One problem with attending dozens of conference sessions across but a mere 10 days is that sometimes things blur together. But somewhere in my recent travels I remember two important things being said:
Another said that generating "multiple products from the same information" -- be they print or electronic -- should be a newspaper’s ambition.
Of course, both speakers were right. Whether a publisher is so fixated on print that it can think only about printing presses, or whether it has loftier, on-line worlds to conquer, the key is doing it all digitally.
Without a completely digital environment, you can't have either direct-to-press or on-line. The path to this all-digital environment, though, has an obstruction or two, as we witness inside.
First, we discuss the issues of digital display advertising. A topic at two recent major conferences (Seybold Boston and the Newspaper Association of America’s Operations SuperConference), digital display advertising is a sticking point for many publishers.
Without it, you can't venture into the all-electronic world, but convincing your advertisers that it’s easy to adopt is another matter entirely.
The NAA released a booklet for advertisers at the SuperConference that should help allay some fears and help get advertisers on the digital bandwagon. Inside, we take a look at not only the booklet, but also at digital advertising war stories from magazines and newspapers.
Our next stop is Denver, for the National Press Photographers Association’s annual digital photography meeting. Darrell H. Hoemann, photo/graphics editor at The News-Gazette in Champaign-Urbana, Ill., takes us through various sessions and the trade show, turning up issues relating to digital cameras and archiving.
Then we move back to the SuperConference, where sessions on pagination and the future of the supplier industry pique our interest. One panel of suppliers made some good points, but they were muddied by one panelist’s use of the word "rip-off" in conjunction with the supplier business models of the ’70s and ’80s.
Of course, this gentleman was right: Those business models did rip off customers. It’s just not politic to say so.
Then we return to the Seybold Boston meeting to listen to two key leaders in computing today: James Clark of Netscape Communications Corp. and Gilbert Amelio, newly installed chairman of Apple Computer Inc.
And, speaking of top executives, we report that System Integrators Inc. has burned through yet another president. With Bill Aaronson’s leave-taking in early March, the company has had five chief executives in seven years.
(And, as we went to press, it was reported that W.Y. "Bill" McCaslin has been named vice president and general manager of the Harris Publishing Group, which encompasses Harris Publishing Systems Corp. and Baseview Products Inc. Though we were unable to get confirmation from the company on deadline, we've been led to believe that the longtime Harris employee would be supervising Tony Peri, who will be running Harris Publishing Systems, and Don Rogers, who will be running Baseview.)
Lastly, we have a small error to correct. In our March cover essay, we made reference to a story about the merger of Autologic and Information International. Sharp-eyed readers may have noticed no such story appeared. It’s included this time.
Another of the speakers we heard over that 10-day period also made a good point when it comes to going all-digital. He cited the sports shoe slogan:
"Just do it."
-- David M. Cole
