SIPA 2010:  Profit Abilities - SIPA's 34th Annual International Conference

June 6-8, 2010
The Mayflower Hotel, Washington, DC 

 

A Note From The Conference Chair
January 21, 2010

2010 has rolled in with great promise for specialized information publishers. Shaking off some of the worst economic conditions in decades, most of the publishers I've spoken with are poised for growth, excited about the opportunities in front of them and optimistic about what a strong year 2010 is going to be for them.

At my company alone, PaperClip Communications, we are about to hire multiple positions to launch a series of exciting new products. I am hearing similar growth stories across the industry.

Its one of the reasons I am so excited about SIPA 2010: Profit Abilities - SIPA's 34th Annual International Conference - because companies like mine are building on the possibilities we see even in difficult market conditions.

Unlike other media industry trade groups and their members who are still trying to find their footing in this new economic environment, SIPA members have mostly figured it out and are moving forward with plans to build more profit and are looking forward to gathering in June to look at the tools, tactics and techniques to get that job done.

If you want to hear more about who has figured it out, how they are profiting and what they are doing then you'll want to be sure to save the dates and save a place for the SIPA conference: SIPA 2010: Profit Abilities. June 6 - 8, 2010 • Washington, DC.

Below you'll find some very basic details on the conference - more details will follow in the weeks to come.

I look forward to seeing you in DC in June.

Andy McLaughlin
President & CEO
PaperClip Communications
Secretary, SIPA Board of Directors & 2010 Conference Chairperson

 

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Publishing Gurus at Your Service:  Our Track Chairs Are Putting Their Imprints of Success on the Program

A dream team of publishing gurus has been assembled and is creating a cluster of tracks and focused sessions that amount to a contemporary dialogue on where specialized information publishing is today. Just take a look at the dream team of industry veterans who are shaping the content and discussion that will be the SIPA 2010 conference:

Dan Oswald, M. Lee Smith Publishers LLC
David Foster, Business Valuation Resources, LLC 
Greg Krehbiel, Kiplinger Washington Editors
Don Nicholas, Mequoda Group
Stephanie Eidelman, InsideARM
Cindy Carter, FDAnews
Bob Coleman, Coleman Publishing 

This year the sessions are about understanding not only what the best and brightest see and are doing in their shops  - but how you can execute on the same strategies. How you and your team can take lessons learned and put them to use right away. This dream team of publishing gurus is at your service. They've created the conversation and you've got a seat at the table to hear the inside scoop and pick up the best practices, the what's working and the top-notch tips that will help build your bottom line.

Cutting Edge Topics That Are Leading the Conversation:

Just a sampling of some of the conversation our publishing gurus are buzzing about - way too much chatter to capture in a few words here - but hopefully enough to help you understand that your SIPA 2010 publishing guru panel has the key knowledge to what's building bottom line profits these days - and they are building those secrets into the discussion, the sessions and the takeaways for the SIPA 2010 conference. Just take a listen in to what the conversation will include:

Analysis & Measurability: "Knowing what to measure is key and how to benchmark those measurements. Otherwise, what do you really know?"

Marketing Subscription Websites: "They are becoming the new backbone to the specialized information business. The content side comes to most of us pretty naturally, the marketing may force some of us to learn some new tricks."

E-Learning: The Next Frontier: "There are companies that we are starting to model who have gone after the very ‘juicy' training budgets that companies have. It's a good platform for specialized information publishers  - you can be drawing down new revenue in a short time."

Webinars/Audio Conferences 2010 & Beyond: "No matter what you call them - webinars or audio conferences saved a number of bottom lines in 2009. I see publishers now moving these platforms into serious business drivers in 2010 and beyond. The revenue and the profits are very real and very significant and the model being employed can be replicated by anyone."

Sales Force on A Shoe String: "As some traditional direct marketing channels weaken, more publishers are talking about sales force. That leaves the smaller publisher with a serious question: ‘How do I pull that off? "Guerilla sales force can be done!"

Continuing to Improve Renewal Series: "Sometimes in a world of twitter and blogs and all the other bells and whistles we can easily get distracted from the basic blocking and tackling that makes the core business ‘go.' I still get excited to make tweaks to renewals series - tweaks that bump the numbers and bring in revenue. I am excited to share those ideas."

Building Email Marketing Lists: "Email lists have obviously become the favorite food of the beast that drives the business. Constantly inventing, reinventing and getting super-creative on ways to feed that beast is an exciting challenge. I've seen some exciting things that will be good to share - but it's also always good to simply hear others in the room share. I often find someone has discovered something that's working and we all can take it back to the office and ‘bam' we've refreshed our lists. Worth the price of admission alone."

Creating a Financial Dashboard: "I can almost hear the eyeballs rolling when you talk about finances. A financial dashboard is about NOT having to look at pages and pages of spreadsheets - it's about being able to see key metrics in a flash and to be able to use that data to make smart decisions in editorial, marketing, customer service and beyond.

Good publishers need to make decisions knowing their key financial metrics - they need a financial dashboard to do it. I can show them how."

Roundtables

They are fast paced, interactive and basically "user-generated." Roundtables have always been one of the most popular features of the SIPA conference. You'll get more out of this year's roundtables because they are being organized around the core competencies of a business unit. So, you will be able to laser focus in on the roundtables and topics that will deliver the maximum impact, and the most takeaway content for you and your organization.

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Did you miss the 2009 Annual International Conference? Get the CD/MP3 files below: