Public Radio Development and Marketing Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana
July 27, 2006
Good morning.
It is great to see all of you again.
And especially to be meeting in New Orleans.
Mark Fuerst said that, in his opinion, this meeting of the PRDMC is one of the most important conferences in the 30-year evolution of public broadcasting.
And he could be right.
You are the professionals who make it all happen, turning listeners into donors, so I know I am in the right place.
And I am not alone. Many of my colleagues from CPB are here as well.
I have a great team at CPB, dedicated to working with you and for you to ensure that public service media thrives, as we face "new realities."
In fact, one of your own, Vinnie Curren, is now our chief operating officer.
And I know Vinnie is looking forward to working with you as he steps into this new role.
Also with us today is the chairman of our board, Cheryl Halpern, and board member Beth Courtney, who heads LPB and who you met last night.
I am so pleased that the decision was made to meet here in New Orleans.
Because public broadcasting proved its vital connection to so many communities throughout the country during Katrina, but especially here in Louisiana -- and now, with your help, continues to strengthen that connection.
CPB is dedicated to helping these stations, so in addition to the one million we provided last year to those affected by Katrina, we decided to apply hardship criteria to the most severely damaged stations.
By the time these stations have complete their digital conversion, they will have received more than $500,000 from CPB in order to ensure that those stations most devastated by the storms continue to sustain their important roles within their communities.
Because of your excellent work as development professionals, public radio is able to connect to community in good headline times as well as bad.
So I am really here to say "Thank you" for all you do -- for what you make possible.
You do your job so well, you make it look easy.
For example, when New York City decided to sell its radio license, and the WNYC development team raised $20 million to buy it back.
Or when Vermont Public Radio followed through with a listener who loves classical music, and the result was a million-dollar donor.
But I know from personal experience that connecting with donors, identifying new sources of revenues, and maintaining a healthy income stream is a 24/7 job.
When I ran the National Women's Economic Alliance, I spent a great deal of time talking to CEOs about the need to fund the organization so that we could work more effectively to place women and minorities on boards of directors.
I always had a positive response.
No one would ever say no.
But that was always followed by "Send me something on paper."
This was before e-mails.
Than I would call back, and they would ask me to resend the proposal. Again.
Or ask me to talk to the foundation person, who then might ask me to talk to the CEO who had just asked me to talk to the foundation person.
Every all, every meeting, required more calls, and more meetings.
But then we began to research on an in-depth basis, and were able to match our request to the very specific interests of the potential donor.
Every meeting was based on how, through the alliance, I could help that CEO solve a particular problem, address an issue that needed addressing, and, in the process, deliver measurable benefits for that company and its shareholders.
I found that, much as I wanted to rush the process, if I was going to be successful, I would have to take a page from my friend Mary Wilson's song, when she was with the Supremes and sang:
"You can't hurry love."
But you can begin the engagement process when you represent something so important to our civil society --
The ability to connect citizens through public service media, radio and television.
People are yearning to connect, to put the civil back in society, and you are giving them that opportunity when they support public radio.
We are the original "engagement media" -- decades of direct relationships with our viewers and listeners.
At a time when commercial radio and television is trying to establish those relationships to connect not with community or citizens but with consumers.
In order to sell more, more effectively through new advertising formats because the future for the old one-way push delivery of advertising is looking very bleak.
It is only public broadcasting -- the most trusted form of media, value-added media -- that can really speak to potential donors and tell them, "We are the future. Invest in us."
My job at CPB is to secure our resources so we can do all we can to help you improve that connection -- especially with potential major donors.
In terms of securing resources, last week the Senate Appropriations Committee moved on CPB's budget request.
The committee is providing us with a $400 million advance appropriation for FY 09, $36 million for television interconnection, and $29.7 million for digital conversion in FY 07.
This is basically level funding from last year.
Our final funding will be decided in a conference committee, which will likely not convene until late this fall.
We will be working with our public broadcasting partners -- NPR, APTS, and PBS -- at every step to continue to tell our story and make the case for funding.
I welcome the opportunity to talk with members of Congress. I never feel as if I am asking for a funding favor.
I believe I am giving them an opportunity through public broadcasting to strengthen our democracy.
And isn't that their core mission?
A mission you help fulfill every single day.
But in addition to working with the Hill for much-needed funding, we are moving ahead to help you increase you donor base and major giving.
Many of you have heard of the major giving initiative, the very successful effort to help public television stations develop a new approach to fundraising.
I am very pleased to announce that CPB is committing funds necessary to launch the Major Giving Initiative for public radio next year.
Through MGI, public radio managers and board members, working together, will have the support needed to ensure major giving success. Part of that success must comprise a strong message regarding the value (or relevance) of public broadcasting in a 500-plus channel world, or an XM and Sirius environment.
The fact is, we are more relevant than ever before.
It is true our audience is on the move using the latest in technology to get what they want when they want it, and it is also true that we cannot continue to reach them where we last saw them sitting.
Or as Sir Howard Stringer, the first non-Japanese president of Sony says, we can't afford to hold onto the status quo long after the quo has lost its status.
In our fast forward world, the new reality is already yesterday's headline. Or, as we used to say in New York, if you see it on the subway, it is already out of fashion.
But where our audience, current or future, is downloading, or text-messaging, or wearing their Bluetooth-equipped Oakleys, we should be coming to one conclusion.
And it is this:
People want to be connected -- to each other and to information and entertainment.
Just as malls are not about shopping -- they are about getting together, fulfilling a basic need to congregate --
All of this technology is really about helping people to stay in constant touch with one another and in touch with their programs.
We have all learned the hard way that staying connected can mean staying alive. So think of all new technology as a virtual security blanket for a new generation.
Last year, 2 percent of Americans were familiar with Bluetooth, the technology that enables wireless headphones.
This year, the number is 50 percent.
In 2005, 3.3 million wireless earpieces were shipped worldwide.
This year's predicted number is 55 million.
Constant contact is a given, but with what kind of content?
Our job is to ensure that in this yammering, clamoring environment of fast forward communication, our content continues to elevate, educate, entertain and inspire.
It is all about the content -- stupid.
Years ago, I had the chance to meet a woman who was one of the pioneers of direct marketing. She built an extraordinary business during the worst economic depression this country has ever experienced.
At the time, she was told, the future is dead for you.
You are a woman, you can't get a loan, and no one has any money to buy what you are offering.
This is the end of the free enterprise system, she was assured.
I asked her, how did you succeed at a time when so many people were failing?
And she responded with a question.
"Pat, what does a roadblock tell you?"
I replied, "That the road is blocked?"
She said, "No. A roadblock tells you one thing: That there is a road on the other side."
No matter what position I have every held, the new reality of specific changing environments always has dictated finding the road on the other side or remain permanently blocked.
Our road on the other side of all this whiz-bang technology remains the same as it ever was.
The evergreen mission of public service media.
Why everyone in this audience was attracted to working in public broadcasting in the first place.
And that is to support programming that treats people as citizens and not just as consumers. So our communities, and ultimately our country is strengthened.
That is the real homeland security.
Last weekend, my husband and I visited the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. And there was one quote on the wall that seemed to be describing public broadcasting even though it was written a very long time ago.
It read:
"Democracy is based on the conviction that there are extraordinary possibilities in ordinary people."
Through our programs, we inspire listeners and viewers to consider the possibilities as we recognize the possibilities within each person.
One initiative that does this so very well is StoryCorps, which captures the stories of average Americans on CDs and shares those stories with public radio's listeners.
This project generates some of the best radio content heard today, anywhere, and that is why I am so pleased to announce that CPB is about to embark on a very exciting initiative with StoryCorps which will celebrate the lives and stories of African-Americans.
We hope to put a spotlight on those stories told by African-Americans who were in the forefront of the civil rights movement, or who served in World War II -- or who are just trying to provide for their families and raise their children. Some of these stories represent a generation that is leaving us very single day.
Connecting to communities within communities is important, and we hope this vertical approach through StoryCorps will provide us with the template for other American experience stories as well.
CPB is also helping public radio connecting through the Public Radio Exchange by bringing together independent producers, stations, networks and listeners through this web-based marketplace for radio pieces.
This is a new community for content producers -- and a source of programming material used by 370 public radio stations.
We also help you connect by encouraging new talent. Through the Public Radio Talent Search, we hope to identify six new on-air national hosts who will strengthen the already-strong public radio team.
We are very close to naming the two talent search teams, and the quest begins this September.
And no -- I do not consider this our version of American Idol. It is far more important.
I have been very busy traveling since we met one year ago at this conference and have seen for myself how you connect beyond the broadcast -- and the very important role public radio plays in people's lives.
In Washington, DC, at WAMU, Kojo Nnamdi sets up his show in community centers and gives people a chance to talk about their neighborhoods, what is working, what isn't.
Here in Louisiana, LPB's slogan is "It's more than television," And Beth Courtney and her colleagues prove it with Public Square -- a forum where citizens and community leaders come up with solutions to community issues.
It's not all about town hall meetings. For example, at WBEX in Chicago, the Summer Dance Festival features live music, dance lessons and the chance to express yourself on a 4600-square foot dance floor -- an opportunity of which hundreds of Chicagoans take advantage.
These are just a very few examples of ways that public radio fulfills its mission and promise to the American people.
But we must do a better job telling the public service media story.
It is a story worth the telling.
And as you are connecting on a local level, we must tell this story on a national level, in a way that resonates with decision-makers and purse-string holders, influencers and average Americans.
To respond to the challenge, CPB and its board, in conjunction with PBS, NPR, APTS, and, of course, public media, radio and television, are moving forward with a national campaign that will be locally informed, affirming the important role public media plays in strengthening our civil society.
As the project develops, we will be consulting with you every step of the way.
While this will be a national campaign with a clear message, it will not be one size fits all. Local will rule so it makes sense for you.
More than ever before, we believe that it is time for public broadcasting to define who we are; to convey our history of proven benefits to the American people.
Our goal is to take charge of the debate and move it from "Should public broadcasting be funded?" to "How can we as a country make an even greater investment in our civil society through public broadcasting?"
So we can continue to provide a safe place where children can learn . . .
Where listeners can get the information the need beyond a simplistic sound bite . . .
Where we can get engaged now, right where we live, and make a difference for our young people, our schools, our neighbors, our communities and our country . . .
That's a worthy mission and one worth fighting for.
Don't you think??
Thank you.