Radio Ink is counting down to NAB Show 2024 at the Las Vegas Convention Center by having conversations with some of radio’s biggest innovators in the days leading up to April 13-17.
Today, we sit down with vCreative CEO Mary DelGrande.
Radio Ink: When preparing for 2023’s NAB Show, you were about two months into the vCreative CEO role. Now that you’ve had over a year to settle in, has your outlook or mission for the event changed, and how?
Mary DelGrande: I would say not really, but with one exception. I’m sure there are many people who still have questions for me about the integration of PromoSuite into vCreative, and what the short-term and long-term picture will look like so I anticipate many conversations around providing assurances that it’s business as usual and our vision, which is that we will continue to provide the best solutions to the broadcasting industry, remains the same.
Other than that, my overall mission for the company hasn’t wavered: be present, listen, and act so that we can continue to innovate and grow; analyze the current market, anticipate what is coming, and explore new product ideas around that information; support key organizations; visit the Exhibit Hall to educate ourselves on new technologies that we should be looking into.
Radio Ink: It’s been a huge time of expansion for vCreative – you mentioned the PromoSuite inclusion, but you’ve also partnered with Frequency and are rolling out your vTickets wing – what can we expect from vCreative at NAB Show?
Mary DelGrande: As you mentioned, we have a lot to talk about. Me and my executive team have many meetings scheduled to discuss the various topics on the table like: What lies ahead now that PromoSuite has merged with vCreative? How exactly does vTickets work and what is the financial potential? When will the vCreative and Frequency integration be complete and how can you start benefiting from the efficiency and ROI that comes with the partnership?
Beyond that, we recently entered into a partnership so we can offer a more robust AI offering in our production workflow tools. We will also continue to talk to different CRM companies to lay out the best solution to eliminate the swivel chair for the AE so they can stay in a single system and eliminate redundant data entry for orders.
Finally, the BFOA, AWMF, and MIW are some of the critical organizations within our industry that host events during the NAB so vCreative will continue to support them via sponsorships and attendance.
Radio Ink: You said vCreative has been working more with AI this past year – if NAB is like CES we’ll hear those two letters quite a lot. How do you cut through all the noise and find how AI can best help broadcasters?
Mary DelGrande: The first step is to determine where AI makes sense in any, or all, of our products. For our creative workflow tools, that was a pretty easy one to figure out when AI started to gain attention and traction early last year. We made the choice to quickly implement a script writing tool in vPPO called AI Script Assist.
With the technology evolving at such an accelerated pace we realized it’s now time to enhance the AI offerings in vCreative’s production workflow offerings to be a more robust tool covering scripts, text-to-voice, and the ability to create spec spots. In lieu of trying to recreate the wheel, we elected to integrate with SPECai, which is a product that comes from a joint partnership between Enco (AI scripts and voice), Benztown (the music beds), and Compass Media (a sales partner).
Radio Ink: NAB is a great event for face-to-face connection – Cocktails and Conversation is no exception – what are you looking forward to about this year’s event?
Mary DelGrande: I know I sound like a broken record but I am a firm believer that relationships are the foundation of any business which is why Cocktails and Conversation has become the go-to event. It presents an excellent opportunity to connect with friends (old and new) and customers! I anticipate there will be a lot of conversation around AI but I also look forward to learning about the other challenges broadcasters are facing, outside of a challenging economy, so we can figure out how we can help or what new products or partnerships we should explore.
Of course, I’m also happy to answer any questions some might have for me, but, ultimately, I always look forward to a more personal catch-up over a cocktail while hearing about family, friends, and/or upcoming adventures.
