On a Quest to Find What I Don't Know

Tueasday, December 16, 2014
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On a Quest to Find What I Don't Know

I have learned what I need, not all I wish to know. My life will never be dull. Even if productivity has a different meaning now that I've retired, finding out what I don't know remains exciting.

Retirement is when a person reaches a stage where they no longer wish to supply, or no longer have someone requesting their service. It doesn't mean one stops thinking or caring.

"The sheer volume of audio options is staggering, with the caveat that knowing of them is not the same as learning about them."

So consider this. Today I read that one radio company has tapped an individual for "...a newly created position...." This person will "...work with advertisers and agencies to create station events and other integrated media executions." Sounds like they'll be busy. As they say though, there's more. This person will remain national sales manager in their current two market assignments, plus absorb the responsibilities of that same title in a third market.

There is one question this retired thinker thought when reading the above. Does anyone expect exceptional performance from this person, at any of his four positions? If so, and pardon me for stating it, they are foolish.

Look across the industry at this loading-down of responsibility; the diluting of human resources has occurred so often that we hear radio is now mostly bare bones operations. You can tell this by the sound of its programming.

How aware are you of new audio competition or new ways to construct a radio program? If you are like the person described above, you have no time to expand knowledge or to find what you don't know.

The sheer volume of audio options is staggering, with the caveat that knowing of them is not the same as learning about them.

Since the dawn of the digital age, we have witnessed a treading of water by radio. Virtually all of its Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are flat or slipping. The amount of knowledge that's been created - yet not absorbed by those in radio - is like an ocean. Vast, complex, with some disciplines going deep enough as to require years of hands on experience prior to understanding.

Many items you learn about just before they vaporize. Social media is a great example of huge resources placed on a platform that's changed enough to make its return worth less than the effort. And, of course, Facebook is the 800-pound gorilla. Is this gorilla doing you good if only 6% of your fans are exposed to your post? That's supposed to drop to 1%-2% soon. Many managers won't research these tidbits prior to ordering time spent developing a Facebook page.

They don't know what they don't know, and don't have time to learn.

Here's the secret. You've heard where you don't need to know how an engine works to drive a car? In digital, you need to understand how its engines work, how they intertwine, and what is wasted time. (How many Market Managers have an active Facebook account? How can you expect those who don't to know how messaging on it is distributed, to create strategy?)

We're going into a new year. Until we get there, I'll be posting earlier items containing digitally-oriented information I bet you don't know.

You're smart. It doesn't have to be brought to your attention that digital is growing. Radio revenue and audience are not.

Make it a point in 2015 to learn what you don't know. It may save you from retiring, due to people no longer requesting your service because you stayed out of the loop in digital knowledge.

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