The Newspaper Society


Press Release

29 May 2001

REGIONAL PRESS TO EXPLORE
NEW MEDIA STRATEGIES

"Harnessing key assets in the digital age" is the theme of the Newspaper Society's New Media Conference and Awards which take place on 18-19 June at the Royal York Hotel in York.

Experts from both the UK and the US will discuss strategies for growing new channels of business while publishers themselves will draw from their own experiences in a programme of track sessions on revenue generation and new routes to market.

Tom Stevenson, managing director of digital media and group operations at ECNG will chair the two-day conference sponsored by ABC electronic, Geac Publishing Systems and Shopcreator.

The programme is aimed at everyone involved in the development of electronic media and e-commerce at regional press companies. Topics under discussion will include partnerships and affiliate deals, online classifieds and auctions, the "integrated newsroom", content syndication, mobile technology, digital television and multiple distribution platforms. Speakers include:

Steve Wing, head of commercial development, Guardian Unlimited who will talk about the national newspaper's online strategy and how it sits with the offline brand.

Clay Harris, news editor, FT.com who will share the FT's experience of implementing a single newsroom strategy and discuss its effect on output and quality of editorial.

James Bromley, managing director, AdTrader, Guardian Media Group Plc who will outline his plans for keeping AdTrader a market leader in the online motors arena.

Tony Blin-Stoyle, managing director of local information provider, UpMyStreet who will reveal about how he built services for distribution via the web, digital television, wireless internet and print. (Tony was a co-founder of FT.com).

Paul Witten, business development director, eBay UK Ltd, who will explain how this online auction site has been profitable since its launch. US speakers include Peter Zollman, Advanced Interactive Media Group, L.L.C. and John Haile, partner, InsideOut Media Partners.

The New Media Awards, sponsored by Sun Microsystems Ltd and Productivity Computer Solutions are now in their second year. A shortlist has been produced and the winners of the 10 categories will be announced at a gala dinner in York on 19 June.

The Newspaper Society provides information and support for the regional press on new media development in the form of reports, legal advice, workshops, data and the New Media Update e-mail newsletter. It is also a member of the Digital Content Forum.

Details of the conference

For further details contact: Sophie Gani (delegate enquiries) or Anna Barden (press enquiries) at the Society on 020 7636 7014 or e-mail anna_barden@newspapersoc.org.uk or sophie_gani@newspapersoc.org.uk.

The Newspaper Society, the voice of Britain's regional and local press, represents around 1,300 daily and weekly, paid-for and free, newspaper titles in the UK.

The Newspaper Society is a member of UK Publishing Media: an £18 billion alliance of newspapers, magazines and books, which collectively represent one of the largest investors in the rapidly-expanding information society.

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