Print is dead! Long live print!

Warren Buffett owns 60 newspapers. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, surely the archetype of digital transformation, spent over R2,5 billion to buy The Washington Post. Iqbal Surve paid R2 billion for Independent News & Media South Africa.

People are paying for quality news and views, especially business news. Even corporate newsletters can play a similar role of interpreting information for employees.

Roger Black, one of the best-known publication designers, will be in South Africa on 17 October to share his experience in developing the best magazines on all media platforms*.

As Group Creative Director of Edipresse Asia, Roger Black was appointed primarily because "the industry is rapidly changing, and we reached out to a designer who is famous for adapting quickly to change, and often anticipating it," according to CEO, Barrie C. Goodridge.

"The opportunity with Edipresse just became too compelling to turn down," says Roger. "The group has made a beachhead at the high end of the most exciting market in the world. This is a big challenge, to develop the best magazines on all platforms in China and throughout Southeast Asia."

While the internet has changed publishing business models, people are still reading magazines and newspapers. Sure, there's a digital revolution being fought tweet and mail. Some are embracing it freely; others are putting up paywalls.

But beyond the din there's a quiet revolution happening within the print world.

Its strategy is content and design, traditional principles for cutting through the clutter, whatever the medium.

A one-day workshop, organised by content specialist, Words'Worth, will help unpack the decision-making process between print and digital.

Roger Black, who has designed magazines like Rolling Stone and Esquire, newspapers like The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times, and web sites like MSNBC and Bloomberg, will talk about how he's trying to drive new life to print. And he'll show how publications can push their content to multiple targets - PCs, laptops, tablets and phones. All at the same time.

Other local experts will share their experience on how they have invigorated print and jumped onto the digital platform with an even sassier version; copyright and data privacy in the digital world; how creative work can put a smile on the financial director's face and how to make money out of digital.

* Catch Roger Black at the one-day workshop, D-Day!

Date: Thursday, 17 October 2013
Time: 9am - 4pm
Place: The Maslow, Corner Grayston Drive & Rivonia Road, Sandton
Price: R3 650 (ex VAT) per person
RSVP: az.oc.tneveyad-d@pvsr

D-Day! is organised by Words'Worth, the most-awarded corporate publisher in South Africa.
www.words-worth.co.za