John Laur Email & Phone Number

As the Digital Operations Manager at Baltimore’s two most iconic radio stations 98 Rock and WBAL Radio, I spend my time managing the entire digital footprint for 98 Rock and WBAL including the websites, streaming audio, app development, social media, and digital marketing.My career began in college where a love of music morphed into a love for radio. While attending Towson University, I was able to land simultaneous internships with the Hearst owned radio station 98 Rock and WTMD, Towson University’s public radio station that had just flipped from a smooth jazz station to an adult alternative format.Internships progressed to part-time employment at both stations and, at first, full-time employment at WTMD before being called back to a full-time gig at 98 Rock and sister station WBAL. Along the way and through the multiple stations I managed to, at one time or another, have a hand in virtually every aspect of the programming departments of these stations. Various roles included promotions assistant (98 Rock), assistant producer (98 Rock), producer (WTMD), imaging director (WTMD), operations manager (WTMD), on-air host (98 Rock and WTMD) and traffic/continuity coordinator (98 Rock and WBAL).Over a decade or so ago, I began to observe the media companies' interactions with the audience and the potential for growing audiences by embracing social media. I eventually got up the nerve to approach station management and utter the words, “You know, I really think we should start Twitter accounts for the radio stations.” From there I took on more and more digital tasks at the stations and eventually landed into a newly created position - Digital Initiatives Manager for 98 Rock and WBAL Radio.Today, I find myself in an incredibly unique position – to be able to locally manage the digital branding for two hometown media outlets, while being able to lean on the resources of a large and diverse company such as Heart Stations, Inc.

Listed skills include Event Planning, Audio Editing, Content Strategy, Digital Media, and 12 others.

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  Towson