Sweet Sound of Innovation

Clear Channel Hawaii's Road Runner Music Hall will be used for business webinars.

Oahu

Earlier this year, Clear Channel Radio Hawaii opened Road Runner Music Hall, an intimate performance and recording venue that allows high-profile bands to pre-promote concerts. The Hall holds 30 to 50 people and some performances could also be broadcast live over the Internet.

The venue is the brainchild of Chuck Cotton, vice president and general manager of Clear Channel Hawaii, and already has landed Clear Channel Hawaii a number of big artists such as local favorite Jack Johnson and more recently Jason Mraz. Part of the concept is to also make the concerts available online at the Road Runner Music Hall Web site, thehall.tv, for people to watch on demand.

The next stage in The Hall development, though, has nothing to do with music, says James Avis, director of corporate development for Clear Channel Hawaii. While it doesn’t perhaps look like a setting for the next transit debate, Avis says that is exactly its potential. From debates to lectures and conferences to pitching business ideas or products, the venue is an ideal environment to reach a global audience online.

“It’s an innovative way to really present your business,” Avis says.

In fact, just this past month, George del Barrio of Advanced Media Marketing delivered the first live Webinar titled “Hawaii Is the center of the world,” in part on leveraging technology such as Webcasting to promote your business globally. Later this month, Profusion is putting on a Webinar (promoted by Clear Channel on the radio) with Nelson Nash, the Mainland author of “Becoming your own banker,” and creator of the “The Infinite Banking Concept.”

The plans are also to create a business channel on its Web site that would archive the business events. Some of the content could be free; other content might require a subscriber rate. Avis says the company continues to reach out to businesspeople and local leaders to explain the new concept. But once they see the venue in person, he says, “They just get it.”

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