Mega-Conference program unveiled

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By Deborah Shaw, editor, Local Media Today, Local Media Association

The industry event of the New Year – the Mega-Conference – is a guaranteed heavy hitter with the power of the three preeminent media groups behind it.  Local Media Association, Inland Press Association and the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association are partnering to co-present this important and visionary program beginning Feb. 23 in Atlanta.  This enriching conference has grown dramatically in just four years with over 700 participants connecting in Las Vegas earlier this year.

This is the conference you definitely want to put in your 2015 budget.  A sampling of what is on the program:

Have you figured out how to optimize content for $$$?

Merging content and commerce in new ways will be a front-and-center topic.  Expect insights from national publishers who are successfully monetizing their content in new ways and growing their franchise with new perspectives and approaches.

Learn how Atlantic Media has strengthened its business with ventures like Quartz.

Get an inside look at why one of the top Silicon Valley VC firms, Andreessen Horowitz, just invested $50 million in BuzzFeed with the expectation that it "will emerge from this period as a preeminent media company." Hear about its formula for attracting young mobile-oriented audiences and monetizing it.

Learn new native content approaches that get down to the local market level and hear how small newspapers have successfully implemented programs that work for them.

But does mobile work for the advertiser?

Greg Stuart of the Mobile Marketing Association has studies that show that brand advertisers can get greater results by reallocating TV to a greater spend in mobile and print.

Have you been able to encourage innovation in your operation in ways that produce investable businesses?

Learn new tools to harness good ideas into investable businesses from the Nashville Entrepreneur Center.

Do Millennials drive you crazy?

It's probably because they are starting to outnumber you.  Learn how to attract and motivate them to be your readers and employees.

Breakout sessions that show how others are:

  • Driving big video numbers without excessive spending.
  • Reorganizing the newsroom to improve relevance, strengthen brand and be more compelling on a smartphone.
  • Finding new revenue from unlikely places.
  • Investing in a tablet-first publishing model.
  • Beating TV stations to the punch for local dollars with "over the top" programs.
  • Converting digital readers into digital subscribers.
  • Making money from your advertisers' Facebook pages.
  • Getting new dollars with smarter use of digital ad networks.
  • Growing "classified" categories.
  • Almost two dozen different breakout sessions to choose from.

All this and much, much more ... including:

  • One of the industry's largest trade shows to learn what R&D partners can do to help develop new revenue, reduce costs and transform your businesses more quickly.
  • Peer-to-peer networking and intelligence sharing at the Town Halls and workshop sessions.

The excitement is building for this inspiring event that is certain to help media executives build relationships and gain intelligence to move the needle forward in 2015.  Plan your attendance now.

Mega-Conference