In early August 2011, the Publishing Expo steering committee for the 2012 edition of the show met, gathered and deliberated the format of the Publishing Expo’s leading conference programme.
Joining our industry-setting panel were:
Dominic Jacquesson, Digital consultant
Neil Thackray of Media Briefing.com
Michael Collins of iPublishing consultants
Julia Hutchison, CEO of the APA
Graham Duffill of the Digital Publishing Company
Ross Sturley of Chartlane and World Architecture news
Duncan Tickell, MD of Magicalia
Kathi Hall, Head of editorial at Story publishing
Ben Greenish, MD of Spectator owners Press Holdings Media Group
Jeremy Leslie of Magculture
Nicola Rowe, the Director of circulation and member services at the PPA
John Welsh, Digital director at UBM Live.
Among the topics causing many a beetled brow among these publishing heavyweights were:
• The integration of print and online publishing strategies
• The convergence of content platforms
• The proliferation of media ownership amongst non-traditional media brands
• Whether the digital world is sidelining design
• The search for new and meaningful business models
• The balance between consumer and B2B strategies
• Cost models and the cost base of content generation
• Audience measurement
• Revenue growth through product development
• The globalisation – and balancing localisation – of brands
• Finding the best way or combination of ways to deliver content among the many options
• The discovery of the ‘truly digital’ publishing business, as opposed to traditional media with a bit of online attached
• The changing subscription picture in the face of multiple content delivery platforms
• Apps vs e-books
• Media integration between digital and print
• Integration, re-definition and re-skilling of publishing roles – editorial, design, marketing
• The changing relationship with the audience
• Communities and trust; who now trusts the media? Is it only brands that can be trusted
• With the ease of audience tracking, do we deliver content specifically targeted to what our communities want, or give them what we want to give them?
• What, really, is content? Are we entertainers or service providers?
• How can we create an app that makes money?
• Have publishers woken up to the attractions of gaming and ‘gamification’?
And on and on, and round and round. There’s much more to come where that came from, but as you can see there is already a fabulous feast of ideas, issue and debates to get our teeth into. We would love it if our respected visitor base could send any more suggestions that might occur to you at PE2012seminars@ubm.com. I’m determined that the 2012 edition of the industry’s best respected seminar programme will be the best yet!
Aidan Walker
Director, Publishing Expo Seminar Programme