America Latina Conference to showcase innovative newspaper spirit

"People all over the world need to take a look south and see what is taking place in Latin America," he says. "The word I would use would be 'arriba' to describe the vibrancy and excitement of what is going on there."

Garcia and a who's who from the region and around the world will be speaking at the second edition of the America Latina conference, organised by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA).

There is still time to join them; for full details and registration information, go to http://www.wan-ifra.org/node/37200.

The Copesa media company in Chile, one of the featured case studies of the conference, exemplifies the innovative spirit that many newspapers are embracing in the region. Its "learn from our own mistakes" approach has resulted in a doubling of turnover, significantly more advertising income, subscriptions up by a factor of 20 and costs down by 13 percent.

Over the past six years, the publisher of the daily newspaper La Tercera has transformed from a "traditional" media company in Chile to that of a multimedia leader on the South American continent. Today, its media portfolio consists of five newspapers, three magazines, six radio stations, one TV station and some 15 digital offerings. And they did it under the strategic motto of "courage to take risks."

"It's not that we like to make mistakes, just that we know that it goes with the business," says Max Sichel, managing director of Copesa and speaker during a session on innovative marketing and advertising. "What is special about our approach is not that we make mistakes, but that we learn from them."

Major issues

The two-day conference will tackle the major issues facing publishers, featuring best-practise case studies and advisory sessions on: Business Models and Trends; Young Readers and Strategies to Attract the Audiences of the 21st Century; Successful Models in Latin America; Newspaper Production; Successful Digital Strategies; and Innovative Marketing and Advertising.

Last year's inaugural event highlighted how the dual challenges of business and press freedom pressures are indeed intertwined in the region. In addition, this year a special session will be dedicated to panel discussions on Press Freedom in Latin America: New Tools for the Challenges in the Region.

Other speakers on the programme include:

• Ricardo Gandour, content director, O Estado, Brazil, who will show how O Estado de São Paulo is growing its audience on digital and print platforms and how the different media complement each other.
  
• Juan Luis Moreno, digital strategy manager, Vocento, Spain, who will present all the varied challenges and opportunities of working with digital kiosks.
• Carlos Muller, communications manager, Associacão Nacional de Jornais - ANJ, Brazil, who will give an overview of the publishing industry in Latin América, presenting numerous strategies and business models used for newspapers and magazines in the region.
  
• Jack Griffin, president, Empirical Media Advisors, USA, who will talk about how to create transformational models for journalism that embrace passion, risk taking, adaptability and knowing your strengths.
  
• Patricio Moreno, marketing director, El Mercurio, who will show how this daily newspaper in Chile is extending its brand and creating audience loyalty.
  
• Ricardo Castellanos, VP business development, Cadena Capriles, Venezuela, who will make his case about how tablets are and should be at the centre of multimedia transformation.
  
• Peter Zollman, founding principal, Advanced Interactive Media Group, USA, who will discuss how classified advertising has changed dramatically and what publishers can actually do to still cash in.

And much more. For full details on the programme or to register, go to http://www.wan-ifra.org/node/37200.