Join Jim Porter, the President & CEO of the National Football Leagues “Pro Football Hall of Fame” in Canton, OH. as he discusses navigating change, transformation, and above all perseverance in today’s business climate. Just like every business, the Pro Football Hall of Fame had to quickly adjust, change, transform and persevere when COVID struck. Listen as Jim discusses their transformation and their hurdles standing in the way. Jim is an ex-audience executive and publisher and understands and relates to the media business with the best of them.

Join us and moderator Mike Blinder, Publisher of Editor & Publisher magazine as we discuss the future of the industry through the eyes of younger generations and what it means to traditional media in the future. The News Media industry has undergone massive business model changes over the past few decades, continued change is expected.  One of those changes is generational in nature.  As the print bound baby boomers exit, they are replaced by those younger generations which have never embraced print, they live in a digital world.  How do they consume content and advertising today? How do they utilize social media? What are their expectations of the future of media?  Find out this and more in the outstanding session.

Whether it is advertising, audience or content ramifications, there probably isn’t a topic more discussed today than the most effective and profitable frequency of our print products. This lively panel visits the topic of frequency from the eyes of those that have either changed or operate in a non-tradition print cycle.  Regardless of where you sit on this issue, this panel will bring to life not only the various frequency options available, but the ramifications of those options on the business model.  John Newby, the founder of the 360 Media Alliance will moderate this panel as they drill down into this controversial topic.

One of our most anticipated sessions features Corey Elliott of Borrell & Associates discussing what the numbers tell us about the future in advertising, marketing and branding spends. This is a must see presentation regardless of the size of your company or the size of your budget.  What has changed? What is changing. What are the attitudes of those advertisers these days and so much more.

Listen as Tom Silvestri, Executive Director of the Newspaper Relevancy Project discusses how newspapers can reestablish themselves as a community focus in their local communities. Building local relationships are the foundation of success in the community. Learn how to create the synergies needed to help the community while helping your company thrive.

Newspapers across the country have been able to grow their digital subscriber base over the past few years. That being the case, while growth has been seen, the revenue that follows has been lacking. This session discusses the various ways and options available to news-media companies to grow their audience revenue without stunting their overall growth. What is the best paywall approach? Is it the ESPN model, is it the Hearst model? Do we lock-down completely or leave a portion open? You will hear the pro’s and con’s to the many varied approaches and be able to come away with further insights into the those various options and others.

While the industry has undergone a great many changes in the past decade, as they say, hold on to your hats as change is only expected to continue and in some cases, speed up. Technology is forcing these changes, but many of these changes are simply new opportunities for our industry. Whether it is AI, Augmented Reality, Blockchain, NFT’s, Robotics, Big Data, or a host of other new technologies, it presents enormous revenue growth for those that understand it and commit to it. Guy Tasaka with LMA will guide us through a tour of what can be and what we ought to be looking at and paying attention to.

Perfect time for networking, renewing friendships, and great food.  Walk yourself through the plentiful buffet luncheon and relax.   Go back for seconds if you wish, plenty for all.

We all do it. Our audience assumptions are based on our experiences or conversations with readers, or a 10-year-old study collecting dust on the shelf.  The pandemic changed everything, so how do we understand what our audience wants today?  Ask them. Dan Christ will describe how to capture reader feedback to drive consumer revenue. He’ll use examples of recent work by Advance Local’s Customer Research team to help you apply research best practices while avoiding pitfalls so you can move your revenue needle..

The younger generations will define our industries future.  How do the younger generations consume informational and advertising content? This is information we must have today to better position our companies for a brighter future tomorrow. Rebecca will share with us what the data indicates and how we can better be prepared for the habits of the younger generations.

The future of public notices plays a critical role in the future of the news publishing industry.  How we navigate the oftentimes contentious political climate surrounding this issue is every bit as critical. Our panel will discuss the three major technology players in the space by way of the end users. Questions such as why did you select the platform you did?  How easy was this for your company to deploy? Does it help to grow the local relationship between the media company and the community? These and many other questions and thoughts will be shared with this high level panel discussion.

Recruiting carriers, retaining our audience (both print and digital) and carrier/employee burnout are each hot topics today. In a sense, all three are related or linked in one way or another. Sit back and relax and our moderators discuss these topics, better yet, bring your great ideas, thoughts and suggestions on how the industry can better handle these situations in their own buildings and companies.

Business Sponsor:  Steel City Corp.

Finding and retaining our digital audience has never been more important or critical to our business model. The tools and insights available are better than ever before – yet we still have difficulty in these two arenas.  This session will discuss effective ways to build your digital audience, but just as importantly, retaining them once you have them.

With resources often in short supply, reliable customer service is needed now more than ever.   Listen as Jim Smith discusses customer service in a practical and often humorous way with a slightly different twist.  He draws upon his vast experience within the industry along with his love of hockey and his working at the Football Hall of Fame.  Jim has always been a conference favorite as he takes real life examples from other industries and brings it home to the News-Publishing arena.

This is an hour you won’t want to miss. We have 5-6 business partners coupled with a user taking you through a rapid-fire session on innovation and how it can transform a problem your company has faced. Listen as the user highlights the good, the bad, and the ugly of this problem-solving initiative.  This one-hour session is designed as a fast-paced session tackling 6 issues in a single hour.

Join us in this traditional after-hours event sponsored by the Zinser Law Firm in Nashville, TN. This is a great time to network with fellow industry executives and discuss industry issues over a drink and light snacks. Great way to get to know and make new friends.

This is a special ticketed event for PNA members and their guest.

Come relax, network, have casual conversation after a long day.

Mike Zinser, of The Zinser law Firm, will discuss the latest in the legal world as it impacts the news-publishing industry. From labor law issues, unionization, independent contractors, and much more, he will walk us through the landscape which is becoming much more tricky with the Biden administration. This is a session for everyone in the company as the issues discussed impact the entire organization.

When it comes to changes in the auditing and accounting arena, we can be sure they are plenty. Kevin Rehberg, representing Alliance for Audited Media, will walk us through the many changes and more importantly, the impact associated we can expect with these changes. This will be a great session for those audited or not audited.

It seems the topic of Paywalls is one of those topics that just keeps on giving. After a decade of discussion, few in the industry can come to agreement on which approach is the best. This breakout session explores the various paywall approaches being taken, both successful and unsuccessful.  From hard paywalls to wide-open and all points in between. You will not want to miss this lively discussion.

BUSINESS SPONSOR:     Routesmart

Moving consumers from a reduced print print format into the mail can be a very difficult task.  On the surface, how hard can it be?  Brad Hill, of Interlink has been in this arena for sometime and has experienced the good, the bad and the ugly when helping others make this transition. Listen as Brad provides a practical approach on shares methods that will help you in this transition.

Join us as we discuss current trends and opportunities in the branded content arena. Listen as the panel discuss how branded content can be used to create new revenue and deeper connections for your advertisers. Learn what is driving revenue through actual practice and case studies. Be sure and bring your own ideas and questions as well.

Gone are the days of just picking up the phone or hiring a telemarketing company, hiring door crews or setting up in a grocery store to solicit your new starts. Yes, those can still be mildly productive in some areas, but the long-term success come with knowing your audience, both your current audience and the audience you wish to have.

It is no secret events took a huge hit over the past couple years with COVID in the mix. While many turned to digital/virtual events, it just wasn’t the same and the revenue was down That said, as we begin a return to a more normal routine, events are returning and in some cases, in a big way. Join us as we explore the world of events in 2022 and what the path forward looks like.

We all are constantly seeking great ideas that we can return home from the summit and implement right away. Every attendee at this summit should be able to return home and impact the bottom-line immediately.  Join fellow audience executives from around the country as they share what has worked, and not worked, in their markets.  A fast moving can’t miss session.

We all are constantly seeking great ideas that we can return home from the summit and implement right away. Every attendee at this summit should be able to return home and impact the bottom-line immediately. Join fellow advertising executives from around the country as they share what has worked, and not worked, in their markets. A fast moving can’t miss session.