Programming conference kicks off in Hollywood today

Hundreds of public radio staffers are in Hollywood today for the Public Radio Program Directors Conference, which begins today and ends Saturday. Our very own Marty is there as well, while I, sadly, am not. I wish I were. I went to many PRPDs for Current and always had a great time drinking at dive bars learning about the latest thinking in public radio.

But I’ll count on Marty to be the eyes and ears for Scanning the Dial and to fill us in on anything interesting.

The PRPD features presentations and discussions about all aspects of public radio programming, local and national, covering all formats. People who work directly with music programming, particularly classical, have their own annual conference as well, the Music Personnel Conference. But many also go to PRPD.

Here’s a rundown of the classical-related offerings at this year’s PRPD, based on a review of the agenda. Marty hopes to post from the conference, but we’ll follow up after the fact on anything she doesn’t cover.

• Today, representatives from classical stations will meet for an informal show-and-tell session before the official kickoff of the conference. Programmers from stations with other formats, such as news and jazz, do this too. Triple A stations used to do the same thing, but I don’t see their session listed here. (Yes, they have their own conference too. Which leaves jazz stations as the only music format without a conference. What’s up with that?)
• Tomorrow programming chiefs from Colorado Public Radio and WGUC in Cincinnati will discuss techniques for successful on-air fundraising in classical formats. “Fundraising strategies and tactics utilized for news-talk stations don’t necessarily resonate with classical music listeners. What is meaningful for those classical listeners, and what will make them more likely to respond to fundraising appeals?” This should be interesting — it’s based on research I haven’t seen before.
• Later in the day station reps will talk about their experiences implementing findings from the PRPD Midday Classical Music Testing Project. I’ve written about this project here and here, and I also interviewed a critic of the research. If Marty goes to this session, I’ll be curious to see whether she can contain her fury. She’s not a big fan of the research and how it’s being used, either. Watch out, unsuspecting program directors!
• Finally, on Friday morning a classical station will be among the recipients of PRPD Awards for Creative Excellence, in recognition of its programming. We’ll let you know who won and perhaps follow up with an interview.

What do you think classical programmers ought to be discussing at their conferences? And are any of you going to PRPD? If so, please share your thoughts about what you hear — we’d even like to run some guest posts if you have a lot to say.