PRPD Webinars

PRPD Webinars are a benefit of membership in the organization.  From title to time we open webinars to the entire public radio system.  Below is a complete list of webinars we have presented, with links activated for those webinars that are available to non-members..

PRPD MEMBERS >  Webinar Page with all links

PRPD Webinars are overseen by the PRPD Training Committee. If you have any suggestions for topics or presenters, please let us know at info@prpd.org.

 

The Road Ahead: In-Car Media Trends with Larry Rosin   Slide Show
A new study says, "... broadcast radio dominates the choices for information and entertainment in the car ... At the same time, there is significant interest in the many new digital entertainment and information options for driving that are being developed every day."

Find out much more in our next PRPD Webinar for Members as Larry Rosin of Edison Research, which conducted the study with Arbitron and Scarborough, explains the findings of "The Road Ahead," which looks at consumer usage of 16 in-car media and entertainment choices.  The Road Ahead updates a similar study conducted in 2003, to provide a unique look at the changes and challenges in the in-car landscape over the past eight years, combined with a peek into the future of this crucial media space.

Larry Rosin has been involved with media for over 20 years, the last sixteen in audience research. Rosin has been recognized as one of the leading thinkers in the field, and advises many of the world’s largest media companies, including Time Warner, Sony, Disney/ABC and EMAP.

 

"Hostiness" with Marilyn Pittman

Explore the nuances and subtleties of 'hostiness' for both news/info and music shows. Topics include: bringing your authentic self to the airwaves, sharing your personality without overstepping journalism boundaries, moving fluidly from copy reading to extemporizing, and from hard news to 'hosting,' and finding creative ways to do the same old thing every day.

Marilyn Pittman is a veteran radio producer, writer, commentator, and voice coach to NPR stations since 1989. Pittman also teaches performance at U.C. Berkeley’s prestigious graduate school of journalism. She is a working director, narrator, and actor. Her weekly radio show, Out in the Bay, is heard on KALW in San Francisco, where she lives and still does stand-up comedy.

 

The Dark Secrets of the Online Overlords with Matt Thompson

You know what your audience is looking for when they turn on your radio station. But what is your web audience looking for when they come to your site? How do you build your audience online? And how do you catch their eye and get them to dig deeper on your site? There are lessons to learn from the blogging superstars such as Huffington Post, Gawker, and other high traffic sites.

Matt Thompson of NPR's Argo Project shares some of the lessons of the online superstars and shows us how we can use those tricks to better serve the public media audience.

Effective On-Air Promotion in the PPM Era 

On-air promotion remains an issue for many stations. In listening to Morning Edition on 100+ stations, MEGS found that “very few stations do on-air promotion consistently well.” Effective promotion in the PPM era requires different strategies. Some types of promotion are absolutely essential, others are less effective and not recommended.

Scott Williams and Peter Dominowski of the MEGS Team explain strategies for effective promotion based on PPM results, provide numerous audio examples, and discuss how to think about news and music programming to maximize the effectiveness of on-air promotion.

Joining them is Jeff Hansen, Program Director at KUOW in Seattle. After a recent promotion review of his station Jeff discusses changes he has made and shares some audio.

Making the Most of Facebook

We know many public radio listeners use Facebook. And by now many of our station's have a Facebook page. But how can we use Facebook effectively to connect with our audience? And how many truly understand what works, what's the proper role for Facebook and other social media, and what to avoid?

Lori Lewis, Digital & Social Media Strategist for Jacobs Media, looks at the things our stations should be doing on Facebook.  We discuss how Facebook need to be approached differently from other social media. And we'll learn ways we can evaluate how effective our efforts on Facebook are. 

A lively Q&A following the presentation brings up some important considerations in maximizing social media for your station.

Weekend Programming: Strategies For Success

Many news/talk and dual format stations have had great success with weekend programming. What sets them apart from underperforming stations?

Steve Olson, President of Audience Research Analysis shares his research and insights based on 37 years in the industry. One size doesn’t fit all but there are combinations of programs and strategies which attract core and fringe listeners. He discusses:

• When is “prime time listening” on weekends
• The most effective combination of national news/entertainment programs for weekend mornings (including repeats of Saturday shows on Sunday)
• What most stations do weekend afternoons
• What works best following PHC Saturday nights

PRTS3 - The Public Radio Technology Survey

The results of PRTS3 are back - and they are spectacular. Fred Jacobs, President of Jacobs Media, presents an overview of the latest findings in the fast-moving digital world of our listeners and users.

It's great data, and we have it trended for three years. And there are some amazing stories. Here a few highlights:

• Streaming is up, but so is awareness and usage of Pandora. 
• Social media participation has begun to slow down but is still an incredible phenomenon among public radio core listeners. They are VERY social. 
• Smartphone ownership continues to rapidly rise, and more and more public radio listeners are now downloading apps - necessitating the need for a cogent mobile strategy. 
• eReaders and tablets are coming...fast. They are the next big thing. 
• The gap between 25-54 listeners and those in the 55+ group are major factors in technology usage. 
• And for the first time, PRTS3 respondents are classified by their level of contribution - and there are media habit differences between these groups.

Latest Insights into Audience Pledge Drive Behavior

John Sutton returns to offer a PRPD Webinar on new understandings about audiences during pledge drives. Arbitron's PPM data confirm that audiences shrink and listening behaviors change during fund drives. Audiences also recover fairly quickly when the fund drive is over. See how this information can help you plan your fundraising strategies and facilitate faster audience recovery. YOU DON'T NEED TO BE IN A PPM MARKET TO BENEFIT from this information.

Federal Funding Update : A Conversation w/ NPR's Mike Riksen  (Audio only) -  Download  or play below

In this conversation on March 24, 2011, Mike Riksen, NPR Vice President for Policy and Representation, covered the latest developments in the federal funding and other pubradio policy issues.  Mike is the primary government relations position in the public radio system, responsible for policy development, advocacy, station and community engagement plans for NPR and the public radio system. 

This “webinar without pictures”, covered the latest in the efforts to sustain federal support and what can be expected in the near future. After an overview, an extensive Q&A session covered a wide range of issues now facing public broadcasting, especially focusing on what stations can and should be doing to help maintain the health of public broadcasting. 

Debunking The Myths From PPM

Warren Kurtzman, President and COO of Coleman Insights sheds light on many misunderstandings about how to position, program, promote and market radio stations under electronic audience measurement. This webinar will teach you about the tension between branding and content execution, what PPM can and cannot tell you about your station’s content, and more.

Even non-PPM market stations can learn a lot from this webinar... these new measures have changed assumptions about audiences everywhere. Its important to understand the insights while being able to avoid acting on the "myths".

What Everyone Needs to Know about Crisis Management and Why Does It Matter? Webinar (wmv)

The economy? The Gulf Oil Spill? Toyota’s faulty brakes? For us in public broadcasting, Juan William’s firing? The potential de-funding of public broadcasting? What is a crisis and is there really a way to manage one? PRPD put together a Webinar with two top crisis management experts:

Professor Ian Mitroff is widely acknowledged as the founder of the discipline of crisis management. Ian is the president and founder of Mitroff Crisis Management, a private consulting firm that specializes in the treatment of human-caused crises. He is a regular consultant to Fortune 500 companies, universities, and governmental and not-for-profit agencies.

He was joined by Lew Phelps, a crisis communications expert at Sitrick and Company and former head of public relations for three top Fortune 500 companies. PRPD Board member, Jim Russell, moderated.

They talk about the need for all companies and managers to plan for crises, why being reactive instead of proactive actually compounds the original crisis, and how planning for crises makes you an overall better manager. They show you why crisis management is relevant to you and how you can help your management team understand and participate in the planning.

Get a solid primer on the field, hear some great stories of mistakes made, crises overcome, and improve your critical skill set.

 

Difficult Conversations: Communication in Crisis   Webinar Recording (wmv)

Resources:   Prep worksheet:    Prep worksheet instructions    Difficult Conversations book info

A lot of the work we do as program directors, frankly, involves resolving conflict. And that's not a bad thing. Conflict comes up as a result of competing passions. With a likely fight in Congress over funding for public broadcasting and the recent issues involving NPR, many program directors were (and will continue to be) confronted by listeners and other constituencies. How do you deal with them? Often, in these difficult conversations, we find ourselves defensive or even offensive (in the sense of taking a stand "for" something).

 

In this webinar, Helen Barrington, PD at WFCR, Amherst, MA shared knowledge gained while earning a Master's in Conflict Resolution, offering some practical tools for dealing with passionate people. AND she suggests how to lead your staff in dealing with difficult situations.

Many of these tools can also be employed in preparing audiences for program/schedule changes and the "aftermath" of such changes. They are also helpful in dealing with difficult staff interactions.

 

 

The American Youth Study

Edison Research recently completed The American Youth Study 2010, a significant survey of the media and technology habits of America's 12-24 year-olds. A sequel to a study originally conducted by Edison in 2000, it sampled of today's 12-24 year-old Americans, and re-examines a cohort from the 2000 study - today's 22-34 year olds - to analyze how their tastes and habits have changed over the past decade.

 

Edison President, Larry Rosin, reviewed the first release from this dataset, subtitled "Radio's Future," focused on the music discovery and consumption habits of young Americans.

Lessons From MEGS to Mid-Days and ATC 

Some stations attending Morning Edition Grad School (MEGS) workshops have used MEGS principles in other dayparts.  "The MEGS Guys" from Strategic Programming Partners presented a primer of top priorities and best practices for use in All Things Considered, Mid-Days and the rest of your program schedule. Topics include best use of program clocks and strategic promotion.

This is part of an ongoing PRPD Webinar series with the MEGS team - Tim Emmons, Peter Dominowski & Scott Williams. They focus on elements of the MEGS workshop series and helping apply them to the entire station schedule.

 

Promoting New Media Services : Lessons from MEGS 

NPR's recent study of mid-day listening shows opportunities for stations streaming their signals - and also indicates many listeners don't know that service is there! We'll talk about promoting new media services and the place those promos should take in the overall station promotional strategy. The MEGS team offers insights gleaned from their workshops and years of promotion experience.

This is the first of a new ongoing PRPD Webinar series of webinars with the MEGS team; Tim Emmons, Peter Dominowski and Scott Williams. They will be focusing on elements of the MEGS workshop series and helping apply them to the entire station schedule.

 

Moving Forward on Diversity with NPR's Keith Woods - Webinar Recording (wmv)

What can you do to increase the diversity of your staff and content? What have others in public radio and other media done to find success with this perennial challenge?  PRPD and NPR have started with a core group of stations to understand the on-the-ground issues you face and seek to broaden that effort with this webinar.

Keith Woods, NPR’s VP for Diversity, presented this PRPD webinar about the opportunities out there to move the needle on diversity. We focus on:

• Ideas for tapping into a much more diverse talent pool
• Using outreach strategies to connect with audiences you seek
• Points of entry for including diversity in all programming
• Ways you can weave diversity into the fabric of your news and operations decision making

We field questions and offer other resources to help you keep moving forward. The conversation will continue in a General Session at the upcoming PRPD Public Radio Programming Conference in Denver.

 

Midday Audience Study - NPR News Listeners

NPR has teamed up with six Member stations and PRPD to learn more about what midday audiences are looking for on the air and online. The “Midday Audience Study” canvassed 8,000 listeners to find out why audiences turn off – or turn to – their local stations during the midday. Ben Robins at NPR Research presented the study's findings and suggests what you can do to improve your own station’s midday audience on the air and online -- and grab your community’s attention in an increasingly busy and media-saturated day.

 

Spreading the Zing: Re-imagining Public Media through Makers Quest 2.0

As producers, stations, and networks move out to non-broadcast platforms, many are asking "what is the picture of success for public media?" A new research paper, Spreading the Zing: Re-imagining Public Media through Makers Quest 2.0 contends that as we consider the impact of media work, we have an opportunity move beyond traditional measures which place strict emphasis on our most loyal, converged audience. This paradigm calls for us to put elements such as influence, relevance, and craft along side AQH, cume, or page clicks.

 "Zing" authors, Sue Schardt, Executive Director of the Association of Independents in Radio, Inc, and Jessica Clark, Director of the Future of Public Media project at American University's Center for Social Media were joined by Kara Oehler and Ann Heppermann of MQ2's Mapping Main Street for e a lively discussion about their new ideas in action.

Crowdsourcing

WNYC has been a leader in building meaningful social media connections with their online and listener audiences. Annie Shreffler highlights some of the many tips aimed at station producers in Crowdsourcing: A Fieldguide from WNYC and John Keefe  demonstrate the new mapping tool created for crowdsourcing that any producer can utilize to enhance a local news story.

Your Uncommon Economic Indicators, hosted on The Brian Lehrer Show. The project attracted hundreds of participants to leave photos, videos, phone calls and stories on its interactive web page and helped shaped the station's coverage

 

Online News - from Metrics to Actions  - Webinar Recording available for PRPD members

Public Media Metrics CEO, Mark Fuerst, looked at changes reshaping the websites of the leading public radio news stations: including, new content management systems, changes in design and navigation, staffing changes in the news department, and increasing the volume of stories posted in text (with pictures). In the most illuminating case, at WBUR.org, the change also involved taking advantage of the NPR API, with the following results: Between June 2009 and January 2010 the monthly pageviews for news pages at wbur.org rose from 78,000 in June to 358,000.

 

PMM has been tracking these changes through Google Analytics and this webinar looks at “the new wbur.org” and two other public radio news sites. It includes a short list of low-cost recommendations that could increase news traffic to station sites around the country.

Grow The Audience: An Overview - Audio (mp3)  Slide Show (pdf) 

The Grow the Audience project has set out ambitious goals for public radio’s audience service and a portfolio of strategies to widen the use and deepen the value of what we do. Drawing from Public Radio in the New Network Age, the final report of the Audience Growth Task Force, Station Resource Group co-CEOs Tom Thomas and Terry Clifford, the report’s principal authors, will review findings and recommendations and discuss key next steps, both locally and nationally, toward the goals.

 

Because of the importance of this project, the recording of this webinar is unrestricted.  Due to technical problems,  the audio recording and presentation slides are only available separately (above). 

 

Pulling Together: Full Station Editorial Integration         

How do stations break out of departmental “smokestacks” to better coordinate broadcast, web and community outreach efforts? WFAE Program Director Paul Stribling and members of his staff talked about how they developed an editorial planning process to reach more listeners and increase listener participation.

 

This webinar was part of the new PRPD/LNI Talk Show Webinar Series -- presentations on how talk show producers, hosts and program directors are using the Talk Show Handbook to build and strengthen their programs.

 

Talk Shows: Globalizing Topics and Sense of Place - Slides (pdf)

John Dankosky, News Director at WNPR/Connecticut Public Radio and host of Where We Live will talk about how he uses “sense of place” as an editorial tool to select and shape topics to reflect both his community and its connections to our nation and the world.

Social Media: What Was & What Will Be  Webinar Recording  

Andy Carvin, Senior Strategist at NPR’s Social Media Desk, reviews the top social media trends of 2009 and looks ahead to 2010 at the important trends, tools and ideas in social media, community building and engagement with our audiences. What are the most important ways you should be engaging with your audiences? What are stations doing that have been successful? What social media ideas are on the horizon that you need to put on your radar? These answers plus the secrets of the Jedi knights...

Building the Machine: Talk Show Systems and Tools

Susan Davis, Senior Producer of WUNC's The State of Things, live daily show talks about how she manages a dual role as leader of both show personnel and content development. Learn about the systems and tools she’s developed to support her show’s day to day operation.

Public Radio Technology Survey 2 - Trends

The results for second Public Radio Technology Survey (PRTS2) are in, and the Jacobs Media team has analyzed the data from 56 public radio stations that generated more than 28,000 responses. This webinar discusses a fast moving slide presentation that will help you and your staff assimilate the data. See the key findings, along with a list of takeaways and observations. Our listeners' habits are CHANGING FAST and this survey shows some striking shifts! PRTS2 covers everything from streaming to social networks to mobile phones to the economy.

SoundExchange Reporting for Public Radio

Still unsure about what is required of you under the new SoundExchange royalty agreement? Learn everything you need to know about for collecting and reporting data for generating SoundExchange reports. This webinar discussed the recent agreement between Public Interactive and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) for the administration of Internet royalty reporting to SoundExchange for public broadcasters.

Included are an overview of the Internet royalty agreement between the CPB and SoundExchange, what will be required of stations to be compliant under the CPB-SoundExchange agreement and Public Interactive's plans. A robust question and answer period beginnning about 1/2 hour in and lasting 45 minutes will also help answer many of your questions. Presentation by Phil Johnson, SoundExchange Manager for Public Interactive - with Jeff Luchsinger, CPB and Mike Riksen, NPR.

The New Public Radio Talk Show Handbook View Webinar

For the first time, public radio programmers have a comprehensive online guide to creating and producing local news/information/talk programming. A joint project of PRPD and the Local News Initiative, the Public Radio Talk Show Handbook identifies a broad array of best practices and tools to help stations deliver high quality local shows on a consistent basis. Lead author, Marcia Alvar (LNI Director), and PRPD President, Arthur Cohen, guide you through key sections of this online tool and provide insight on how to use it.  Co-author Jeff Hansen, KUOW also answered questions.

 

NPR MUSIC: The Latest  ---  Webinar Recording    PowerPoint only

NPR Music is experimenting with music widgets, content modules and even audio promos to support them. The goal is to share original, top content in a way that will increase the power and "stickiness" of your own website.  These offerings, which include content from both NPR and its partners, focus on genres, popular programs and series and live concerts. NPR Music Executive Producer Anya Grundmann and Product Manager Amy Schriefer show where to find these modules, ideas for their use, widgets currently in development and ideas for the future. A lively q&a provides insight into the latest in NPR Music.

 

Understanding the Public Radio AAA (Triple A) Audience

For the first time, public radio AAA stations are now measured in NPR’s Profile 2009 — a direct result of station feedback. NPR Research Manager Vince Lampone conducted a webinar on the recent findings of this research, which provides new insight into the demographics, lifestyle preferences and consumption patterns of the AAA audience. Some of the topics Vince addressed include:

• How are AAA listeners different from those of other NPR formats (like news or classical)?
• What media outlets does the AAA audience rely on?
• How can we better communicate the value of our audience to underwriters?

 

To Tweet or Not To Tweet
Do you tweet or are you a Twitterer?  To tweet or not to tweet, that is the question PRPD posed in the second in our series about social media (the last one being Facebook).  Master tweeter Bruce Warren of WXPN provided overview of Twitter, and why it’s exploding as a social media platform along with Facebook as a way to connect with your communities. We examined how stations are using Twitter for programming, marketing and fundraising.  You can follow Bruce at www.twitter.com/somevelvetblog.

 

How Stations Are Using Facebook

Todd Mundt from Louisville Public Media and Betsy Harman from Harman Interactive explored the current Facebook landscape and provided thoughts and answered some questions about how to best use Facebook.

pdf:  Using Facebook to Spread Buzz, Build Community, Find Volunteers & Raise Money for Your Station, Betsy Harman, Harman Interactive LLC.

pdf: Facebook: Work It,  Todd Mundt, VP & Chief Content Office, Louisville Public Mediar.

Links to PRPD Member Facebook Pages

  

The Public Radio Technology Survey

Sponsored by PRPD, iMA and NPR, and designed and conducted by Jacobs Media, the Public Radio Technology Survey queried over 30,000 public radio listeners on their use of a wide range of technology. In the largest survey ever conducted for Public Radio, powerful insights emerged.

Jacobs Media's President, Fred Jacobs, shared the findings focused on the similarities and differences of listeners among the various Public Radio formats.

 

The Town Square Story: Lessons From the New Media Frontier. (PowerPoint)

Many stations are looking at retooling an existing talk show or launching a new one in order to build an online audience that complements their broadcast audience. But where do you start? What should you know before you go on the air and online? What challenges can you expect?

Morgan Holm, Oregon Public Broadcasting’s VP of News and Public Affairs, presented their experience with their new on air/online local talk show “ Town Square".

PRX 3.0 - A Guided Tour

PRX.org recently launched the newest version of its Web site, dubbed PRX 3.0.  PRX Executive Director Jake Shapiro and Technical Director Andrew Kuklewicz provide a guided tour of the PRX 3.0. They take you inside the new site, offer tips and comments on some of the new features and take your questions about the site.

 

Pledge Drive Best Practices Webinar

PRPD and DEI's October 2008 "Pledge Drive Pep Rally" to help prepare stations for on-air fundraising in a challenging economic time.  Presented by - PRPD Chair Jody Evans (KUT) and DEI's Jay Clayton.

 

Turning News/Talk Listeners Into Music Listeners: WNYC's Music Integration Initiative

In the fall of 2006, WNYC, a dual-format station, undertook a major initiative to turn news and talk listeners into music listeners. In this webinar, WNYC discussed how it was done, which strategies worked, which didn't and where they are, 2 years into the process. Presented by WNYC Sr. VP of Programming, Dean Cappello & Limor Tomer, Exec. Producer of Music Programming.

 

Research and Best Practices from the PRPD/LNI Talk Show Convening (PowerPoint)

Applying the Findings of the PRPD Classical Music Testing Project

Learn how stations are applying the results of last year's PRPD Classical Music Testing project.  Hear how they have adjusted midday playlists, retooled scheduling software and how listeners have responded.  The first half is a summary of the results will bring everyone up to date, so this is a great way to educate your music staff as well.  In the second half we discuss how two stations have applied the findings.  Presented by Frank Dominguez, WDAV.

 

Building Your Social Media Community on a Shoestring Budget (PowerPoint)

This presentation includes:What is social media, social networking and why should it be a significant part of your relationship building with your listeners? This webinar presented the "whys" and the "hows" of Social Media and Web 2.0 strategies for building your online communities. Don't know the difference between Facebook, Twitter, Ning or "UGC?" After this webinar you will. We present low-stress, low-cost (if not free cost!) solutions to social media at your station.  Presented by Bruce Warren, WXPN.

 

Early Insights Into Audience Behavior & Fund Raising Dynamics In Arbitron’s PPM Rating System

• New insights into how listeners use public radio during times of major news events (such as Super Tuesday and the assassination of Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto)
• An overview of audience behavior during fund drives
• A look at audience behavior compared to diaries

Presented by John Sutton, John Sutton and Associates

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