SIPA's 32nd Annual International Newsletter & Specialized Information Conference
June 1-3, 2008
The Renaissance Mayflower Hotel, Washington, DC

Keynote Presenters

Sunday, June 1, 2008

2:30 – 3:15 PM • Why There's No "Free Lunch" on the Internet
Information wants to be free. It looked like the dot com crash might put an end to that idea once and for all, but it's back, and now it has multiple business models to support it — whether it’s subscription Websites, ad-supported content, or free e-mail publications as a tool for attracting buyers to other paid publications. Earlier this year Professor Katz testified before the U.S. Senate on why the Internet is not free, and that copyright serves a vital purpose. He will discuss his defense of the public benefits of posting research, 50% federally funded, on a paid-access Website, and the legal and intellectual rights issues.
Stan Katz, Professor, Princeton University

3:45 – 4:30 PM •Creating and Delivering Content for Long-term Customer Engagement
This session will address the following: 1) what is customer engagement and why is it critical to current and future success for specialized-information publishers; 2) how does content support the customer engagement continuum: from initial acquisition to brand affinity, and the steps that lie in between; 3) what can be learned from those who are using content effectively for business advantage; and 4) what are some pitfalls to avoid. With lively graphics and plenty of examples, Diana Pohly will
make the case for keeping a solid focus on content. Not just content for content’s sake, but using content to move subscribers, visitors and readers along the continuum of engagement: from acquisition, to experience, to relationship and then on to affinity. Come away inspired to think about your content on a higher strategic level than you may have previously envisioned, and see some interesting examples that you may be able to apply to your current programs.
Diana Pohly, President, The Pohly Company

4:30 – 5:15 PM •The Third Revolution in Publishing and Intellectual Property
In 1989, Encyclopedia Brittanica was a $650 million juggernaut that ruled the $1.2 billion encyclopedia market. Less than 20 years later they're fighting for relevance and sales ($50 million last year) in the age of Wikipedia. Google Knols, Creative Commons and new publishing models are proliferating. The first revolution in publishing occurred in the 15th century with the invention of the printing press. The second revolution occurred in the 18th century with the development of publishing distribution
networks and business models to support them. This eye-opening address by Bill Burger of the Copyright Clearance Center will help you understand the massive shift in publishing, the third revolution, that has already started. Whether it's user-generated content or user-selected content, from flickr to Newser to Yahoo Pipes, the definition of“intellectual property” is evolving rapidly and successful specialized publishers need to stay on top of the dramatic changes in this new publishing environment.
Bill Burger, VP of Marketing, Copyright Clearance Center

Monday, June 2, 2008

8:45 – 9:15 AM •The Harvard Business Approach to Success in the New Publishing Environment
There is no shortage of new publishing technologies or new publishing business models. Determining which holds the most promise for you is perhaps your biggest challenge. Josh Macht is the Executive Director of Harvard Business Digital. Like many publishers Harvard Business School
Publishing, SIPA member and publisher of the venerable Harvard Business Review, knows its future is digital. Macht will discuss his strategies and tactics for moving forward successfully, while minimizing the time and expense of the inevitable dead-end projects.
Joshua Macht, Executive Director, Harvard Business Digital

9:20 – 10:00 AM •Information Wants to be Free (to the End User … but the Advertiser’s Going
to Pay)
We are finally seeing viable, sustainable business models to support free-to-thereader publishing on the Web. And it's made possible by advertising. Whether it's GoogleAds, your own direct ad sales, or through other advertising networks, advertising is coming to specialized publishing. And context-sensitive advertising is a given, but that's just the beginning. Chris Schroeder, CEO of Health Central.com, former President of WashingtonPost Newsweek Interactive, and a founding member of the Online Publishers Association, discusses the current trends and future directions of advertising-based publishing.
Chris Schroeder, CEO, HealthCentral.com

Noon – 2:00 PM •Luncheon, Annual Meeting of Members and Keynote Session “The Publishing Opportunity in the Age of Citizen Media”
When SIPA was founded, many successful members made a good living reporting on what happened in the halls of Congress. As the Web enabled news of that sort to be readily available to all, publishers found perspective and analysis from experienced journalists was the source of value. With blogs, wikis, and photos and videos shot on cell phones and posted to YouTube or flickr, what is the role of publishers? And what is the business model? Dan Gillmor, author of “We the Media: Grassroots Journalism By The People, For The People,” Director of the Center for Citizen Media, and Director, Knight Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship, Arizona State University, talks about the massive change going on in publishing and where to look for emerging opportunities in the new publishing environment.
Dan Gillmor, Director, Center for Citizen Media

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

12:15 – 2:15 PM • Luncheon, Awards Program & Remarks by Internationally Recognized Columnist and Humorist Dave Barry
Sponsored by the Specialized Information Publishers Foundation

2:30 – 3:00 PM • Search Centric: The Future of Marketing
The future of marketing is search-centric, according to Fredrick Marckini, Founder of iProspect and Chief Global Search Officer of Isobar. For the foreseeable future, all marketing will center around the behavior of search. In all contexts, across all mediums, from all devices including mobile phones, GPS devices and Digital Video Recorders, consumers search. Publishers have to be in the path of their searching audience, every time they search, from every device they search, every search, period, if they plan to win. At this dynamic, eye-opening presentation Marckini will discuss the latest changes in the global search engine marketplace, the social media landscape and how the major search engines listen to your customers in social media settings as cues to relevancy that help the search engines determine which sites are listed on the first page of the search results. Marckini explores all the major trends from Google's new“universal search results” that incorporates content from “invisible tabs,” including video, images, news, geo-specific content and even products from the comparison shopping search tab, to searcher behavior. Search marketers must reconsider and expand their thinking about where they need to intercept their online audience. Have a Wikipedia strategy? A YouTube strategy? A MySpace strategy? If you don't, Marckini will tell you why you're going to need one fast! He will explore how offline advertising impacts search behavior — is your offline advertising driving your customers to search engines and then into the arms of your competition? Marckini will discuss “vertical search engines” that increase relevance and search engine marketing's “secret weapon.” Every attendee will undoubtedly discover something they have yet to try, and will
be motivated to expand their marketing programs into new realms.
Fredrick Marckini, Founder & Chairman, iProspect

Continue to the overview of the June 1-3 conference

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