The future of voice technology and the implications for consumers and brands will be the subject of a keynote address at Radio Alive 2018.
Amazon Alexa Skill’s Country Manager for Australia and New Zealand, Kate Burleigh, will deliver the address.
Burleigh joined Amazon in December with the responsibility of launching the Alexa voice assistant service locally and providing new opportunities for brands and developers to design for Alexa and reach customers through voice-first experiences.
Prior to joining Amazon, she was managing director of Intel Australia/New Zealand for five years.
Joan Warner, the CEO of industry body Commercial Radio Australia, says the industry will meet to discuss its future amidst a resurgence of interest in audio, positive signs of growth in ad revenue and significant investment in areas such as digital, streaming and podcasting. “We’ll be looking at the impact of voice technology on radio and the latest developments in podcasting and audio branding.”
Radio Alive 2018 will also endeavour to uncover the secrets to drive time success with a panel of some of the industries most successful drive time presenters.
The drive time panel will include comedian, writer and presenter Kate Langbroek, who co-hosts the Hughesy and Kate show with Dave Hughes, which is broadcast to 43 Hit Network radio stations.
Other panellists are Gold Logie winner Kate Ritchie from the high-rating Kate, Tim & Marty national drive show; award-winning TV and radio presenter Ben Fordham, who has hosted the influential talkback drive shift on 2GB since 2011; and rising star Will McMahon, who moved to drive with the Will and Woody show this year after four years in Perth breakfast radio.
Joan Warner says it’s a chance to hear from “some of our most successful radio personalities on their approach to creating content, how they deal with the demands of the key drive time shift, and how they interact with both fans and critics.”
The Radio Alive 2018 conference will be held at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre on October 19, followed by the gala black-tie Australian Commercial Radio Awards on October 20.
Tickets for the conference and ACRAs are on sale now through Commercial Radio Australia here.