Beyond the Printed Word 2007

Co-chair Elan Lohmann

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 15:09:43 CST

Elan Lohmann, publisher of News24.com in South Africa, will co-chair the Beyond the Printed Word Conference along with Meredith Artley, executive editor of latimes.com. Lohmann has dedicated the past seven years to evangelising the Internet in South Africa as News24.com is the country's premier online news service, owned by 24.com, a Media24, Naspers company.

newspaper techniques interviewed Lohmann for its October edition and here is what he looks forward to in Dublin: "It may sound like a cop-out, but I am interested in all the aspects on the agenda. I am very interested in social media, and of course, as a commercial person, I am looking very forward to being exposed to new ideas and strategies to generate revenues. For the most part, I love to be exposed to like-minded people who are passionate about the same things we are over here at 24.com."

Dean Roper

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 14:27:41 CST

Dean Roper, editor in chief of newspaper techniques, is the main multiblogger at this year's Beyond the Printed Word. He is using a cameraphone and a camera to capture highlights of the event.

Blog of 2006 event

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 14:23:15 CST

The multiblog of Beyond the Printed Word 2006, held 9-10 November in Vienna, is still online. The event attracted more than 400 participants.

Steve Shipside

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 14:50:26 CST

Freelance journalist Steve Shipside, a U.K. native, is writing summaries of the presentations and helping out with this multiblog. Steve is a longtime contributor to newspaper techniques.

Motivating online

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 14:56:09 CST

Hadas Goldstein, CEO of The Marker in Israel, says she really liked Petar Pavic's presentation, particularly "the way he was able to motivate his newspaper to really move online and work in that environment. Also, the way he involved readers, even in such things as naming some of the newspaper's products. Brilliant."

Push and pull

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 15:31:29 CST

Tanja Talmon, a consultant for TASC in Israel who is working with Haaretz at the moment, says she was impressed with Petar Pavic's presentation on "Let your audience create the dialogue." Talmon: "He really thinks out of the box, and it is quite refreshing. His mindset that the Internet can be used to both push and pull content shouldn't be underestimated. I find it very fascinating, but I imagine it is difficult to work in that way for many companies today."

New portal

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 15:43:07 CST

Sasa Praprotnik, assistant to the board and project manager for zurnal media in Ljubljana, Slovenia, says the media company launched a free daily newspaper (103,000 circulation) about a month ago, along with a portal. She will be in charge of the portal's user-generated content strategy.

"I was here to find out the best ways for us to optimise our portal. I loved the keynote lecture from Dr. Groebel, as he gave me many things to think about, and I am certain I will be in contact with him. I also liked the mentality of Petar Pavic, from Croatia, who encourages publishers to be brave and take risks."

Web-only newspaper

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 23:45:02 CST

Lars Holm, art director of Talous Sanomat in Finland, says the newspaper will soon end its print production and turn its focus entirely to the web. "Like many papers around the world, we have had declining circulation figures, but also we realise that the opportunity and the potential on the web is really the way to go, so therefore we will pour all our resources into that. Naturally, user-generated content will probably play a significant role in our development, so it is great to hear all of the discussions here on that topic."

Cocktail chat

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 00:46:55 CST

On the eve of the conference, the 400-plus participants from 42 countries had a chance to get a taste of what was to come during an informal gathering at the picturesque Citywest Golf Hotel.

Registration begins

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 10:28:51 CST

Participants pour in for early registration. More than 400 participants are on hand this year.

Dagan presentation

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 14:31:13 CST

The presentation by Danny Dagan, head of online communities at News Group Digital, U.K., is available for downloading as a non-printable PDF. Participants will be given access to printable files by the middle of next week.

Lead-based ads

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 14:47:16 CST

Liisa Kotilainen, president of Sanoma Digital, Finland, says during her presentation on "Breaking the Digital Ground" that "estimates indicate that the share of click- and lead-based advertising, including search, is going to exceed 50 percent in the near future and even reach 70 percent in some markets. Clearly, a constantly growing share of online advertising revenues is going to be generated by lead-based models.

"What does that mean? Looking at the Netherlands market, for example, where click-based advertising already accounts for half of the revenues, impression-based advertising currently accounts for as much as 40 percent of the market. Its share is expected to be cut in half. At the same time, lead- and sale-based revenue models are expected to increase their share significantly."

Friend or foe?

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 12:22:07 CST

Co-chair Elan Lohmann, publisher of News24 in South Africa, says during his brief opening presentation: "The web is becoming increasingly open while traditional media businesses are by nature more closed, so one of the big questions is not just how we compete, but how do we figure out who is friend and who is foe?" That theme will play a major role throughout the conference.

Visual intelligence

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 12:30:58 CST

Dr. Eduard Neufield, managing director of Fogra Graphic Technology Research Association, Germany, asks keynote speaker Dr. Jo Groebel what he means by publishers using "visual intelligence." Groebel responds, "There is always emotion attached to the visual world, and we have to be able to decode images, to make sense of what they will mean to end users and how they will react. What is the emotional code to connect to them? This will help us to better interact with them, to know which medium they prefer and how to deliver it to them."

Advertising mantra

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 12:52:38 CST

Niklas Jonason, CEO of Stadsporten Citygate in Sweden, says he is at Beyond to continue spreading the word about the importance of deep research into Internet advertising: "We as an industry do not dig deep enough into the Internet advertising business, and this is where our money is going to come from in the future. We lack the know-how, and organisations like Ifra, IAB, WAN, etc., should also be more involved in these issues. It's all about 'how should we package all these different forms of advertising formats to best please our customers, what works best, when, where, regionally, and more.' When you think regionally, take the U.K. and here in Ireland, almost 60 percent of their Internet advertising business comes from search, whereas in Sweden it's only 25 percent... they were late to grab the banner ad business and now they are trying to catch up."

Web 2.0 integration

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 13:53:39 CST

Matthew Buckland, general manager of the Mail and Guardian Online in South Africa, says during his presentation about integrating Web 2.0 tools into news sites: "The role of the media company is changing. With Web 2.0, the publisher can be so much more - it can be a facilitator and an aggregator, offering blog publishing and behaving more like an ISP. Why let Google have all the fun?

"Compare the relationship of Facebook with me and that of CNN.com. Facebook knows all about me; CNN doesn't know I exist. That's an opportunity where a publishing network can come alive as a social network. Getting closer to your readers and building a community is what papers always used to do really well, but somewhere along the line we've lost that. Now in the Net era and specifically with Web 2.0 we have the opportunity to rekindle this relationship."

Give them a kick

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 11:55:05 CST

Dr. Jo Groebel, director of the Deutsches Digital Institut (German Digital Institute), asks during his keynote presentation: "What do users want? They want the kick, the emotion, information, communication, transaction, community and democracy."

Uncharted waters

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 14:28:24 CST

Danny Dagan, head of online communities at News Group Digital in the U.K., says during his presentation on user-generated content (UGC): "With UGC there are many questions. In your terms, do you allow kids under 18 to enter the site? What do you do about parental controls? How does it affect your brand? If you decide to moderate, what does that mean for the content – will users accept that it may take a day for content to appear when they are used to immediacy? ... There are no clear standards. There is no set methodology.

"[When creating a moderator policy] I like to gather as many lawyers as I can into a room and see what cases they feel strongly about. Provide them with a set of examples - I give them 100 examples of text and images – and ask them how long they are willing for that content to be on the website before it's taken down. The answers to these give a definite approach to each application at a time, and help generate a moderation policy. Our policy is 250 pages long, and our moderators are tested on it once a quarter – which affects their bonus."

Paying bloggers

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 14:19:30 CST

Ozren Kanceljak, managing director of Vecernji List in Croatia, asks speaker Matthew Buckland if the Mail and Guardian Online pays some of its blog columnists. Buckland said, "Actually, we pay a few of them... for example, we have one columnist we pay to do 800 words per week, but luckily for us, the guy is a 'mad blogger,' so he blogs like hell, writing all the time. Essentially, we give them a chance to promote their own blogs, show their profile, to create their own audience... and it's a good partnership."

Overprotective?

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 15:36:23 CST

Danny Dagan, head of online communities at News Group Digital, U.K., answers a question from Ido Pollak, co-founder of The Marker Media in Israel, about why News Group Digital is so focused on moderating content.

Commercialising UGC

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 16:06:37 CST

Regula Meili, director of marketing online for Neue Z�rcher Zeitung (NZZ) in Switzerland, says she is at Beyond to find out as much as she can about the issues surrounding user-generated content (UGC), particularly how to monetise some of this. "I really like to see what The Sun (from Danny Dagan's presentation) are doing with UGC, and I also thought the trends laid out by Dr. Groebel in the opening presentation really gave me a lot to think about for our future decisions. I mean, today, we really have to look down the road when making decisions because it seems the right decisions are more critical than ever."

Reader invitation

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 16:22:31 CST

Petar Pavic, director of R&D for Europa Press Holding, Croatia, says during his presentation on "Let your audience create the dialogue," that "innovation is not just about content or technology but should be in the process itself of creating media - the consumer should be invited into the process of production and that connection will lead to market share."

Second Life success

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 16:55:26 CST

Rowan Barnett is editor in chief and the creator of The Avastar [by Bild], the weekly newspaper for the virtual world of Second Life. The first edition was launched in December 2006 in English, with the German edition launching a month later. Barnett says, "The Avastar is a success story – hailed as a media brand of the future - and it's become the main news source for Second Life residents. What's interesting is that it's our integration with the community that gave us credibility, but in this entirely user-generated world, when people want news, they come to the strong brand. There are plenty of blogs and amateur newspapers in Second Life, but people come to us."

Second Life advice

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 17:03:22 CST

Rowan Barnett, editor in chief and creator of The Avastar [by Bild], the weekly newspaper for the virtual world of Second Life, answers co-chair Meredith Artley's question: "What is the one thing we should take back to our companies to perhaps consider a Second Life strategy?"

Local and global

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 18:13:03 CST

Ian Davies, director of business development for Archant Ltd. in the U.K., says: "Globalisation doesn't erode localness - it strengthens it. We create new communities through chat or more formally through such things as Second Life, so it becomes about people who are like me or people who are near me. With increasing pressure to maintain audience, we can't ignore people on the fringes of areas, and we have to look at ways of making our service more relevant by adding location to stories."

The open door

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 18:40:28 CST

Hubert Diemel is the marketing analyst for Wegener Dagbladen in The Netherlands and says he is at Beyond for one simple reason: "To find out how we can make money," he says with a smile. "That's why I really like Matthew Buckland's presentation this morning where he showed how this group in South Africa produces quality content and products with UGC with the technology available, at very low costs, and how they have made it profitable. I think sometimes we have to 'kick in the open door' right in front of us to do the right thing."

Mobile content

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 18:48:16 CST

Atsushi Sato, deputy manager, digital media division, Asahi Shimbun Co. Ltd. in Japan, says of mobile newspaper content; "Content is not bought by the 10- to 20-year-old age group – they have no money. Instead it's the 30-40 age group that pay for content; they are very busy and have no time so they use services that offer useful functions and are prepared to pay for them."

Video traffic

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 19:22:39 CST

Bommy Lee, senior producer and editor of IHT.com, the website for the International Herald Tribune, asks speaker Ole A. Werring, TV manager for dagbladet.no, the web division of Dagbladet AS in Norway, what he does to drive traffic to the site's video content.

Werring: "On the home page, we feature an area for the best video of the day, for example, and then on every main story we have on the page we feature a prominent video window. But it is a challenge to clearly indicate where we have video on the site."

Day One wrap-up, part I

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 19:27:39 CST

Elan Lohmann and Meredith Artley, co-chairs for the conference, provide a wrap-up of the day's presentations.

Video can pay

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 18:57:35 CST

Ole A. Werring, TV manager for dagbladet.no, the web division of Dagbladet AS in Norway, explains how his company is monetising its video content: "For example, on a new project called 'the new house,' we heard a large DIY chain had bought an old house that needed total renovation inside and out; they wanted to show customers how to renovate, and together we got the idea of a TV series about how to do it. Based on this content, we sell ads to third parties selling tools, kitchen equipment, etc. We find this model demanding but very interesting."

Day One wrap-up, part II

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 19:33:25 CST

Elan Lohmann and Meredith Artley, co-chairs of the conference, provide a wrap-up of the day's presentations.

Mobile readers

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 18:53:27 CST

Simon Jones, vice president of product development for Plastic Logic, U.K., asks speaker Atsushi Sato, producer for Asahi Shimbun Co. Ltd., Japan, how mobile readers differ from print or website readers. Sato responds, "Well, they are definitely different as we have a distinctive audience for our news website, which is quite different from that of our mobile readers."

Visiting M�thode

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 10:44:38 CST

EidosMedia is on hand to show its M�thode content management system to participants. Michele Bertagnolli, marketing manager and pictured left, says the company has received a lot of visitors during the conference and that coupled with its successful IfraExpo 2007 show in October means EidosMedia is quite busy these days.

Conference wrap-up, part II

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 15:52:39 CST

Co-chair Elan Lohmann, publisher of News24.com in South Africa, shares his final thoughts on the conference.

"Extraordinary!"

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 15:37:58 CST

Stig Nordqvist, Ifra business development director, sums up his thoughts on the conference. Nordqvist was also here to promote Ifra's eNews and eRev initiatives.

Conference wrap-up, part I

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 15:05:36 CST

Beyond co-chair Meredith Artley, executive editor of LA Times.com in Los Angeles, explains what impressions she will take back to her newspaper.

Job well done!

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 14:52:37 CST

Beyond the Printed Word programme manager Karolina Dzeko, right, gives co-chairs Meredith Artley and Elan Lohmann each a thank-you gift for their excellent moderation of this 15th annual conference.

Ooi presentation

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 11:33:17 CST

The presentation by Hooi Chong Ooi, general manager of www.Sinchew-i.com for Sin Chew Media Corp., Malaysia, is available for downloading as a non-printable PDF. Participants will be given access to printable files by the middle of next week.

Readership demographics

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 14:04:45 CST

Mark Lawlor, managing director of Independent Digital in Ireland, answers a question from co-chair Elan Lohmann about how their readers differ from print and online.

Community challenge

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 13:38:57 CST

Jussi L�hdesm�ki, development manager for Kaleva.plus, the website for the Kaleva daily newspaper, Oulu, Finland, says the conference "is very useful to know what our colleagues are doing around the world. Our community pages are more and more getting results, so, naturally, I am keen to learn more about this. Dealing with all of the photos, texts, etc., is indeed a challenge, but worth the effort."

On the right track

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 13:23:43 CST

Anne Lepp�j�rvi, multimedia editor for Turun Sanomat in Finland, says she is at Beyond because the newspaper is now trying hard to to make its website more of a true online newspaper. "We're not that big of a newspaper, but we want to have a big reach, so we realise the Internet really presents us the platform to do that. This conference really helps to see if we are on the right track."

Ad complaints?

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 11:48:18 CST

Meredith Artley, co-chair of the conference and executive editor of LA Times.com, asks Hooi Chong Ooi, general manager of www.Sinchew-i.com for Sin Chew Media Corp, Malaysia, if the newspaper gets complaints from readers about the various ads on its site.

"We have to be very honest with our readers by telling them that the ads we have are indeed editorially based, but it is an education process," says Chong Ooi. "But yes, we do get complaints and we try to do the best we can to weigh the balance of innovation, making money and not upsetting the readers."

Artley also noted that it was interesting that the site has numerous ads, but chose not to use pop-up ads.

One brand, two media

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 11:14:01 CST

Angel Mario Tasc�n Ruiz, director of online content for PrisaCom, the online company of El Pa�s, Spain, that was an Ifra XMA Cross Media Award winner this year, says: "We believe in the power of the people; one brand, two media. El Pa�s prints 450,000 copies a day, but the online version has 800,000 unique users per month. Our idea is participatory, with much space being given over to the idea of 'being part' of the newspaper with polls, reader interviews, and even corrections playing their part."

Roxen shows its solution

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 10:43:38 CST

Rolf P�rken�s, sales director at Roxen Internet Software, Sweden, is exhibiting the company's web-based editorial solution during Beyond. "Our solution is quite different from what you find out there today, in that we have from the very beginning created solutions for the web, then print. It's XML-native, open source, and we are getting a lot of interest."

Times Reader

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 10:23:24 CST

Microsoft is one of the suppliers on hand for the small exhibition at the conference, and Julie Hanlon, Microsoft Events Team, says the company is showing its new product in cooperation with the New York Times called the Times Reader. "It's a pure online newspaper, with the goal to try to get readers to spend more than the average three minutes they usually do on a website. It's very intuitive."

She said there four publishers using the product at the moment: NYT, Seattle Post, the Daily Mail (U.K.), and Forbes magazine. "For the moment, we are offering the product for free to newspapers; in return they give us the necessary feedback to customise the solution."

Packed house

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 13:41:12 CST

Four hundred twenty-seven participants from more than 40 countries are attending Beyond the Printed Word this year.

Creating dialogue

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 11:06:58 CST

Petar Parvic, director of R&D for Europa Press Holding in Croatia, does some last-minute preparations for his presentation this afternoon, which is entitled "Let your audience create the dialogue."

Give me video!

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 13:17:39 CST

Hanna Nurminen is the development manager of multimedia for STT, the Finnish News Agency, Helsinki. She says she is trying to absorb as much information about video as possible at Beyond. "We just starting posting news video one month ago, so obviously we are in a period where we want to acquire as much information as possible." Nurminen says all of the editors collaborate with videographers at the moment to produce the video clips.

Follow the consumer

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 13:51:55 CST

Mark Lawlor, managing director of Independent Digital, Ireland, says during his presentation: "The medium is governed by the culture of the medium. We are looking to be expansive and specific; to provide independent editorial as the lifestyle with verticals fulfilling the need. We need to extend beyond print and follow the consumer."

Sato presentation

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 18:50:37 CST

The presentation by Atsushi Sato, deputy manager, digital media division, Asahi Shimbun Co. Ltd., Japan, is available for downloading as a non-printable PDF file. Participants will be given access to printable files by the middle of next week.

Power in images

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 15:00:51 CST

Gadi Lahav, from The Marker, Israel, says, "I liked the photo websites from Matthew Buckland [of the Mail and Guardian Online in South Africa]. It is sometimes difficult to get readers to feel comfortable writing. However, photos are another story, and let's face it, images can be incredibly powerful."

Community hirings?

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 16:47:07 CST

Luis A. Ferre Rangel, editor of El Nuevo Dia in Puerto Rico, asks speaker Petar Pavic, director of R&D for Europa Press Holding in Croatia, if he hires editorial staff from his community of contributors. Pavic said the company keeps an open mind to hiring such staff and consider the contributors an integral part of their planning activities.

What copyright problems?

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 13:58:33 CST

Speaker Matthew Buckland responds to a question from Melinda Gipson of GateHouse Media in the USA about the copyright issues the company faces when publishing blogger contributions.

Relaunch with Web 2.0

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 16:15:43 CST

Chiara D�rrer is director of online media for Limmatdruck in Switzerland. Limmatdruck publishes a number of titles, including Migros magazine. D�rrer says she is in charge of Migros' portal and is here to absorb as much information as possible about Web 2.0 trends, and how the company can best use Web 2.0 tools to help the relaunch of their website in the near future.

High-level preparations

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 10:30:54 CST

Ifra CEO Reiner Mittelbach, right, greets keynote speaker Dr. Jo Groebel, director of the Deutsches Digital Institut (German Digital Institute), as Groebel and conference programme manager Karolina Dzeko go over the programme just before the conference gets started. Groebel's keynote presentation is entitled "From Consumer to Prosumer."

Why not Google?

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 11:57:21 CST

Melinda Gipson, in charge of Internet strategy and business development for GateHouse Media, Inc., which has grown through acquisition of numerous small to medium-sized publications in the USA, says during her presentation about integrating next-generation web services: "We love Google technology and are working with Google to offer keyword search advertising to our merchants, and are joining the AdWords reseller programme. We also use Google For Publishers to serve our web ads.

"Why work with Google? Because video, paid search, and e-mail ads are only 32 percent of the pie right now, but that will explode to 85 percent in the next two years."

Partnership advice

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 13:08:53 CST

Melinda Gipson, in charge of Internet strategy and business development for GateHouse Media, Inc. in the United States, gave a presentation entitled "Agents of Change: Finding and Funding Next-Generation Web Services." A large part of GateHouse Media's strategy has been creating partnerships. We have heard from a number of participants the past two days about their plans to relaunch their sites or are just ramping up Web 2.0 services. We asked Gipson to offer some basic advice about creating partnerships.

Gaining interactivity

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 18:33:50 CST

Paul Okunlola, assistant editor for the national daily newspaper The Guardian in Nigeria, says he is about to get much more involved in the newspaper's online activities. He reports mainly about the environment, but will now take on the task of evaluating the newspaper's online strategy. "Whereas most of the newspapers here are very online-oriented, we are still very print-oriented, not just the company but our readers as well. However, we have to look carefully at what we should do to create more interactivity and, naturally, all of the user-generated content issues being discussed here are very helpful. Of course, making money is always in the back of your mind."

Local money?

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 18:28:10 CST

Jordy Schoonhoven, manager ICT project management and consultancy of Wegener Dagbladen Multimedia in The Netherlands, asks speaker Ian Davies, director of business development for Archant Ltd. in the U.K., how to monetise his concept of such local websites. Davies responds, "How do you make money on any website? Seriously, you have to nurture the site and bring users to the site to do that, and, naturally, through innovative advertising offers."

XMA and community

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 10:39:14 CST

Michael Heipel, Ifra's director of exhibitions, opens the second day of the conference by presenting the results of the Ifra XMA Cross Media Awards competition from earlier this year. He also asked the participants to send him an SMS as part of the MINDS mobile project as to whether they conducted community projects this year. Seventy percent of the participants said they did conduct some sort of community project.

Editorial-based ads

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 11:28:12 CST

Hooi Chong Ooi, general manager of www.Sinchew-i.com for Sin Chew Media Corp., Malaysia, says during his presentation on ad models for websites: "We use conventional ad formats, including banners, skyscrapers, midpage banners, etc., but consumers reject hard-sell adverts, and even the most attractive adverts have a very short CTR shelf life, so how can their effectiveness be enhanced? A more subtle 'storytelling' approach proved the way to go and at the end of 2005 we introduced a range of editorial-based ad formats – a marriage between editorial content and ad formats."

Welcome to Beyond

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 11:27:23 CST

Ifra CEO Reiner Mittelbach welcomes the 427 participants to Dublin. Mittelbach presented Ifra's latest big initiatives, including "Where NEWS?", the future-oriented project that forecasts how media will be "consumed" and how technologies and societies will develop; eRev 2011, which will probe how media companies can leverage their brand and their core values to create new business; and, finally, IfraSearch, Ifra's new search engine for the industry that will give users more relevant and richer results.

Professional communicators

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 12:26:05 CST

Dr. Jo Groebel, director of the Deutsches Digital Institut (German Digital Institute), says during his keynote presentation: "One of the major findings of studies - and one confirmed by IBM - is that politicians all say we need professional journalists for their credibility and professionalism, but guess what? Ask the younger generation what is the most credible source of info and they answer 'it's the community.' People have built up a resistance to professional communication. Regardless of politics or country of origin, they see professional communicators – be they politicians or journalists – as having vested interests in their backpacks."

Alliances or go solo?

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 12:45:41 CST

Colin Daniels, digital business development manager for Johncom Media Investments in South Africa, asks keynote speaker Dr. Jo Groebel, "Are aggregrators like Google a threat or an opportunity? Should we build alliances or go it alone?" Groebel says, "I believe that cooperation and alliances in this realm are the way to go in the Web 2.0 world... it just makes sense for publishers, as they will have to learn how to build key partnerships in the future."

Dean Roper's viewpoint

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 13:36:15 CST

Dean Roper, editor in chief for Ifra's monthly magazine newspaper techniques who will be providing live coverage of the conference here, shares his thoughts on Beyond's programme.