Details for the upcoming SIPA congress, which will take place in London on Wednesday 8th July, were recently sent through to me.
SIPA is an abbreviation for the Specialised Information Publishers Association. It aims to serve publishers and providers of specialised information – such as online publications, newsletters and directory services.
This year’s congress is packed with material and with the backdrop of the current economic climate and changing reader habits this has to be an industry “must attend” event.
It took me a while to go through the programme – it’s jam packed – so I’ve pulled some highlights out below. The full line up and agenda can be seen here.
Before the congress, there are also two discussion forums on Tuesday 7th July run by:
Jeanne Hopkins, MECLABs and Louise White,Incisive Media; and
Victoria Mellor, Chief Melcrum Publishing and Paul Smith of Kable (part of Guardian Professional).
Congress highlights
- Who is the new online information buyer? (Andy McLaughlin, president of PaperClip Communications in the US)
- Lead generation – maximising name capture on websites and turning your prospects into buyers (Jeanne Hopkins, chief marketing officer, MECLABS)
- How MoneyWeek became the best-selling financial magazine in the UK (Angus Phillipson, managing director, WORKSsitebuilder and Toby Bray, managing Director, Fleet Street Publications and MoneyWeek)
Observations
With the shift to online perhaps there is the opportunity to run more dedicated online sessions, here, or at future events.
Online covers so many aspects; pay-per-click (PPC), cost per lead (CPL), search engine optimisation (SEO), mobile, mobile apps, ad networks, video, ecommerce, affiliates and even APIs.
These are the areas publishers need to be researching and looking at for the future. It’s a minefield but an Association can bring best practice and trusted suppliers to the table.
