Tag Archives: Conventions

2010 America East Newspaper Conference – Sessions

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2010 America East Newspaper Conference Schedule at a Glance:

America East is sponsored by 13 state and regional press associations, News&Tech, Suburban Newspapers of America and Editor & Publisher.

The event takes place at The Hershey Lodge in Hershey Pennsylvania.  You can register for the event through the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association website.

Twitter users track #ae2010 for updates. View Exhibitor List.

Monday, MARCH 15 view detailed listing
8:00 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. Attendee Registration Desk Open
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PA Associated Press Online Managers Meeting
12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. Keynote Luncheon and Presentation
1:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. Session: Top Five Legal Issues for Newspapers in an Online Age
1:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. Session: Friendemies – Newspapers and Social Media Sites
3:00 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. Session: New Media for the Newspaper Industry – How and Where Your Audience Will Find Their News
3:00 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. Session: Cutting Through the Clutter
4:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Exhibit Floor Open
4:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Cyber Cafe with Gourmet Coffees
5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Welcome Reception on Exhibit Floor

Tuesday, MARCH 16 view detailed listing
7:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Attendee Registration Desk Open
8:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Private Demonstrations with Exhibitors
8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast
8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. BONUS SESSION: Part I: The 7 Deadly Sins of Newspaper Marketing
9:15 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Session: Selling Against the Competition
9:15 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Session: Utilizing Maintenance to Reduce Production Downtime and Extend Equipment Life
9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. BONUS SESSION: Part II: Key Marketing Lessons Newspapers Should Have Learned But Never Did
10:15 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. I-SCMA Session: Expanding Your Audience Reach
10:45 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. Session: Web and Page Size Options to Reduce Newsprint Cost
10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Session: Best Practices in Building Classified Revenues in Recruitment and Real Estate
10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Session: Newspaper Web Sites & The Public: A Study of the Benefits and Risks of User-Generated Content
(This is a Tuesday Bonus Session for SNA Symposium registrants!)
11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Exhibit Floor Open
11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Cyber Cafe with Gourmet Coffees
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. I-SCMA Luncheon
1:15 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. I-SCMA Session: E-Editions
12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Various Roundtables on Exhibit Floor
2:00 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. Session: Agency Panel Discussion – What’s in Store for 2010
(This is a Tuesday Bonus Session for SNA Symposium registrants!)
3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Newsprint Suppliers’ Reception on Exhibit Floor

Wednesday, MARCH 17 view detailed listing
7:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Attendee Registration Desk Open
8:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Private Demonstrations with Exhibitors
8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. SNA Advertising Symposium and Workshop (Special registration is required.)
8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. Print Quality Judges’ Meetings
8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. Continental Breakfast
8:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Session: Mailroom Issues Roundtable
9:30 a.m. – 10:10 a.m. Session: The Green Side of “Lean and Green”
10:10 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Session: Production Software Tools for Saving Time and Money
11:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Session: SNAP Survey Results
11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Exhibit Floor Open
11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Cyber Cafe with Gourmet Coffees
11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Print Quality Awards Presentations
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. PNA Scholastic and Collegiate Keystone Press Awards Luncheon (Special registration is required.)
11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Various Roundtables on Exhibit Floor
1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Ice Cream Social on Exhibit Floor

*This is a tentative schedule and is subject to change. Please check www.america-east.com for updates.

2008 America East Newspaper Operations and Tech. Conference Review

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Held in Hershey Pennsylvania. I was only able to attend one day. There was very little new information being presented at the conference lectures. One exception was Editor of The Shelby Star, Jon Jimison, who gave a nice presentation about strategies they have implemented to grow readership. The exhibits were uninspired and even though I see more and more CMS companies attending these things, Apple Inc. was the only one showing something that could add value to one’s existing operations.

The keynote speaker was futurist Michael Rogers from the NY Times. He spoke in generalities and reiterated things already known throughout the industry. Some quotes, “hard times ahead”, “online revenue will ONE DAY catch up to print”, “millenials are opportunistic and omnivorous media consumers”, “mobile communication devices will replace laptops as the standard”…Somethings he said that I disagree with. “Growing WiFi coverage” all trends say this is not the case in the USA and in fact the New York Times reports otherwise here. One other thing and I’ll move on. He states local is an untapped market. This is true. but how can medium to large newspapers monetize that market and incorporate it into their large operation? My point is that local is best done by very few people with the interaction of the actual locals. The ideal local site or publication needs little capital and expect modest margins when compared to traditional newspaper margins. Big organizations need the national and international accounts.

Durring the Q&A I asked Michael and a panel of three newspaper publishers whether they have considered offering some classified services for free in order to drive readership. I was met with a brick wall of ignorance as everyone on the panel rejected my notion based on the fact that “we still need to make money”. I brought up the example of giving away a razor to sell the blades, they didn’t miss a beat, they didn’t care or they didn’t get it. I can live with rejection, but they didn’t offer any ideas, alternatives, examples or new business practices they were using …Right, so how is your business going to grow with no readership growth? I’m constantly disappointed by the lack of open mindedness by leaders in our DECLINING industry.

THE SHELBY STAR …online at least, nothing of note was mentioned about their print product.  The editor of a small North Carolina newspaper, THE SHELBY STAR spoke about their attempts to stay relevant and grow readership. They partnered with IFRA and their parent company Freedom Communications to dramatically increase readership.  How did they do it?  Mainly, the vehicle below.

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2007 Mid Year Media Review Stocks In Review

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$100 stake purchased on June 21st 2007 and its value today February 22nd 2008:

MNI McClatchy- $38.40 representing a 61.6% decline.

JRN Journal Communications- $57.70 representing a 42.3% decline.

BLC Belo Corp.- $76.80 representing a 23.2% decline.

JRC Journal Register Company- $28.40 representing a 71.6% decline.

MEG Media General Inc.- $56.20 representing a 43.8% decline.

MDP Meredith Corp.- $73 representing a 27% decline.

MHP The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.- $59.30 representing a 40.7% decline.

LEE Lee Enterprises Inc.- $56.40 representing a 43.6% decline.

NYT New York Times Company- $75.60 representing a 24.4% decline.

GCI Gannett Co. Inc.- $58.90 representing a 41.1% decline.

WPO Washington Post Co.- $94.9 representing a 5.1% decline.

WPO seems to have been the best bet here. Ironically, the company now generate most of its revenue from operations OTHER than from the Washington Post newspaper revenues. Additionally, the stock was up about 12% at one point in this time frame. With financial analysts and economists predicting a terrible 2nd quarter this year, it will be interesting to see where these stocks move by June 21st of this year.

International Newspaper Group Conference 2007

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Held in Kansas City, Missouri, the 2007 ING Annual Conference was the first ING event I have attended. Let me start off by saying that I was pleasantly surprised by the smooth program, the issues discussed, the tour of the Kansas City Star plant, and the turnout from vendors and publishing companies. Due to time constraints I was only able to attend Wednesday September 19th. Much happened on this day though, so all was not lost. I’ll lead you through the program as it occurred on Wednesday. I am paraphrasing so don’t assume the following is verbatim.

The Conference opens and quickly gets down to business. On Wednesday morning the topic of discussion was “publishing challenges in Kansas City (Kansas City Star)”.

President and Publisher Mac Tully begins with the market challenges and trends emphasizing that newspapers have a very difficult future ahead but that we are not as bad off as television (I guess that is a positive). In their efforts to embrace change within the newspaper industry Mr. Tully went on to mention the redesign of the newspaper and the completion of their new 199 million dollar printing plant. He also expressed his opinion that newspapers are factual and fair media channels which serve as “watchdogs” for their community. He also emphasized the idea that “total readership” and not circulation should define their reach, a reach he stated which is bigger than that of Television (in their geographic area I am assuming). It was a feel good speach which was met with applause.

Peter Ricker VP Advertising focused his presentation on ROI, ROP advertising, simplifying the advertising rates and procedures, and the increase in color capacity at the new plant.

C. Christian VP Circulation explained how the paper handled the redesign and the completion of their new printing facility. Both of these projects are huge undertakings and for them to occur and come on line on the same day is an amazing feat of planning and teamwork. The campaign theme was “Brighter, Bolder, Better” and it was used to emphasize the increase in color capacity, the redesign, and the new plant. Starting in March of 2006 the KC Star first told its employees, and then conducted TV and radio interviews, followed by speaking engagements. These continued along with heavy print and online promotions until June of 2006 when the new paper was printed on the new presses. The total print readership is now higher than that of 1999-2000 levels.

Randy Waters VP Production spoke about the new plant and equipment. Expansion and retooling were not feasible construction from May 12, 2003 to June 2006. Some of the highlights: 4 KBA Commander presses consisting of 9 towers and 10 reel stands. 48″ web with 21.5″ cut-off. 80 pages straight 40 process color (48 pc on a 72 page run). 6 folders and 3 stitchers. (I thought this was a great feature allowing saddle stitching at press speed, think of the possibilities, TV guide, special sections, bringing advertising back from commercial shops, etc…) The paper handling was equally impressive. Using computer controlled cranes and conveyors; a human never touches the rolls of paper from the time they are delivered minimizing damage, error, and variation.

Break………….

When we returned the subject moved to photo toning. The following concepts and software programs were presented and discussed: Automated preflight and photo toning, OneVision’s Asura and InkSave, Morris DigitalWorks BluMunkee, and Agfa’s IntelliTune.

I was especially interested in the OneVision software. As the company states on their website, “PlugINKSAVEin is a Plugin for Asura and Asura Pro which has the ability to reduce a significant amount of ink”. It works by taking customers’ images and re-separates them to boost black ink usage and conserve expensive CMY inks. The software was reported to save 6 to 24% in ink usage. Imagine that your ink costs are 2million dollars a year, assuming a conservative 10% reduction in ink usage, one could save $200,000! Sounds like a no brainer to me. This could not have been timelier as Flint Ink and others have announced they are raising ink prices.

The last few hours at the conference was spent discussing the ING internship program and predictive maintenance but I was in and out for meetings so I won’t go into detail here. The ING website should have powerpoints of the presentations up soon.

Lastly, and the part I was most looking forward to, we headed to the new Kansas City Star newspaper printing plant. The plant utilizes four KBA Commander presses consisting of 9 towers and 10 reel stands each operating up to 80 IPH. Although quite tall, the presses were very nice and quiet. The glass walls of the plant were nice too, as most printing presses are housed in buildings with no windows. I was most impressed with two features of the plant. One, the folders have a saddle stitcher enabling the press to produce a bound tabloid format publication at press speed. Two, the paper roll storage, delivery, and loading is completely automated leaving little room for human error.

Looking to the future I wish the Kansas City Star my best and thank them for taking us on a tour. I hope that their expanded capabilities in the new plant enhance the publication and its reach into the community.

2007 NAA Mid-Year Media Review: Newspapers Report Audience Up, Circulation Down . Internet Continues Growing Strongly.

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The 2007 NAA Mid-Year Media Review produced mostly somber notes this year. At some point each company complained of weak trends such as auto and housing markets as well as weakness in the American retail economy as a whole. I’ll give a rough breakdown of what was said in the order which the companies presented. Links to the complete presentations (their investor pages) appear by clicking the company name where available. Enjoy!

Journal Communications
Their 2007 operating priorities for their publishing division:
1. Targeted local online initiatives
2. Non-traditional revenue growth
3. Cost control
4. Expand community newspaper footprint in target geographies

Their revised second quarter 2007 outlook was bleak:
-Publishing revenues flat to down
-Radio revenue flat to down slightly
-Television revenue down

Part of their cost control effort is web width reduction as was the case for many other newspapers which are all barreling over each other to get to 48inch webs. I asked if they expected newsprint manufacturers to cut output or raise prices to offset their losses and the response was that because of the Abitibi merger and weakness in the market that in fact prices should go down further for newsprint. Also costs associated with the cut down are expected to be recouped within one year and annualized savings from the new web width is expected to be 4%.

BELO
-joined with a consortium of other papers to pursue online initiatives with Yahoo. Many of the companies presenting are involved with Yahoo (and to a lesser extent Google, Careerbuilder, and MSN) to increase their content sharing and advertising reach.
-a headcount reduction is expected to result in $10 million annualized savings.
-a more refined distribution perimeter is expected to save an additional $10 million.
-the company pension plan has been frozen and retirement focus shifted to 401(k) plans.

Looking to the future, Belo is increasing its video presence on their news sites and also looking to outsource as much as practical.

Journal Register Company
Their large presence in Michigan hurt them as the unemployment rate in the area is number 1 and foreclosures are at number 4 in the nation. A bright spot is their online revenue growth rate of 64% however that reflects just 4% of total revenue. The company is seeking to increase online revenue to 6% of total by year end 2007. Cost cutting is another move to keep expenses inline with revenue. The company completed plant consolidations in Ohio.

-Yahoo! HotJobs partnership
-launch new multimedia content platform news sites

Media General
-realized online revenue growth of 40 to 45%
-traditional print revenue was 0 to -3%
-hiring has been frozen most areas except sales
-align expenses with revenue

This presentation really focused on innovative things the company was doing to prepare for the future. Some thoughtful ideas:
-online streaming news and weather video
-photo sharing
-hyper local coverage and products
-making the print edition quicker to read and easier to use
-aggressive use of audience research and branding campaigns
-joined Yahoo!HotJobs newspaper consortium

Meredith Corporation
This company does not print any traditional newspapers or have newspaper websites however they do own some powerful brands which they are successfully expanding online and elsewhere. Brands like Better Homes and Gardens which they still print as a magazine and publish online now has a companion video site at Better.tv featuring video only content and advertising. I really like what they’ve done with that site. It really utilizes the broadband internet connections coming into 75% of people’s homes right now and integrates advertising into their content for more effective ROI which advertisers desire.

Future Growth Strategies:
-increase online presence and develop new revenue streams
-strengthen core publishing business
-capture margin upside in broadcasting
-increase internet derived revenues of total operations from 3.5% to 10% by 2010

The McGraw-Hill Companies
Here is another large media company with no newspaper holdings and ironically enough probably the best performer in the bunch. Compounded annual growth rate between 1996 and 2006 is close to 25% and the company has returned $6.8 billion to share holders in that time.

-education segment growing strongly
-financial segment growing strongly
-information and media segment soft

Citing softness in advertising their BusinessWeek ad pages are down 12.6% for the last 24 issues. The company is looking to transition their print publications to the internet for greater margin expansion. The company’s strong results in education and finance are buoying the decline in traditional print.

DAY TWO

LEE ENTERPRISES
Yet another company with a growing audience yet declining circulation numbers, which they called “circulation erosion”. I liked that they have made it a top priority to nurture employee development and achievement by providing their employees with an online development program.

2007 initiatives:
-Yahoo!HotJobs partnership (do you see a trend here? I might be interested in yahoo stock with all these revenue streams flowing in.)
-accelerate online innovation
-emphasize strong local news
-Grow revenue creatively and rapidly (they have hired a strong sales oriented management team to drive revenues up)
-Exercise careful cost controls

They are confident that no competitor can “match us for our local content” or match them for their audience reach.

THE McCLATCHY COMPANY
If you recall McClatchy bought out Knight Ridder last year and then sold off the properties it did not want. The move was a terrible one in hind sight because the timing of their purchase was not at the market bottom. The company stock has fallen some 50% since the acquisitions till now.

The near term forecast is unfavorable. Also, they own 15% of CareerBuilder and are unhappy about their relationship with the online job posting site. Neither McClatchy nor CareerBuilder would comment as to what happened however McClatchy is partnering with Yahoo and Google.

THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY
They gave a thorough and boring presentation. But the numbers weren’t horrible such as:
-$30 million revenue from new products
-digital revenue is now ~10% of all revenue (was 8% last year, 6% year before)
-reduced costs in the last two years by $120 million and another $30 million coming with the completion of their Edison NJ plant closure in Q2 2008.
-Overall advertising was weak however luxury goods (something they do well) experienced solid gains.
-Partnership with Microsoft for NYT Mobil
-70% of NYT print subscribers have been so for 2 years or more

The New York Times will also be leasing at least 5 floors in their new building and moving non core tasks to less expensive real estate locations around the area.

GANNETT
Susan Clark-Johnson, president of the newspaper division was rather up beat about the future of their newspaper business. She cited a culture change concerning the evolving role of print media and its partnering with multimedia formats to maximize the total experience.

-Hyper local focus
-Bullish on digital video
-Aggressively training editors and journalists on video equipment
-Aggressively training sales to provide multimedia Ad solutions
-Partnering with MSN and CareerBuilder

The future is with Ad partnerships, hyper local content such as floridatoday.com’s little league pages, and niche markets like IndyMoms.com.

THE WASHINGTON POST COMPANY
Wow, I wish you could have been here to see CEO Donald E. Graham give this incredibly brief and candid presentation. While all the other companies ran close to or over their one hour time limits Mr. Graham was done in about twenty five minutes. The Q&A session consisted of him saying things like, “well… that’s not how we do things at the Washington Post” and “who wants to play poker?”.

Highs:
-Post Points
-Idea sharing between Slate and WashingtonPost.com
-Kaplan revenue growth 22%
-Cable One doing well

Some things to think about; WashingtonPost.com revenues were 14.5% of Post print ad revenues. Their newspaper segment expensed $47 million to buy out 193 people. Their fastest growing revenue stream is Kaplan with close to $1.7 billion in 2006. As Mr. Graham states in his letter to shareholders, “It was a poor year… for the business we are named for”.