Frank J. Radice 
Promotion, Marketing & Production Consulting
The goal of VIDA FR COMPANY IS:
Strategic Synergy
"Our business is to team-up with a select group of client specialists. These companies work with VFR to increase core benefits and generate new ideas. From production, sales and distribution, to digital and traditional media and marketing, with creativity and efficiency."
Frank J. Radice
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PROMAXBDA TAKEAWAY
An Evening With The Hitman: David Foster
Don’t miss this intimate and interactive performance and conversation with 15-time Grammy Award winning songwriter and producer, David Foster. In addition to some of the greatest hits of all time, you’ll hear about creative inspiration, the evolving role music plays in sonic branding and how ‘The Hitman’ keeps ahead of the curve, continuing to set the bar for auditory excellence.
Hosted by:
Frank J. Radice, Creative Advisor, On-Air Pro and Expert in Residence, Definition6
Speaker:
David Foster, Artist, Song Writer, Producer
GET MORE!
Sessions - Speakers - Insights
With PromaxBDA's new Video on Demand Player, you can see sessions, speakers, panelists and presentations from the PromaxBDA 2010 Conference. Complete with presentation assets, power points and videos, you'll be able to watch and re-watch sessions on your schedule. For a list of sessions please click here.
A THOUGHT FROM HERE: Frank Radice and David Foster at Promax|BDA 2010
My David Foster / PROMAX odyssey began when I started working with ON-AIR Pro™ in January. I took a trip out west for a meeting with Sandra Alex and Jonathan Mickelson, the heads of Thought Development / ON-AIR Pro™, and a shoot for the company's website and newsletter.
As the Creative Advisor, I was to represent ON-AIR Pro™ at PROMAX|BDA 2010. So my next meeting would be with their CEO, Jonathan Block-Verk, to see what he thought I might do at the conference in June.
Jonathan Block-Verk asked me to interview someone notable in music, TV, film and web. I suggested David Foster, one of the most successful composers, musicians, and entrepreneurs on the planet.
I had gotten to know David and his beautiful friend Yolanda through a mutual associate, businessman and songwriter Tim Blixseth. We vacationed together a few times in Mexico, where David and I played together and again when I played on a recording with Hugh Laurie's "Band from TV" on a soundtrack for "House, M.D." that David produced for NBC/Universal.
David Foster, Lester Holt (bass) and Frank Radice
Suffice it to say, I knew he'd be a killer guest for PROMAX/BDA 2010, so when I suggested him, both Jonathan Block-Verk and Sandra Alex (who also has a passing acquaintance with David from the music side of things) agreed!
So, I booked him!
It was decided he would be a keynote session on opening night. We called it “An Evening with the Hitman: David Foster.”
The event would include a special intro tape produced by Defintion6, followed by David and a grand piano with me on a tall stool (like Sinatra) on the main stage in the ballroom before crowd of a thousand or more eager attendees.
That morning we had a rehearsal. David sent his right-hand man (woman), Courtney Blooding, and his piano guy, Warren Huff (who, by the way, brought one of the celeb-signed Yamaha's that benefited the David Foster Foundation to the tune of half a million dollars).
We went over the format with Jill Linderman, PROMAX|BDA's General Manager, and arranged a later meeting with David in his room at the Marriott. Everything was going as planned—but things are never that easy.
The Definition6 piece "Inspiration"—a beautiful design by Jim Read and set to an original score—was made especially for the event as the premiere showing of http://www.Def6.TV work for the first time to a big and targeted crowd. Although the piece didn’t play in its entirety (you could hear it on stage but not see it, and no one told me), Jill Linderman did play it later in the conference, just before “State of Our Art.”
Finally, David and I walked out, sat down, and started talking about inspiration and what inspires him. Then we showed a tape of him and the greats he works with—from Bocelli to Madonna, fromCeline to Whitney, Michael Jackson and more. He's written and produced for the greats, and has the hardware to prove it: 15 Grammys, Emmy's—you name it, and he's won it.
After that he proved why he was such a great communicator. He got up off the piano bench, walked to the edge of the stage, and engaged the audience in a way I had never witnessed at Promax.
He told stories about everything from his family(s) to his Foundation, from the greatest voices to the biggest divas. We talked about the state of the music business (he brought in the crowd participation here), we talked about the Internet (more crowd involvement), and then he surprised us all as he had Heather Porter, from the audience, a Manager at Fox Broadcasting, come up to show him she could sing. And she could! It was a Puccini opera of all things, and David knew it, transposing on the fly.
Some of the reaction on the Promax|BDA site and on my Facebook page ranged from, “The best session at the conference” to “I wanted to hear more.” That’s always the best way to end a session—leave them asking for more.
For me, this was the best way to do a presentation. One-on-one, with an engaging, and entertaining individual, someone who has a lot to say and can make it relevant to the audience, (and the time to do it right with Q & A at the end.)
David made it easy with his undeniable charm and talent. He augmented his stories by performing little pieces of the songs that made him rich and his wives very happy. He owned the stage. That made my job that much easier.
In the end, ON-AIR Pro™ sponsored one of the highlights of Promax|BDA 2010, and for me, one of the best interviews I have ever done.
Thanks again David, and thanks to Sandra Alex for having the faith to back me up on this.
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Frank Radice, Sandra Alex, David Foster, and Jonathan Mickelson
A Word From the President of Thought Development / ON-AIR Pro™
I would like to jump in on Frank's article to highlight one moment that meant so much during the ON-AIR Pro™-sponsored "An Evening with the Hitman: David Foster" session.
Sitting right behind me: the Los Angeles-based KCET on-air promotion team. Anyone who is a fan of public broadcasting knows that David has been hosting the "David Foster & Friends" specials on the Great Performances series airing on PBS stations across the country. At one point during his interview, David mentioned a new upcoming special in October and asked if anyone from PBS was in the audience. The KCET group clapped and cheered vibrantly.
The next day Tené Harris-Duckworth, Director of On-Air Promotions at KCET, and one of this year's Promax|BDA Award Winners, passed in front of the ON-AIR Pro™ booth. I had met Tené many years back and took the opportunity to give her a hug and re-connect. We talked about theDavid Foster session, and two of Tené's sentences stayed with me:
and
"Now I have renewed enthusiasm for promoting the new upcoming David Foster PBS Special."
Thanks, Jonathan Block-Verk and everyone at Promax|BDA for helping make this moment happen. And thanks to Frank Radice for his vision, energy and tenacity!
It was a delight to sponsor a session that was intimate, warm, and inspirational to all of those present.
Traditional advertising has becoming increasingly inefficient, so how do you effectively reach your customers today without breaking the bank?
The Big Idea: Own Your Edge!
Case Studies in Music & Publishing
Forrester Research shows music industry sales have dropped 50% in the last decade, from 14.6B in 1999 to 6.3B in 2009. The Publishers Bureau reports that for the first quarter of this year, magazine ad pages fell 9.4% to 34,800 pages compared to the same quarter last year.
Clearly both industries are in a state of flux. These stats are stunning, but they pose a great up side for new technology, social media and digital marketing. So what will these two industries look like in five years and what can they learn from each other? Will publishers charge for on-line versions of their magazines? What can the music business do to stem the tide when their sales continue to decline?
Both industries have to contend with a world where people are more and more consuming on-line content for free. The iPad alone won't save magazines, but it's a start. There is no doubt that publishers need to harness the power of this new device immediately.
This is where publishing can learn a thing or two from the music business. The iPod and iTunes saved an industry on life-support. Apple clearly helped change the paradigm. Ever since Napster came into the lexicon the industry was slow to embrace it but Apple made it easier to buy music than to steal it, and that should help do the same for magazines.
Direct sale of content has always been the easiest way to determine the success or failure of any business, but now there's more!
Now is the time to foster B2B strategic relationships and grow your brand community if you want your business to really survive.
"Own your Edge" everywhere you can. Having the best product in the store isn't enough, you have to have the best communities online. Twitter, Foursquare and Facebook... everywhere!
Now, promotion and marketing is as monetizable as the product being marketed, and new technology and social media are the tools to success going forward.
Last week The Financial Times announced it is using Foursquare to target a new younger consumer, and the Warner Music Group has started-up an in-house social media team.
So it's clear some music and publishing businesses are going in the right direction, that is significant, and an understanding of what they are trying to do is sure to open up the door to the companies that have been reluctant to try something new.
Even if entrants into a space aren't paid subscribers, get subscribers wherever you can. Extend the brand, generate awareness through reach and frequency across all platforms, and the money will follow. Plus these new subscribers will be your best brand evangelists.
But everyone wants an immediate ROI and these tactics alone won't provide that.
The secret sauce then is to add a layer of strategic partnering to the mix. Create strategic B2B relationships and enhance the bottom line at the same time you are creating a base of engagement in the social sphere while better utilizing the new technologies.
It's all about creative thinking in the digital space. The Mantra should be "Think Better!"
And that's why flux in the marketplace is a good thing for digital marketers.
If you use the new tools effectively, create strategic partnerships while creating a loyal brand community, you will "Own your Edge."
Television and marketing executive Frank Radice recently flew to London from New York on British Airways.
On this flight, however, he didn’t take a 747, but rather flew a much smaller Airbus.
Rather than flying into congested Heathrow or Gatwick, he flew into BA’s best-kept secret. Keep reading for his report:
My wife, Vida, and I are frequent British Airways International fliers. In fact, I’m BA Executive Club Gold and she’s Silver.
We fly to London for business and pleasure seven or eight times a year, always from JFK to Heathrow. We usually fly Club but sometimes First and sometimes World Traveler Plus. This time we thought we’d change it up a bit and decided to try the new flight from JFK to London City Airport (LCY) in the heart of the UK’s financial district.
The flight is BA Flight 002, the number of the original Concorde flight from New York to London. And as soon as we entered the cabin we were greatly impressed.
Our Airbus 318 was just six months old and the cabin configuration is what impressed us first. There are only 32 Club Class seats and a flight crew of five (three flight attendants, or one per every 10 passengers).
The legroom in the lay-flat seat was more than adequate. I would have preferred a larger video screen, as the ones on the plane are 7-inch personal digital players on swinging arms, and I did miss the GPS map, but I guess you can’t have everything.
Learn about other services aimed at business travelers here.
But wait, there’s more. There is a mobile phone system on board that allows you to send and receive SMS and MMS (text messages). You can also send and receive email if you have a smartphone or a laptop with a GPRS or data card. Now that’s civilized!
But one of the best parts of this flight takes place on the ground.
When it came time for customs at LCY, there was no problem at all and it was very fast (after all, there were only 32 people to check through.) By the time we got to the baggage carousel our luggage was already out. That certainly doesn’t happen at Heathrow or Gatwick.
For more about traveling to England, visit our British Isles travel section.
If you’ve got a car, you’re good to go. From the airport to the business district or central London, it’s a piece of cake. If you want to take public transportation, again, no problem.
Passengers are given Oyster Cards and instructions how to get into central London using the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) and the Underground. Twenty-five minutes later, and with hardly any wait at all, we were at our stop in Earls Court.
The return trip was a bit different, but just as good of an experience. Nonstop to New York? Not quite. We went wheels-up on BA Flight 001 on time, but landed shortly in Shannon, Ireland to refuel. Why? The runway at LCY is too short for a full load.
But the good news is that you go through U.S. customs during the stop in Ireland. It was very fast, less than one hour. This pre-clearance procedure is terrific because when you land in the States a few hours later, you’re treated like a domestic passenger. Just get off the plane and go.
Get more tips in our Passports & Customs travel section.
If you have business in London’s financial district, with daily flights, this is the way to go. The arrival lounge in London City is available at a nearby hotel where you can freshen up and have breakfast before going to your meeting. There is also a small but convenient departure lounge at LCY. Because of the quick in-and-out you don’t need to be at the airport the usual three hours before the flight (but I’d still get there at least an hour and a half early even though BA claims you can do it in far less time).
If you simply want a very comfortable high-end way to get to London from New York, this is a great way to go. It’s similar to flying a private plane but far less expensive, from about $5,459 round-trip, which falls at the low end of the scale on comparable business class flights across the Atlantic.
For more information, visit BritishAirways.com.
By Frank Radice for PeterGreenberg.com.
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Written and performed by Frank Radice in 1965
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