Ifra resumes control of digital publishing conference

"This is the 14th year for Beyond, going back to even two years before the worldwide web was created," says Reiner Mittelbach, CEO of Ifra, the conference's organisers.

Tightly focused

"Over these years, Beyond the Printed Word has become the pre-eminent informational and networking venue for people whose jobs it is to make digital publishing work for their media houses. That is because Ifra has always insisted on a tightly focused program providing solid takeaway value in terms of ideas and solutions. The Beyond audience is not interested in tangential matters and fads. They are after a pure play conference about the real business of publishing online and mobile."

Ifra began Beyond the Printed Word in 1992. Even during a period when co-sponsors attached their names and logos to the event, Ifra was always the lead organiser and solely responsible for assembling the industry-defining program of expert speakers and case studies.

As of this 2006 conference, Ifra is again the exclusive organiser of Beyond the Printed Word - World Digital Publishing Conference. That makes it even easier now for the association to use its network of more than 3000 members in about 80 countries to identify and present the very latest innovations and top people in digital publishing. It also allows Ifra to continue to pursue its mission of injecting new knowledge into publishing industry discussions rather than just dredging up the same speakers and cases with which everyone is already familiar.

Responsible for Beyond the Printed Word is Ifra's senior programme manager Melanie Shah. She points to the planned New News Formats session at the November 2006 conference as a perfect example of this.

Teen testing

"We are calling it 'New News Formats - Tried and Tested,'" Shah says. "We are getting a group of 14 - 16 year olds to test out newspaper services on different formats such as mobile services, podcasts, video, web TV, online and print. They are one of the hot target markets, so let's find out from them what's hot, what's not and what we should be doing better."

According to events director Heide Orlich, Beyond the Printed Word is one a series of programmes for the increasingly convergent publishing community that only Ifra has the reach and expertise to present. "Beyond pairs, for instance, with the annual Ifra Newsroom Summit, which draws on our success with the IfraNewsplex multiple-media training and research centre," comments Orlich.

"Because of that, the Newsroom Summit can focus very strongly on editorial strategies, staff reorganisation, cultural change in the newsroom and training issues. Both Beyond and the Summit naturally deal with new technology developments, since technical expertise is at the core of everything Ifra does."

The 4th annual Ifra Newsroom Summit is scheduled 19 - 20 April 2007 in Paris.

For more information or to register for the 2006 Beyond the Printed Word - World Digital Publishing Conference, visit www.ifra.com/beyond, or contact the Ifra Events team at or tel +49 6151 733 6. The 2005 Beyond the Printed Word conference sold out in advance.