Los Angeles, CA – Senior executives of B-to-B publications will share their “pain points” on October 14-15 when the American Business Media (ABM) and Western Publications Association (WPA) host an executive roundtable in Southern California.The event includes a three-hour executive roundtable at the Casa del Mar Hotel in Santa Monica on October 14, followed by a forum on October 15 at the University of Southern California.
The Santa Monica event, which is open only to senior level publishing executives, will include discussions on transforming your workforce; transitioning magazines from a print format to digital; building market share; and increasing your top and bottom lines. The sessions will be facilitated by Nick Ferrari, ABM executive vice president of business development, and Peter Craig, a partner in the media consulting firm Bay Sherman & Craig, LLP.
The discussions will be highly interactive in a relaxed environment. The event runs from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. on October 14 and is $75 for members of the two associations and $95 for nonmembers.
Speakers at the USC event the next day include Canon Communications CEO Charles McCurdy and Senior Vice President of Publications Ron Wall; Tony Uphoff, CEO of Techweb; Amy Cosper, vice president and content director for Entrepreneur Magazine, and Aaron Kahlow, founder and chairman of Online Marketing Summit. Discussion topics include:
• How companies are successfully transitioning into digital business models;
• How to create a successful integrated marketing and sales approach;
• How to attract the best and brightest talent from some of the top California universities.
The October 15 event will be held 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Davidson Executive Conference Center on the USC campus in Los Angeles. The USC event is free of charge to ABM and WPA members; $175 for non-members. Visit www.wpa-online.org to register.
The two events come in the midst of some uncertain times for B-to-B publishers. The ABM reported September 16 that B-to-B magazine revenues for the first half of 2008 were down 6% compared to the first half of 2007. First-half trade show revenues slipped 1%.
Reach WPA registration at (805) 495-1863 or wpa@wpa-online.org; ABM registration at (212) 661-6360 info@abmmail.com