Anders Held is Radiodays Europe project manager.
STOCKHOLM — Up until recently, radio industry players here in Europe felt that there weren’t any radio events that answered the needs of the entire pan-European radio market.
Each country held very specific regional events, not necessarily relevant to other radio markets. As the organizers of the Scandinavian Radiodays event, a tri-country collaboration between Sweden, Denmark and Norway, in 2010 we decided it was the right time to launch a European event similar to those we had been holding for many years.
We agreed that if we were to go ahead with this project, our goal would be to bring together radio professionals from across the continent to promote and encourage radio as an industry.
Collaborative planning
We decided to run the event as a not-for-profit business and, since the original Radiodays event comes from Scandinavia, that the first event would take place in Copenhagen, Denmark. Thus, in 2010, with Scandinavian public broadcasters providing the initial funding, a new European radio gathering launched: Radiodays Europe.
Today, Radiodays Europe is the leading pan-European radio event here on the continent, and each year its success grows, mainly thanks to the collaborative nature of planning used by our Radiodays Europe team. We decided early on that this would be a radio event, for radio people, produced by radio people. We knew that it was important to involve radio people from around Europe at the planning stage, to ensure that each market is accurately represented and to give the industry a platform to share ideas, best practice and much more.
Our Radiodays Europe team is spread across Europe from Scandinavia to Spain. Before each event, the conference committee meets to discuss the agenda for the next event. Our team also travels around Europe to meet broadcasters and hold agenda meetings in key markets. Representatives from all sides of the industry and the majority of countries attend.
These committees act as the lynch pin of the event, planning themes, topics, suggesting speakers and ensuring that all of the hot issues in radio are covered. The six members of the advisory board then take the hundreds of suggestions and shape these into a three-track conference.
Radiodays 2012 was held in Barcelona with 800 participants from 45 countries. Top-level speakers attended from all sections of the radio industry and other industries of interest, making it the largest and most important radio conference in Europe. Radiodays Europe is now in its fourth year, with the next event to be held Berlin on March 12–14, 2013.
The conference continues to gain momentum, thanks to widespread collaboration with European industry players, but our original vision remains intact: that this is a radio event where the European radio industry can meet and share ideas.
Anders Held is project manager for Radiodays Europe. To find out more about sending suggestions to the agenda advisory board of Radiodays Europe, contact him at [email protected].
