In just two days, broadcasters, media professionals, and auto execs from around the country and the globe will fly into Detroit’s Metropolitan Airport to take part in our third DASH Conference.
Jacobs clients, JacoBLOG readers, and those who have made the trek to DASH before know all about our very transparent agenda.
First, it’s about bringing the automotive and radio communities together. Like peanut butter and jelly, these two industries have been American staples, connected together for nearly a century. Some of our earliest teenage memories are about getting a learner’s permit, fastening our seat belts, turning the key in the ignition, and punching up our favorite radio station.
Today, there are new challenges facing both the auto and radio industries. And DASH is the only conference of its kind that take on the goals, opportunities, and challenges facing these two American business categories. For too long, execs from both the worlds of automotive and radio have operated independent of one another. Today, it is essential that radio, in particular, step up and be represented as automakers leap into an uncertain future that includes everything from autonomous driving, shared mobility, and the Internet of Things.
And so the second agenda item is to remind these car execs about why radio matters. Each year, we show off the best of the radio business, and that means its great personalities. We’ll have the services of three Detroit radio morning guys – WCSX’s Jim O’Brien, WNIC’s Jay Towers, and WYCD’s Chuck Edwards providing their professional, energetic emcee services.
Buzz Knight will moderate a great session featuring Detroit radio’s play-by-play kings: Michigan football’s Jim Brandstadder, the Lions’ Dan Miller, the Red Wings’ Ken Kal, and the Pistons’ Mark Champion. For automakers, this session is about the vitality and essential nature of broadcast radio and its personalities who become a part of our lives. And for radio operators themselves, it’s a reminder of the need to continue to invest in live and local programming, the industry’s unique selling proposition in dashboards cluttered with a multitude of new options.
Finally, the third agenda item is about supporting Detroit, now being called America’s Comeback City. That’s something that even The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal can agree on.
When we first approached Radio Ink’s Eric Rhoads about a radio + car conference mashup, his initial reaction was to hold it in Silicon Valley.
When we counter-suggesting Detroit as DASH headquarters, there was a palpable – and understandable – silence on the phone. And just a few short weeks after we announced the first DASH Conference in 2013, the city of Detroit declared bankruptcy.
Here we are two years later, and Detroit is rising from the ashes, showing the U.S. and the world that great institutions supported by gritty and determined people can turn it around if they are strong-willed, talented, and work hard. Detroit is not cured, healed, or fixed. But it is on the path toward redemption. The last two years have been amazing for a city that was on its knees, an example of the urban dream gone wrong.
The video below, produced by the Detroit Pistons, illustrates the core culture of Detroit, and the work ethic of its people. Voiced by former Detroit mayor and Hall of Famer Detroit Piston, Dave Bing, it’s a tribute to the people of Metro Detroit and what they stand for.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEJB6a85_qg
Email recipients can watch the video here.
Detroit is a reminder to all of us that comebacks and turnarounds are always possible. If you’ve been part of a great comeback – whether it was in radio, your career, your health, or your family – you know how deeply gratifying and rewarding it can be. There’s nothing more satisfying than bringing something of value back, reinventing it for a new future, and proving to the world that greatness has no limits or boundaries.
And we remind you that anything’s possible, especially what may seem to be impossible.
May the city and this conference be inspirational to all.
Welcome to Detroit.
Welcome to DASH.
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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Thanks Fred, this is great……Have a great conference!
That gave me chills, as a hometown Detroiter! See ya Wednesday. Can’t wait
Back at you. Thanks, Dave.
Fred, I hope the conference is a smashing success. And, while I never thought the “D” would make a comeback in my lifetime, with the exception of that sad excuse for an NFL franchise, things are looking the best since I left (1979.
Yes, let’s not talk about those jokers in the Honolulu blue & silver outfits. Thanks for the kind wishes, Ira.