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The Social Highlight Reel From #WWRS2015
April 27, 2015
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Many radio colleagues that weren't able to attend the fifth annual Worldwide Radio Summit last week have been asking how it went. While educational and interesting are among the sentiments that apply, it's not easy to capture the spirit of what it's like to truly be in at these events.
Running into old friends or getting to meet colleagues you've "known of" for years, face to face is uplifting -- and as one person said to me, "These events are good for the soul."
We've been banged around a bit in our industry -- watching some friends lose gigs as well as others bouncing back into even better jobs. We've also lost some incredible talent in the past few years which makes these industry events serve as a reminder of the importance of catching up with each other when we can.
So I'll do my best to pull you into an event filled with great names, voices and thoughts in a way that only "Merge" could do it - using the socially savvy attendees who (unknowingly) became my "citizen journalists" to tell you a bit of the story.
Worldwide Radio Summit used the hashtag "#WWRS2015" to organize what people were saying, as well as help everyone capture what was happening.
There were also events featuring artists like Fifth Harmony and Andy Grammar, along with the annual Industry Awards Luncheon -- where peers vote for their favorites in various categories.
Among the winners, Cumulus SVPP Mike McVay won for Senior Programmer of the Year:
And Randy Lane picked up "Consultant of the Year."
Captured socially -- this is a small fraction of the takeaways and camaraderie experienced.
It's important for our industry to hold this event. It's equally important for the industry to support it.
We get to talk with each other, learn and grow as a business. Many times you find it's the smallest things that resonate with you to take away and apply to your brand(s) and reputation (and maybe even yourself) to refine and reset.
There's also nothing better than reconnecting with the friends who have cared along the way.
Thank you, Joel Denver, Sat Bisla, and Monte Malone. The time and toll it takes on you and your respective teams to get our industry together for a couple days is appreciated.
Perhaps Cumulus OM, Rob Roberts, sums the event up best:
It's truly a gathering not to miss. Hope you will make plans to attend #WWRS2016!
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