Audience Development Summit 2023

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

Stephen George

President & CEO

Louisville Public Media

Rachel Hubbard

Rachel Hubbard

Executive Director

KOSU Radio

Bill Johnson

Bill Johnson

General Manager

WRTI Philadelphia

Jordan Lee

Jordan Lee

Content & Branding Consultant

Paragon Media Strategies

Kari Anderson

Kari Anderson

Senior Vice President of Audience & Community

Vermont Public

Lynn Farmer

Lynn Farmer

Vice President Marketing and Communications

Twin Cities Public Television

Briana O'Higgins

Briana O'Higgins

Senior Vice President, Audience & Content

KERA

Vanessa Merina

Vanessa Merina

Executive Director, Brand and Audience Development

KQED

Ernesto Aguilar

Ernesto Aguilar

Director of Radio Programming

KQED

Jenelle Dean

Jenelle Dean

Community Engagement Manager

KPBS

Will Keible

Will Keible

Director of Marketing & Corporate Support

WDAV Classical Public Radio

Trisha Richter

Trisha Richter

Director of Grants & Engagement

KPBS

Jessica Weber

Jessica Weber

Owner / Founder

co-sign

Tom Calderone

Tom Calderone

President and CEO

Buffalo Toronto Public Media

Tamar Charney

Tamar Charney

Editorial Strategist and Trainer

Timothy Russell

Timothy Russell

VP of Community Engagement and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

WTTW | WFMT

Schedule

Day 1 – Wednesday, February 22nd

1:00-2:00p ET - Expanding Audience Reach: Who to Target and Why?

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

2:00-3:00p ET - Expanding Audience Reach: Utilizing Your Data

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

3:00-4:00p ET - Organizational Activity 1

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

1:00-2:00p ET - Community Partnerships that Grow Content and Audience

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

2:00-3:00p ET - A Collaborative Approach to Creating Content

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

3:00-4:00p ET - Organizational Activity 2

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

Is this an in-person event or virtual?

The Summit is a virtual event that will happen on Zoom.

What if I can only attend one day?

Attendees should make best efforts to attend both days, as the sessions and activities build upon each other.

What does the Team Captain do?

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.

What are the organizational activities? Who should participate?

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.

Our team is remote/hybrid. Is that a problem?

No! All activities are designed to work through in person or remotely via the platform of your choosing.

Is the Summit for public radio stations, public television stations, or both?

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.

Our station is small - will we get anything out of attending?

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.

Can I attend as an individual?

Due to the cross-disciplinary nature of the Summit, individual registration is not available for the Audience Development Summit.

Will the sessions be recorded?

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.  

Audience Development Summit 2023