Bringing together public media leadership, development, marketing, and content professionals to connect with and serve new audiences .
The 2023 Audience Development Summit, presented by Greater Public and The Public Radio Program Directors Association (PRPD), addresses the urgent need for audience development throughout our industry.
Throughout the two-day virtual event, leading voices will offer insights and expertise on ways to offer value and increase reach to younger and more diverse audiences through integrated content, marketing, and development efforts.
Attend the 2023 Audience Development Summit
- Wednesday, February 22, 1-4pm ET / 10am-1pm PT
- Thursday, February 23, 1-4pm ET / 10am-1pm PT
Participation in the 2023 Audience Development Summit will equip your leadership team with:
- Scalable ways to introduce your station to new audiences
- Case studies examining various content and platforms that best serve our broader communities
- Impactful strategies to translate audience engagement into financial support
Who should attend the Audience Development Summit?
This virtual event is designed for cross-disciplinary teams to attend as a group. It is intended to engage public media leadership and to provide participating stations with the opportunity to bring an internal team together to focus on connecting with and serving new audiences.
To make the most of the Summit, each participating station should assemble a team of 5-10 key decision makers, including the station’s:
- CEO or General Manager
- Leaders from content, development, and marketing divisions
During registration, you will identify a Team Captain, who will be responsible for sharing information and preparing your organization’s team for the Summit. Team Captains are responsible for finalizing and activating team members, determining how and where your team will work through the organizational activities, and preparing any pre-Summit data.
Speakers
Stephen George
President & CEO
Louisville Public Media
Rachel Hubbard
Executive Director
KOSU Radio
Bill Johnson
General Manager
WRTI Philadelphia
Jordan Lee
Content & Branding Consultant
Paragon Media Strategies
Kari Anderson
Senior Vice President of Audience & Community
Vermont Public
Lynn Farmer
Vice President Marketing and Communications
Twin Cities Public Television
Briana O'Higgins
Senior Vice President, Audience & Content
KERA
Vanessa Merina
Executive Director, Brand and Audience Development
KQED
Ernesto Aguilar
Director of Radio Programming
KQED
Jenelle Dean
Community Engagement Manager
KPBS
Will Keible
Director of Marketing & Corporate Support
WDAV Classical Public Radio
Trisha Richter
Director of Grants & Engagement
KPBS
Jessica Weber
Owner / Founder
co-sign
Tom Calderone
President and CEO
Buffalo Toronto Public Media
Tamar Charney
Editorial Strategist and Trainer
Timothy Russell
VP of Community Engagement and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
WTTW | WFMT
Schedule
Day 1 – Wednesday, February 22nd
SESSION DESCRIPTION
As we discussed during the 2022 Summit, the need for audience development in public media is urgent. To kick off the 2023 Summit, we’re diving right in with three station leaders already doing the work. Who are they targeting? How are they making decisions about what content, what platform, what voice, and what form? How are they funding these efforts? Get to know these three very different organizations “walking the talk” on audience development.
PANELISTS
- Stephen George, President & CEO, Louisville Public Media
- Rachel Hubbard, Executive Director, KOSU Radio
- Bill Johnson, General Manager, WRTI Philadelphia
MODERATOR
- Jordan Lee, Content & Branding Consultant, Paragon Media Strategies
SESSION DESCRIPTION
Once an organization has decided on a target audience and has the data in hand, what’s next? Learn from public media audience and marketing specialists about how they’re using data and research to make decisions as a cross-functional team. Discover how they take the next steps into marketing, promotion, and measuring success. Learn how you can scale this work to fit the size of your organization’s staff and budget.
PANELISTS
- Kari Anderson, Senior Vice President of Audience & Community, Vermont Public
- Briana O’Higgins, Senior Vice President, Audience & Content, KERA
- Vanessa Merina, Executive Director, Brand and Audience Development, KQED
MODERATOR
- Lynn Farmer, Vice President Marketing and Communications, Twin Cities Public Television
Since the great audience upheaval of 2020, it has been challenging to find the time to review and discuss research as an organization. Prioritizing these conversations, however, is critical. For our first organizational activity of the Summit, discuss either your own research or the research available to you, which is outlined in the workbook.
Day 2 – Thursday, February 23rd
SESSION DESCRIPTION
Reaching new audiences is a critical first step, but engaging with those audiences in authentic and meaningful ways will lead to real impact for your organization. Through community partnerships, your station can build relationships with new audiences that lead to long-term growth. Kick off day two of the Summit discussing successful community partnerships at stations.
PANELISTS
- Jenelle Dean, Community Engagement Manager, KPBS
- Will Keible, Director of Marketing & Corporate Support, WDAV Classical Public Radio
- Trisha Richter, Director of Grants & Engagement, KPBS
- Jessica Weber, Owner / Founder, co-sign
MODERATOR
- Ernesto Aguilar, Director of Radio Programming, KQED
SESSION DESCRIPTION
Great content development that reaches and serves new audiences is a team sport. Content cannot be developed in a vacuum divorced from organizational objectives. In our final session, we’ll learn about collaborative content creation, building products for specific audiences on different platforms, and how that process helps generate revenue.
PANELISTS
- Tom Calderone, President and CEO, Buffalo Toronto Public Media
- Timothy Russell, VP of Community Engagement and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, WTTW | WFMT
MODERATOR
- Tamar Charney, Editorial Strategist and Trainer
The discipline of audience development demands organization-wide focus and engagement. It’s about how we work across departments, as teams, on various stages of the audience journey. It’s about the products we create and the journey we offer audiences, based on their preferences and needs. Use this time to think through how your organization will work as a unified team to engage with your target audience(s).
Pricing and Registration
This event is designed for cross-disciplinary teams to attend as a group. Organizational passes allow everyone at your organization to attend for one flat rate, based on your organization’s size (as measured by your station’s non-federal funding, or NFFS). Due to the cross-disciplinary nature of the Summit, individual registration is not available.
Members of Greater Public and PRPD will receive special discounted rates to attend the Summit.
The early bird deadline is February 3, 2023. Prices increase after February 3rd.
| Station Size | Member Standard Rate | Non-Member Standard Rate |
| Micro Station (Under $1 million) | $300 | $350 |
| Small Station ($1-3 million) | $600 | $800 |
| Medium Station ($4-14 million) | $900 | $1,250 |
| Large Station (Over $15 million) | $1,500 | $1,975 |
FAQs
The Summit is a virtual event that will happen on Zoom.
Attendees should make best efforts to attend both days, as the sessions and activities build upon each other.
Team Captains are our primary contact to ensure you have what you need to make the most of the two-day virtual event. Team Captains are responsible for finalizing and activating team members, determining how and where your team will work through the organizational activities, and preparing any pre-Summit data.
The organizational activities will help your team build and strategize your audience, building on the information provided during the sessions. Greater Public will provide templates and worksheets for teams to work together during the Summit. All attendees of the Summit should participate in the organizational activities to get the most out of this experience.
No! All activities are designed to work through in person or remotely via the platform of your choosing.
Attracting new audiences is important to radio and television stations as non-profit media organizations. The content of the Summit will feature speakers addressing the overarching themes that pertain to both.
Yes! There are many benefits for smaller organizations to participate. Regardless of size, understanding changing demographics and expectations of audiences is a critical conversation we need to have industry-wide. We’ve also created pricing tiers so the Summit is affordable for teams of all sizes.
Due to the cross-disciplinary nature of the Summit, individual registration is not available for the Audience Development Summit.
Yes and we’ll make the slides available, too. If you attended the Summit, you will receive an email with links to access the recordings and slides within a few business days of the end of the Summit. If your station registered to attend the Summit, but you did not receive the email containing these links, please contact us.
