Magazine Industry Conference ‘Strikes Chord’ With Publishing Executives
Not even a George Clooney sighting could disrupt the 2006 Publishing Executive/PrintMedia Conference and Expo, which took place March 20-22 at the Hilton New York. The celebrity was filming his latest picture just feet away from the conference’s registration area and—predictably—attracted all sorts of ogling from attendees and passers-by, but it was the conference and expo that proved the stars of the week.
Much like the industry it serves, the conference found itself in an unprecedented state of evolution when it kicked off on Monday, March 20. Amid revolutionary changes in the world of magazine publishing, this year’s conference expanded with the theme “How to Manage the Evolution” to include entire conference tracks addressing publishing management and interactive media for magazines in addition to its traditional focus on magazine publishing, production and manufacturing. The industry took notice, as registered attendance rose 41 percent over the previous year, and sitting in on a number of sessions actually meant standing.
“The outstanding growth in attendance this year demonstrated that the topics and the speakers lined up really struck a chord with our audience,” says Noelle Skodzinski, Publishing Executive editor in chief and director of the conference’s educational program. “We expected a significant increase due to our expanded focus and more in-depth programming, but this surpassed our expectations.”
Publishing executives continually find themselves juggling heavier workloads and toting around lengthier job descriptions, all the while trying to navigate the uncertain future that is the publishing industry. The 2006 Publishing Executive/PrintMedia Conference set out to help alleviate this apprehension. Many months of preparation went into lining up speakers from some of the industry’s most successful companies, such as Consumer Reports, Time Inc., Hearst Magazines, Forbes.com, Style.com and TechTarget. Panelists presented and debated such hot-button topics as new business models, advances in workflow technologies and managing production workflow, integrating media for profit, and environmental sustainability, among others.
