Hi Again!

So I finally opened the last FedEx package of the day and thought today would be an appropriate time to touch base with Mic'd Up. We just announced the second extension for the general deadline today. You now have until Friday, March 7, to send in your entries at the regular $125 submission prices. After that they go up to $150, so save that extra $25 for something special.

Just in case some of you missed the recent press release, I'm excited to announce that Eric Hirshberg, President and Chief Creative Officer of Deutsch LA, has graciously agreed to serve as this year's Chief Judge. Wendy and I couldn't be more pleased with this announcement. He's a great creative driving force in the community, and we just can't wait to hear his insights on exceptional Radio. Speaking of the west coast, we have also secured our location for this year's gala event.

We'll be hosting the Radio-Mercury Awards on Wednesday, May 21, at the Four Seasons Los Angeles at Beverly Hills! This will be my first trip to the west coast. I'm thrilled to be in LA this year, let alone hanging around the Four Seasons for a couple of days! As we begin to wrap-up the entry process and entries move into the judging round, our next big news will be when we announce the 2008 Finalists in mid to late April.

This will give the lucky finalists time to make plans for a sunny Wednesday in May to celebrate the 2008 Radio-Mercury Awards! If anyone has an specific questions about this year's Radio-Mercury Awards please feel free to email me at mercury@rab.com or give me a call at 212-681-7207.

Meghan

Wow, so it’s been a while since I’ve updated Mic’d Up, but there’s been a ton of changes going on this year that we’re still trying to wrap our heads around. Luckily I can now announce a few fun tidbits for this year’s call for entry and awards season.

New Everything!

That’s right; new venue, new categories and new site, oh my…

Our first big news for 2008 is the change of our annual awards gala event. Wendy and I are very excited to jet across the country to sunny Los Angeles for this year’s event on May 21, 2008. We’ll be revealing the location very soon. (Hint: Britney Spears has been known to go there!) And we have a fantastic west coast Chief Judge. (All will be revealed in early February.)

Second, we have three new prize categories that we’re very excited about. Since we’re heading to the entertainment capital of the world, we thought it would only be appropriate to add an Entertainment category. And, with the 2008 elections already underway, we though a Political category also made a nice fit.

The third new prize category, Radio Innovations, is really something that we’re very excited about, and we can’t wait to see what everyone else thinks of this new addition. If your Radio work was really the shining star of a multimedia campaign, this is the category for you.

Check back for more news announcing this year’s chief judge and lots more good stuff in 2008!

Happy New Year

Meghan

Call for Entry is Officially Open!

You heard right, the Radio-Mercury Awards Call for Entry has now begun with both online automated entry and mail-in entry. We’re very excited about this year’s awards season. With the introduction of yet another new category, Urban, and a soon-to-be announced Chief Judge, Wendy and I are quickly preparing for what will sure to be another crazy couple of months.

We hope you like the new website design. We are continuing to update the website as we move further into the season.

Also, a perennial friend to the Mercury Awards, Doug Zanger from Entercom Portland, is now a contributing writer to Ad Age’s “Small Agency” blog. Click on this link: http://adage.com/smallagency/ to view Doug’s rants and raves.

If you’d like a copy of the 2006 CD, please send me an email at mercury@rab.com.

Stay tuned this week for big news on this year’s chief judge!

For those of you in attendance at last June’s Radio-Mercury Awards, you heard the rumblings of a new Urban category to this year’s Call for Entry. Well, Wendy and I are pleased to officially announce the addition of an Urban category to the Radio-Mercury Awards!

The cultivation of this new category could not have been accomplished without the help of sponsors American Urban Radio Networks, Carter Broadcasting, Inner City Broadcasting, and Reach Media, whom we must profusely thank for there generous assistance.

Our intention in adding this new category was to acknowledge the significance of the rising Urban format, and its huge loyal customer base. We also felt that this was a way to encourage the participation from the multicultural agencies and their clients.

Call for Entry is steadily approaching, so log onto www.radiomercuryawards.com for more news in the coming weeks in regards to Call for Entry dates, and the new design and look of the Radio-Mercury Awards.

Hi Everyone

I hope you’re all enjoying the podcasts that have been set up on the website recently with Tim Roan from FCB NY, and Mike Houston from Leopold Ketel, and Partners. We’re hoping to have more Podcasting throughout the New Year so please check back to the site.

You may be planning your Holiday Season and New Years plans, but Wendy and I are gearing up for another fabulous Call for Entry season. Be sure to check back to the mercury awards website www.radiomercuryawards.com for loads of news including our new Call for Entry design, and the unveiling of a new category!



Happy Holidays,

Meghan Buonocore

A new mic'd up podcast is ready to download. This time Meghan talks with Mike Houston, Copywriter with Leopold Ketel and Partners. He is responsible for that insanely catchy "Turtle Song" that generated quite a bit of attention for the Oregon Coast Aquarium. It also brought him a trophy and some cool cash in the General Prize Category at the 2006 Radio-Mercury Awards.

Remember, if you have iTunes or other podcasting software you can subscribe to the podcast by copying this link here:--> link and pasting it into the subscription area in your software.

You can listen to the podcast right from this site!


Or you can download the mp3 file here mic'dup02mp3file

Thanks for listening!

Hey, Todd Carruth here... Check out the new podcast for Mic'd Up featuring Meghan's interview with Tim Roan, VP, and Sr. Copywriter with FCB NY.

If you would like to subscribe to the Mic'd Up podcast using your iTunes or other podcasting software, then you can copy this link and paste it into the subscription area in your podcasting software (e.g.,iTunes or iPodder)


BONUS! You can listen to the podcast right from this page, by clicking the play button below.