Radio Days conference brings together leaders of Africa's airwaves

The Wits Radio Academy’s annual radio conference, formerly known as Joburg Radio Days, has become the premier gathering of radio leaders on the continent. It’s where they grapple with issues facing the medium in a changing environment, get inspired by the best new ideas both locally and abroad, and learn new skills.

It’s taking place from Wednesday 1 to Friday 3 July at the Wits Club at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in Johannesburg.

The conference will bring together around 50 top international speakers, over 200 delegates from public, commercial and community radio; producers, managers, on-air talent, sales and marketing staff and anybody else interested in the medium. It’s the conference for everybody interested in radio and its future. This year the theme is Radio 2.0 - concentrating on the new shapes and forms the medium will take.

Confirmed speakers include representatives of many of South Africa’s leading radio platforms, as well as leading radio experts from across Africa and the world, such as Meck Phiri of BBC Media Action (Zambia), Ghetto Radio’s Nancy Onyango (Kenya), Lazaro Bamo (Mozambique), Leo Manne of TraceTV, Sophie Marsuadon of RFI (France), Kris Kropp of BigFM (Germany) and Jørgen Ramskov of Radio 24syv (Denmark)

It will be the conference’s sixth edition. This year the conference has been renamed Radio Days Africa (from Joburg Radio Days) to reflect a stronger focus on the whole continent. It will also feature a new stream of events focused particularly on sales and marketing issues; as well as masterclasses where delegates can hone their skills, taught by top experts.

Topics under the spotlight include: international insights on making social media work for radio programmers; the challenge of implementing needletime; how to build a successful radio advertising campaign; the role of audio in building brands; enabling radio’s digital future; how prominent DJs and presenters handle the challenge of taking over a popular slot; masterclasses on interviewing and music scheduling; the podcasting revolution and the implications of ‘the connected car’ for radio. Other highlights include a discussion on radio and development in African with Nigerian Knight Fellow Tunde Akpeji and Noma Rangana from Path; and a talk on radio-related community projects for fun and profit, with Pheladi Gwangwa of Radio 702 in South Africa.

If you’re in radio, you can’t afford to miss this important event on the radio calendar. Hosted by the Wits Radio Academy, the conference is the only one of its kind in Africa. There are sessions of interest to anyone involved in commercial, public or community radio; to producers, managers, marketers, editors, DJs; veterans and newbies – anybody with a passion for radio. For more details and to apply to attend, visit the event website or email radiodays@journalism.co.za.