Juan Galdamez, Xperi Sr. Director of Broadcast Strategy & Business Development, is a strong supporter of radio’s future in connected platforms. He has spent the last decade working with broadcasters on the adoption of HD Radio, computer vision, connected devices, metadata, and audio processing technologies.

Juan’s passion for radio began at WXTU-FM and continues to this day with stops along the way at WIHT-FM, WMZQ-FM, and WASH-FM in Washington, DC. Throughout his tenure at Xperi, Juan has advocated for broadcasters to utilize technology that enhances the listener experience. His work has helped stations around the world to improve their in-vehicle, mobile, connected device, and metadata delivery, ensuring a competitive listening experience in challenging ecosystems.

Everything about the media business is changing – the audience, the business climate, digital media opportunities, the connected car, and more. Jacobs Media’s Paul Jacobs will share his assessment of the current landscape and identify a new way of thinking about the business we are in to ensure broadcasters are in position to build upon what makes them great while ensuring they are in position to grow audience and revenue in the future. The presentation will contain actionable examples of success from other broadcasters that can be easily applied.

Jacobs Media radio clients include Hubbard Radio, Beasley Media Group, Alpha Media, Mid-West Family, and non-profit organizations like the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

In a career in broadcasting and consulting that spans over four decades, Jacobs began his career on the sales and management side of the business, working at and running radio stations in Dallas and Detroit, including WRIF, KZEW, and WDFX.  In 1991, Jacobs joined his brothers Fred and Bill as Vice President/General Manager of Jacobs Media. His responsibilities include working with broadcasters on strategic development, digital transformation, strategic planning, and revenue generation.

In 2022, Paul and his brother, Fred, received the National Radio Award from the National Association of Broadcasters, the highest honor in the radio industry.

David Layer is vice president, Advanced Engineering in National Association of Broadcasters’ (NAB) Technology department. David has been with NAB since 1995, focusing primarily on the radio technology and standards setting area.

David’s principal responsibilities include serving as a project manager for technology projects being conducted by PILOT (NAB’s innovation initiative) and as principal administrator of the NAB Radio Technology Committee, a group of technical executives from NAB member companies that advises NAB on technology development and technical regulatory matters. David is actively involved in NAB’s technical conference planning and technical publication activities and has been an author and contributing author for numerous technical publications, including IEEE Spectrum magazine (a leading journal of the Electrical Engineering profession), the McGraw-Hill Yearbook of Science and Technology and the 9th, 10th and 11th editions of the NAB Engineering Handbook. David is an occasional writer for NAB’s Broadcast Blog, covering timely radio and TV broadcasting-related technical topics.

Currently, David is the chairman of the RadioDNS Steering Board and is the NAB representative to the RDS Forum. He is also vice-chair of the North American Broadcasters Association (NABA) Radio Committee. David is a senior member of the IEEE and is active in the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society (BTS), where he’s served multiple terms as a board member on the administrative committee, is a distinguished lecturer and has been the chair or co-chair of numerous annual IEEE Broadcast Symposia, most recently in 2017. David is an associate member of the Association of Federal Communications Consulting Engineers (AFCCE), where he is a past board member and past chair of the AFCCE Scholarship Committee.

Luke Story is the current president and CEO of the Arkansas Broadcasters Association. He and his family relocated to Little Rock in 2018 to lead the ABA. He is proud of the work the ABA does and the many things the association does for the betterment of broadcasters. He sees a wealth of opportunity for the ABA to expand and grow, strengthening a well-deserved spot as a much more nationally recognized organization and membership.

Luke is the 2023 president-elect of the Arkansas Society of Association Executives. He is a 2019 Leadership Arkansas graduate and represents Arkansas Broadcasters on multiple National Broadcast committees.

He grew up in the small, rural town of Wayne, Ohio. Life after high school had Luke dreaming of being a sports broadcaster, and to that end, he chose to pursue a degree in Mass Communications at Piedmont College. Following graduating with his bachelor’s degree, he accepted a Graduate Assistant position at Piedmont in the School of Mass Communications, eventually earning his master’s degree in organizational leadership. He has worked both on- and off-air at stations in markets across Georgia, including WCON, WDUN, WSB and Georgia Public Broadcasting. He spent nearly four years working with the Georgia Association of Broadcasters and became the Director of Communications and Operations after one year in 2014.

He and his wife Sarah are currently experiencing the joys of parenthood with their sons Maxwell and Lincoln.

As Technical Success Manager, Joe Marshall is a member of Quu’s senior management team and brings over twenty years of radio and IT engineering experience to Quu’s rapidly growing customer base. Joe has direct responsibility for the technical installation and configuration of Quu to new subscribers, leads the Quu support team, and is a key contributor to the new services product development process. Joe’s extensive product knowledge and calm demeanor ensure new customers have a premium technical experience.

During his 20-year career, Joe spent almost 15 of those years with Gates Air/Harris, ultimately rising to the role of Digital Studio Solutions Product Line Manager. In this role, he worked with America’s leading broadcast companies to design and lead the installation of the nation’s premiere studio projects. Immediately prior to joining Quu, Joe utilized his extensive IT and engineering skills consulting and working on contract projects for Frequency Consulting and Jabil.

Joe holds both a Bachelor of Music and a Bachelor of Recording Arts and Sciences from Johns Hopkins University, resides in Erlanger, Kentucky and takes a keen interest in the lives of his three daughters.