• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, October 13, 2006

Just a few weeks after American mag execs meet for the American Magazine Conference in Phoenix, the Association of Indian Magazines is holding its second annual Indian Magazine Congress in the Hotel Taj Palace in New Delhi October 30-31. The conference, on the theme "Winning with Magazines," addresses many of the same issues currently unsettling the American magazine industry: can print publications survive and thrive in the face of Internet competition? Specifically, will print publications be able to transition to a digital environment by creating their own Internet presences?

But the Indian magazine conference will also focus on some issues particular to large developing economies in the era of globalization, principally acquisitions and joint ventures by foreign media companies with capital to throw around. While the Indian government has worked to simplify complicated legal and regulatory mechanisms intended to protect Indian businesses from foreign takeovers--a legacy of decades of socialist government--the reform has come in fits and starts, and many obstacles remain. "Winning with Magazines" is intended to explain the intricacies of the Indian market to foreign businessmen trying to get in.

Key speakers include publishers who have already entered the market successfully, as well as policy makers, media owners, buyers and planners, and marketers familiar with the environment. Speakers will present case studies by Indian and international publishers. The conference will consist of 14 sessions over two days. Like American media conferences, organizers hope to lure attendees with luxurious digs, cocktail parties, and some leisure activity on top of the opportunity to network. Among the amenities of the Hotel Taj Palace are the Jiva Spas, which offer traditional Indian massage, mineral soaks, and the usual complement of luxurious spa treatment.

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