named Tribune COO.

"If all else fails, immortality can always be achieved by a spectacular mistake." J.K. Galbraith

"A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds." Francis Bacon

"The secret isn't counting the beans, it's growing more beans." Roberto Goizueta

Today's image: The 3 Croakers by Fred Winston. Beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

The Gillmor Gang - Emergency Edition 05.03.08, Podcast/MP3 audio (68:18) - Steve Gillmor, Mike Arrington, Doc Searls, Robert Scoble, Dan Farber, Dana Gardner and Robert Anderson. Discussion of the Yahoo-Microsoft mess. Is Yahoo toast? Is Google the big winner? Microsoft to fight another day? They need to become a player in the advertising space. Steve says "Yahoo sounds like the car companies in Detroit in the seventies and eighties, they're gonna get their clocks cleaned." Kudos guys, good show. Related: Scoble's "discussion" proves a perfect illustration of the power that is the FriendFeed app, behold - check it out here.

Can I get an Amen: My thought is CBS would benefit getting Michael Rosenblum involved in a radical reinvention of the 6:30...

"CBS News is now at one of those places where, because they are in so much trouble, (ratings keep dropping to new lows each week), they could.. they could… take a really radical step. They could trash the whole unworkable system and create a very interesting digital newsroom where they could (could) hire the best journalists in the world today (look at places like Huffington Post for starters), and kick ass. With their budgets the could do it in a heartbeat!" Read the entire post Requiem for a Network.

But wait, there's more...

"Local TV stations are in trouble. They are losing viewers and they are big, ungainly, inefficient and not cost effective. They are the children of what is now an increasingly archaic technology. Local stations in major markets employ upwards of 250 people or more to put 8 or 9 camera crews and reporters on the streets every day to gather ‘news’. Is this cost effective? Does it make sense?" Read Michael's entire post, Are Newspapers Poised to Replace Local TV Stations. Randy Michaels and team Tribune would be wise to invite Michael into their discussions.

Bravos to Michael!

Video: Jim Cramer - CBS Should Go Private "...The company is the proof that primetime is not a great business anymore."

Bonus: YouTube video - Amen Break (18:08) "The world's most important 6-second drum loop."

Quizzes by Quibblo.com

George Eastman - "You press the button, we do the rest" Interesting talk by Peter Merholz: Experience is the Product. From Kodak to Apple, developing solutions. Technology > Features > Experience (Video - 47:46) Highly recommended. Aside - great to see folks catching up with the Tom Peters' experience meme.

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"The spectacle has changed, but our eyes are the same." Joseph Joubert

"The surest - also the quickest - way to awake the sense of wonder in ourselves is to look intently, undeterred, at a single object. Suddenly, miraculously, it will reveal itself as something we have never seen before." Cesare Pavese

"Don't let your people fall into a rut. Keep leading them along new paths, blazing new trails. Give them a sense of adventurous pioneering." David Ogilvy

Today's image: in vino veritas by Fred Winston. Outstanding! Thanks for sharing.

Here's a look at the Chicago 07 radio revenues in relation to audience. The revenue per listener (rpl) calc is simple arithmetic, weekly 12+ cume divided into revenue.

2007 RPL Rank, (06 rpl rank), Station, Rev per listener 07 (rpl 06), 07 cume rank, [07 rev rank] - top twenty stations. Stations in bold improved rank and rpl year over year.

1. (2) WSCR - $52.03 ($47.30) #22 [#8]

2. (1) WGN - $45.66 ($55.31) #5, [#2]
3. (5) WXRT - $42.46 ($45.19) #20 [#11]
4. (7) WLEY - $40.89 ($41.92) #21 [#15]
5. (4) WTMX - $40.88 ($45.53) #6, [#3]
6. (3) WOJO - $40.68 ($47.14) #16 [#7]
7. (8) WUSN - $40.18 ($40.16) #10, [#5]

8. (9) WBBM-AM - $37.83 ($37.53) #1, [#1]
9. (11) WLS - $36.61 ($35.13) #19 [#12]
10. (10) WVAZ - $32.96 ($36.64) #11 [#9]
11. (13) WMVP - $32.60 ($29.24) #23 [#18]
12. (14) WGCI - $30.71 ($29.23) #4 [#4]
13. (12) WLIT - $30.45 ($29.96) #8 [#6]

14. (15) WDRV - $26.30 ($28.23) #9 [#14]
15. (17) WLUP - $23.99 ($23.18) #13 [#16]
16. (19) WKQX - $23.20 ($22.33) #18 [#19]
17. (6) WCFS - $22.33 ($44.85)

18. (22) WBBM-FM - $19.08 ($17.23) #3 [#10]
19. (21) WNUA - $18.40 ($19.86) #7 [#17]
20. (18) WJMK - $18.39 ($22.97) #14 [#20]
21. (20) WILV - $17.88 ($20.48)
22. (23) WKSC - $15.67 ($13.26) #2 [#13]
23. (24) WZZN - $9.56 ($10.17)

What's on your dashboard?

To manage it you have to measure it. What are you measuring?

Revenue per associate, revenue per seller, revenue per sq foot, revenue per, well, everything. What is critical here is that you are tracking stuff. Metrics, measures, gotta have them...

Daily

The most effective measurement approach is to adopt a retail mindset, think daily metrics.

What did we do today?

Start a track of daily sales, daily collections, daily DSO, daily pending, daily interviews of applicants for jobs posted, daily inventory loads, daily visitors and page views at your sites, daily thank you notes mailed, daily everything.

The world and your business works minute-by-minute. Daily measures will keep you in touch with what's happening and what's not happening in your enterprise. Daily provides you the information needed to take action while you can still influence what's happening. Over time you will develop a sense for how things are going, you will be able to see through the numbers and benefit from a richer understanding.

Closed circuit to Radio CEOs - Part two of a series

Thank You

How many dead tree, hand-written, to be delivered by uniformed federal employees (USPS) thank you notes did you send yesterday? To corp staff? To the field (the new hire, the seller that closed that big order, the talent that did that killer remote, the traffic director that came in on a holiday weekend)? To customers (the first timer, the loyal no matter the ranker buyer)? To business partners (the national rep that got you on that buy, the web hosting service that kept you live 99.9% of last month)? To the press? To your state association CEOs? How many did your market managers send? Your department heads? Your sellers?

Dan Kelley, the guy who covers Classic Rock radio programming and promotion the way Willie Mays used to cover centerfield, adds Your airstaff? - Wonderful, YES! Notes to listeners (and notes to clients which are always a big surprise). Thanks Dan.

My thought is you and your team are only as good as the number of thank you notes you're sending daily.

If you are not sending thank you notes you are not doing the things that are important, the work that matters.

Thank you notes. Dead tree, hand-written. Emails don't count, phone calls don't count. Hand-written thank you notes count.

Daily.

Yeah, I know, nobody does this.

That is why it is dramatically different, it helps to set you and your team apart, that's why it works 100% of the time.

Put it on your dashboard and watch it, daily.

Congrats & cheers: Randy Michaels reinvents the employee handbook. Rule #1: Use your best judgment. Rule #2: See Rule #1. Common sense - what a concept. Just what Tribune needed. Dial up the fun. Bravos, Randy! Molly Selvin writes up Randy and Sam via LAT here.

Let the games begin: Gawker to Cruise and the Church of Scientology - Drop dead.

Marshall Kirkpatrick offers up Perspective: Myspace Still Kicking Facebook's Ass in Traffic via ReadWriteWeb here. Data chart by Hitwise.

Image:
Hugh MacLeod

Thanks Hugh!







"Trifles make perfection and perfection is no trifle." Michelangelo

The State of the News Media 2007, the annual report by the Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ is a part of the Pew Research Center) mentions seven new major trends...

1. News organizations need to do more to think through the implications of this new era of shrinking ambitions.
2. The evidence is mounting that the news industry must become more aggressive about developing a new economic model.
3. The key question is whether the investment community sees the news business as a declining industry or an emerging one in transition.
4. There are growing questions about whether the dominant ownership model of the last generation, the public corporation, is suited to the transition newsrooms must now make.
5. The Argument Culture is giving way to something new, The Answer Culture.
6. Blogging is on the brink of a new phase that will probably include scandal, profitability for some, and a splintering into elites and non-elites over standards and ethics.
7. While journalists are becoming more serious about the Web, no clear models of how to do journalism online really exists yet, and some qualities are still only marginally explored.

You may access the full report here. Congrats and kudos to Amy Mitchell, Tom Rosenstiel and all involved in the project.

Fish stinks at the head first: From the Overview text of the PEJ report...

"The character of the next era, far from inevitable, will likely depend heavily on the quality of leadership in the newsroom and boardroom. If history is a guide, (be it Adolph Ochs, Ted Turner, or Google) it will require renegades and risk-takers to break from the conventional path and create new directions."

Renegades and risk-takers are exactly what we need.

Sam Zell may just be the perfect guy to buy Tribune. Thomas S. Mulligan has done a good job of reporting on the possible Zell-Tribune hookup via LAT - Zell's past may hint at plan for Tribune here. (Mulligan mentions the Barron's article wherein Zell claimed to have pocketed $1.3 billion on his $70 mil investment in Randy Michaels' Jacor. Should Sam prevail would he spin off Trib's broadcasting assets to Randy? Might be a good fit for the broadcast portfolio of Oak Hill Capital Partners. Plus Randy's deep understanding of radio, his passion for talk, and his rare appreciation for big stations with lots of moving parts would be serious advantages for WGN. And...what a great first move back into the radio biz.)

Hot, very hot: Proof positive you don't need a big marketing budget to have a big hit. Behold. Twitter. Related: Twitter blog.

The smell of burning cash: Ogg & Barnes calculate the burn rate and time left for the pay radio guys. XM $129.8 mil per month/10.8 months. Sirius $123 mil per month/8.4 months. Read their analysis here.

Bonus: WORDCOUNT

Bonus 2: SXSW Web Awards Finalists