Mozilla Manifesto

Mitchell Baker, CEO of the Mozilla Corporation, has posted a draft of the Mozilla Manifesto. Here are the principles:

1. The Internet is an integral part of modern life — a key component in education, communication, collaboration, business, entertainment and society as a whole.
2. The Internet is a global public resource that must remain open and accessible.
3. The Internet should enrich the lives of individual human beings.
4. Individuals' security on the Internet is fundamental and cannot be treated as optional.
5. Individuals must have the ability to shape their own experiences on the Internet.
6. The effectiveness of the Internet as a public resource depends upon technological interoperability, innovation and decentralized participation worldwide.
7. Free and open source software promotes the development of the Internet as a public resource.
8. Transparent community-based development processes promote participation, accountability, and trust.
9. Commercial involvement in the development of the Internet brings many benefits; a balance between commercial goals and public benefit is critical.
10. Magnifying the public benefit aspects of the Internet is an important goal, worthy of time, attention and commitment.

With the internet becoming increasingly important to the (digital) lives of our listeners, as well as our own, we much continuously improve the effectiveness and richness of our online content and experience. Your station should be making its content available via streaming, blogging and podcasting (on demand) as well as building online communities for your listeners to connect with and interact with your station, your clients and, most importantly, each other. If not - before you do anything else, you must make your online initiatives…priority! And if not NOW, when? You must do it immediately because your competition already has.

For more on the Mozilla principles here, with discussion here.

Q&A Day - Insights from Wynton Marsalis & Jeff Smulyan

Business thought-leaders Wynton Marsalis, artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, and Jeff Smulyan, CEO of Emmis communications, offer their insights:

Wynton Marsalis’ Tips on Business Integrity & Creativity:

• Everything in jazz and business starts with integrity. Listen to others. Respect them. Build trust.
• Groups who work together "swing." They believe "we" is more important than "me," and by doing so, absorb mistakes.
• You can be creative inside or outside of tradition. Inside, you reinvigorate. Outside, you counter-state.
• Creative people dare to be laughed at. They don't act like what they are. They be what they are.
• Embrace opposites. They are, in fact, the same.

That’s great advice from jazz virtuoso Wynton Marsalis, who is not only a great musician, but a great leader. Marsalis was named one of America’s Best Leaders in 2006 by Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and U.S. News & World Report.

Click here to read Wynton’s complete Q&A on USA Today.com.

Jeff Smulyan’s Thoughts...

On Radio Sales in Today’s Environment:

“We have to get away from the transactional business. We have to do more developmental work….When times are good and the ad agencies keep adding more dollars every year, it's not as imperative, but I think that as agencies shift to other things, we have to go out and find the business directly and develop it.”

On Research & Development:

“Emmis has always been an industry trailblazer, whether it's with new formats, new sales approaches or new high-growth ventures. For example, our interactive group is allocated as an R&D effort. We're most comfortable being on the leading edge.”

Click here to read Jeff’s full Q&A on Emmis.com.

New Talent Rules

WVEE (V103)/Atlanta Morning Man Frankski offers his radio rules for new talent:

1. RADIO IS 75% PERCEPTION, 25% REALITY.
2. To win, you must know PROMOTION & MARKETING well.
3. EVERY MARKET IS DIFFERENT (what worked there, may not work here).
4. To win listeners, win their Hearts & Emotions.
5. Have substance!
6. Change peoples lives for the better.
7. Give people ideas, Where to go, What to do, How to do it to make themselves better.
8. Give good information. (READ THE NEWS PAPER DAILY & WATCH THE HOTTEST TV SHOWS and TALK ABOUT IT.)
9. Do the basics GREAT.
10. Do a GREAT break EVERYTIME.
11. Smile before you start talking, people can hear it.
12. Speak clear and grammatically correct.
13. No Idea Is New, just the packaging changes (i.e. Starbucks).
14. No one cares who did it first, only who did it better (refer to # 1 & 2).
15. No one cares who played it first, only who played it at the right time.
16. Stay Humble.
17. IT’S NEVER ABOUT YOU.
18. Serve your community and give back.
19. Always speak well about other jocks and support their events.
20. Control the Music, Nothing Creates Memories Like A Great Song.

Thanks to Frank for sharing his insights.

Email Frank here.

Are Your Bad Behaviors Holding You Back?

In his new book, “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There,” executive coach Marshall Goldsmith reveals the bad behaviors that hold aspiring managers back. Here are 20 common mistakes:

1. Winning Too Much. The need to win at all costs and in all situations—when it matters, when it doesn’t, and when it’s totally beside the point.
2. Adding Too Much Value. The overwhelming desire to add our two cents to every discussion.
3. Passing Judgment. The need to rate others and impose our standards on them.
4. Making Destructive Comments. The needless sarcasms and cutting remarks that we think make us sound sharp and witty.
5. Starting with “No,” “But,” or “However.” The overuse of these qualifiers, which secretly say to everyone, “I’m right. You’re wrong.”
6. Telling the World How Smart We Are. The need to show people we’re smarter than they think we are.
7. Speaking When Angry. Using emotional volatility as a management tool.
8. Negativity. The need to share our negative thoughts, even when we weren’t asked.
9. Withholding Information. The refusal to share information in order to maintain an advantage over others.
10. Failing to Give Proper Recognition. The inability to praise and reward.
11. Claiming Credit We Don’t Deserve. The most annoying way to overestimate our contribution to any success.
12. Making Excuses. The need to reposition our annoying behavior as a permanent fixture so people excuse us for it.
13. Clinging to the Past. The need to deflect blame away from ourselves and onto events and people from our past; a subset of blaming everyone else.
14. Playing Favorites. Failing to see that we are treating someone unfairly.
15. Refusing to Express Regret. The inability to take responsibility for our actions, admit we’re wrong, or recognize how our actions affect others.
16. Not Listening. The most passive-aggressive form of disrespect for colleagues.
17. Failing to Express Gratitude. The most basic form of bad manners.
18. Punishing the Messenger. The misguided need to attack the innocent, who are usually only trying to protect us.
19. Passing the Buck. The need to blame everyone but ourselves.
20. An Excessive Need to Be “Me.” Exalting our faults as virtues simply because they exemplify who we are.

For more from Marshall Goldsmith, click here.

The Leadership Thing

Management uber guru Tom Peters on the “leadership thing”…

"Command & control leadership," circa 1980, circa (alas) 2007, simply will not work in an age of widespread, global collaboration (wikinomics, crowdsourcing, etc.). So the "people-centric," "engagement-centric," "personal growth-centric," "service-servant based" "models" of leadership are ... not optional!

Have you updated your management, marketing and programming playbooks for 2007 - and beyond?

More from Tom here.

Greg Gillispie On The Future Of Radio

From FMQB, Greg Gillispie on the future of radio:

"There are so many ifs, ands, and buts. We are our own best competition is the best way to operate. Rather than focusing on what anyone else is doing, why not look inside and do the best you can do.""Today society is consumed with complex technologies; yet desires simplicity. Robbie Blinkoff, managing partner of Context-Based Research Group has coined the term, ‘simplexity.’"

"Faith Popcorn says, “Personalized media technologies are spawning a ‘networked self,’ which will shape society at large.” The industry must know society is regaining control of its life. People know what they want, when they want it, and how they want it. Rather than being consumed with consuming properties, the industry needs to be consumed with its consumers."

"Approaching ownership from a small business perspective creates a stronger bond with and allows more free movement in serving the community. The hope is owners, be they new, revitalized, or existing, take this approach in many markets that have been neglected or operated as a small piece of a monstrous puzzle. The good news is smaller companies are widening the performance gap with bigger companies in small to mid-size markets. Analysts indicate increased Wall St. attention. The bad news is the cost of acquiring platforms in these markets could have the same effect as restructuring."

I’ve had the good fortune to enjoy enlightening conversations about programming with Greg back when he was a McVay Media consultant. (Thanks for your guidance.) I also competed with Greg as a fellow programmer when we both programmed in Pittsburgh (his 2nd time around and my 1st). Greg’s insights are always revealing. Anytime you get the chance to hear one of his stations or read one of his articles, take note.

Click here to read Greg’s full article in FMQB.

Happy Birthday To “The Greatest”

Best wishes to boxing legend and cultural icon Muhammad Ali who celebrated his 65th birthday this week. Ali has been, and still remains, an inspiring figure. He’s one of my heroes, and I feel lucky to have met him. Being in his presence and feeling his electrifying aura was simply amazing.

Thanks to another one of my heroes, my dad, Attorney B.L. Cook—who was not only a lawyer, but a boxing and concert promoter (I still don’t know how that happened)—I have a few special mementos from Ali that I still treasure to this day. Sometimes when we meet our heroes, they don’t quite seem to live up to their legend or iconic status. But with Ali, he truly is “The Greatest.”

View a great tribute to Muhammad Ali here.

22 Time Wasters

Analyst and advisor Rick Telberg of Bay Street Group advises against 22 Time Wasters:

1. Not having a plan; lacking direction
2. Failing to set priorities; trapped by indecision
3. Unable to say no
4. Attempting to take on more tasks than you can possibly handle
5. Failure to delegate; trying to do everything yourself
6. Scheduling activities so that you have too much or too little time for something
7. Putting off something that should be done today
8. Focusing on how busy you are; avoiding priority work
9. Suffering from personal disorganization; unable to find things because of clutter
10. Jumping from one activity, project, item to the next instead of getting one thing done
11. Leaving tasks unfinished and having to rethink what you were doing in order to finish up
12. Getting bogged down by the details instead of keeping your goals in mind
13. Starting a project without enough information
14. Lacking skills to accomplish what you intend
15. Being kept waiting
16. Being interrupted by the telephone (or email, or IM, or.....)
17. Socializing during time set aside for your priorities
18. Being interrupted by visitors who drop by -- and letting them take control
19. Not getting to the point of the conversation; not saying what you mean
20. Holding a meeting without an agenda
21. Not using your commuting or travel time wisely
22. Watching tv (or surfing the 'Net) when you had planned on doing something else

BOTTOMLINE: Eliminating one or more of these can add not only TIME, but purpose and discipline to your daily routines, increasing the freedom you have to do other MORE important things with your time. Replace one or more of these bad habits with good habits.

For more from Rick Telberg, click here.

10 Ways To Inspire Others

Management guru Lisa Haneberg inspires us with 10 ways to inspire others:

1. Be a role model of courage. When our managers demonstrate courage, this will inspire us to do the same and we will respect them all the more.
2. Take a stand. Share your perspective and be open.
3. Reject politics! Many of us are sick of politics and would gladly follow and respect leaders who rejected them.
4. Listen more, speak less. Show your employees, team members and peers that you value input and collaboration.
5. Beat your goals and don't rest until you do. People want to work for successful leaders.
6. Spend time in their shoes. Show them you want to understand what their world looks and feel like.
7. Reject over the top perks that separate you from your team. Try to spread the wealth on great experiences like conferences, trainings, product offerings, and other perks.
8. Represent your employee's needs to senior management and with your peers. Take the initiative to make things better.
9. Be the best expression of your unique style. We are all different, so don't turn into a corporate clone.
10. Be inspired by others. Share your role models and why they inspire you.

Uninspired people=Uninspired Ratings and Revenue. Inspire your programming, sales and management teams to do their best work everyday.

Listen Live, Not Online!

Most stations do not simulcast 100% of their terrestrial station audio online. Instead, over the air commercials are substituted with internet ad inserts, songs or promos. The problem is: Arbitron will only assign rating credit if you simulcast 100% with your terrestrial audio. So in order to get rating credit for online listening, you must invite listeners to “listen live,” not online. Yes, it’s another one of the ironies of playing the Arbitron game—but you must play the game, play it well and play to win.

Until Arbitron changes the rules, the best way to promote your station’s stream (and hopefully get credit for listening) is with recorded/live liners that say: “Turn your pc into a radio…visit.www.geofm.com and click on listen live.” DO NOT promote your stream by asking listeners to “listen online.”

Also, make sure to have your web programmer update your streaming media player to say “You’re listening to GEO 100” or “You’re tuned to 100.1 FM GEO 100.”Reinforce this message by using a radio graphic that highlights your station’s frequency.

Remember, if you’re trying to get credit for listening, only invite listeners to “listen live.”

Radio "Know-How"

If you want to be a better manager (or programmer) now—and in the future—business consultant Ram Charam provides the “know-how” in his new book.

Here are Ram’s 8 essential skills for leadership success:

• Positioning (and when necessary, repositioning) your business by zeroing in on the central idea that meets customer needs and makes money
• Connecting the dots by pinpointing patterns of external change ahead of others
• Shaping the way people work together by leading the social system of your business
• Judging people by getting to the truth of a person
• Molding high-energy, high-powered, high-ego people into a working team of leaders in which they equal more than the sum of their parts
• Knowing the destination where you want to take your business by developing goals that balance what the business can become with what it can realistically achieve
• Setting laser-sharp priorities that become the road map for meeting your goals
• Dealing creatively and positively with societal pressures that go beyond the economic value creation activities of your business

Apply these insights to lead your station/cluster to more ratings and revenue success!

For more “Know-How,” click

here.

Creating Powerful Radio in 2007

In April of 2007, author and international broadcast consultant, Valerie Geller, will release her newly revised and updated version of "Creating Powerful Radio: Keeping and Growing Audiences." The book is a guide for programmers, managers and talent. Everyone seems to enjoy Valerie's powerful insights including broadcasters like Radio One's Cathy Hughes, Univision's David Gleason, and WPLJ's Scott Shannon. I enjoy her unique perspective as well--and so can you! For instance, here are Valerie Geller's Principles of Creating Powerful Radio which serve as foundation of her powerful radio approach.

1. Speak visually, in terms your listener can "picture."
2. Find, and start with, your best material.
3. Tell the truth.
4. Never be boring.
5. Listen to your station, even when you are not on.
6. Make it matter.
7. Always address the individual, use "you." Talk to ONE listener at a time.
8. Do smooth and engaging transitions & handoffs.
9. Promote, brag about your stuff.
10. Brag about other people's stuff
11. Be who you are on the radio.
12. Take risks. Dare to be great.

Use these principles to create more powerful radio on your station/show in the new year!

For more from Valerie Geller, click here.

And if you want to pre-order your copy of the newly revised and updated "Creating Powerful Radio" from Amazon.com, click here.

New Year, New Day, New Beginning

Happy New Year!!! Keep looking forward and moving foward in 2007!