March 3-5, 2010 — Orlando, Florida

Presented by SNA & SNPA — Only $495 to Attend

Revenue hungry publishers will not be disappointed! The strategic revenue summit is shaping up to be one of the best conferences ever. Plan now to attend.

New session descriptions/new speakers added — see below:

• Non-traditional revenue streams — a fast paced panel led by Gareth Charter. We're talking new and innovative — things like gift card programs, premium subscription models, online consumer stores, deal sites, event marketing and paid content. A follow up session will include small group exercises to uncover what conference attendees are doing to drive non-traditional revenue at their companies.
• Think classified is dying a slow death? Think again. You will leave the "Top 10 Ways to grow your Classified Marketplace" session with a renewed enthusiasm about this category of business. The spectacular Beverly Crandon from Metroland Media Group will lead this thought-provoking and inspiring session.
• One of SNPA's most dynamic board members, Jason Taylor, President/General Manager, Chattanooga Times Free Press, will present 75 ideas to build your future. This "idea guru" will also lead the Wednesday keynote — Reinventing our Sales Organizations for Tomorrow’s Opportunities. This session will examine everything from sales structure/compensation to creating an atmosphere of innovation to readjusting priorities/products sold. It will set the stage for the entire conference.
• Sales structure — the debate continues. Online-only or print/online combos? Gordon Borrell will take on three publishers. Borrell says — "print reps can't sell online so stop trying". The publishers say, "they can and they will sell both". Bring your boxing gloves but more importantly, learn what is working.
• New session speakers are being added regularly; check back often for new updates.

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By Deb Shaw
Editor, Suburban Publisher

All problems are opportunities.
The bigger the problem, the bigger the opportunity.
Never miss an opportunity to be fabulous.

What great lines and, coming from the mouth of the infectious Tina Seelig in her talk at Stanford University’s Entrepreneurship Corner, they make eminent sense. This is a very bright woman who heads up Stanford’s Technology Ventures Program and she delivered a speech about The Art of Teaching Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Despite her highfalutin pedigree of advanced degrees and professional accomplishments, she is as down to earth and easy to identify with as you can possibly imagine.

Every newspaper manager should give a listen to her podcast. It’s about 50 minutes long and well worth your time — I guarantee you’ll walk away uplifted and ready for bear. And, you’ll hear how she turned coffee into a helicopter ride over Santiago, Chile. No kidding.

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By Susan Karol, Ph.D.
Executive Director, SNA Foundation

Graduate journalism students participating in the fall Interactive Innovation Project class at Northwestern University’s Medill School recently published a white paper regarding the current status of obituary publishing in the face of changes in technology and audience behavior. The project’s faculty advisers were Rich Gordon, Associate Professor and Director of Digital Innovation; and Owen Youngman, Knight Professor of Digital Media Strategy. Legacy.com Inc., the Evanston, Illinois-based online aggregator of newspaper death notices which partners with more than 800 newspapers, sponsored the project.

The class’ comprehensive report, The State of the American Obituary, traces the history and practice of publishing obituaries and death notices, noting their importance to local newspaper publishers as both a category of content and as a revenue stream. They assert that this is an area where newspapers today still retain a dominant market share.

However, the students found that new user- and family-driven interactive forms of remembering the dead — on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace as well as stand-alone memorial sites and services — are increasingly attracting audience members of all ages who want not only to read about their friends and loved ones, but also to participate in the commemorations. As a result, the media landscape for obituaries is changing, and newspapers must adapt or risk losing readership and revenue in this category.

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Nine Questions for Greg Welteroth, CEO, Gregory Welteroth Advertising

By Deb Shaw
Editor, Suburban Publisher

Editor's Note: This Q&A feature continues the discussion that originally appeared in the January 2010 issue of Suburban Publisher.

A New Year might just be the perfect time to sniff out a new opportunity and Greg Welteroth has one for you. Welteroth proposes that every suburban and community newspaper consider the Pay for Performance proposition that Pella® Windows is offering via Greg Welteroth Advertising.

#1. You were on the Emerging Business Models panel at the recent SNA Fall Conference and when you made your opening remarks, you could practically hear a pin drop because the audience was so enraptured by your passionate comments about the local newspaper industry. Where does that passion come from?

I started my advertising career at a newspaper called the Grit, a Sunday paper with a 50,000 circulation. My job: sell advertising to people 35 miles away with only 4,500 circulation in their region. My challenge: get these people to pay the ad rates of a 50,000 circulation paper.

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