Economics-related topics
one focus of 2010 convention

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The convention will officially begin with a 9 a.m. continental breakfast Friday, Feb. 5. Fifty workshops will be offered during the course of the convention through Saturday, Feb. 6.

The convention’s Trade Show will be held at the hotel both days.

On Saturday morning, Feb. 6, NENPA will conduct its annual meeting to discuss financial and other updates and to elect officers and directors for its board.

An awards banquet will be held Saturday evening, Feb. 6.

A reception for college scholarship recipients, traditionally held during the annual convention, will take place instead in April at Northeastern University.

Details on the convention and trade show will continue to be updated on the NENPA Web site, www.nenpa.com.

Following are summaries of three economics-related workshops to be presented at the convention:

‘The Future of Content Distribution – Mobile Media’
3:45 to 5 p.m., Friday, Feb. 5

The target audience for the workshop on “The Future of Content Distribution – Mobile Media” is publishers and editors, according to Reed Brown, president and chief executive officer of Matchbin.

The workshop Brown is presenting in the convention's advertising track will cover topics including distributing information through mobile devices such as smartphones; increasing readership by exploring content delivery through mobile devices; and increasing revenue through mobile-device advertising.

There are many opportunities to deliver content using emerging technologies, including delivering content via videos and news stories delivered via smartphones.

Brown’s company does just that. Matchbin recently helped a company in Rome, Ga., whose population is about 35,000, to launch a new product. The town’s daily newspaper has a circulation of about 15,000, Brown said.

“In August, we helped the daily’s publisher to launch media distribution through mobile applications. In September, the first full month (after the launch), they received 40,000 page views, and received over 50,000 unique visitors through mobile views,” Brown said in an interview with the Bulletin.

The mobile-device content delivery drew those views even though the newspaper’s owner didn’t promote the launch of the mobile news delivery. Brown said that’s evidence that small communities in the United States are tuning in to opportunities provided through content delivery “on the go” through mobile devices.

Advertising directors would also find value in the ‘Mobile Media’ workshop, Brown said. There will be concrete examples and practical advice about how to increase revenue.

“In addition to discussing the mobile edition of newspapers delivered through, for example, iPhone apps and other creative apps, in this presentation we’ll cover how to help newspapers to raise revenue by advertising through content distribution on a mobile phone.

“We will share how to take great content and monetize that content. Also, attendees will learn that there are great opportunities at the local level for sponsorship through banner ads,” Brown said.

Matchbin, based in Bountiful, Utah, helps companies transition from traditional media platforms to new or emerging media platforms.

‘Show Me the Money: Mobile & Social Networking’
3:45 to 5 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 6

Peter Conti Jr., senior vice president of Borrell Associates, will present a workshop in the multimedia track titled “Show Me the Money: Mobile & Social Networking” that he says will discuss revenue-raising strategies based on past success stories.

Conti identified the target audience for the workshop as “anyone who can effect change and implement new products and services, especially publishers.” He said those in a newspaper’s information technology department and sales managers would also find the presentation useful.

The workshop will offer practical advice on strategies to increase revenue that others have already put into use, he said.

Conti said the workshop will offer information “based on clients we’ve worked with who have seen their revenue dollars increase. We’ve helped them implement these strategies and we’ve seen the return on investment.”

Borrell Associates, based in Williamsburg, Va., conducts research and consulting, tracks local advertising, and assists media companies in developing executive strategies.

‘Finding Fresh Angles on the Economy in Your Own Backyard’
2:15 to 5 p.m., Friday, Feb. 5

In the newsroom track, Robin Phillips and Ron Nixon will present a workshop on “Finding Fresh Angles on the Economy in Your Own Backyard” that will focus on unearthing local business stories and on using social media to report those stories and others.

Phillips’ presentation will focus on the use of social media as a reporting tool. She will provide information about how to use tools such as Twitter and Facebook to find economic trend stories locally and to use those tools to track and reach out to contacts.

During an interview with the Bulletin, she also spoke about her co-presenter’s topic.

Nixon will speak about finding local stories with a business angle: for example, following the trail of the federal Troubled Asset Relief Program money, commonly known as TARP.

Phillips said Nixon has the knowledge and experience to direct people to the right Web sites with substantive data about TARP.

As a New York Times investigative reporter, Nixon tracked the use of government money and how that money was used. TARP is one example of that type of financing.

Nixon is familiar with how TARP is set up without much accountability, Phillips said. The consequence is that it is almost impossible to find out which banks received what TARP money and how the money is being used for communities.

Phillips said the workshop’s target audience includes reporters at all levels of experience because business is a key topic for all reporters.

“There’s a business angle to almost every story. Anyone covering their city, town, or any consumer-oriented news would find this presentation useful,” she said.

Phillips is Web managing editor for Businessjournalism.org at the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism at Arizona State University. Nixon is a New York Times projects reporter and former training director for Investigative Reporters and Editors.

POSTED 11/5/09