Last Billboard Radio Convention in San Francisco

[Ro-8-Center]

When was the last Billboard Magazine Radio Convention in San Francisco?

 

[Goldilocks94941]

Are you actually referring to the annual Gavin Report convention that used to be held at the Westin St Francis?

 

[davideduardo]

Are you actually referring to the annual Gavin Report convention that used to be held at the Westin St Francis?

I remember Billboard conventions in LA, but not San Francisco. I remember, like you, the Gavin events in SF.

 

[michael hagerty]

I remember Billboard conventions in LA, but not San Francisco. I remember, like you, the Gavin events in SF.

Using the search engine at WorldRadioHistory.com, I was able to find that Billboard met in New York in 1970, Chicago in 1971, Los Angeles in 1972 and 1973, New York in 1974, San Francisco in 1975, New Orleans in 1976, Toronto in 1977, New York in 1978. I can't find anything for 1979 and have a vague recollection of Billboard teaming up with someone else and changing the name from the Grand International Radio Forum.

So they did have at least one convention in SF, in 1975---and may have had more after 1978.

As for Gavin, I personally attended their conventions in Monterey (1977) and Vancouver, B.C. (1979).

They rotated cities. It would make no sense for national publications to only hold conventions in their hometowns.

(tagging @Ro-8-Center )

 

[davideduardo]

Using the search engine at WorldRadioHistory.com, I was able to find that Billboard met in New York in 1970, Chicago in 1971, Los Angeles in 1972 and 1973, New York in 1974, San Francisco in 1975, New Orleans in 1976, Toronto in 1977, New York in 1978.

Ah, I forgot that I could search that site for the needed data.

I only went to one BB conference, the LA one in 1972. Unlike the R&R events in the later 70's and the Gavin ones earlier on, the Billboard ones tended to attract a lot of "wannabees" and college radio folks and fewer commercial radio pros. I guess that was because most of us in larger market commercial stations did not rely on Billboard for music and industry data the way we did with the others.