Newspaper & Mailroom
Top News Executives Join “Managing the Crisis” Conference
Friday 03. July 2009 - The global economic crisis has magnified the challenges facing newspapers everywhere, but some companies are better positioned than others to rebound once the crisis ends. They will be sharing their approaches at the "Managing the Crisis" global conference, to be held at the Frontline Media Club in London on 28 and 29 September next.
Among the speakers will be Andreas Wiele, Head of the BILD Division and
Magazines and an Executive Board Member of Axel Springer, Europes largest
newspaper publisher, which posted record profits last year despite the
crisis.
Full details of the conference, one of the first to be conducted under the
merger of the World Association of Newspapers and IFRA. WAN and IFRA have come together to
create the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers.
“Newspaper publishers face an increasingly complex world in which continual
and rapid change is the norm. In a period of uncertainty, asking questions
and framing scenarios will give confidence to leaders in this industry to go
forward, and thats what this conference is all about,” said Dietmar
Schantin, Group Director for Editorial, Advertising and General Management
for WAN-IFRA.
“Those who act now will be in prime position to nurture and create products
and services in the future. Thats the upside of a recession – it does
indeed force a different way of thinking and is a catalyst for change,” he
said.
Also among the speakers are Anna Kirah, a design anthropologist and
psychologist with CPH Design 123 in Norway; Vasily Gatov, Strategy Director
of MEDIA3 in Russia: Richard Wellins, a Senior Vice President for
Development Dimensions International, a global personnel management
consultancy: Moritz Wuttke, the CEO of Publicitas Chinese operations; Theo
Blanco, Senior Sales and Marketing Director for Upsala Nya Tidning in
Sweden; Terry Maguire, Principal with International Media Development &
Counsel and Advisor of the Monaco Media Forum; and others to be announced.
The conference will focus on how to:
– deal with permanent upheaval by becoming more flexible and by encouraging
a culture in which innovation and the ability to rapidly adapt are rewarded.
– benefit from the experiences of Russian media, which is hard-hit by the
current crisis but is benefitting from the lessons learned in the 1998-1999
state debt default crisis. Russian TV, radio, newspapers and magazines are
suffering ad revenue declines but survive and are planning for the future.
– identify the leadership qualities that are needed to survive and thrive in
the downturn. A new study of more than 3,000 executives that classifies such
qualities will be the basis of the discussion.
The conference will also consider:
– the external forces that will have the greatest impact on corporations
over the next few years, and the impact of the crisis on society.
– how CEOs can develop a corporate culture of constant innovation.
– why newspaper publishers should continue to invest as their audiences
continue to change.
The event will be preceded by a visit to the Apple Executive Briefing Centre
on 28 September.