Banjarmasin, a city famed for its mining industry, hosted the marketing and sales management workshop "Making a Success of the Radio Business", on 10-12 August 2009. Twenty station managers and directors from all over Indonesia gathered in Banjarmasin for the radio station sales management discussions and training organised by PPMN.

To put a practical edge on the workshop, the committee and trainers also arranged a business gathering. At this event, workshop participants met face to face with players in the manufacturing and service industries to explore collaborative marketing opportunities. Also discussed during this session were the business sector's perceptions of radio, policies that come into play when promoting on the radio, and, of course, the secret behind the selection of promotion partners.

Among the conclusions drawn from this forum were that local budgets for promotion go up every year because companies need to increase product penetration at the local level. Also, to be chosen as a promotion partner, a radio station must meet very specific criteria, and be able to offer value added to the client by providing promotional services such as organising events.

Most of the participants were pleased with the workshop, facilitated by trainer Ferry Iriawan. "Very inspiring. Well organised and interesting" and "Spectacular. Spot on, with lots of tips on the radio business" were just some of the comments the committee got from the participants.