Registration is now open for 2010’s 3-day Radio Copywriting Masters class.

Twelve ambitious radio copywriters and me, locked for three days in a fancy boardroom in a Los Angeles airport hotel.

Actually, it’s more fun than it sounds.

Here’s a spot written by one of 2009’s attendees, Terri Beers, during one of my 5-minute QuickStart Copywriting Lessons. She was new to radio copywriting….

Nicely voiced by Blaine Parker.

Everyone else has given up on radio.

NAB Europe cancelled rather than be embarrassed by a low turnout.

The Radio Show is merging with something else to become something else.

PD Grad School took an attendance hit in 2009, too. Some radio companies have forbidden employees to travel, while many others have severely limited their programmers’ access to the kind of cutting edge information that might actually HELP them.

I came so close to saying, “Forget it. It’s not worth the effort to produce PD Grad School for 2010.”

Then I decided to go in the opposite direction: In addition to radio experts, I am bringing in guest speakers you’d NEVER see at a radio convention.

February 19 – 20, Los Angeles

Like the woman FastCompany.com calls “the Pied Piper of the Online World” — the world’s #1 expert on social media.

Like the Chief Marketing officer of Eastman Kodak Company. (I saw him give a presentation on “How The Smartest Businesses Are Using Social Media.” It was phenomenal, and I talked him into coming to L.A. from Kodak’s headquarters in Rochester, New York.)

Like Larry Rosin to alert you to the next huge change that’s just around the corner — and how your station needs to lead the way or simply give up.

Like Tripp Eldredge with some very cutting edge (and controversial) information on “What We’ve Learned From PPM.” (Hint: You should be focusing on only half of your audience. The trick: Which half?)

Like me, on “How Your Radio Station Should Be Using Twitter To Increase Ratings and Revenue.”

And me again: “30 Minutes of Great Morning Show Ideas.”

And like Mike McVay: “How To Accomplish Everything When You Barely Have Time To Do Anything.”

I’ll let you know when the brochure is ready and registration is open.

But this is my Call To Action:  Either give up or show up.

If you’re so beaten down by the state of the industry that you’re ready to throw in the towel (or already have)…I guess I won’t see you at PD Grad School.

But if you’re not content to watch radio sink to the bottom of the ocean….If you’re still in the game….If you still feel the fire and the passion –

This is your moment of truth.

PD Grad School 2010 will have more cutting edge, real world, actionable info than any radio event you’ve ever attended.

If you’re still in the game, you need to be there.

It’s Monday.

Why is there no Monday Radio Commercial Smackdown?

Because the server that hosts this blog was been “down” from Sunday until just a couple of minutes ago, and I was unable to upload the Thrilling Commercial Critique.

And by now, it’s almost of the end of the workday for any Loyal Readers and if I published it now you wouldn’t see it until tomorrow.

But even then you wouldn’t see it, because tomorrow’s posting will be there at the top of this page. I have no idea what I’ll be writing about tomorrow, but I’m pretty sure it will be nowhere as great as the Monday Radio Commercial Smackdown you’re not reading right now.

Too bad. It would’ve been incredible.

As a consolation, here’s America’s greatest songwriter talking a little about his craft.

The Colbert Report	Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Paul Simon Pt. 1
colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor

]]> http://danoday.com/blog/2009/11/paul-simon/feed/ 1 http://danoday.com/blog/2009/11/morning-radio/ http://danoday.com/blog/2009/11/morning-radio/#comments Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:05:37 +0000 Dan O'Day http://danoday.com/blog/?p=2844

Illustration © 2009 by Bobby Ocean

Audition critique by Harlan Hogan:

I think Gary’s sending in his Second Life avatar to audition for him — eons before Second Life had even been invented — was brilliant. God forbid the actual Mr. Busey deigned to enter a lowly foam filled cubicle and — gasp! — take direction.

I did, however, find the foreshadowing of the future hit, FOREST GUMP, intriguing. With his vitrolic, “This is stupid, man…” he proved long before the phrase became mainstream that — as mama always said —Stupid is as Stupid does. Well done, Gar’.

It is intriguing how actors used to have a pecking order — theatre or film at the top, followed by TV, radio and then lowest of the low: commercials. One day they all discovered the pyramid was reversed. That was the day the journeyman and women voice actors took it up the….Well, you get the point.

Audition critique by Nancy Wolfson:

If you are a celebrity, when a you get called in for an audition, there’s
probably something about your natural core brand voice that is why they called in YOU and not the celebrity alphabetically above or below you on their celebrity roster.

They’re not calling in Ian McKellen to do truck reads; they’re calling in YOU, because something about your brand is already right for the quality of genetic flavor (pitch/rasp) and there’s something about your general disposition/demeanor that your agent and the casting folks think is already close to the attitude necessary in the script.

Relax, dig in for the writer’s intent and ascertain a clear understanding of the story you and your words are telling. Consider, as the narrator, the technical elements you need to control given the context in which you are telling it (those factors govern your choices on volume and pacing)

Actually, it’s funny how NOT arrogant many celebrities are. It’s not always the case that they feel they’re too good to be doing commercials  but sometimes (and I can’t say for sure here) they feel a great respect for the various areas of performance that are out there and knowing they might not have proper training for this area of performance, they sometimes fall into the same insecurity traps that beginning VO talent succumb to when they are nervous. Different folks manifest nerves in different ways, that’s for sure.

You are enough.

Break down the copy, and trust your brand.