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The Fourth Annual Speed Mentoring Brunch will be held on Friday, July 20 as part of the 43rd annual Conclave Learning Conference. Attendees will have direct one-to-one access to some of radio’s top professionals, who will share their insights for building and sustaining a successful radio career.

(By Shawn and Tom Marhefka) As a local radio broadcaster, the Ozark Radio Network has long supported the activation of FM chips in smartphones. But it wasn’t until a devastating flood hit our rural Missouri town and the surrounding area last year that we experienced firsthand the real importance of getting the FM chip activated.

Getting a solid grip on whether their ad dollars are working was one of the takeaways from the new Nielsen survey of CMOs. And, traditionally, that's been one of radio's biggest challenges, especially in the age of digital, where advertisers see data instantly. Only 23% of marketers in the Nielsen survey were highly confident in measuring traditional media ROI.

Those CMO's love their TV advertising according to a new Nielsen study of CMO's. More than 51% say Television is either highly or extremely important in their marketing plans. 30% ranked TV as “extremely important.” No other traditional media reached 10%. Only 9% of the CMO's in the study say radio is extremely important.

WAMT-AM and WHOO-AM in Orlando are being sold by Genesis Communications to Relevant Radio. Bruce Maduri's Genesis Communications also owns stations in Tampa, Clearwater, and Melbourne. Relevant Radio is a Wisconsin-based not-for-profit company headed by Rev. Francis Hoffman, and owns stations throughout the United States. Kalil & Company was the exclusive broker for the deal.

As we've learned recently, social media can turn out to be an ugly form of communication when people hit "send" before common sense kicks in. Roseanne Barr and Kevin Klein are two that come to mind quickly. At WGR in Buffalo a seemingly harmless tweet about the NFL draft resulted in another job loss.

The discussion is called "America's Broadcasters: Exposing the Truth and Serving Communities." Panelists will explore the ways in which investigative journalism serves the American public. The event will be held Wednesday, June 13, at the Capitol Visitors Center in DC. 

Media integration is an important topic for advertising and marketing executives seeking to build brand awareness and sales with multicultural consumers. What is the mindset of the client when preparing a Hispanic media buy? Is radio an important part of the media mix? This latest Hispanic Radio Podcast with Zubi Advertising's Isabella Sanchez provides the answers.

Conclave 43 will be held July 18–20  at Doubletree by Hilton, Park Place, Minneapolis. The second session on Thursday, June 19, is called “Talent: Your Show Is Not A Daypart; It’s An Enterprise That Should Always Be On.” Registration is now open.

WBET-FM 99.3 in Sturgis, MI, raised a whopping $104,330 for the United Way of St. Joseph County, during an 18-hour radio marathon that featured local officials and community business leaders as guest DJs.