October 11 - 14, 2015
Asheville, North Carolina

Event Sponsors

Agenda

Sunday, 10/11

6:00 PM
6:00 PM ET
Welcome Cocktail ReceptionVanderbilt Terrace

Monday, 10/12

8:00 AM
8:00 AM ET
Registration Opens
8:15 AM
8:15 AM ET
Breakfast
9:00 AM
9:00 AM ET
Opening remarks
Featuring
Erik Sass, Editor, Publishers Daily, MediaPost 
9:15 AM
9:15 AM ET
Keynote Interview: Bauer’s US Invasion
With blistering growth for sites like InTouch, Life&Style and J-14, the international magazine publisher Bauer reinvigorated its US properties this year with a full on digital press. We explore how it leveraged social channels, analytics and video to position Bauer for a digital-first US strategy.
Interviewee
Christian Baesler, President, Complex Media 
Interviewer
Erik Sass, Editor, Publishers Daily, MediaPost 
9:45 AM
9:45 AM ET
Panel: Mapping The Streams: Is There A Sustainable Strategy Here?
Diversification is the best hedge in an uncertain market, and so publishers have been navigating multiple revenue streams for years. Bur how has this changed the nature of their business, and are the pieces fitting together? Ad-supported content, events, e-commerce, agency-like video and content studios, licensing, even ad-tech acquisitions – all are in the mix now. Some media are simply being subsumed now by the “dumb pipes” that carry them. What does a sustainable media business model look like now?
Moderator
Ross Fadner, Director, Event Programming, MediaPost 
PanelistS
Mike Dodge, COO, Evolve Media 
Doug Harbrecht, Director, Kiplinger.com 
Toby Hudson, Sales Director, Southeast, Business Insider 
Richard Routman, President and CRO, Minute Media 
10:30 AM
10:30 AM ET
Keynote: How The Move to Video and Native Is Good News for The Mobile Web
Publishers are looking at digital dimes and are, literally, freaking out about mobile pennies. With the “heat” on mobile ad blockers — how will publishers survive?

We’ve yet to see a “one size fits all” solution — but mobile ads in FEP and native content go a long way to addressing both issues. Rich Sutton, CRO at Trusted Media Brands, Inc. will look at some first party research about the HUGE interest from clients and agencies in native and talk about the huge upside with video.
Keynote
Rich Sutton, Chief Revenue Officer, Trusted Media Brands, Inc. 
11:00 AM
11:00 AM ET
Presentation: Targeting Niche Audiences
Creating content for passionate communities allows you to cultivate a highly connected and engaged audience, and help marketers reach them in a context where they are very receptive to brand messages. We'll discuss what works and some of the challenges in talking to ad buyers who are being told to buy everything programmatically (“we can find them anywhere”). Hint: your deep expertise in the market will be extremely valuable as advertisers seek quality.
Presenter
Scott Gatz, Founder and CEO, Q.Digital 
11:30 AM
11:30 AM ET
Presentation: NatGeo’s Worldwide Monetization Journey
Hear how National Geographic is evolving it's digital business through Mobile, Offsite, Video and Branded Content with a focus on how the brand monetizes social across the various content platforms.
Presenter
John Campbell, VP Global Partnerships, National Geographic Magazine and Digital 
12:00 PM
12:00 PM ET
Roundtables
What Does The Modern Media Strategy Look Like? - Mike Dodge, COO, Evolve Media
Finding and Monetizing Your Niche Audience - Scott Gatz, Founder & CEO, Q.Digital
Decoding Mobile Monetization - Michael Henry, SVP Sales & Matthew Moran, VP Product Development
12:45 PM
12:45 PM ET
Lunch
1:30 PM
1:30 PM ET
Afternoon Activities
Leave for Afternoon Activities:
Golf at The Omni Grove Park Inn
Bilmore House Tour
Biking At Biltmore
1:30 PM
1:30 PM ET
Golf at The Omni Grove Park Inn
1:30 PM
1:30 PM ET
Biltmore House Tour
1:30 PM
1:30 PM ET
Biking At Biltmore
6:00 PM
6:00 PM ET
One on One Meetings
6:30 PM
6:30 PM ET
Cocktail ReceptionHeritage Ballroom B
7:30 PM
7:30 PM ET
Dinner ReceptionHeritage Ballroom B

Tuesday, 10/13

8:00 AM
8:00 AM ET
Registration Opens
8:15 AM
8:15 AM ET
Breakfast
9:00 AM
9:00 AM ET
Panel: The Social Media Godfathers: Is this An Offer Media Can Refuse?
YouTube funded early channel providers. Facebook wants to host your “Instant Articles” and adjusted its algorithms to gush traffic your way. Apple promises to be a better Flipboard. Meanwhile Twitter, Snapchat, and Facebook’s Instagram are also striking content partnerships with news and entertainment brands. But as Facebook’s moves with brands show, today’s friends can be tomorrow’s frenemies. Should publishers join the big content-sharing love-fest to tap into those huge audiences? How should publishers mitigate the downsides to this new distribution system: eroding media brand differentiation and loyalty, control of audience data, predictable scale?
Moderator
Ross Fadner, Director, Event Programming, MediaPost 
PanelistS
Jennifer Anderson, VP, Audience Development, Bonnier 
Cory Rotkel, National Ad Director, Men’s Health 
Eric Schwab, EVP, Sales & Marketing/GM, TEN: The Enthusiast Network 
Maya Tanaka, Creative Producer, Mashable 
9:45 AM
9:45 AM ET
Keynote: Approach Your Legacy While Embracing Your Future. If You've Got It - Use It
A strong brand story, and more specifically brand heritage, should be an integral part of your social and sontent strategy. Understanding how to leverage this component successfully isn't easy. As much as we would occasionally like to rewrite history, your legacy doesn't shift and change, but the current mindset of the consumer does. With that in mind we'll address how to understand and interpret your brands legacy as it relates to today's consumer; How to leverage what it offers to connect with your target audience through your digital content strategy;  How to translate brand heritage to resonate with your target audience and how to retain relevancy in today's market; Curating legacy content to further the story - in a
relevant way.
Keynote
Robin Zucker, SVP, Digital, Playboy 
10:15 AM
10:15 AM ET
Presentation: Monetizing Mobile
As viewer consumption habits continue to shift towards mobile, what does that mean for content creators and publishers and their ability to generate revenue from the small screen? With a focus on monetizing mobile and creating high-impact advertising opportunities through live streaming, social programs and sponsorships, Turner Sports has built a strong, strategic digital business around its portfolio of sports rights, and will share some key learnings.
Presenter
Seth Ladetsky, Senior Vice President, Client Partnerships and Head of Digital Sales Strategy, Turner Sports 
10:45 AM
10:45 AM ET
Presentation: It's Time to Rethink Ads - How Solving For Viewability And Ad Blocking Can Drive Revenue (And Make Readers Happy)
Learn how one major market news site has addressed two of the most pressing issues facing publishers today, and what it's meant for customers, readers and the bottom line.
Presenter
Ray Faust, VP, National and Emerging Media Sales, Star Tribune 
11:45 AM
11:45 AM ET
Roundtables
12:30 PM
12:30 PM ET
Lunch
12:45 PM
12:45 PM ET
Sponsor Luncheon Presentation
View More Details
1:30 PM
1:30 PM ET
Afternoon Activities
Leave for Afternoon Activities:
Blue Ridge Park Hiking Tour
Horseback Riding in Biltmore
Wine & Chocolate Tour
1:30 PM
1:30 PM ET
Blue Ridge National Park Hiking Tour
1:30 PM
1:30 PM ET
Horseback Riding in Biltmore
1:30 PM
1:30 PM ET
Wine & Chocolate Tour
6:30 PM
6:30 PM ET
Cocktail ReceptionSkyline, Mountainview Terrace
7:30 PM
7:30 PM ET
Dinner ReceptionSkyline, Mountainview Terrace

Wednesday, 10/14

8:00 AM
8:00 AM ET
Registration Opens and Breakfast
8:30 AM
8:30 AM ET
Keynote Interview: Local Media In Transition
With their close relationships with communities, local media companies are uniquely well positioned to benefit from the rise of new digital platforms, forging even deeper connections with consumers via mobile, social, and OTT channels. But they also face many of the same challenges as their national peers, from trying to strike the appropriate balance between programmatic and direct sales, to convincing advertisers to produce native ads that actually work, and grappling with mobile monetization. Here’s how one of the nation’s biggest local media companies is tackling it all.
Interviewee
Tom Sly, CRO, E.W. Scripps 
Interviewer
Erik Sass, Editor, Publishers Daily, MediaPost 
9:00 AM
9:00 AM ET
Presentation: How aggregation could kill the News brand.
The biggest change from technology comes from new behaviors they create. We've seen the combination of social feeds, mobile phones and coding techniques change the way we view news content. We once had deeper relationships with content providers, home pages became our front page to the news, now this role falls to Facebook, Google, Twitter and now perhaps Apple news. In this talk Media Futurist Tom Goodwin explains the background and what content owners can do to unleash the value of their content in this context.
 
Presenter
Tom Goodwin, Executive Vice President -- Head of Innovation, Zenith Media 
9:30 AM
9:30 AM ET
Panel: Resolved: “Native” Is Just The New Banner Ad
Arguments over the ethics (even the definitions) of “native” ads now seem moot. Whatever they are, they are everywhere, posing as articles here, “around the Web teases” there, or just square display ads in mobile feeds everywhere. Next question is has this approach to advertising become as annoying, invisible, destructive to the user experience and ultimately ineffective as the traditional display it purported to improve? Our panel (and audience) debate and discuss.
Moderator
Erik Sass, Editor, Publishers Daily, MediaPost 
PanelistS
Ann Marinovich, VP, Advertising Products & Strategy, Forbes 
Jamie Molnar, Senior Manager, Mobile Client Solutions, The Weather Channel 
Matt Rice, Publisher, StyleCaster/SheKnows 
Madhura Sengupta, Director, Ad Product Technology, Edmunds 
Dannelle Walker, Associate Media Director, Razorfish 
10:15 AM
10:15 AM ET
Roundtables
11:00 AM
11:00 AM ET
Conference Concludes
Special Events

Venue

Omni Grove Park Inn, Asheville, NC
290 Macon Ave
Asheville, North Carolina, 28804

Experience the country's best kept secret and one of the top places to visit in 2015, according to Frommer's Guidebook. Celebrated for its elegance and Southern charm, Asheville, N.C. boasts the bohemian culture, community of artists, and historic downtown with its amiable boutiques and bookshops. Asheville's irresistible Southern cooking has earned a devotion of many of the country's foodies, winding up among Huffington Post’s 13 best food destinations.

With a history of serving guests for over 102 years and its rich heritage, The Omni Grove Park Inn is a true embodiment of a tradition of Southern hospitality. Ten U.S. Presidents and countless luminaries from the worlds of art, entertainment, sports and politics have stayed at this historic resort that offers sweeping views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and a Donald Ross designed golf course. This AAA Four Diamond Property is listed on Fodor's "Top 10 Luxury Spa Resorts" and Travel + Leisure’s rankings of “Top Spa Resorts” in the world.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/The+Omni+Grove+Park+Inn/@35.620522,-82.54209,14z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x8859f4c044854a9d:0x67e472d0768313a5
Travel Information

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Sponsorships

For questions regarding sponsorship of this event please contact Seth Oilman, SVP, Chief Revenue Officer at seth@mediapost.com.

Press

For press inquiries, please contact Ken Fadner at ken@mediapost.com.

General

For general summit inquiries please contact Seth Oilman, SVP, Chief Revenue Officer at seth@mediapost.com.

VIP Program

For questions about or to apply to the VIP Program please contact Kevin Massa, Manager of Brand & Agency Relations at massa@mediapost.com.

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MediaPost strives for excellence in its coverage of media, marketing and advertising. Our mission is to critically engage key questions for brand marketers, media buyers, sellers and emerging platforms. We choose speakers exclusively for their ability to bring perspective and insight to our stage. All conferences are programmed by proven, expert, unbiased journalists. MediaPost has never and will never engage in "pay to play" conferencing.