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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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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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Content VIA Platforms Conference to Feature Execs from Altimeter Group & Storify, All Things D’s Kara Swisher

April 26, 2012 By

SIIA today announced keynote speakers for Content VIA Platforms-an all-new event that will address the multiplatform publishing challenges and opportunities facing publishing, media and information companies. Content VIA Platforms will be held May 9-10 at San Francisco’s Palace Hotel.

Publishing content across multiple emerging platforms is one of the biggest challenges facing information and news providers this year. At Content VIA Platforms, industry leaders will provide strategies for companies to maximize their audiences and revenues by utilizing a variety of different platforms, monetization strategies, devices and app distribution models, and more.

Content VIA Platforms will feature a number of mobile, publishing and technology thought leaders and key executives from the information industry. Keynote speakers include:

• Burt Herman, Co-founder, Storify
• Charlene Li, Founder, Altimeter Group
• Chris Silva, Mobile Industry Analyst, Altimeter Group
• Kara Swisher, Co-Producer & Co-Executive Editor, All Things Digital, The Wall Street Journal

Kathy Greenler Sexton is Vice President and General Manager for the SIIA Content Division.

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SIIA Announces Partnership with InfoCommerce Group to Produce Information Industry’s Only Data Content Conference

March 27, 2012 By

SIIA’s Content Division today announced that it has partnered with InfoCommerce Group (ICG) to produce the annual DataContent Conference. The event, which takes place October 9-10 in Philadelphia, PA, is the only conference devoted solely to producers of commercial data products.

DataContent has become the primary meeting ground for publishers to get in-depth and up-close looks at the new ideas, new business models and innovative new companies that are defining the business of business information. DataContent is distinguished by the quality of attendees, which include large numbers of C-level publishing executives, entrepreneurs, bankers, private equity groups and advisory companies. In partnering with ICG, SIIA will apply its more than 20 years as a leader in the information and content industry to develop new programs and broaden the event’s reach.

Combining our years of experience in information and content with ICG’s tremendous commercial data expertise will make DataContent even more valuable to attendees. We’ll bring new ideas, access to leading executives, and a broad reach among audiences that care about data publishing. The DataContent Conference and ICG’s principals have been serving this industry for over 25 years. The event is a catalyst for new talent entering the industry and has a deep and powerful connection to established players.

The DataContent Conference is focused on data publishing and draws information-based businesses, from established traditional enterprises in various stages of evolution, to cutting-edge technology in search of a viable business model. These businesses come together to learn about the latest industry developments, hear from top speakers, and identify new opportunities with those who can help make them happen. No other conference both offers a deep and highly focused discussion of business information and attracts nearly all of the leading players driving the industry. SIIA and ICG are currently working to develop the program for 2012, and more details will be announced in the near future.

Kathy Greenler Sexton is Vice President and General Manager for the SIIA Content Division.

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Go Mobile: SIIA Previews the Newest in Information Industry Mobile Apps

January 30, 2012 By

Contributed by Grace Schalkwyk, Gramercy Digital Strategy Advisors

Larry Schwartz, Previews Chair and president of Newstex, outlined the evolution of the Previews program which celebrates its 6th anniversary this year. Started as an experiment, this year it is a core part of the main-stage program at Information Industry Summit with 6 company previews and 6 mobile previews. Next year’s conference will feature the 100th preview.

Dow Jones Investment Banker for iPad
Ian Rosen presented Dow Jones’ new app for investment banking end-users. Dow Jones’ strategy is to combine its content assets with its editorial expertise to create relevance for end-user groups. Its Investment Banker personnel are from the banking industry, and they employ ‘curation, creation, workflow knowledge and tools’ to assemble their service. The layout is similar to the Wall Street Journal app, leveraging users’ familiarity with it. All content is downloadable to be usable offline. It offers news customization as My Topics, and market-specific Collections, such as Energy, that feature Opinion and Strategy. It rounds out the service with Banker Moves, a sort of bankerly Page Six.

Lexis Nexis
Scott Livingston presented Lexis Nexis’s legal news awareness offering, which is in its 5.0 version in the mobile space. It seeks to serve lawyers who are untethering from their offices, providing a searchable, contextual, and exhaustive legal news source on the go. It is tailored to the use cases particular to lawyers, such as the on-commute work flow, the quick-briefing need prior to meeting with a client, and the working-remote workflow. Its components include Breaking News, Legal News focused on legal practice areas, Legal Blogs, Mealeys proprietary short form content, Communities, Twitter, and Video. It permits archival searching and access to full text content. It is available to the public as an in-app purchase. Lexis-Nexis is testing various pricing models including $1.99/month through the App Store.

Pubget for iPad
Pubget is one of those amazing services that so good that it shouldn’t be free, but it is. Recently acquired by the not-for-profit Copyright Clearing Center, it is a search engine for science, technology and medical (STM) articles and peer-reviewed papers and is intended for life science researches and practitioners. It is cloud based service hosted and sold via a freemium model that allows users to legally find and directly retrieve research papers from their sources. It has access to 3 million medical and STM articles and knows where 30 million academic papers live across 30,000 institutions.
Pubget is led by Ryan Jones, a FAST and Microsoft veteran. It is looking for publishers who want their content accessed by Pubget’s system, and enterprises that are interested in employing Pubget’s unique search capability.

Factiva for iPad
Factiva’s new app easily enables people to monitor news across the world, leveraging its new and popular web feature Snapshot. Its consumer-like feel, elegant and simple, reflects the demands of professional consumers for a great user experience. On the go, it gives the capability to spot trends, risks and opportunities. It also gives access to Factiva Search from anywhere. Features include Top News, with headlines, audio, video, trending companies, trending people, and visualization. On individual companies it provides news volume vs. stock price graphs with click-throughs. Other features include Radar, news volume on top trending companies; My Alerts, an RSS feed module; and article views with tagging.

PR Newswire for iPad
PR Newswire’s app is designed for PR professionals and journalists. It offers top headlines for all categories with drilldowns to appropriate sectors. It includes extensive coverage of PR blogs which will expand to 100 blogs over time. It offers in-app search, push notifications, saved searches and numerous other convenience features. It is available free on iTunes.

Nexis News Search
Nexis’s app is free to its customers, and essentially ports the website experience to the iPad. It provides nested search on news content options, with two-year history, date range search, article length search, and numerous other options. Articles can be saved and emailed. Articles highlight the user’s search terms, and other features are available.

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Inside Secrets of a Media Investor, Michael Chen, Former President, NBC News Strategic Initiatives Group, and Founder, Peacock Equity Fund

January 27, 2012 By

Contributed by Rich Kreisman, Principal Partner, Kreisman Information Consulting, San Francisco.

IIS Jan 2012 NYC-108Sharing wisdom to a group of info industry pros can be a tricky thing – we’re a tough crowd – but that’s exactly what Michael Chen, Former President of NBC News’ Strategic Initiatives Group, and, Founder of NBCUniversal’s Peacock Equity Fund, did to kick off SIIA’s 2012 Information Industry Summit.
Highpoints of Chen’s advice, looking at the world from an information industry investor’s viewpoint:

#5 – See the Future
To win in a confusing and competitive information market, we all need to be futurists. “And, hopefully, you will see the future before everyone else gets into the markets,” Chen said. Citing a range of stats, including tablet sales moving rapidly from 10% of the mobile market to 19% of the market because of greater-than-expected Christmas 2011, he discussed many of the key platform changes anticipated to impact content providers in the future – more smartphones, more Internet-connected TVs and more mobile e-commerce transactions.

#4 – Have a Simple Communications/Public Relations Strategy
Like all of us, investors are busy… very busy, as many of us know who have tried to raise money. Chen’s advice: “In 1 minute or less, you need to describe your product or service, why customers would buy it, what is your ‘edge’, and why is it sustainable.”
Investors like to be able to easily explain their investments, says Chen – to their business colleagues, their personal friends and their families. In order to do so, simplicity and directness is key.

#3 – Do Not Just Be an Innovator; Show Investors You are an Entrepreneur
Chen, who has seen his share of pitches from prospective companies, made this observation: “Innovators create new ideas; entrepreneurs commercialize them and make money”.
In other words, being an entrepreneur involves a lot more than just having a good idea. I saw a lot of heads nodding on that point. Many people in the room must have worked at great startups that lived – and died – on their founding team’s execution abilities.

#2 – Understand the Language of your Investor… Finance
Fascinating to hear Chen tell a room of publishers to listen and learn the language of their audience. Investors are not interested in just hearing the CFO talk about finances, for example, Chen said. They want to have confidence that the entire management team understands where and how money will be spent. Other good points:

  • Do not build hockey stick financial plans to present at investment pitches
  • Have a reasonable base case plan and also a downside case
  • Show frugal management of costs and overhead in the existing business
  • Have an exit strategy plan that you can explain from the start

#1 – Investors Invest in People
Chen spent the most time discussing this point. Simply put, he says, investors will not invest in people they do not have chemistry with. While chemistry is elusive, it can be created by being prepared ahead of investment meetings and understanding an investor’s key drivers.
Chen concluded with an important notion: “Your reputation will precede yourself, making it important to build a personal brand along the way.” How to do that? Throughout your business dealings, focus on the 4 “I’s” – integrity, inclusion, impact and inspiration!

Rich Kreisman is the Principal Partner in Kreisman Information Consulting (KIC), a San Francisco-based consultancy advising publishers on content licensing and distribution strategies.

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