Previewing the Digiday Publishing Summit

The key hits:

• Publishing executives will discuss how their advertising and events businesses continue to adapt to the pandemic.
• They will also delve into commerce and acquisition strategies.
• The event will feature a live Digiday Podcast recording to conclude “The Modern Newsroom Leader” series.

Media companies have weathered the worst of the pandemic (hopefully) and are now settling into the new normal. They are determining which adjustments that were made in the spring of 2020 should be adopted now as table stakes strategies. That’s all while continuing to adapt to how the media business has changed over the past 18 months. And a number of publishing executives will gather in Miami on Sept. 27 for the first in-person Digiday Publishing Summit since 2019 to compare notes.

From assessing ad sales changes to plotting out new editorial products and revenue streams, speakers and attendees will weigh in on the top topics dominating internal discussions and deal talks today.

Understandably, while Digiday is asking attendees to be vaccinated and wear masks while indoors, not everyone can be there in person. Fortunately, those who signed up to attend but are not able to attend — as well as Digiday+ members — will be able to check out some sessions after the event. We will also share takeaways from DPS in next week’s edition of this briefing.

Here’s a sample of the sessions we are most looking forward to.

What we talk about when we talk about flexibility

There may be no more overused word with respect to publishers’ advertising businesses these days than “flexibility.” It’s reached semantic satiation and then some. And yet it remains meaningful. So to restore some meaning to the word, The Washington Post CRO Joy Robins will talk about the focus on flexibility and wariness among advertisers to commit to creative messaging over the long- and even medium-term. She will also contextualize the flexibility conversation around the trend of contextual advertising, which dates back to pre-pandemic days but has played into publishers working with advertisers on how to be relevant, including now as both sides deal with the delta variant.

Mark your calendars for the return of in-person events

Publishers’ event businesses experienced some of the most overt impacts from the pandemic and are, understandably, taking the longest to return to form. That goes for small, partial-day events as well as full-on festivals, like the Essence Festival of Culture. At a time when many publishers find themselves at an inflection point between continuing on with virtual events and returning to in-person affairs, Essence vp of experiential, branded content and video Stephanie Hodges-Dunivan will discuss how the publisher put on a virtual event …read more

Source:: Digiday

Author: Aaron