The turnout at this year’s Information Industry Summit was strong, with a lot of new faces. Overall, it was a useful conference.
The new Previews ½ day session Monday worked well, with an opportunity for emerging companies to tell their story. Someone needs to coach these CEOs, though, that you can’t use 17 slides for a five-minute presentation. It’s funny how leaders so often fall in love with demonstrating their technology that they forget how to make a quick benefits-centric elevator pitch.
Probably the best news of the conference was the modest level of discussion about Google. Yes, the G-word popped up in a number of sessions, but we seem to have gotten past the “Google’s going to eat my business” anxiety. It seems that the industry is beginning to learn how to survive, and in some cases thrive, in a Google ecosphere.
Despite a number of medical-related no-shows (get well Reid, Walter and the rest), the panels were fairly strong. One of the things that the SIIA does well is to mix up the format to include keynotes, traditional moderated panels and interviews. The interviews, particularly those by journalists Bambi Francisco and Staci Kramer, made for compelling discussions.
For details of the individual sessions, you can check the following earlier posts:
Traditional Magazines and Digital Publishing (Staci Kramer)
CEO Outlook (Jim Kollegger)
Advertising and PR for Everyone (David Meerman Scott)
Tad Smith Interview (Hal Espo)
Rich Zannino Keynote
Vanishing Icons (Tolman Geffs)
Traditional vs. User-Generated Content (John Blossom)
Should Content Be Free (Fred Wilson keynote)
Previews: Deal Trends
Previews: Content Delivery
Previews: Content Creators
Streaming video is available, courtesy of Scribe Media, for the following sessions:
Traditional Magazines and Digital Publishing (Staci Kramer)
Advertising and PR for Everyone (David Meerman Scott)
CEO Outlook (Jim Kollegger)
Should Content Be Free (Fred Wilson keynote)
The Event was well-blogged - here's just a sampling:
PaidContent
Search Engine Watch
Shore Communications
WebInkNow
Newstex Blog
Pando Blog
Screenwerk
Manage to Change
NY Convergence
Ken Doctor's Content Bridges
