DAY 1 - WEDNESDAY - NOVEMBER 1, 2023
8:00am
THE MODERN NEWSROOM & TOOLS THEY USE

Bill Ostendorf, Founder, Creative Circle Media

12:00pm
KEYSTONE MEDIA AWARDS LUNCH

This is a special ticketed event for PNA Foundation Keystone Media Award recipients, other award winners and guests.  A registration link will be available in July.   Please check back

1:00pm
AUDIENCE PROBLEM SOLVING ROUNDTABLE
Audience
3:00pm
BUSINESS PARTNER SETUP
DAY 2 - THURSDAY - NOVEMBER 2, 2023
7:30am
CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST
8:00am
PNA MEDIA LAWYERS CONFERENCE (by invitation only)
8:00am
OPENING & WELCOME TO HARRISBURG

John Newby, Founder, 360 Media Alliance
Mike Blinder, Publisher, Editor & Publisher
Bill Cotter, President & CEO, PNA

8:15am
GROW YOUR TOP LINE NOW!

It seems like there are a million reasons why we struggle each day to achieve our numbers; And so very few ideas in how to get there. This is one of two event sessions that will offer easy to implement, revenue boosting solutions that any news media company, regardless of size or resources, can take to market now! Attendees will leave with actionable, revenue boosting take-aways that are guaranteed to cover your conference investment many times over.

BUSINESS SPONSOR:                        SOFTWARE CONSULTING SERVICES (SCS)

Moderator:                  Mike Blinder,  Publisher, Editor & Publisher
Panelist:                       Aaron Kotarek, VP Operations, Oahu Publishing, Inc.
Panelist:                       Gary Lavariere, New England Newspapers, Inc.
Panelist:                       Ben Mackness, Dow Jones, Wall Street Journal

9:00am
LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS, UPDATES & STRATEGIES

Whether it is AI, Public Notices, Copyright Laws, the Journalism Sustainability Act, and many others, 2024 is bound to offer some fireworks and drama. Make no mistake, some of the decisions made today will impact the industry for decades to come. Join us in a fast moving session that touches on many of the critical legal issues facing the news-media industry today.

BUSINESS SPONSOR:                         iPUBLISH MEDIA

Presenter:

9:45am
NETWORKING BREAK
10:15am
EXPLORING PHILANTHROPY FOR PROFIT

Most agree now, just changing your business model to “non-profit” status is not a secret to immediate financial success. Money still must come in from various sources (like audience and advertising), regardless of how you structure your books. However, gaining dollars from doner’s can be a viable revenue source when you position it properly. This session explores how to gain donations on a local level to help fund our newsrooms.

BUSINESS SPONSOR:                         iPUBLISH MEDIA

Moderator:                     Mike Blinder, Publisher, Editor & Publisher
Panelist:                           Bill Warren, Chief Philanthropy Officer, The Baltimore Banner
Panelist:Rebecca Forman, Head of Development, Lenfest/Philadelphia Inquirer

11:00am
DRILLING FOR NEW HYPER-LOCAL DOLLARS

Wherever Allison Altobelli winds up drilling, new revenue streams to erupt. Whether it was the innovative sales models deployed at the Atlanta Journal Constitution, or leadership insights at the Washington Post, Community Impact and Philly Inquirer, Alison has proved herself as a revenue leader who is always willing to share her victories with the industry. Today she is the VP of Sales and Marketing for Lee Enterprises’ Press of Atlantic City, where she has developed new, innovative, hyper-local, multimedia models that will be explored in this fast-paced session.

BUSINESS SPONSOR:  

Presenter:                  Allison Altobelli, Lee Enterprises

 

11:30pm
CONSIDER UNIQUE REVENUE SOURCES

We can leave no potential revenue source uncovered. With that in mind, this session deals with new revenue verticals or sources that may be over-looked. Join us as we uncover these potential revenue goldmines that can make the difference between black and red on the bottom-line.

BUSINESS SPONSOR:                         ALLIANCE FOR AUDITED MEDIA

Presenter:                     Erik Bohnhoff, Minneapolis Star-Tribune
Presenter:                     Alex Barnishin, Dallas & Medium Giant

12:00pm
NETWORKING LUNCH
1:00pm
MEDIA 3.0 & The AI REVOLUTION

In what can be arguably termed the golden age of local media, Local Media 1.0 (the period up to 2005), media companies thrived by super-serving small, loyal audiences. The transition into Local Media 2.0 (2005 to 2020) brought significant changes as we prioritized the digital scale game to keep up with the digital revolution. Today In Local Media 3.0, the focus returns to super-serving small, loyal audiences with valuable local news and information. This session will break down how technology evolution has impacted our growth in both audience and revenue. 

BUSINESS SPONSOR:

Presenter:                     Guy Tasaka, CEO, MediaFlowAI

 

1:30pm
MAKING MONEY WITH RESEARCH

It’s amazing how we in media survived so long in a pre-digital world, without the data we have today at our fingertips. And there is so much of it available now as more and more research are available about our audience and advertisers. But how can use this data to boost our reach and revenues? In this session, the top industry research experts will break down, in easy-to-understand concepts, how numbers can boost your profits. Panelists will come armed with real world case studies and reports to share.

BUSINESS SPONSOR:
Moderator:                Mike Blinder, Publisher, Editor & Publisher
Panelist:                     Phillip Beswick, CEO, The Media Audit
Panelist:                     Sammy Pappert, President, Wormhole, Dir. Public Relations, Saambaa
Panelist:                     Jim Brown, President, Borrell Associates

2:15pm
AAM, BOTS, NUMBERS & UPDATES

BUSINESS SPONSOR:
Presenter:                  Kevin Rehburg, AAM


2:45pm
NETWORKING BREAK

BUSINESS SPONSOR:                         TELECOM STRATEGIES

3:00pm
AMERICA'S NEWSPPAERS & NNA RESEARCH REPORTS

BUSINESS SPONSOR:    

Presenter:                     Kim Safran, Site Impact


3:45pm
REVENUE GROWTH THROUGH LOCAL PLATFORMS

BUSINESS SPONSOR:                         EDITOR & PUBLISHER

Presenter:                     Joe Lawrence, CEO, MeSearch
Presenter:                     Matt Miller, Chief Revenue & Marketing Officer, Trib Total Media

4:15pm
LEGAL UPDATE FROM AN INDUSTRY ADVOCATE

Michael Zisner has served as on-site labor counsel during strikes and collective bargaining with unions at publications across the country. He also represents numerous news publishing organization, was General Counsel to OCMA, and he was the 1993 recipient of the OCMA Presidential Award. In January 2014, Circulation Ideas Service inducted Michael into the National Circulation Director Hall of Fame. He is the first non-Circulation Director recipient of this honor. In this session Michael gives us an idea of where we are as an industry from a legal perspective when it comes to our HR issues.

BUSINESS SPONSOR:                         360 MEDIA ALLIANCE

Presenter:                      Mike Zinser, Founder, Zinser Law Firm              

 

5:00pm
INNOVATION POWER HOUR

BUSINESS SPONSOR:                         360 MEDIA ALLIANCE

Presenter:                      Mark Vinciguerra, Wallit

6:00pm
WELCOME RECEPTION

This is a special ticketed event for PNA members and their guests.  Please click here to register through the PNA website.

BUSINESS SPONSOR:                         THE ZINSER LAW FIRM

7:00pm
PNA ANNUAL DINNER

This is a special ticketed event for PNA members and their guests.  A registration link will be available in July. Please check back.

 

DAY 3 - FRIDAY - NOVEMBER 3, 2023
6:00am
Breakfast On Your Own
8:30am
WELCOME / OUTLINE / INTRODUCTIONS

Presenter:                  John Newby, Founder, 360 Media Alliance & Truly-Local

8:35am
WHY SMB's ARE MISSION CRITICAL
General Session

The latest data from Borrell Associates on where the best opportunities lie for ad revenue growth. The state of SMB’s and their advertising preferences. And how they perceive us as a valuable marketing resource.

BUSINESS SPONSOR:    
Presenter:                         Jim Brown,  President, Borrell Associates

9:15am
BLINDERS "BEST BETS"
Advertising

Targeting every advertising prospect in your marketplace is a no-win scenario. Some business categories are much more open to advertise than others. Many are seeking the exact audience we deliver. And some are begging for the solutions we have that our biggest competitors (like Google and Facebook) can’t deliver. Learn who these key businesses are and why they are “ripe” for approaching now.

BUSINESS SPONSOR:
Presenter:                         Mike Blinder,  Publisher, Editor & Publisher

 

9:15am
Executive Problem Solving Roundtables - Session 1
Executive

Moderator:                               Bill Cotter, President/CEO, PNA

9:45am
STOP COLD CALLING BY WARMING UP THOSE SMB LEADS
Advertising

I think we all agree that the days of randomly “dialing for dollars” are gone! Smart sellers today use social media effectively to build critical relationships with their prospects BEFORE the at appointment is even set. Sale’s “guru” Ryan Dohrn will review with you how to mine for qualified leads and use every tool at your disposal to prospect effectively.

Presenter:                    Ryan Dohrn, Founder Brain Swell Media

10:15am
NETWORKING BREAK

Presenter:                         Mike Blinder,  Publisher, Editor & Publisher
Presenter:                         Ryan Dohrn,
Business Strategist, Keynote Speaker, Emmy Winner

10:30am
A NEW, PROVEN APPOINTMENT SETTING MODEL

E&P Magazine has been working with several industry vendors to develop a new appointment setting system that combines targeted email and industry datasets that has been proven to help set up appointments with local, qualified advertising, “decision-makers.”  This new “APOINTMENTS NOW” program will be presented with all attendees leaving with the tools they need to replicate this working model.

Presenter:                    Mike Blinder, Publisher, E&P Magazine & Industry Sales Consultant

10:30am
Executive Problem Solving Roundtable - Session 2
Executive

Moderator:                               Bill Cotter, President/CEO, PNA

11:00am
OKAY SO NOW YOU’RE “IN THE DOOR.” WHAT’S NEXT?

Odds are you have a ton of products to sell and have been trained on everyone. But what challenges most media sellers is that we spend too much time talking about what we are selling with not enough focus on what the prospect is needing. We’ve all heard the term “Solution / Consultive Selling” and “Need’s Based Selling,” but are we truly being the best at our craft? Industry sales expert Ryan Dohrn will offer you some tools and methods that will truly “up your game” in this 90-minute, faced paced session. No matter what your experience level, whether you are a senior level manager or just getting started, this session is a must attend!

 

Presenter:                    Ryan Dohrn, Founder Brain Swell Media

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