AN ERIE R&R CONVENTION

Cleveland will be a rockin’ startin’ June 23, when the R&R Convention takes its big annual show to the shores of Lake Erie and the home of LeBron James.

Kicking things off Thursday will be the Jacobs Media Summit, with keynote speaker Little Steven Van Zandt. That night, the festivities move to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, where attendees will have the whole museum to themselves, with Jon Secada, Warren Hill and Wade Brown performing.

Friday morning's general session, “Do You Know Jack (or Ben, Dave, Bob or Hank)?,” gets things started at 10 a.m., followed by format sessions throughout the day and a special lunch for all convention attendees, the Rate-a-Record Lunch, sponsored by Yahoo! Music. That session will pit industry executives against the general public in a vote-off of 10 new songs. Friday night will feature the R&R Industry Achievement Awards ceremony from 6-8 p.m., hosted by Kidd Kraddick and featuring local radio talent. There will also be performances by SLR's The J Project and BMI songwriter and Capitol recording artist Brendan James. Texas Hold ’Em Poker Challenge to benefit the TJ Martell Foundation for cancer, leukemia and AIDS research will run right after the awards ceremony at the Cleveland Renaissance Hotel.

Saturday, things will wrap up with Arbitron, which starts the day at 9 a.m. with "Ten Simple Tips You Can Implement Monday Morning to Grow Your Audience.” That will be followed by the general session “Extreme Talent: Entertaining on the Edge” and another round of format sessions, ending at 5 p.m.

“What happens in Cleveland stays in Cleveland,” was the only thing we could gain from R&R Publisher/CEO Erica Farber. Meanwhile, VP of Editorial and Music Operations Cyndee Maxwell was overheard saying, “Considering the number of registrants this year and the logistics involved, it was a lot easier when I was only the Rock Editor.”

Online registration for the convention ends June 17. Register now for $475 or in Cleveland for $550.