Digital Discourse / Archives for Kathy Greenler Sexton

Innovation and Growth Diagnostic Exclusively for IIS Registrants

December 20, 2012 By

How do you facilitate heightened, sustainable performance from your team to achieve innovation and breakthrough ideas?

Whether you lead a multi national information company or a midmarket to early-stage content company, you’ll gain tremendous value from a presentation on this very topic at IIS 2013: Breakthrough on January 30 by Gifford Booth of the Tai Group.

I encourage you to register now to catch Gifford’s presentation and to join the impressive roster of media, publishing, and information services executives already confirmed to attend.

If you register by January 15, you’ll be invited to take your own performance diagnostic that will provide you with an immediate personal profile on your behavior and skills around innovation and risk. (Note: instructions for taking the diagnostic will be sent on January 21 and you will have until January 25 to complete it. The process should take no longer than 15 minutes.)

Background on The Performance Diagnostic

Breakthrough ideas, innovative products, and new ways of doing things don’t happen by accident. They’re the result of teams working in purposeful, collaborative, risk-taking ways. As leaders of an industry that relies critically on the speed and quality of innovation, it’s your job to create the chemistry, direction, and guidance to make this happen.

Take advantage of this diagnostic to experience how you can get a new line of sight into your organization and how ready you are to innovate in ways which can change your business. Based on critical factors of business purpose and risk-The Performance Diagnostic is a simple online tool that quickly reveals the innovation environment in which you and your team are operating. The tool is designed to give you insight on how you can change your team’s behavior to achieve sustained performance and innovation.

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Interview with IIS Breakthrough Co Chair Clare Hart

December 10, 2012 By
I sat down with IIS Conference co-chair Clare Hart, Former President & CEO of Infogroup, to discuss IIS, what sessions she’s most looking forward to, and what she has learned as a result of co-chairing the industry’s premier conference for information executives.
Kathy: Why did you decide to co-chair IIS this year?

Clare: IIS is an opportunity for Information Industry executives to meet in a convenient NYC location, for a brief 1.5 days, covering a rich agenda of highly-relevant topics and excellent networking. Being an IIS co-chair and a part of the planning team presented an opportunity to shape the agenda and ensure that IIS is a “Must Attend” event for all Information Industry executives.

Kathy: What are your goals for the conference this year?

Clare: Two principle goals: to enlist speakers who will talk about the business, content, and technology opportunities and issues that are shaping our industry AND to create an environment that is conducive to networking, meeting new colleagues, and strengthening relationships with existing partners and colleagues.

Kathy: What is unique about IIS?

Clare: IIS is always held in January, so it’s one of our industry’s first annual conferences to kick off the New Year, providing conference delegates some new thinking right out of the blocks. The agenda is filled with topics that are top of mind – no fluff. This is a meeting where substantive conversations happen on the stage, at the lunch table, and around the bar.

Kathy: What should people expect this year and why is that different from previous years?

Clare: This year you may notice a little bit more of a focus on technology, a key driver of differentiation, but above all, IIS will continue its tradition of providing extremely relevant topics covered by top speakers who will impThis year you may notice a little bit more of a focus on technology, a key driver of differentiation, but above all, IIS will continue its tradition of providing extremely relevant topics covered by top speakers who will impart wisdom based on knowledge of their subject stemming from years of experience.art wisdom based on knowledge of their subject stemming from years of experience.

Kathy: Any favorite sessions you are looking forward to?

Clare: Terry McGraw’s keynote is on the top of my list because of all that McGraw Hill has accomplished during the company’s transformation. The McGraw Hill story is fascinating and who better to tell it than Terry McGraw? I am also eager to hear Gil Elbaz, CEO of Factual, and Jim Swift, CEO of Cortera, talk about building successful Big Data Companies. But, I must add, I am eager to hear all of the keynotes and panel discussions, as each has its own purpose and lesson to share.

Kathy: Anything you learned or were surprised by in your work planning IIS 2013?

Clare: A lot goes in to planning this day and a half event, the amount of discussion and debate about things as seemingly small as the timetable for Previews is thoughtfully considered. The SIIA and IIS have a very large and strong network of willing participants – potential speakers, attendees, sponsors and committee members – who see the value of this important industry event and work hard to ensure its success.

IIS Breakthrough 2013

 

 

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Titans of a New Information Order

December 7, 2012 By

I sat down with Jim Kollegger, Session moderator and organizer of the CEO panel – Titans of a New Information Order – to find out what’s in store for this year’s discussion. Jim will take the stage at IIS Breakthrough on Wednesday January 30, alongside Kurt Eichenwald, Contributing Editor with Vanity Fair and a New York Times bestselling author, Vanity Fair, Thomas Glocer, Former CEO, Thomson Reuters, David Kirkpatrick, Senior Technology & Internet Editor, Fortune, and Michael Perlis, President & CEO , Forbes Media LLC. To see this session, register at siia.net/IIS

 

Jim Kollegger, CEO, Genesys Partners, Inc.

Kathy: Jim, over the years you have put on a showstopper session at IIS where you gather a team of industry “heavy weights” to discuss their perspectives on the shifts in the industry, all from different perspectives. What is the goal/ purpose of your industry outlook panel?

Jim: There have been eleven Summits, and even before IIS became a formal Summit I was hosting keynote panels going back all the way to the 80s! I feel like the Dorian Grey of the SIIA and its predecessor.

Kathy: What can the audience expect to take away from the Titans of the New Information Order?

Jim: Our biggest objective is to provide the audience with perspective, a longer view, maybe a different view as to where things are heading. This is the Wayne Gretzky metaphor — “why are you successful? Because I skate to where the puck is going to be!” You’d be amazed how that sticks.

Kathy: What are some of your most memorable moments as moderator of this session over the years?

Jim: One unforgettable panel was a powerhouse of Ted Leonsis of AOL, Nancy McKinstry of Wolters Kluwer, Jim Fallows of the Atlantic and Martin Sorrell of WPP. Two of them held forth so the others had a hard time getting a word in; and one of them was actually texting while on the panel. I won’t tell you which one!

Kathy: Did anyone in particular get the audience’s blood to boil?

Jim: We go for light, not heat. There’s plenty of cross-fire on the air, as Jon Stewart pointed out. But reasoned discussion where people are frank and not posturing is a rarity.

Kathy: Who would you invite back to reflect on their original prediction VS what really happened

Jim: Many, many of them. Especially John Patrick, IBM’s former Internet CTO, who predicted the coming of wi-fi and blogging, when it didn’t have a name, and when blogging was a joke.

Also Ted Leonsis who early on spotted “the wisdom of crowds” and John Markoff, of NY Times, who said it was NOT too late to start a new search engine—when Yahoo and Excite seemed to own the market.

Kathy: What are YOUR Industry predictions on what’s in store for 2013-2014?

Jim: Mobile, mobile, mobile. Continued consumerization of the enterprise, smarter Siri’s, and verticalization of market approaches. We’ll also see continued domination of markets by the four horsemen of the Internet–Apple, Amazon, Google, and Facebook. There will also be more conflict as some of those put their own interests above their content partners.

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All-New Information Industry Summit to Showcase Boldest Business Models, Products & Services

December 6, 2012 By

SIIA today invited information industry executives to attend the 12th annual Information Industry Summit, held Jan. 30-31, 2013 in New York City. The conference, which has been redesigned for 2013, will gather leaders from media, publishing, and information services companies, as well as technology and private equity organizations, to help them identify next-generation opportunities for growth and innovation.

With the theme “Breakthrough,” the goal of the Summit is to challenge information industry executives with fresh ideas, products and services to help them discover new opportunities and break into new markets. Presentations will spotlight leading executives as they discuss how their companies reinvented themselves, navigated risk and adopted new technologies to achieve dramatic growth in an ever-changing market. The Summit will also explore challenges and opportunities in an industry encountering unprecedented disruption, rapid fluctuations in customer expectations and behavior, and game-changing technological breakthroughs. Panels will also explore more specific topics such as the private equity landscape and the monetization of big data.

Other highlights of the Summit include the Content CODiE Awards , which honors the year’s best products, and the Previews program, which introduces emerging content and content-technology companies set to revolutionize the industry and a Showcase that will be highlighting all the CODiE Finalists and PREVIEWS participants throughout the conference.

WHO: Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA)

WHAT: Information Industry Summit

WHEN: January 30-31, 2013

WHERE: Pier Sixty (Chelsea Piers Sports and Entertainment Complex), New York City

View the complete Summit schedule.

Kathy Greenler Sexton is Vice President and General Manager of the SIIA Content Division. Contact Kathy at kgsexton@siia.net.

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Filed Under: Content, Information Industry Summit

Meet IIS Breakthrough Conference Chair Simon Beale

December 3, 2012 By
Simon Beale

Simon Beale, IIS Co-Chair

I sat down with IIS Conference co-chair Simon Beale, Senior Vice President Global Sales and Training of ProQuest to discuss IIS, what sessions he’s most looking forward to, and what he has learned as a result of co-chairing the industry’s premier conference for information executives.

Kathy: Why did you decide to co-chair IIS this year?

Simon: This is my second term on the SIIA Content Board and, given that the IIS is our most important annual event, agreeing to co-chair the conference with Clare Hart has proved to be an excellent way of providing guidance and input into its shape and development. With the dramatically accelerating pace of integration of technology into the content business, the SIIA IIS has the opportunity to become the cornerstone for thought leadership for the key leaders in our industry in debate and discussion.

Kathy: What are your goals for the conference this year?

Simon: The goal for January’s conference has been somewhat different this year. For the 2013 IIS Conference we wanted to ensure that C-suite executives from across the media, publishing and information landscape would be able to spend a couple of days at IIS in New York watching, listening and participating in a discussion between the industry leaders as to where we see this industry heading. IIS will be raising the bar for the debate amongst our most senior execs.

Kathy: What is unique about IIS?

Simon: We’ve always been lucky in that the range and diversity of the membership of SIIA gives us the ability to tap into an incredibly rich seam of knowledge and experience from across the information industry. The combination of existing SIIA member companies and start up and emerging companies, all sharing ideas and contrasting views is what makes IIS a unique event. You will not get a room with this level of focused industry firepower at any other conference.

Kathy: What should people expect this year and why is that different from previous years?

Simon: The 2013 IIS will be more focused towards C-suite executives than previous conferences. We are narrowing our focus. We have put together the premier line up of speakers and panels. We have assembled an agenda that will provide thought provoking sessions for the leaders in our industry. The schedule has been tailored to provide the maximum value for time spent for these execs. The key executives from across the software and information industry will not want to miss these two days.

Kathy: Any favorite sessions you are looking forward to?

Simon: I think the George Colony keynote will provide a great exposition of the impact of some of the key technology trends, while several of the panel discussions have got stellar industry lineups. I also think the leadership dinner, hosted by Nicholas Thompson of the New Yorker will be a wonderful evening!

Kathy: Anything you learned or were surprised by in your work planning IIS 2013?

Simon: I learned few things. I was stunned by how much work the IIS steering committee has put into this event. I have no doubt that it will be the most successful and though provoking IIS for many a year and this will be down to the hard work that the committee has put in (all in their spare time, I hasten to add). I learned how great an impact a creative and decisive co-chair like Clare Hart can have on shaping an event of this type. Her influence has been profound. I also learned how much of a juggling act putting all the moving pieces together can be and, for that, we have you Kathy to thank, ably assisted by Jenny.

IIS Breakthrough 2013

 

 

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SIIA Announces All-New Information Industry Summit in NYC Jan. 30-31

October 10, 2012 By

The Content Division today announced the all-new 2013 Information Industry Summit (IIS). The twelfth annual conference, to be held January 30-31 in New York City, has been recast for 2013 with an intense focus on an agenda that serves the needs of publishing, media, and information industry C-Suite executives – helping them identify next-generation opportunities for growth and innovation.

The information industry is in a time of tremendous change, but this new reality presents extraordinary opportunities for companies to develop new products and services and to find new markets and customers. As the industry is changing, so is our event – in 2013 we will present a new, unique, and compelling program for industry executives. Our goal is to challenge even the most established information businesses with fresh ideas, innovations, and strategies. IIS 2013 promises to be one of the most important gatherings for forward-thinking information industry executives.

The 2013 Summit will draw leaders from media, publishing, and information services companies as well as the technology and private equity organizations that serve them.

Discussions at IIS 2013 will be led by industry thought leaders including:

  • Keynotes by George Colony, Forrester CEO; Brewster Kahle, Internet Archive Co-Founder; Nicholas Thompson, Senior Editor, The New Yorker; and Terry McGraw, Chairman, President and CEO, The McGraw Hill Companies
  • Key discussions with individuals including David Kirkpatrick, Senior Technology & Internet Editor, Fortune; David Reimer, CEO, Merryck & Co.; Andy Prozes, Senior Advisor, Warburg Pincus; Denzil Rankine, Executive Chairman, AMR International; Scott Peters, Co-President, The Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc.; and more
  • “Breakthrough Talks” by James Peck, CEO, LexisNexis Risk Solutions; John Yemma, Editor, The Christian Science Monitor; Donal Toole, Finance & Strategy Director, The Christian Science Monitor; Jeff Shelstad, CEO, Flatworld; Steven Kuyan, Executive Director, NYU Poly Incubator; and Jeff Giesea, CEO & Founder, Best Vendor

The conference will also include a number of special events and activities, including:

  • The SIIA Content CODiE Awards, which honor the best products and services in the information industry. This year, the CODiE’s will feature a showcase during IIS 2013 of all Content CODiE Award finalists, in addition to the annual award ceremony.
  • The  SIIA Previews Competition, which showcases emerging content and content-technology companies.  This year, Previews will cross the 100th presenting company mark;
  • The second annual Peter E. Jackson Innovation Award, which honors the late Thomson Reuters Vice President and Chief Scientist, and his profound impact on the B2B publishing industry. Dr. Jackson was an active board member of the SIIA Content Division. Keynoter Brewster Kahle was this first recipient of this award.

Finally, SIIA is especially pleased to announce its partnership with host sponsors Connotate, ProQuest, and The Jordan, Edmiston Group, all working with SIIA to create what is sure to be the year’s most compelling conference for the leadership of the media, publishing, and information services industries.

For more details about IIS and to register online, visit www.siia.net/iis/2013.

Kathy Greenler Sexton is Vice President and General Manager of the SIIA Content Division. Contact Kathy at kgsexton@siia.net.

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Eight Leading Database Companies to be Recognized at DataContent

October 5, 2012 By

The SIIA Content Division today announced that eight leading database companies have been selected to present at the 20th annual DataContent Conference , which takes place October 9- 11 in Philadelphia.  The eight companies will be recognized as part of the Models of Excellence – a program that identifies products  that are revolutionizing the information industry by bringing data to life in new ways.

DataContent 2012, produced in partnership with the InfoCommerce Group, is the only conference devoted solely to producers of commercial data products. For the complete schedule of events, visit http://www.siia.net/datacontent/2012/schedule.asp.  For more information or to register for the conference, members of the media should contact Beth Dozier at bethdozier@rational360.com.

The following Models of Excellence companies will be recognized  throughout DataContent 2012 and honored during a special dinner on October 10.  Each company has set new standards for innovation in developing and applying data-driven business models.

  • Bundle  is a true pioneer in turning Big Data into a high-value data product. By turning anonymous credit transactions into unbiased reviews of retail establishments, Bundle helps consumers make smart buying decisions based on objective analysis. They’ve made an impressive start to bringing hard data to the business of business reviews.
  • CapLinked leapfrogs the existing virtual data room services by providing a platform that is social, viral, mobile, affordable, and easy to use. CapLinked equips small- to medium-size companies with the same ability to raise capital, manage M&A transactions, and handle investor reporting that was once only available to big players. They have grown 6,000% in the last year and are assembling a community that represents the economic powerhouses of the future.
  • eGordian - eGordian represents a disruptive new entrant into the field of construction price data, all based on data collected in the course of its other business activities. As it builds out community-driven features that will let users provide feedback on various materials and suppliers, offer advice, share plans and designs, suggest industry methods and use tools developed through partnerships with other companies, it will become a central industry resource. And that is the sweet spot for any b2b publisher.
  • GovTrak addresses an increasingly important and complex challenge: finding, understanding, and tracking government legislation. GovTrak is a well-executed example of how the combination of data, tools, and analytics can deliver power to those who are seeking the truth.
  • InfoArmy revolutionizes how a content company is built by marshaling two of the industry’s most powerful trends: crowdsourcing and community. Success is participatory, self-managed and self-reinforcing. InfoArmy is a true example of content unbound – non-bureaucratic, collaborative and exponential.
  • Reachable does amazing things with graph technology and mashups of various contact lists enabling what it calls “social proximity selling,” where sales people can use identified “connection paths” to reach specific prospects. It is particularly powerful for larger organizations as a tool for co-workers to leverage each other’s connections. Reachable is a very distinctive offering with its own specialized functionality and value proposition.
  • RedBeacon has reset the bar on lead generation by investing lots of effort to customize the negotiating and selecting experience, providing a highly-secure bid process, and even accommodating non-standard service requests. The real product RedBeacon has produced is trust, and they reap the rewards by keeping themselves firmly in the middle of all transactions.
  • Speakerfile goes beyond a passive database by matching relevant speakers and events, and offers a private communications platform to keep communications out of its users’ cluttered inboxes. Speakerfile organizes a formerly fractured and inefficient business activity by combining a marketplace model with strong content management and workflow functionality to create a useful, high-value service.

Kathy Greenler Sexton is Vice President and General Manager of the SIIA Content Division. Contact Kathy at kgsexton@siia.net.

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