And if you’re not here in San Diego in person, you can watch it live!

It’s the first-ever radio ideas festival and it’s happening on Thursday this week. It’s FREE – and it’s invitation-only.

We have a room full of people attending at a quirky downtown San Diego location. The day will include in-depth Q&A with brands, agencies, and media as well as trend-defining presentations.

It will stream live in two parts – morning and afternoon. I’ll update this blog post to share the URL’s for those streams when they’re available on Thursday.

Home-base for the event is http://hivio.com. And the video will be embedded there. Sign up over there if you haven’t already.

We have a Google+ event page, where more than 120 folks have RSVP’d so far. The video will live there, too. Plus you’ll be able to provide your own color commentary of the happenings.

You can follow us on Twitter – and if you Tweet us up, be sure to use #hivio.

After the event, we’ll be crunching video segments which will be made available for free. Eventually they will all make their way to this blog and elsewhere.

The event is built to gather ideas that relate to radio from folks who are not in radio per se. Here’s the lineup for Thursday (all times are PT):

• Mark Ramsey – Event introduction and Opening Presentation 8:30 – 8:55
• Samantha Migdal – UBER Introduction 8:55 – 9
• Chad Robley, CEO of Digital Agency Mindgruve Q&A – 9 – 9:45
• 15 minute BREAK
• Michael Warburton, Brand Manager of San Diego Zoo Global Q&A – 10 – 10:45
• Bryce Clemmer, Founder of Vadio (Presentation) 10:45 – 11:15
• Gabriela D’Addario and Maggie Ferrante from Google (Presentation) 11:15 – Noon
• 60 Minute Lunch BREAK
• Tom Conrad, CTO of Pandora – Q&A 1 – 2PM
• Mike Hodges, President and COO at UTSanDiego Q&A 2 – 2:45
• 15 minute BREAK
• Patrick Reynolds, Chief Strategy Officer of Triton Digital (Presentation) 3 – 3:30
• Gary Kramer, founder of National Comedy Theatre – Q&A and demo! 3:30 – 4:15
• Sandy Hurst, COO of SoCast (Presentation) 4:15 – 4:45
• Mark Ramsey – Event wrapup 4:45 – 5

Lots of Q&A and some stellar presentations. No panels, no conference rooms, and – for better or worse – no cocktail parties.

Thanks to NuVooDoo and all the other event partners!

See you on Thursday, live!

And if you’re here for the big event, welcome to San Diego!

It’s hard to speculate on Apple’s “iRadio” before there’s an “iRadio” to speculate on. But one day it will be announced any day now, so here goes nothing.

Conventional wisdom says: Yikes, Apple is big! Pandora and Spotify are screwed!

Yes, Apple is a Big Fish. But companies like Pandora and Spotify already face down Google and Amazon – firms with footprints as big and broad as Apple’s. Even though their music platforms can’t compare to Apple’s their advantages are extensive in many other areas that nurture the ties these companies have with their consumers. And it’s the strength of consumer relationships combined with how well (or poorly) existing options satisfy their desires that dictate how sticky or loose those consumers may be for new services.

Think it’s only size that matters? Consider the impact Apple’s iBooks has had on Amazon’s e-book sales (by one report, Amazon now has “merely” 60% of a market that is growing fast. Thank you, Apple!) Or consider Amazon’s movies on demand and the impact that feature has had on rival Netflix (hint: Netflix’s CEO uses the term “no material impact”). Ah, the on-demand video market keeps growing. Thank you, Amazon!

Yes I know, neither Google nor Amazon have the advantage of iTunes but I wouldn’t be so quick to point that out as an advantage. Is there anyone who doesn’t consider iTunes to be, well, clunky?

Besides, shopping for music and listening to a radio-like stream are not the same thing – they address somewhat different needs, so the base of users for one doesn’t necessarily mean an equal sized base for the other, let alone a swap between them. Hey, if everything iTunes touches turned to gold then we would all be using a gold-plated service called Ping right now.

Meanwhile, there’s this thing called “the advantage of the incumbent.” It’s why we as a nation keep electing pretty much the same politicians one election after another. iRadio’s value proposition will have to be significantly richer than what one can get from Pandora or Spotify in order to dent their momentum. Maybe it will be, but I’m not so sure. Check to see if people say “I prefer iRadio over Pandora because….” and I mean real people, not people with tens of thousands of Twitter followers who blog about technology.

And then there’s the issue of simplicity. This is something Apple has historically specialized in, but the more complex Apple’s ecosystem becomes the more attractive “simple” alternatives like Pandora become. Back at ya, Apple!

Finally, some would argue that Apple is better at approving apps than making them. I turned in my Apple podcasts app for non-Apple Stitcher and never looked back.

Frankly, I think it’s quite likely that Apple’s entrance into the space enables other streaming radio outlets to grow faster than they already are.

What?! Do I mean that a big new competitor to Pandora might make Pandora bigger even faster? Why yes, yes I do.

We have not nearly exhausted the potential for online radio usage. We are still in this game’s early innings. The legitimacy that Apple brings to this space will bring lots of new consumers to the table, and they will want to sample all the wares.

Gee, I wonder what Pandora’s CTO Tom Conrad thinks about this? You can find out when I ask him in person on June 20 at hivio in San Diego (streaming live here).

If I’m right, what’s good for Apple is good for Pandora and Spotify, good for consumers, and good for advertisers who venture boldly into this new marketplace.

You know, it could even be good for radio.

Thank you, Apple!

It’s called hivio, and it’s just over two weeks away!

It’s radio’s first-ever ideas festival – a free, invitation-only event.

We’ve got a full house at our secret location in San Diego on June 20 – dozens of folks have been formally invited and RSVP’d.

If you’re not on the guest list. don’t sweat it. You can watch the whole thing online live!

It’s a day full of presentations, demos, and discussion with tons of authorities from outside radio about the radio and audio space and the central role of quality content in its future.

Here’s who’s speaking or part of a one-on-one Q&A:

• Mark Ramsey Event introduction – Radio’s Attention Crisis 8:30 – 8:55
• Samantha Migdal – UBER Introduction 8:55 – 9
• Chad Robley, CEO of Digital Agency Mindgruve.com, at the forefront of the digital-first revolution Q&A – 9 – 9:45
• 15 minute BREAK
• Michael Warburton, Brand Manager of San Diego Zoo Global, a world-class brand  Q&A – 10 – 10:45
• Bryce Clemmer, Founder of Vadio.com, Video for Radio (Presentation) 10:45 – 11:15
• Gabriela D’Addario and Maggie Ferrante from Google (Presentation) 11:15 – Noon
• 60 Minute Lunch BREAK
• Tom Conrad, CTO of Pandora.com – Q&A 1 – 2PM
• Mike Hodges, President and COO at U-T San Diego, one of Southern California’s largest cross-platform media companies Q&A 2 – 2:45
• 15 minute BREAK
• Jean-Francois Gadoury, CTO of Triton Digital Presentation 3 – 3:30
• Gary Kramer, founder of National Comedy Theatre – Improv for radio talent – Q&A and demo! 3:30 – 4:15
• Sandy Hurst, COO of SoCastSRM – Radio’s social media revolution (Presentation) 4:15 – 4:45
• Mark Ramsey Event wrapup 4:45 – 5

It’s a a “hive” of smart people to see, discuss, and think about consumer-facing ideas: Content, technology, platforms, social.

Thanks to all of the above event partners, and thanks to some of our sponsors:

Sponsorship opportunities are still available. Contact Jaime Solis for more information.

More about hivio

• Sign up for more info at hivio.com
• Follow us on Twitter @hivioSD
• Go to our Google+ Event page and RSVP to be notified when the video goes live

And we’ll see you – online or in person – on June 20!

If we want our fans to spread the word about our radio brands, why don’t we create content that’s more remarkable to begin with?

After all, people don’t spread the mundane, they spread the extraordinary.

Case and point…this video.

Prefer audio? Try this:

Download mp3

(You can subscribe to all the MRM video and audio via iTunes and get the goodies before everybody else. You can also get advance notice of this content if you “like” MRM on Facebook or follow me on Twitter).

Ric Militi is CEO and Creative Director of InnoVision LLC, a leading independent Southern California “anti-agency” (they don’t “buy” radio, for example, they “invest” in it), and he has strong feelings on radio’s place in the mediasphere. If you read no other part of this interview, skip to the last few paragraphs.

This is Part 2 of our conversation. Find Part 1 here.

Watch the video of our conversation or check out the highly abbreviated transcript below.

Prefer audio? Try this:

Download mp3

(You can subscribe to all the MRM video and audio via iTunes and get the goodies before everybody else. You can also get advance notice of this content if you “like” MRM on Facebook or follow me on Twitter).

Talk to me about Pandora. I assume Pandora has approached you.

Yes, we actually use Pandora. I have very mixed emotions about Pandora. I love Pandora. I think Pandora has the potential to be the greatest media of all time if they can understand that what they really need to do is to service the advertising community, the marketing community.

Right now they sell themselves as a “radio Internet company.” That instantly means you’re looking for results, e.g. click-through rates, so you can quantify that Pandora is “working.”

I think that’s a tremendous mistake for Pandora. I think Pandora should sell itself as a radio station.

Can you imagine if everybody who bought radio started looking at click-through rates from radio station websites? It would be disastrous for those stations! That’s what Pandora did.

They completely destroyed their idea by saying “we’re Internet, we can prove to you we can get you click-throughs.” Well guess what? The click-throughs are ridiculously low, but that’s not important.

What’s important is they have millions of listeners and you can pick the genre, you can pick the age category, and you can pick the zip codes. Now you’re talking my kind of statistics! Now you’re telling me whom I’m talking to!

What Pandora needs to do is to drill down deeper. They need to get more information on their listeners. Even if they can get only half of their listeners to give up information on themselves, can you imagine the database that this company would have?

One more thing: Pandora has to stop telling people on their own stations to stop listening to ads.

They have promos saying, “If you don’t want to listen to advertising anymore, then just pay $3 a month and we’ll stop all the ads.” So basically they’re telling people not to listen to the ads that they’re selling, which is completely preposterous in my mind and completely contradictory to the whole concept. Just tell people to listen and stop selling that whole concept.

They need to treat themselves as a radio station. I think they have fundamental problems, but they have gigantic opportunity ahead of them if they make the right choices.

It’s interesting that you suggest they should present themselves as a radio station with deeper listener data. How many conventional stations come to you with an extensive database full of richly detailed listener information?

None.

I’ve been telling radio stations for 20 years build me a database of your listeners. Tell me who goes to casinos. Tell me who needs to buy a car in the next three months. Guess what? I’ll buy every one of those. I’ll buy your radio station just to get those lists. That’s all I want to know. I just want to know what people’s buying habits are going to be. If we can predict that, then we know who we market to much more effectively.

But when you’re talking about “pie in the sky” stuff that’s much more difficult.

With data getting so big, why do you think data for radio remains relatively small?

I think they’re struggling on how to capture it. It takes a Pandora, assuming they stop looking at their model from the perspective of musicians and start looking at it from the perspective of the marketing community.

Consumers are probably willing to give up this information very easily with some very small incentive. Then you discover what kind of cars they like, when they go to the movies, what they like to eat, how often they buy pizzas, etc.

Can you imagine if this information could be categorized so that when you make a buy with a radio station or Pandora or whomever, they could say “well the only people that are going to be listening to that, Mr. Domino’s, are pizza buyers.” Oh my God. Hello!

What’s the best thing about the radio experience as an investment partner for you and your clients?

Radio has been a great experience.

It’s fantastic that radio can change creative on a dime. The endorsements and the willingness of radio stations to do what we want them to do, those are great advantages.

Our radio partners love working with us because we push them harder, we make them think more, we give them the opportunity to come up with ideas.

I always say to them, “tell me your craziest, wildest vision that you ever wanted to do for a client?” That’s what I want to hear. Those are the conversations I want to have.

Radio is open to ideas, and that’s a great advantage.