PRPD ASKS STATIONS TO SHARE THEIR COVID-19 COVERAGE STRATEGIES • 2020 CONTENT CONFERENCE IS STILL ON • SPRING TRAINING SERIES STARTS ON MARCH 19th

We have three items regarding the Public Radio Program Directors association (PRPD) to share with Spark News readers today.

First, PRPD is encouraging its member stations to share documents about their COVID-19 coverage. Public radio stations and newsrooms are focused on the most significant public health threat we may face in our lifetime.

As the number of reported COVID-19 cases grows, accurate information is vital for our listeners. And, we also need to protect the health and safety of our co-workers.

To get the word out and help stations develop their own plans for emergency response, PRPD has been asked to compile a repository of action plans from stations. PRPD will house them on their website as templates for other stations to create their own emergency response.

PRPD President & Executive Director Abby Goldstein sent an e-blast [link] to stations requesting their assistance. Documents and questions can be sent to info@prpd.org.

2020 PRPD CONTENT CONFERENCE IS STILL “ON” UNLESS THINGS CHANGE

Abby Goldstein

In the wake of the cancellation of South By Southwest (SXSW), PRPD is receiving numerous calls about the status of the 2020 PRPD CONTENT CONFERENCE scheduled for September 14-17 in New Orleans.

According to Goldstein, the conference will happen unless new developments make it prudent to cancel the meetings. The conference planning team is monitoring the situation.

If the most prudent decision is to cancel the conference, Goldstein says that PRPD will move quickly and notify stations about the change.

PRPD has canceled the annual conference once before. On September 11, 2001, the conference was scheduled to start in Baltimore.

PRPD ANNOUNCES “SPRING TRAINING” SESSION” WEBINARS

PRPD is offering a series of Spring Training webinars [link] to provide learning opportunities for public media programmers of all skill levels and formats to learn best practices on specific areas of interest, such as on-air promotions, inventory management and hosting.

Registration is now open for the first two webinars. More information is here. If you are interested in participating, please send a message to info@prpd.org.

The primary focus of the training webinars is daily management of broadcast programming including concepts that are applicable on all platforms. 

Here are scheduled Spring Training Webinars in March, April and May:

The first webinar is March 19 at 2:00 pm ET. The panel for the first webinar consists of Abby Goldstein, PRPD President & Executive Director, Craig Oliver, independent research consultant and a co-founder of the PRPD and Dave Sullivan, a PPM data specialist at the Radio Research Consortium (RRC).

The panel will present information about using audience data to determine the effectiveness of a station’s program schedule. Participants will learn the basics of audience data interpretation and how you can best use your data to make good decisions about your program schedule.

The next few Spring Training Sessions will happen on these dates:

• March 26 at 2:00 pm: Planning for schedule change.

The panel includes Michael Krall –from WBHM Birmingham and Amy Miller from KXT Dallas.

• April 2 at 2:00 pm: Stationality, taglines, identifiers and legal ID’s. Every local break is a chance to develop a relationship with your audience that is based on shared values and experiences.

• April 16 at 2:00 pm: Delivery, consistency and break structure.

Be clear on who you are and what impression you want to make on your audience. Proper execution is the key.

• April 30 at 2:00 pm: Sound and style.

Recorded elements like promos, imaging spots, and even underwriting messages play a major role in the overall sound of your station.

• May 14 at 2:00 pm: Copywriting featuring Ira Glass

Glass will discuss the job he had at NPR producing promo spots. Also, he will reveal how he creates short modules as “shows.”