SIPA UK Blog

SIPA UK conference starts today

Today marks the start of the SIPA UK's Annual conference with roundtables today and the main conference tomorrow. You can download the full brochure here.

This morning there's a Marketing Directors' Forum and later on, I am running a roundtable on International Marketing, which will cover the following:

Logistical issues offline and online
Delivery of products, correctly formatting order forms, charging for shipping etc

Language and cultural issues
Language barriers, should you translate, differences in US/UK english, format preference in different countries

Global v multi-national approaches
Does one size fits all approach work? Segmenting your database etc.

Maintaining international databases and lead generation
Where to find lists that work, how to build an international database

Currencies, pricing, order processing
Which currencies should you offer, how should you determine pricing?

Local marketing tactics
Using a local agent, local telemarketing, talking to customers, tradeshows etc

Marketing and the law
The do’s and don’t of international marketing, what to watch out for

Should be a great session and a fantastic conference, so see you there.

Robin.

Why are social networks so addictive?

Judy Gombita kindly shared the following link from LinkedIn that posed the great question: 'What makes social networking so addictive?'

The answer it seems can be summarized as follows (in no particular order):

1. Collecting contacts is like collecting stamps, comic books, or anything else, it's a hobby. The more you have the happier you feel. (really!?)
2. We are social beings: we use technology to amplify or simulate social contact. Humans crave visibility and acceptance from others.
3. It's quicker to network on line: leaving your home/office is old school. Why risk catching a cold when you can make new contacts the easy way.
4. Expanding your sphere of influence: Social Networking tends to fullfill a desire for influence and approval by allowing individuals to monitor and increase their influence within their peer groups.
5. Reconnecting with old contacts: it's a great way of finding former colleagues and contacts you have lost touch with.
6. Connecting with like-minded people anywhere in the world: it really does make geography a little irrelevant when you can talk shop with someone you'll never meet in a country you can't find on a map.
7. And lastly, because it's fun. Why else would I still be writing this gone 8.30pm? (Don't answer that).

Robin.

Watch the video interviews from SIPA Washington

Andy McLaughlin subjected four oh-so lucky volunteers to the full treatment of being interviewed for his video log of the SIPA Washington conference. The links take you through to the YouTube videos.

His plucky victims included:

Bruce Guzowski, CEO of HCPro talking about 'Mergers and Acquisitions for Specialised Information Publishers'

Helen Hoart from Stay Well Publishing and Margie Weiner from Decision Health, a UCG company talking about 'Has the reader changed?'

And your very own...Robin Crumby, Managing Director of Melcrum talking about 'The impact of social networking'

Enjoy.

Blogs & Social Media Forum

Yesterday the newly acquired VNU division of Incisive Media hosted our 2nd Blogs & Social Media Forum. It was a fantastic event which, unfortunately, I only managed to stay for the morning of.

Some of the key takeaways for me were:

1) The use of blogging and social media technology within all of our businesses is no longer a 'nice to have' or a whizzy geeky add on. Blogs are mainstream communication channels and when used properly can generate significant marketing and search exposure.

2) The prevalence and reach of blogs will continue to put pressure on paid content. One of my colleagues in the US always uses the phrase that content 'wants to be free'. The new waves of citizen journalism and efficient distribution mechanisms mean that it is increasingly hard to compete on (and charge for) news.

3) Embracing blogs, social media and user generated content means giving up large elements of control. This is a very uncomfortable things for larger corporates to do - especially when they are public companies. The view of the panelists was that you had to accept mistakes will be made and content will be posted that you'd prefer wasn't.

4) The software to implement some of this technology is cheap. The Economist were using a service called Pluck. It was the same service that USA Today had implemented in a fundamental revamp of how their news was displayed. Look at the way in which they embed personalisation, recommendation and feedback into every element of their new site.

One final point made by Ben Edwards, the Publisher of Economist.com was that in order to get momentum behind blogs an element of compulsion was important. He set minimum posting guidelines for everyone on the team who contributed - maybe a lesson for us here at SIPA UK?

Rory Brown, Incisive Media.

Miss it - miss out

So having made bold claims about writing 'live' from the conference, I failed miserably. Too busy scribbling down ideas to share them. And oh-so quick, I am now home again after a whirlwind tour.

There were a pitiful number of Brits in attendance. Less than 5, compared to more than 35 from Germany and VNR, courtesy of Helmut Graf's hard work. The consensus is that the June 27 UK SIPA event is too close to the Washington International conference, forcing people to choose on both sides of the Atlantic.

The key themes of the event and the challenges rearing their ugly heads were:

1. What does user-generated content mean for the paid content model? How do you mesh them together and make money from social networks, blogs and podcasts?
2. Google: great presentation from their head of content partnerships showcasing how specialised publishers can get better visibility for their content and better results.
3. Online training: going beyond audio conferences and webinars to deliver certified training programmes.

I will write up my stuff and share some of the highlights at the SIPA London event on June 27th. See you there.

Robin.

Reporting live from Washington

Well, OK, not quite live, but I am in Washington and still a-live after wandering the streets trying to find my hotel late last night after a sumptuous SIPA speakers' dinner with a Southern flavour.

Yesterday was day one of the 30th International Specialized Information Publishers' Association. Not only is attendance the highest for a number of years, if not ever, at over 625 delegates from around the world. Including, what seems like half of Germany. But the program looks better than ever.

Tip of the hat goes to our sister site, the new official SIPA blog. Nice to see our American cousins finally catching up with their European counterparts!

More soon from your Washington correspondent.

Robin.