Digital Discourse / Archives for Content

What Arthur C. Clarke Imagined: The Intersection of Technology and Content

December 12, 2012 By
Keith Cooper, CEO, Connotate, Inc.

Keith Cooper, CEO, Connotate, Inc.

Post by Keith Cooper, CEO, Connotate, Inc.

“Imagine a console in your office that will bring the accumulated knowledge of the world to your fingertips.” This is Arthur C. Clarke’s uncanny prediction, published in an April 1970 Popular Science article by Wernher Von Braun.1The prediction came true-and that console is your Web browser.

What Now?

As we approach the 2013 IIS Conference, much attention will be focused on the constantly evolving intersection of content and technology. As Clarke predicted, the world’s accumulated knowledge is indeed just keystrokes away, but the traditional business model has been to charge for content … and Web data is “free”. What now?

Timeliness-Aggregation-Validity.

If you want to profit from “free” Web content, you need to understand and leverage three salient characteristics of Web data identified by Dave Schubmehl, Research Manager at IDC.

  • Timeliness: If you can consistently capture and disseminate information about market-moving events faster than other content providers, you can charge a premium price. Automating Web site change detection into your workflow can enable this.
  • Aggregation: Leverage the Web’s volume of data. Aggregate and analyze this volume in unique ways to reveal patterns and trends. You can command a pretty penny if you can provide transparency into non-transparent markets, for example.
  • Validity: The Web is filled with spam and bias. Discover and leverage the difference between surface Web(content turned up by Google) and Deep Web (unindexed content) where content is less biased and more valuable, and you’ll uncover revenue potential.

As the CEO of Connotate, I work with established global leaders such as Thomson Reuters and the Associated Press, as well as up-and-coming startups such as Altitude Digital Partners-all of whom have fashioned their own techniques for harnessing Web data profitably by focusing on these three aforementioned characteristics. While I don’t own a crystal ball, I can easily predict that 2013 will reveal new and even more creative and profitable uses of “the world’s accumulated knowledge.”

Looking Ahead

I am constantly amazed at the genius of visionaries such as Arthur C. Clare, Tim Berners-Lee and many others who envisioned the extraordinary power of marrying content and technology to achieve breakthrough results. I anticipate IIS 2013 to be a great opportunity for exploring new and profitable ideas in content delivery.

1. Von Braun, Wernher. “TV Broadcast Satellite,” Popular Science, May 1970, pp. 65-66.

 

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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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Specialized Information Publishers Association (SIPA) to Merge with SIIA

September 25, 2012 By

The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) and the Specialized Information Publishers Association (SIPA) today announced that they are merging. SIPA was founded as the Newsletter Publishers Association but its members now publish in many media and formats.

SIPA will become a division of SIIA and will continue to offer its membership programs, without change. SIIA will continue to offer all of the same programs and services that are currently available to its members, along with new programs now available through SIPA.

SIPA has represented the international specialized publishing industry for 35 years. It advances the interests of commercial information providers serving niche communities by providing education, training and peer-to-peer learning through online and in-person meetings and events. SIPA’s 295 members range from small one-person newsletters to large publishers such as BLR; Kiplinger; and Congressional Quarterly, an Economist Group Business.

SIPA will become SIIA’s sixth market-focused division, joining Education Technology, Software, Content, the Public Sector Innovation Group (PSIG), and the Financial Information Services Division (FISD). SIIA also has public policy and anti-piracy arms.

Laura Greenback is Communications Director at SIIA. Follow the SIIA Public Policy team at @SIIAPolicy.

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Meet IIS Breakthrough Keynoter, Brewster Kahle

September 18, 2012 By

Brewster Kahle, Internet Archive

Brewster Kahle, founder and leader of the Internet Archive is not shy in his intentions. At the Internet Archive “we want to collect all the books, music and video that have ever been produced by humans,” Mr. Kahle said in a recent NYT Article. And he’s getting there.

Internet Archive, a giant news and artifact aggregator and data digitizer, is already on its way. “As of Tuesday, the archive’s online collection includes every piece of news produced in the last three years by 20 different channels, encompassing more than 1,000 news series that have generated more than 350,000 separate programs devoted to news.”

The best part: like a paper library, It’s free to everyone. And starting today, people will be able to search for any article, video, or music content generated in the past 3 years (or longer).

Learn how Mr. Kahle is leading this effort to free content, how it’s legal, how they’re funding this enormous effort, and Brewster’s vision of the future of content and aggregation, at IIS Breakthrough 2013.

IIS Breakthrough 2013

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Creating Value for your IIS 2013 Sponsorship Investment

September 14, 2012 By

I am very excited for our 2013 Information Industry Summit (IIS 2013: Breakthrough)!

This year, we’ve got a razor-sharp focus of putting together an agenda that serves the needs of the C-Suite executives of the publishing, media, and information industry. So we’re looking forward to an audience of industry leaders representing the companies that create, publish, and deliver content across all online, mobile, and digital platforms, as well as the companies that produce content-focused software applications and tools, develop enabling technologies, and offer services focused on the content industry.

Another reason for my excitement: driven by the goal of providing as much value as possible in exchange for your sponsorship investment, we’ve completely re-vamped our sponsorship packages.

This is a good time to note that we purposely use the word investment instead of ‘sponsorship fee’. We believe your sponsorship dollars are given in return for value received. You invest in us and it’s our top priority to deliver considerable value to maximize on your investment spend.

To help us meet this objective, each of our sponsorship packages has been designed to align your organization with a specific element of the conference. So, in addition to gaining visibility and value through our regular, ongoing sponsorship promotions, this year you’ll also take advantage of specific marketing and communications around the element of the conference you own, including an Executive Dinner, our CODiE Awards Luncheon, Previews Showcase, and DealMaker program.

Many of our sponsorships also provide podium time and it’s important to us that you take this opportunity to explain the value proposition (in a very brief, high-level overview) that your organization offers attendees. This way, they understand why you’re sponsoring and, we hope, you drive more leads your way.

We also want to make sure our sponsors only pay for the benefits they really value. For instance, we know that not all sponsors are interested in exhibiting, as they’d prefer to send a team of executives to participate in the conference i.e. attend sessions, network, etc. As such, we’ve removed the cost of an exhibit from each of our sponsorships, so the packages are priced to meet even the most frugal of budgets. That said, an exhibit space is available for a low-priced upgrade. (More on leveraging your exhibit at IIS 2013: Breakthrough, as well as taking full advantage of your sponsorship investment, in a future blog.)

Finally, if it’s all about the company you keep, then you’ll be pleased to join our Host Sponsors Connotate, ProQuest, and The Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc. We are very grateful for their valuable support as they partner with us to help create what is sure to be THE flagship conference for leaders of the publishing, media, and information industry.

After you review the IIS 2013: Breakthrough sponsorship packages, please contact me with any questions you may have, to discuss a custom package, or to finalize the details of your participation. I will be especially interested in hearing about your sponsorship objectives so I can help advise on a package that best meets your needs.

Brian Rosenberg Brian Rosenberg is Senior Vice President for Sales & Marketing at SIIA. He’s been managing conference and event sponsorships for twenty years. Follow Brian on Twitter at @SIIA_BRosenberg, and connect with him on LinkedIn.

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DataContent 2012 to Take Place Oct. 9-11 in Philadelphia

September 13, 2012 By

SIIA will host the 20th annual DataContent Conference October 9-10 in Philadelphia, in partnership with InfoCommerce Group. The event is the only conference devoted solely to producers of commercial data products. DataContent offers a deep and highly focused discussion of business information and attracts many of the leading players driving the commercial data industry.

DataContent 2012 will focus on why the data business is the hottest segment of the information industry and identify the most profitable trends to help executives pinpoint new business opportunities. Conference highlights include:

Keynote from Jim Swift, President and CEO of Cortera
Swift will discuss the evolution of community-based content, which has transformed a wide range of industries, and what the future community-based assets will look like and achieve.

Executive Panels on Data Trends & Innovations
DataContent 2012 will also include a number of executive panels about the increasing role of commercial data – both Big Data and small, specialized datasets, known as “Little Data” – as well as emerging innovations in data analytics that are driving business growth for many publishers.

Model of Excellence Awards
This exclusive awards program honors leading database producers that are revolutionizing the industry and bringing data to life. Throughout the conference, DataContent 2012 will spotlight this year’s honorees as well as past winners.

Register online or view the complete schedule of events.

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

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Models Of Excellence: Innovation Around Content and Data

August 29, 2012 By

I’m pleased to introduce you to this year’s Model of Excellence recipients. The Models of Excellence program highlights young companies that are industry “exemplars,” setting standards for innovation in application, business, and content models. Each company is diligently reviewed and selected by our DataContent partner, the InfoCommerce Group. Honorees will be announced during the Model of Excellence Dinner during DataContent 2012.

This year’s Model of Excellence recipients:

  • 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.
  • 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-re-enforcing. 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.
  • Speakerfile transforms the way companies connect their experts to the global market by combining a marketplace model with a dynamic visual search experience, as well as strong content management and workflow functionality. The expert visibility platform helps thousands of event organizers, media, and potential customers discover, evaluate, and connect with thought leaders around the world. Speakerfile has created a useful, high-value service for organizations to help achieve or maintain eminence in their industries.
  • 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.

Don’t miss the Models of Excellence Dinner, and the complete DataContent conference. Register now to join us as we explore the intersection of Data, Communities, and Markets. (You’ll save with early-bird rates, but only through Monday, September 10.)

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