Visualization, text and the internet are important, but the future of radio is as a broadcast medium and content is more important than technology. These were the key messages from the Radiodays Europe conference, in Copenhagen, where more than 700 delegates gathered to celebrate the successes of radio and to discuss the challenges that lie ahead.

The EBU Director General, Ingrid Deltenre, welcomed participants from more than 40 countries to Europe’s biggest-ever radio event. Mrs Deltenre said she was delighted that so many radio professionals were in Copenhagen to exchange ideas, present new research and to share best practices.

The EBU Director General reminded the audience about the important role that radio was playing in Japan, in the aftermath of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear emergency. She took the opportunity to express solidarity for colleagues at the Japanese public service broadcaster, NHK.

The conference quickly returned to its main theme, though, when the Deputy Director-General of Swedish Radio and EBU Executive Board member, Cilla Benkö, chaired the keynote session. Mrs Benkö asked a distinguished panel of speakers, including the BBC’s director of Audio and Music, Tim Davie, and the Radio France Director of Strategy, Francois-Xavier Labarraque, to predict where radio would be in five years.

The panelists agreed that radio’s future was digital, hybrid and multiplatform “on a broadcast backbone”. Future success in a world of unlimited choice for consumers would depend on radio’s traditional strengths of mobility and ubiquity.

Speakers throughout the two-day event urged delegates not to forget that offering compelling content to listeners was more important than the technology used to deliver it.

“The industry is obsessed with distribution; people are interested in content. My wife doesn't talk about DAB,” said Mr. Davie.

Among the other highlights, Radiodays Europe provided participants with the opportunity to find out more about hybrid radio - broadcast radio with multimedia enhancements. The EBU’s Mathias Coinchon used a variety of different devices, including smartphones, laptops and more traditional receivers to demonstrate RadioDNS technology.

RadioDNS enables broadcasters to provide an enhanced listening experience through a new set of internet services, including picture slideshows, text messages, electronic programme guides, and by empowering listeners to tag or bookmark radio content, as well as to give feedback directly to the radio station.

In all, the Radiodays Europe conference offered participants a choice of 40 different sessions, which covered everything from children’s programming to music, news and social media. Special guest speakers at this year's event included Daniel Domscheit-Berg, the former Wikileaks spokesman.