Congress agenda deep-dive: 7 themes and 60+ speakers.

At the 45th FIPP World Media Congress, we will explore the challenges and opportunities shaping the industry today and into the future. Below we take a deep dive into what attendees will hear from speakers at this year’s Congress.

60+ international speakers will share insights and ideas across several themes, from leadership during a downturn to AI opportunities and legal concerns, monetisation, storytelling, magazine media, and more. There will be stories from major markets and stories less told but well worth hearing. There will be a mix of voices and a wide range of perspectives.

The 45th FIPP World Media Congress offers a time and place for you to “be there”. But before diving into the article, you can sign up here to join us in Cascais from 6-8 June

There are seven broad themes in this year’s Congress agenda:

1. Strategy and leadership
2. AI, technology and media
3. Magazine and other media verticals
4. Storytelling, audiences and communities
5. Monetisation
6. Innovation and entrepreneurship
7. You

TLDR? Here’s a Chat GPT summary.

Also read: The art and science of “being there” (ChatGPT summary here).

 

1. STRATEGY and LEADERSHIP:

Attendees will hear from Bonnie Kintzer, President and CEO of Trusted Media Brands, about how she transformed the Reader’s Digest-owning business into a spectacular success. She will also share her strategies for operating in the current economic climate and why she is upbeat about the future.

Our leadership panel will discuss market turmoil and strategies for media companies to withstand challenges and position for a better future. The panel participants include Katie Vanneck-Smith, CEO of Hearst UK; Andrés Rodriguez, Founder and CEO of Spainmedia; Styli Charalambous, Founder of The Daily Maverick in South Africa; and Anita Zielina, Founder and CEO of Better Leaders Lab in Austria and the USA.

Diversity and inclusion should be part of every leadership playbook because it creates tangible results. Shirish Kulkarni, D&I Innovation Consultant, Journalist and Researcher, will showcase with empirical data how diversity and inclusion drive innovation and a culture of innovation in media.

We can all learn from one another. The programme will include three other stories with exceptional leadership lessons.

• Agustino Fontevecchia, Digital Director of Editorial Perfil, and his colleagues in Argentina know what it means to run a media business amid rampant inflation, political instability and technological change. He brings us “Tales from the Latin South” about survival and growth in a demanding marketplace.
• Misinformation is rife the world over, in some markets even more so than others. Ruwayda Mustafah, Public Relations Manager at Rûdaw Media Network in Kurdistan, Iraq, will discuss leadership to challenge misinformation in conflict-prone countries.
• Ganesh Baniya is a media and technology entrepreneur who launched a media network in Myanmar. He will tell us how turmoil in the country tore his best-laid plans to waste and how, even having had to move from Myanmar, progressive leadership helped to provide continued hope.

2. AI, TECHNOLOGY and MEDIA:

Danish author and media transformation expert Steffen Dambourg will provide a strategic perspective on AI and the next wave of transformation and change for the media industry.

In a separate session, Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana, CE of Impress in the UK, will address the potential legal minefield the popularisation of AI brings. She will also discuss the recent ethical code for journalists to account for AI transparency in the face of an expected explosion in fake news.

We often instinctively think about things like print and distribution regarding climate questions. John Barnes, Chief Digital Officer of William Reed in the UK, will share how to optimise your digital operations for green impact.

Yulia Boyle, FIPP chair and VP of International Media at National Geographic Partners, will interview Keith A. Grossman, former President of TIME and now President of Enterprise at Moonpay in the USA, about unlocking entry into Web 3 for brands and enterprises.

As wonderful and exciting as technological advances are, choosing from the melting pot of tech innovations is challenging. Dan Pacheco, Peter A. Horvitz Endowed Chair in Journalism Innovation, S.I. Newhouse School at Syracuse University, USA, has developed a toolkit (and authored a book) to help assess and make decisions on emerging technologies.

3. MAGAZINE and other MEDIA verticals:

Rafat Ali is an engineer-turned-media entrepreneur who sold his first verticle or specialist media business, Paid Content, to Guardian Media. For the past decade, he has built Skift, a B2B vertical for the travel industry, to great acclaim. Rafat will talk to Di5rupt‘s Ashley Norris about media entrepreneurship and building products for passionate consumer or professional audiences.

Jacob Donnely is a publisher at Morning Brew and founder of the A Media Operator newsletter. He will discuss “nimble power” and how creator-led niche media drives industry conversations.

Lance Johnson is an executive investor, advisor and former CEO of Recurrent Ventures in the US. Lance will share ideas on unlocking the long-term benefits of operating in media verticals.

Elizabeth Bramson-Bourdreau is the CEO of MIT Technology Review in the USA. She will be in conversation with HBM Advisory‘s Alan Hunter about the spectacular turnaround of the 134-year-old magazine brand into a digital-first, multiplatform magazine media brand with a robust and diversified revenue model.

Katarzyna Dabrowska, Editor-in-Chief of Burda Poland’s Glamour magazine, will discuss the DNA of magazine media brands and the importance of being a voice for your audience.

Elsa Esparbé, Group Rights and Licensing Manager at RBA in Spain and Gonçalo Pereira, Editor-in-Chief of Historia NG, will share insights into creating and launching a magazine media brand that spans continents. 

In a session brought to you by Glide Publishing Platform, Andy Marcharg, CTO at Hello! and ¡HOLA! in the UK, will tell you why and how it is “all change” at these long-established global brands.

4. STORYTELLING, AUDIENCES and COMMUNITIES:

Storytelling:

With its focus on transparent audio journalism, Zetland burst onto the scene in Denmark around a decade ago. CEO Tav Klitgaard will be in Cascais to talk about using AI and other technologies to elevate their storytelling.

Podcasts have now been a hot topic for several years. But while some sizzle, others fizzle. Ileana Grabitz, Head of the Department of Politics, Economics and Society at ZEIT Online, will share the secret of their successful “Das Politikteil”, which has developed a loyal weekly listenership of the 100,000s.

Advantage CS brings us a story on developing an unbiased consumer product journalism model. Daniel Heffernan, VP and Chief Product Officer of Advantage CS in the USA will interview Claudia Maia, Editor-in-Chief of Deco Protesto in Portugal, on the topic.

Community or local journalism is arguably one of the most disrupted sectors in media. In some markets, it hardly ever came off the ground. Report for the world’s mission is to connect local newsrooms with global conversations. Preethi Nallu, Global Director based in Mexico, will be at Congress to tell attendees more about how they are harnessing storytelling to empower a new generation of community journalists.

Generations:

From Boomers to Zoomers, Gen X-ers to Millennials and Gen A, we love talking about different generations, their habits and views and their engagement with media.

At Congress, Michael Clinton, Author of ROAR and former President of Hearst Magazines in the USA, will talk about why “retirement age” in the traditional sense is the antithesis of what is happening today. He will discuss why 50 is the start of the second half of your career. He will share why media bosses should include the 50+ segment in their future thinking.

At the other side of the spectrum, Yoof Agency‘s co-founders, Pierre Caulliez and Martynas Vanagras, will join us to talk about how Gen A and Gen Z engage with storytelling, helping you to think about what your Storytelling Playbook for these generations should include. Strap yourselves in for a high-energy, highly interactive session of a different kind.

Communities:

Natasha Christie-Miller, CEO of Ascential Intelligence, will share insights on data-driven community building from the World of B2B media.

It’s hard to argue against the ability of the gaming industry to create and develop passionate fan communities. Dom Needler, Head of Operations, Gfinity in the UK, will share successful strategies of the gaming industry in developing engaged, thriving communities.

Audience retention:

Every year, Pugpig researches the digital media landscape, trends and online behaviours. CEO Jonny Kaldor will share the latest findings at Congress, showcasing proven methods for maximising audience retention.

5. MONETISATION:

Diversified revenues:

Jens Müffelmann, Executive Chairman, Bonnier LLC, will discuss harnessing your audience’s passions to generate diversified revenues.

Subscriptions:

Kerin O’Connor, the former CEO of The Week, The Week Jr and Moneyweek and now Co-founder of strategic consultancy Atlas, will discuss how publishers can use the power of their brands to build sustainable subscription businesses.

Turning our eyes to subscription newsletters, Substack‘s Reid DeRamus will speak to The Rebooting‘s Brian Morrissey about maximising customer lifetime value and the KPIs impacting CLV.

Madeleine White, Head of International at Poool and Co-Editor-in-Chief of The Audiencers in France will showcase how ELLE magazine increased digital conversion rates by 250 per cent.

Advertising:

Due to the economic downturn, advertising in the USA is limping. However, the media sector should be ready for when things start to turn. American advertising guru Jim Elliot will show through empirical data what advertisers will be buying once the economy improves.

SJC Media‘s Jacqueline Loch, EVP of Social and Emerging Platforms at the Canadian media giant, will share insight into a new value proposition model to develop scalable new revenue streams for authoritative media brands.

Retail media advertising is a significant opportunity. Wunderman Thompson Commerce‘s Kiessé Lamour will be at Congress to tell more about this opportunity and provide publishers with a guide on capitalising on the growing trend.

Licensing:

Angie Byun, CEO of AB World and former Condé Nast international executive, will explain how South Korean content has taken the world by storm on services like Netflix–and what native language with designs on internationalising through licensing and syndication can learn from it.

Michelle Myers, Global Revenue officer of Wright’s Media in the USA, will be in conversation with Alastair Lewis, MD of FIPP Consulting in the UK, about new market trends and opportunities developing in content licensing.

Commerce:

Former FIPP Rising Star winner and Editor-in-Chief of TRUELOVE at Media24 in South Africa will talk to Charlotte Ricca, Performance Psychologist, Podcaster and Di5rupt Interviewer, in a session titled, From Pages to Purchases. Here she will share how innovative magazine media storytelling drives e-commerce and profitability.

Jan Thorsen, CEO of Aller X and Labrador, Norway, will discuss the value of purpose-driven content and share an example of how they made USD 80k off only one article. Jan will speak to Damin Radcliffe, Professor in Journalism at Oregon University and Fellow at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University, USA.

6. INNOVATION and ENTREPRENEURSHIP:

No matter the socio-political and economic environment, innovation should always continue. Juan Señor, President of INNOVATION Media Consulting, will share the best innovation examples worldwide and explain how companies use challenging environments to create new opportunities.

With lines between media types continuing to blur, Carolin Hulshof-Pol, CEO of Axel Springer‘s WELT Group, will explain how they are unlocking the power of a 360º media group through innovative and proven initiatives.

Gustavo Guzmán Favela, CEO of Capital Digital in Mexico, will share how they are challenging norms by creating audience feedback loops for product development and expansion into new Latin American markets.

Abdullah AlOlayan, CEO, and Maher Saleem, COO at Ananas Media in Saudi Arabia, will discuss their efforts to pioneer media entrepreneurship in a rapidly evolving market.

7. LAST BUT NOT LEAST: YOU

Finally, to close out Congress 2023, FIPP President and CEO James Hewes will be on stage with Colin Morrison OBE, Director, Consultant and Investor and Editor-Publisher of Flashes & Flames, the subscription-only global media intelligence weekly newsletter. The main focus of the closing slot is to allow attendees time to ask Colin for his interpretations of the top themes that emerged from Congress.

* We have a few speaking slots remaining where we await details from the speakers confirmed. These will be updated soon, and the agenda will then be closed.

The 45th FIPP World Media Congress offers a time and place for you to “be there”. But before diving into the article, you can sign up here to join us in Cascais from 6-8 June. Also read:

• The Art and Science of “being there“.