Seven states represented at Midwest Newspaper Summit 3

Nearly 70 newspaper professionals, sponsors, vendors and others took part in the Midwest Newspaper Summit 3, Friday, Sept. 10 at the Kansas City Marriott Country Club Plaza. Attendees came from seven states. The event was co-presented by the Illinois Press Association, Iowa Newspaper Foundation, Kansas Press Association, Minnesota Newspaper Association, Missouri Press Association, Nebraska Press Association, South Dakota Newspaper Association and Wisconsin Newspaper Association.

The Kansas City Star, Missouri Press Association and Jean Maneke sponsored a welcome reception the night prior to the Summit. More than 50 of the Summit registrants had a chance to mingle over drinks and food and were offered tours of The Star’s state-of-the-art printing presses.

Kansas City Star Publisher Mark Zieman kicked off Friday’s program with his thoughts on the future of the newspaper industry.
Sarah Miller Caldicott, a great grandniece of Thomas Edison, captivated the audience as she presented examples of innovation influenced by Edison, as well as his interest and background with the newspaper industry. Caldicott shared a variety of innovation methods and a five-step system for business success.

The lunch presentation featured Reynolds Journalism Institute Fellows Bill Densmore and Will Sullivan. The two Fellows shared the new initiatives and innovative technologies being developed at the Reynolds Journalism Institute.

Summit attendees spent the remainder of the day working on one of three Innovation Projects.

Attendees working on Innovation Project #1 were asked to develop a cooperative venture that has the potential to reduce costs while providing newspapers with the opportunity to monetize archived and current content by sharing their data with others. Participants heard a briefing on the soon to be incorporated American Newspaper Digital Access Corporation (ANDAC) from session facilitator Jo Martin. After hearing presentations from two vendors -- Zeon Solutions and Newz Group -- the project team broke into three smaller work groups focusing on archiving services, content management and “other.” Group participants determined that shared content is the future of the newspaper industry and continued work will be done on behalf of ANDAC and Innovation Project #1.

The participant group working on Innovation Project #2 was charged with arriving at a plan for an electronic system that allows a story to be written for the printed newspaper and then, without format modifications, uploaded to your website, a mobile app, a social networking site, e-reader, and/or have it prepped for other electronic devices, in order to speed production and reduce costs.
The project team determined, after discussions with three vendors -- TownNews.com, Russell Viers and Zeon Solutions -- that such technology exists, and that the real need is to connect vendors with newspapers so they have the chance to explore opportunities appropriate to their size. The group determined that a survey of newspapers and vendors would allow the collection of information regarding services used, services sought, and services offered, that could then be shared among newspapers. Press associations would be charged with distribution of the information, as well as assisting in the collection of the data.

Innovation Project #3 let Summit participants take a stab at using one of the fastest-growing technologies newspapers have ever faced: mobile phones.

Project participants received a briefing on how rocketing cell phone use is affecting the news profession from session facilitator Clyde Bentley and from three sponsors whose companies work in the mobile field -- Handmark, Cellit and Zeon Solutions. They then divided into teams of three-to-four to see if they could use what they had just learned to address a list of scenarios provided by Bentley. The result was an idea to use cell-phone readable QR barcodes to provide weekly updates to ads in an annual Welcome Edition; to produce a smartphone app that makes newspaper-linked citizen journalism both easy to produce and to read; a plan to make it easy for readers to express opinions via their phones and generate saleable data while doing it; and a text-message system aimed at 18-25 year olds that provides instant information on live music while luring them back to the traditional product.
The day concluded with a report back session from each Innovation Project team and a drawing for a free iPad. Gary Borders of the Junction City Daily Union was the lucky winner of the iPad.

The Midwest Newspaper Summit 3 was meant to further a conversation among all types and sizes of newspapers and offer an opportunity to grab on to a project and “make change happen.”

“In this time of decreasing budgets throughout the newspaper industry, the fact that so many people took the time and expense to attend the Summit is a clear sign that our members and members of our neighboring press associations are looking for answers,” said Iowa Newspaper Foundation Director Jennifer Asa. “Through the Midwest Newspaper Summit series, we hope to provide a forum for newspapers to work together to find the business models that will continue to support the practice of good journalism in the future.”

View photos of the Midwest Newspaper Summit 3:

Attendees will choose to participate in one of three Innovation Projects:

The three Innovation Projects were identified by a team of publishers keenly aware of the challenges and opportunities facing the news industry and dedicated to offering newspapers the opportunity to grab on to a project and “make change happen” in their communities.

Innovation Projects were developed to meet the following criteria:
1. The project is transferable to any newspaper or media company of any size anywhere making it universally adaptable.
2. The project has as a component the ability to make money.
3. The project solidifies the relationship between the newspaper and its community because it brings value to the community.
4. The project grows audience because it appeals to consumers demanding receipt of their news on different platforms.
5. The project has a defined return on investment (ROI) making it worthwhile to the company.