Dan Vallie, Founder, National Radio Talent System

The radio market has a vital need for a farm system from which to harvest new talent, and broadcast veteran Dan Vallie hopes to address that need with the National Radio Talent System, a program he created on college campuses to nurture budding radio professionals. The program offers students an intensive, up-close learning experience taught by various broadcast professionals who are experts in all facets of the industry. FMQB spoke to Vallie about this growing venture, and how more radio professionals can get involved.

By Mandy Feingold

In the ever-competitive radio market, the industry truly needs a farm system from which to harvest new, young talent to keep the business forward-thinking, vital and fresh. Enter 40-year broadcast veteran Dan Vallie, who hopes to finally fill that void with the National Radio Talent System™, an intensive program he created on college campuses to nurture budding radio professionals. Vallie first established the program at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC, but he is taking it national in the form of Radio Talent Institutes™ that are hosted on campuses across America.

The Institutes offer students an up-close learning experience taught by many esteemed broadcast professionals, including heavyweights such as CBS Radio President Dan Mason, Salem Communications Chairman Stu Epperson, and George Beasley of the Beasley Broadcast Group, to name only a few. Vallie, who debuted legendary Top 40 stations such as B97/New Orleans and B94/Pittsburgh and helped pioneer the Hot AC and Dance formats before forming a radio consulting firm, calls the National Radio Talent System a “noble venture” allowing him “to give back to and invest in the future of our industry.” FMQB spoke to Vallie about this important and growing program, and how more radio professionals can get involved.

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How did you get the idea to start the National Radio Talent System as a wide spread program beyond Appalachian State?
The National Radio Talent System™ is the only program of its kind in the world. It’s an incubator of the “best of the best” well-rounded, well-educated, college talent who have a passion and desire for a career in broadcasting. It’s a system of Radio Talent Institutes™ on college campuses across America, each connected to the National Radio Talent System.
As long as I have been in radio, the industry has talked about the need to have a talent farm system. The subject has come up constantly over the years with stations and broadcast groups over dinners, in meetings, in conference rooms and radio convention panels throughout the industry. For decades the question has been, “where are we going to find future superstar air talent, production people, sales talent for our industry and the future leaders?” It’s not just me, it seems everyone has talked of the need, but no one has been able to do anything about it because of other priorities, time or money, or simply not knowing how to make it happen. So there has never been a “go to” place to find young talent until now. The need is not new, but the solution to the problem is what is new.
The concept has been forming for me for a long time. I have thought about it for years. I started it at Appalachian State University because I now live there in the Blue Ridge Mountains of NC where App State is located. From day one it was designed to be the model for what would become the first in a system of Radio Talent Institutes across America. The university embraced the concept when I brought it to them.

How is the program executed at different schools, and which schools are involved right now?
There are four prongs to the system: The National Radio Talent System itself, which conducts the Institutes, the broadcaster that is the sponsor of an Institute, the universities that host the Institute on their campuses and become National Radio Talent System affiliates and, of course, the students accepted into the Institute.
The Institute experience builds on the excellent education each student is already receiving at the university by bridging the campus-to-career gap that exists for every graduating student, and is done so in a way that is un-replicated. The National Radio Talent System brings 30 to 35 successful broadcasters to the campus to lead the sessions, each teaching in their area of expertise from on-air to sales, production, sports, news, interactive, as well as other sessions that include how to get that first career job and how to go from student to superstar. There are no breakout sessions. All students are in every session, including the RAB sales sessions where they are taught the business of the business and have the opportunity to become certified as a Radio Marketing Professional by the RAB.
The students get to meet broadcasters they would not have the opportunity to meet in any other forum, and the broadcasters get to meet and know future talent. It’s a win-win for the students, the broadcasters, the university and the industry, as the Radio Talent System fills the need for a talent “farm system.” The National Radio Talent System targets geographically strategic universities across America. It’s an intense 10-day agenda designed to create forward momentum and anticipation for rising juniors and seniors, not just from the host university but from other universities in the state and region. We do this in a way that makes it an almost turnkey operation for both the university and the sponsor. We recruit the broadcasters to teach the sessions and we handle the application process of the students. All students must apply to be accepted, and that process is one of the reasons that 70 percent of the students that have completed the Institute got their first job in radio or a related field. We have built the curriculum and provide all needed materials.
The Institute becomes a signature program for the university on its campus each summer and students who graduate are often hired by the industry professionals who lead class sessions during the Institute, and many students attain internships from the professionals they meet. Ask any student that has completed the program and they will tell you the curriculum covers 10 intense days of learning. They love it. It’s not surprising to hear a student say during the course of the program that “it can’t get better than it was today,” but it does.
The Kellar Radio Talent Institute is the first and is held at App State. The sponsor for the Institute is Art Kellar, former broadcaster who owned EZ Communications and sold it to American Radio Systems which merged into CBS and still has many of those stations today. The institute is further supported by the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters, both financially and with their board members teaching sessions.
The second school to join the National Radio Talent System is Western Kentucky University. Their first institute was just a few weeks ago in July sponsored by the Kentucky Broadcasters Association and broadcasters from Kentucky and the region,Cromwell, Forever, Commonwealth, Henson Media, Lm Communications, Withers Communications, Forcht Broadcasting and Anderson and Associates. We will be announcing the third institute in the next few weeks. We already have the broadcaster that is going to sponsor the Institute and we are waiting for the university to complete their process.

Who are some of the radio professionals who have taught the courses, and how can other radio pros get involved with the program?
We have had over 100 broadcasters teaching sessions so far. Just to name some of them: George Beasley of the Beasley Broadcast Group; Kerby Confer, owner of the Forever Radio Groups; Christine Hillard, President of Forever Communications in Kentucky; Dan Mason, President of CBS Radio;Stu Epperson, Chairman of Salem Communications; Bud Walters, President of Cromwell Radio Group; Don Curtis, CEO of Curtis Media; Phil Zachary, President of Curtis Media; Steve Newberry, President of Commonwealth Communications; Ed Henson of Henson Media; Allen Shaw, President of Centennial Broadcasting; Gary Fisher, owner of Equity Communications;Leonard Wheeler of Wheeler  Broadcasting; George Reed of Media Services Group; Mark Fratrik and Woodley Allen from BIA; the play by play announcers for the NFL Carolina Panthers and Tennessee Titans; and NHL Nashville Predators and Performance Racing Network; along with GMs, sales managers, PDs, news and sports directors, production directors, Interactive Directors, morning shows and other air talent.
In regard to other radio professionals that would like to teach, they should let me know. I build a file of professionals that can teach specific sessions in their area of expertise. As new institutes begin in new states I will be contacting people to teach. Any broadcasters that would like to sponsor an Institute at a university in their state or region can contact me at DanVallie@NationalRadioTalentSystem.com or 828-262-1502.

The trends of voice-tracking and syndicated programming are creating fewer jobs in the industry. What skills do young people need to bring to the table in order to break in to the business in today’s market?
With the advent of voice-tracking, automation, syndication and labor laws that minimize or prevent young people from just “hanging around” the radio station, we have lost much of the training ground. The good news is there are plenty of students working in college radio stations and that are communications majors, who have a developing passion to be in radio. Many students are just as passionate about being in radio as we were when we were that age. They just haven’t had that campus-to-career connection they have needed. We need to find them and they need to find us, and the National Radio Talent System makes that happen. They are taught many of the skills they need in audio, video, digital and social media classes, and many of them get to apply that at their college radio stations. Though some college stations are good training grounds and some aren’t, all have the opportunity to be. They need to and do bring the same skill set that many of us brought when we got in the business, but they can bring more. Today they are Internet and social media savvy, and most all communications majors also have video skills that weren’t needed in radio a few years ago but certainly are needed today.

When considering radio’s integration now with social media and online streaming, what other burgeoning technologies could be assets to radio, and is there underutilized technology that stations should be taking better advantage of?
Yes, there is underutilized technology that stations should be taking better advantage of today. You don’t have enough space for me to get into that here, but suffice it to say, there is much more we could incorporate and embrace, in a big way and in small ways, that can make a difference. I say it often that radio should embrace every technology at our disposal. We should lead, not follow. We should be ubiquitous. We are doing a lot already but there is much, much, more. But no matter how much technology we embrace, it always comes down to people. It always has, and it always will. It’s people that make the difference and we need to bring those people into the industry that we can hire today and will be the leaders of tomorrow.

What is the main piece of advice you give to students who want to establish a career in radio?
I ask that same question of every industry professional that comes to teach at the Radio Talent Institutes. I will share some of those answers with you. They include: “If you have passion and a love for what you are doing, it will lead to good things.” “Get an internship.” “If you are good at connecting with people there is a job for you. Pursue it as aggressively as you possibly can and find that person that will give you that opportunity.” “Take whatever job in radio you can get; you have to get in the business before you can grow in the business.” “Take every opportunity you can to get in the business, and then impress people with your work ethic and attitude.” “Find out what you love doing, then go find somebody to pay you to do it.” “You have to be prepared to pay your dues, and when your skill set matches with your networking, that is when things can happen for you.” “Be willing to give a continuous effort to succeed.” And I always agree that “It’s not who you know, it’s who knows you.” I will tell you that almost all successful professionals, in some manner, will advise to be professional, have a passion for it, have a strong work ethic, demonstrate integrity, have a great attitude, and don’t give up.

Lastly, is there anything you miss about being on the air?
I loved it when I did it but I don’t think I ever miss being on the air now. I have been fortunate to love everything I have done in this business while I was doing it, and I can still say that today. I will tell you a secret, and that is I have gone into a college radio station a few times in the last couple of years and did a few breaks on the air, but it’s just for fun!
Radio is a business. I have been in the radio business for decades now and I have great respect for the broadcasters in our industry, many of them are friends of mine. I also think of radio as an art. I have an admiration for the great air talent and programmers in the business. Those that treat it as an art, I see as artists, in how they perform what they do. I love that. I’m excited about the future whether it’s when I look at the art of it or the business of it.

[eQB Content By Mandy Feingold ]