Christian Van Thillo, CEO of De Persgroep, will discuss what worked and what didn't after the merger of Aurex, De Morgen and Magnet Magazines into De Persgroep in November 2006.
"The main objective was not to improve the overall bottom line by cost-cutting through synergies, but to create a new, more flexible organisation that would be better suited to effectively develop our online strategy and that would be better adapted to serve our advertisers, who are asking for multimedia solutions," says Van Thillo.
The transformation of De Persgroep is part of a larger transformation of the newspaper industry, sparked by the opportunities to offer newspaper content across many media platforms. This transformation is the foundation of the 2008 Congress, which takes the theme, "Newspapers: A Multimedia, Growth Business."
The Congress, along with the World Editors Forum and Info Services Expo, is an annual, global meetings of the world's press. More than 1500 publishers, chief editors, CEOs, MDs and other senior newspaper executives and their guests are expected in Sweden for the events. Last year it was held in Cape Town, South Africa. Full details are available at www.wansweden2008.com
In addition to Van Thillo, confirmed speakers for the congress include:
The congress will also include the annual World Press Trends update, which provides a statistical snapshot of circulation, readership, advertising and other newspaper trends; a session on the latest research about the media habits of younger readers; a primer on digital developments entitled "Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Web 2.0 but Didn't Dare Ask"; and the 2008 Global Report on Innovations in Newspapers, presented by the Innovation International Media Consulting Group.
The congress will also provide a full programme of social events.
The congress business sessions will focus on the following themes:
Sponsors for the events now include Volvo, Holmen Paper, SAS, Bonnier, the Stampen Group and Pricewaterhouse Coopers.
• The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom and the professional and business interests of newspapers world-wide. Representing 18 000 newspapers, its membership includes 77 national newspaper associations, newspaper companies and individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 12 news agencies and 11 regional and world-wide press groups.