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I had the privilege of speaking this morning at an Association Trends panel on "Doing the Digital Dance" - a roundtable focusing on best practices in association digital publishing.

Overall, there was a very interesting discussion around what the future truly holds in eMedia publishing opportunities. Of the 50 or so people in attendance, about half had not started an eMedia effort.

One of the topics that came up was the digital magazine as a replacement for a traditional print magazine. I don't think that will ever happen. Frankly, the digital magazine is a temporary solution, at best. Don't get me wrong...the digital magazine is much better than having a pdf. Tracking is outstanding. When used for audience development and international distribution, it's near perfect. It's also great as a teaser to get people to subscribe to receive the print publication.

Still, the best metrics we've seen is about 15% of the total print distribution subscribe and open a digital version.

But let's put it this way...the digital magazine is very similar to taking a radio broadcast and putting it on the television. Just doesn't seem to work. People digest content much differently on the web than they do in print. Yes, it's great that the digital version is interactive (can jump from one page to another with ease), but people don't read a digital magazine the same as they do in print. Long-form content, like that in print publications, is better read in a printed format. People use the web to get exact information quickly. Even the twenty-somethings I know print out an article that goes beyond the viewable screen.

So, for now, it's fine to have available...a great value in many cases...but it IS temporary. A better idea is to take the long-form content from your print publication and integrate it into vertical "chunks" on your web site or microsite.

Baby steps are still needed in this business...we just take them much quicker in the ever-changing world of eMedia publishing.

Labels: Association Trends, digital magazines, eMedia

In the Monday (October 23) issue of the Wall Street Journal, there was a short article in the Media & Marketing section about interactive jobs in media. Overall, the average salaries for interactive jobs in the advertising industry are soaring. The article sites that jobs such as creative director, client services director, project manager, designer, copywriter and media planner are up by an average of 30 to 60%, just from 2005.

The article also mentions that the problem with eMedia right now isn't the technology or that companies don't have budgets (both are pretty strong right now). The problem is the lack of talent and expertise, in both sales and production, when it comes to digital media.

The problem grows increasingly worse when you look at companies like Google picking off people left and right (and they don't necessarily have to pay higher to get those people). This leaves smaller media companies at a severe disadvantage to find good talent (especially with Google's price looking to soar over $500 per share).

To combat this, you will most likely see smaller firms invest heavily in eMedia training.

For any people in college or looking for a career change - get into eMedia now. You will have a home for quite a while.

Labels: eMedia, marketing jobs

Kudos to Ford and it's "Bold Moves" online documentary series, available at www.fordboldmoves.com. In a truly scary time to be a Ford stakeholder, Ford, in their own words, "pulls back the curtain," to show how the company is trying to overcome their loss of market share (including a 3Q loss of 5.8 billion). Excellent move to combat the growing pessimism that is revolving around Ford (my father worked over 25 years at Ford...I hear it all the time).

Interested to see how Ford evaluates its effectiveness. Stay tuned!

Labels: branded content, eMedia