Company Blog

Being one of the nation’s most innovative Streaming Delivery Network dedicated to the revival of local radio, it is imperative that we understand the needs of local radio stations, as well as the desires of today’s digital listener and merge those two worlds into a successful business model.

After celebrating our 10th year monetizing radio for broadcasters around the country, we have become a force to be reckoned with. With our growth and expansion throughout 2011, it became evidently clear that we were poised for great things in 2012 and beyond. With great things, comes the need for a great team. I am pleased to announce that Liquid Compass has bolstered its management team with experienced executives with both unsurpassed traditional radio experience and leading edge digital expertise.

First, I’d like to announce the appointment of our chief operating officer (COO), Stephen Guillot. With more than 15 years experience as a media technology executive, Stephen’s charter will be to drive operational leadership and the strategic vision of the company. We are also excited about his abilities to positively impact Liquid Compass’s reach to new business verticals and our overall financial performance. Stephen will not only be responsible for day-to-day business operations, but he also is expected to strengthen client relations, improve team performance and drive new revenue streams for the company.

Also joining Liquid Compass is Thomas Callahan, our senior vice president of sales. Thom brings extensive experience from CBS Radio, Metro Networks, Standard News Radio Networks and as general manager at several radio stations. Thom also spent 11 years as general manager of the Associated Press Radio Division. Thom’s extensive experience in radio will allow us to be front and center with every growth opportunity and service our customer base with a first class, white glove experience.

I am also excited about the addition of our new Director of Development, Jaxon Repp. Jaxon has been a senior media executive for 15 years and has a depth of experience both as a programmer and a creative designer. With our latest LC Pro 2.0 launch, Jaxon has already made a significant impact on our innovative products and services. As we grow our solution set for the audio entertainment industry, Jaxon will play a key role in the planning, development and launch of those new products and services.

As more and more of your audience shifts online, Liquid Compass is working hard to make sure that your stations’ streams are accessible whenever, and however your listeners want by providing the latest in desktop media player, mobile app, and Internet enabled device technology. In the coming months, you will see several new products offered exclusively through the Liquid Compass Streaming Delivery Network that are being developed with the intent to create more value for your station, your advertisers and listeners!

Start building sales packages that allow you to capture “digital dollars” by offering the value of your online audience. Need a sales tip, or two? With each issue of the Navigator we include valuable sales tips to help you generate new revenue NOW! Need help jumpstarting your streaming sales initiative? No worries – that’s what we’re here for! Simply contact our Client Services department, and we’ll send you our valuable Jumpstart Sales Guide which gives you non-technical sales propositions for your advertisers, web definitions for your sales team, and also sample packages that have been used by 100′s of our clientele!

The look and feel of your streaming platform is one of the most important factors in reinforcing your brand with consumers. Whether your customers listen for 1 hour a day or 16, presentation matters. We take pride in delivering an experience that engages users not just with high quality sound, but with the appearance and features that provide a seamless, integrated experience.

We’re excited to debut the LC Pro 2.0 Desktop Player, Now Playing Widget, and Mobile Network Player in 6 different skins- all perfectly matched across every platform, and as easy to deploy as pasting a snippet of code into your site. And best of all, changing the look and feel of one changes it across your entire network, for every user, without any additional work.

Couponing – Inside each Pro 2.0 Desktop Player are cool features like Couponing, allowing you to present a “Deal of the Day” to your listeners across multiple categories. The great part about this new tool is that it’s as easy to manage as scheduling a banner ad to appear on your player through the AdsWizz system. Now you can reach out to local businesses and give them new ways to reach your audience!

Our Portable Now Playing Widget will deliver your most recent songs to your station’s homepage, or anywhere else you choose to put it. It automatically updates as your content does, so users always know what’s happening- the moment it happens. Combined with an Ad Zone from AdsWizz, the Now Playing Widget elegantly delivers useful information to your listeners- and another avenue for monetization for you!

Later in Q1, we are planning to release brand new Mobile and Mobile Network Apps for iPhone and Android – easily allowing your listeners to access stations from across your network – filtered by DMA, or genre, if you so choose. Plus, we’re building a platform that allows you to add new features, skins and content with a single click – it just doesn’t get any easier! Look for more information on our newest mobile apps in our Spring issue of the Navigator.

To order your LC PRO 2.0 player, Now Playing Widget or Couponing, or to pre-order your new (powerful) network mobile iPhone / Android apps, please contact your Liquid Compass Account Manager at (303) 839-9400.

Liquid Compass and AdsWizz continue to build the most tightly integrated Ad Server solution in the industry today. Collectively, we continue to receive and incorporate valuable feedback from our radio partners, which has helped us to evolve our offering as the most comprehensive monetizing solution in the streaming media industry.

AdsWizz continues to get rave reviews surrounding its robust and hyper targeting capabilities. With Arbitron’s recent endorsement for AdsWizz to power their new audience measurement service, we continue to gain significant market tracking through the creditability of this endorsement. We urge you to again review the capabilities of AdsWizz Ad Serving, Ad Insertion, and Audience Measurement services below and let Liquid Compass help you explore the opportunity of expanding your ability to make more money through the streaming vertical of your radio business.

AdsWizz Ad Serving and Ad Insertion technology:

• Seamless Ad Replacement
• Advanced Ad Trafficking combining the effectiveness of online targeting, with multiple ad options for broadcasters and advertisers

Key functionality includes:

• Ad break detection
• Seamless ad injection or replacement
• Traffic and scheduling of campaigns by spot, CPM or both
• Inventory management tool
• Hyper-targeting based on various attributes such as market, zip code, device (desktop or mobile players), browser, operating system (PC or Mac) and MORE!
• Ad impression measurement and post-impression performance reports

AdsWizz – Audience Measurement

• ATSL or average time spent listening: Average time a session (listener) has been listening to a station.
• AQH or average quarter hour: Average number of listeners recorded every fifteen minutes for each station monitored.
• Geo-loc: Track all listeners on an interactive map in real-time – locally, and around the world!
• Player: See the number of devices or software used to listen to your station.
• …and much more!

To learn more about AdsWizz, or setup a demo, please contact your Liquid Compass Account Manager at (303) 839-9400.

As one of our super-cool senior developers (aka resident geniuses) for Liquid Compass, Craig is our “go to” man for the planning, design and development of most of our award winning streaming media players. He is a uniquely special developer, and possesses uber-creative and critical thinking capabilities, all served up with an open mind and smile!

Here are a few things you might not know about Craig:

Time in service at Liquid Compass: 1,459 Days

Hometown: Hattiesburg, MS

College: CMS (Steamboat Springs) – Graduated The Art Institute of Colorado

Favorite International Destination: Anywhere with water in Central America

What do you enjoy most about your position?
The many, many, many different degrees in which I get to be involved within the various products I have worked on. For the most part, I get to touch many aspects and phases of product creation from the first brainstorming processes, all the way to deployment (planning, design, development, deployment, and maintenance). I like being challenged. The products I work on require the understanding of many different technologies, which I have come to learn and/or master in my service at Liquid Compass.

What do you enjoy doing outside of the office?
Playing in the bluegrass band (The Fallen Pines), fishin’, chillin’, buildin’ stuff, growing gardens, snowboardin’, backpackin’, readin’ books, and learning anything new.

What station are you currently listening to online?
WDRVFM, classic rock.

What is your favorite music genre?
That’s a good question… ranges from folk, blues, bluegrass, hip hop, funk, rock and roll, and even a little electronic – I find myself opening up to more and more genres as I go – I just love music – period!