Paris, 12 September 2002
For immediate release
Initiatives for Profit: Focus at World Electronic Publishing Conference
Can newspapers make a profit from their web operations by charging customers for content? This will be the hottest issue debated by publishers from more than 40 countries who meet in Barcelona, Spain, next month for the premier international electronic publishing conference, "Beyond the Printed Word".
The event, organised by the publishing technology association IFRA, the World Association of Newspapers and the magazine publishers association FIPP, will this year focus on "Initiatives for Profit."
"The internet is a clear success in terms of traffic, particularly for newspaper sites, but it has generally not yet met expectations from a profit perspective," said Timothy Balding, Director General of the Paris-based WAN. "More and more publishers are unwilling to subsidise online operations indefinitely. The search for profit has become a critical issue."
Beyond the Printed Word, now in its 10th year, will examine the latest online publishing trends and revenue opportunities. The presentations at the conference, to be held on 17 and 18 October at the Barcelona Exhibition and Conference Centre, will include:
--A session on how online users can be turned into paying customers, with cases studies from several countries and the latest analysis of pay-for-content projects. Speakers include Bruno Patino, Chief Executive Officer of Le Monde Interactive of France, Geir E. Engen, an Analyst with Mediebedriftenes Landsforening of Norway, and Annelies van den Belt, Digital Director of Times Newspapers, United Kingdom;
--A major session on advertising opportunities, which will examine package selling, customer relationship management, trends of classified advertising and classified case studies. Speakers include Mike Anderson, Managing Director of Metro in the United Kingdom, Peter M. Zollman, Founding Principal of Advanced Interactive Media Group of the United States, and Harry Avgoustiniatos, Commercial Director of Eleftherotypia in Greece.
--A case study on media diversification presented by Eduardo Bendala, Director of New Media for Spain's Grupo Recoletos, which combines print, television, digital radio and personalised news alerts for mobile telephones.
--Advice on preparing employees for multiple media publishing, from Werner Wager, Senior General Manager of Printing and Technology of Media 24, South Africa.
--Perspectives on how some entrepreneurs continue to succeed in the dot.com sector despite the dramatic falls in internet and e-commerce stocks. Speakers are Melinda Gipson, Director of Electronic Media for the Newspaper Association of America, and Jim Chisholm, Chairman of eVolt Co. in the United Kingdom and Strategy Advisor for the World Association of Newspapers.
--How to exploit the high profile of the company's flagship brand for fruitful cross-promotional strategies, by Hugo Drayton, Managing Director of Hollinger Telegraph New Media in the United Kingdom and the Chairman of the conference.
--A session on technology developments, including examinations of where media convergence is headed, newspapers and television on the web and devices for the future. Speakers include Ramon Salaverria, Director of the Multimedia Communication Laboratory at the Universidad de Navarre in Spain, Stig Nordqvist, Director of Technology and New Media at Tidningsutgivarna in Sweden, Roger Fidler, Director of the Institute for Cyberinformation at Kent University in the United States, and Peter Kurstjens, Program Manager, E Ink, with Philips Mobile Display Systems in the United States.
--Plus more presentations to be announced.
For registration or more information, consult http://www.wan-press.org/ce/index.html or contact Donna Pentier, Director of WAN Training & Events, e-mail: dpentier@wan.asso.fr.
WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, represents 18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 71 national newspaper associations, individual newspaper executives in 100 countries, 13 news agencies and nine regional and world-wide press groups.
Ifra, headquartered in Darmstadt, Germany, is the world's leading association for media technology. More than 1800 publishing companies and suppliers to the publishing industry are Ifra members.
FIPP, the International Federation of the Periodical Press, works for the benefit of magazine publishers around the world; promoting the common editorial, cultural and economic interests of consumer and business-to-business publishers, both in print and electronic media.
Inquiries to: Larry Kilman, Director of Communications, WAN, 25 rue d'Astorg, 75008 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00. Fax: +33 1 47 42 49 48. Mobile: +33 6 10 28 97 36. E-mail: lkilman@wan.asso.fr
--- Larry Kilman
Director of Communications
World Association of Newspapers
25, rue d'Astorg
75008 Paris France
Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00
Fax: +33 1 47 42 49 48
E-mail: lkilman@wan.asso.fr
Visit our web site at http://www.wan-press.org