*Times are subject to change
1:30 p.m.
Registration Desk opens (East Atrium)
5:30-6:30 p.m.
Opening Reception in the Town Square (East Atrium)
*Times and dates are subject to change
7:30-8:30 a.m.
Breakfast in the Town Square (East Atrium)
Sponsored by PAGE Cooperative
8:30 a.m.
GENERAL SESSION - Welcome (Stemmons Ballroom)
Welcome to Dallas and Mega 2023
Grant Moise, CEO, Dallas News Corporation and publisher, The Dallas Morning News
Let the Research be Your Guide
America’s Newspapers will reveal highlights from the just completed national study and leave you with a road map of key points to reference and reflect on as you make your way through sessions over the next two days.
Greg Watson, chief marketing officer, America's Newspapers
Marianne Grogan, president, Coda Ventures
9:15 a.m.
The Ultimate Transformation: What does it take to move beyond print?
The shift of news audiences to digital products has accelerated, just as the print delivery model is starting to break down. Now is the time to prepare for a reduction in print and the introduction of new news products. It’s not a sudden process, and it requires strategic planning across the newspaper enterprise — from circulation, editorial, marketing, technology. We’ll hear from industry leaders about how they are moving beyond print as their core product.
Panelists:
Curtis Huber, senior director, circulation/audience revenue, The Seattle Times
Bill Patterson, owner/publisher, Denton Media Company, Denton, Texas
Kelly Ann Scott, editor-in-chief and vice president of content, Alabama Media Group
Moderator: Amy Kovac-Ashley, head of national programs, The Lenfest Institute
10:15 a.m.
Coffee break in the Town Square
10:45 a.m.
Going ‘Phygital’: Transforming Your Organization
Learn how one organization transformed its operation to successfully balance between print and digital, including how to make the tough, entrepreneurial decisions required for future success. This session will examine best practices for building your organization for the future of news and how to rebrand, and build your brand, to get recognized by your print and digital customers.
John Garrett, president, Community Impact
11:30 a.m.
SOLUTIONS SHOWCASE: Real-world revenue solutions
Three industry experts — Birdeye, Legacy.com and Wehaa — provide revenue opportunities every newspaper can take advantage of today.
12:15 p.m.
Lunch in the Town Square
Sponsored by Whiz Technologies
1:15-2:45 p.m.
Solutions Roundtables (Stemmons Ballroom)
This fast-paced session provides attendees with the opportunity to meet in a no-pressure, small group environment with a variety of companies that will provide overviews of how their products tackle some of today’s challenges. This popular session — which is only open to newspaper attendees and the table hosts — will provide valuable information to develop strategic plans. Check out the roundtable topics!
Table hosts are:
2:45 p.m.
Refreshment break in the Town Square
3:15-4:00 p.m.
Concurrent sessions:
Connecting with Your Audience to Grow Subscribers and Engagement (Stemmons Ballroom)
Rob Curley, editor, The Spokesman-Review
Events are back in a big way. Are you maximizing your opportunities? (Carpenter Ballroom)
Bob Woodward, publisher, TH Media and vice president, community media, Woodward Communications
Vince Johnson, group publisher, Gulf Coast Media/The Sumter Item
4:00 p.m.
Break to change sessions
4:15–5:15 p.m.
Concurrent sessions:
Building and Monetizing Your First-Party Data (Stemmons Ballroom)
Newspapers are sitting on massive databases and first-party data and segmented audiences are the future of their business; they will drive conversions and subscriber revenue. This session will uncover how to learn what they have, how to grow first-party data, and how to target that audience for monetization. You will learn first-hand from media organizations that have successfully gained new revenue from their first-party data and how you can, too.
Presenters and panelists:
Julie Foley, senior customer success manager, Second Street
Liz Huff, senior director of customer success, Second Street
Vince Johnson, group publisher, Gulf Coast Media/The Sumter Item
Allison Shirk, director, digital content/engagement strategy, WEHCO Media, Inc.
America's Newspapers Local Newspaper Study (Carpenter Ballroom)
This session is for newspaper attendees only.
Get a deeper look at the results of the 2023 Local Newspaper Study. This session will provide an overview on how Americans consume local news and how they perceive the role of local newspapers for delivering content as an advertising source.
Marianne Grogan, president, Coda Ventures
5:30–6:30 p.m.
Reception in Town Square
Sponsored by Cribb, Cope & Potts
Dinner on Your Own
*Times and dates are subject to change
7:30–8:30 a.m.
Breakfast in the Town Square
8:30 a.m.
GENERAL SESSION (Stemmons Ballroom)
And, the Winner is ... Mega-Innovation Award
The two finalists for this year's Mega-Innovation Award will talk about their entries and how your organization can learn and benefit from their innovations. Award to be announced by Jason Taylor, president, Ventures, Gannett Media
FINALIST: Honolulu Star-Advertiser / Oahu Publications, Inc.
Entry presented by Aaron J. Kotarek, senior vice president, audience and operations
FINALIST: Richner Communications
Entry presented by Zachary Richner, director, and Stuart Richner, CEO
9:00 a.m.
Modernize Your Recruiting to Deliver Top Talent
Noted recruitment expert Julian Placino will lead this session on how newspapers can get creative and ignite their recruitment culture now. In a competitive job market, it’s critical for newspapers to modernize how they recruit employees by focusing on people first (the who) and then focus on what they’re trying to accomplish. You’ll leave this session with a practical and actionable roadmap on how to energize your recruitment efforts.
9:45 a.m.
Coffee break in the Town Square
10:15-11:00 a.m.
Concurrent sessions
Buy or sell. What is your newspaper worth? (Stemmons Ballroom)
Mike Blinder, publisher of Editor & Publisher Magazine, will host a panel of some of the industry’s most respected media brokers who will offer the latest insights into the current buy/sell environment. With Sara April, partner at Dirks, Van Essen & April, and John Thomas Cribb, director of Cribb, Cope & Potts
WHAT YOU CAN LEARN FROM FT STRATEGIES AND THE GNI SUBSCRIPTIONS LAB (Carpenter Ballroom)
Join Daisy Donald, principal at FT Strategies, to learn about the North Star Framework, the methodology the Financial Times uses to set ambitious goals and achieve them. Gain first-hand insight into how their clients, publishers like you, have implemented this framework and started their transformation journey.
Following her presentation, we will hear from the Google News Initiative participants of America’s Newspapers on how they utilized the North Star Framework and their success stories as part of the digital subscriptions lab.
11:00 a.m.
Break to change sessions
11:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Digital Transformation Strategies to Future-Proof Your Business Model (Stemmons Ballroom)
Digital engagement experts discuss strategies, tactics and philosophies that yield tangible results. Case studies and proof of concepts will be explored that detail how to increase digital audiences, revenue, retention levels and overall engagement and identify key performance indicators to scrutinize potential barriers to success.
Panelists:
Pete Doucette, senior managing director, strategy, Mather Economics
Conan Gallaty, president and CEO, Tampa Bay Times
Lon Haenel, vice president, chief client officer, Newspapers Subscription Services
Andy Pennington, publisher, Anchorage Daily News
Jonas Rideout, senior vice president, solutions engineering, Piano
Moderator: Aaron Kotarek, senior vice president, audience and operations, Oahu Publications, Inc.
12:15-1:15 p.m.
Lunch in the Town Square
Sponsored by A Marketing Resource - AMR
1:15–2:30 p.m.
Idea Exchange Roundtables (Stemmons Ballroom)
Exchange ideas directly with other attendees and come away with as many ideas as possible.
Tables/Topics include:
2:30–3:00 p.m.
Advocating for Newspapers
Learn about the latest advocacy efforts to protect local journalism, what the future holds for legislation and how publishers can get involved to help protect local journalism.
Dean Ridings, CEO, America’s Newspapers
Danielle Coffey, executive vice president and general counsel, News/Media Alliance
3:00–3:30 p.m.
Refreshment break in the Town Square
3:30 p.m.
Buses depart for The Dallas Morning News
Meet at the hotel’s Grand Entrance off the Grand Atrium
4:00–5:30 p.m.
Dallas Morning News Sessions:
Reenergizing Your Newsroom to Reach New Readers with Audience-Focused Data
Katrice Hardy, executive editor, The Dallas Morning News
Pete Doucette, senior managing director, strategy, Mather Economics
Unlocking Revenue Through Cause Marketing
Gillian Breidenbach, partner + chief community officer, Medium Giant
5:30-6:30 p.m.
Closing Mega Reception hosted by The Dallas Morning News
6:30 p.m.
Conference Adjourns
Dinner on your own in Downtown Dallas!
The shift of news audiences to digital products has accelerated, just as the print delivery model is starting to break down. Now is the time to prepare for a reduction in print and the introduction of new news products. It’s not a sudden process, and it requires strategic planning across the newspaper enterprise — from circulation, editorial, marketing, technology.
During this Monday morning session at the Mega-Conference, hear from industry leaders about how they are moving beyond print as their core product.
Our panelists are:
Curtis Huber, senior director, circulation/audience revenue, The Seattle Times
Bill Patterson, owner/publisher, Denton Media Company, Denton, Texas
Kelly Ann Scott, editor-in-chief and vice president of content, Alabama Media Group
The moderator for this session is Amy Kovac-Ashley, head of national programs, The Lenfest Institute
On Tuesday morning at the Mega-Conference, digital engagement experts will be discussing strategies, tactics and philosophies that yield tangible results. Case studies and proof of concepts will be explored that detail how to increase digital audiences, revenue, retention levels and overall engagement and identify key performance indicators to scrutinize potential barriers to success.
Our panelists are:
Pete Doucette, senior managing director, strategy, Mather Economics
Conan Gallaty, president and CEO, Tampa Bay Times
Lon Haenel, vice president, chief client officer, Newspapers Subscription Services
Andy Pennington, publisher, Anchorage Daily News
Jonas Rideout, senior vice president, solutions engineering, Piano
The moderator for this session is Aaron Kotarek, senior vice president, audience and operations, Oahu Publications, Inc.
Noted recruitment expert Julian Placino will lead this session on how newspapers can get creative and ignite their recruitment culture now. In a competitive job market, it’s critical for newspapers to modernize how they recruit employees by focusing on people first (the who) and then focus on what they’re trying to accomplish. You’ll leave this session with a practical and actionable roadmap on how to energize your recruitment efforts.
Julian Placino is a Fortune 500 Speaker, founder of Pathways Affiliated, a recruitment strategy consultancy and the creator of Recruitment Masterclass, the only video course that turns your employees into an army of talent ambassadors and recruiters. He also is the host of the leadership podcast, "Pathways to Success on YouTube and iTunes."
With 17 years of recruiting experience, he’s helped leading corporations attract, recruit and retain top talent. Placino has personally hired over 400 world-class professionals in the areas of technology, sales and creative arts. For seven years, he led talent acquisition for Bottle Rocket, one of the premier mobile development firms in the world. He now consults with companies on personal branding, marketing strategy and leadership development.
Learn how one organization transformed its operation to successfully balance between print and digital, including how to make the tough, entrepreneurial decisions required for future success.
John Garrett, president of Community Impact, will lead this session on best practices for building your organization for the future of news and how to rebrand, and build your brand, to get recognized by your print and digital customers.
All newspapers are probably sitting on massive databases that aren’t being used properly. And, during times of financial instability, newspapers need to find revenue wherever they can. First-party data and segmented audiences are the future of their business; they will drive conversions and subscriber revenue.
This session will lay out a strategy to help newspapers find out what they have, how to grow first-party data, and how to target that audience for monetization. Additionally, you will learn first-hand from media organizations that have successfully gained new revenue from their first-party data.
Presenters and panelists:
Julie Foley, senior customer success manager, Second Street
Liz Huff, senior director of customer success, Second Street
Vince Johnson, group publisher, Gulf Coast Media/The Sumter Item
Allison Shirk, director, digital content/engagement strategy, WEHCO Media, Inc.
