The first ever Regional Magazines Summit takes place in London on October 3rd. It has been organised by the PPA as part of a new strategy of looking at regional glossies as a sector in their own right.
Although the programme lists a talk by Max Clifford on “the important role regional magazines can play in their local community”, this event is definitely about the business side of things. Even if the programme didn’t state explicitly that attendees will be “publishers, editors and commercial executives”, you might guess as much from the location: Le Meridien in central London.
It will be interesting to see what effect this new event – or, rather, the thinking behind it – will have for journalists working on regional magazines. The new business focus on regional magazine publishing could mean that new investment is on the way, or it could mean that standards and costs will be cut in an attempt to improve advertising ROI.
It seems obvious that any new focus on the regional magazines sector will involve experimentation with web content, although different publications will approach this in different ways. Some publishers will have already tried blogging, video and podcasting and will be looking for the next cutting-edge thing, while others will only be comfortable with faithfully reproducing the print content online. (I would also predict that trendier publishers will describe what they’re doing in toe-curlingly pretentious or inaccurate ways, so we’ll hear a lot about “digital convergence” and “multiplatforming”.)
Digital expansion might mean extra investment for staff and/or training, but the experience of regional newspapers suggests that this is by no means certain.
The PPA event includes a talk by Ian Davies of Archant which would probably help journalists predict how publishers will expand their web presence and what the implications will be for writers and photographers in regional offices. Unfortunately, the price of entry (£165 plus VAT for non-PPA members) and the focus on advertising will probably ensure that the event is a journalist-free zone.
(Via Media Monkey.)