Last week hundreds of media executives across the globe descended on Washington, DC for the 88^th INMA World Congress. Attendees and speakers discussed everything from new business and editorial practices to digital transformations and emerging trends.
PageSuite had the opportunity to exhibit at the show for the third consecutive year and once again found it extremely valuable to network with industry professionals and listen to presenters from leading publishers across the globe.
Hot topics at the event included current subscription model trends, alternative revenue models, digital transformation and so much more.
Highlights included a panel discussion between The Australian, Aftenposten and Politico who discussed Freemium, Metered and Hybrid subscription models. The Australian charges for premium content, Aftenposten offer 6 articles free a week and Politico Pro is completely locked down via a membership scheme. All publishers agreed that educating readers to pay and understanding their propensity to pay was key. If you succeed with this, you can create relationships with your readers that will last longer than a simple subscription.
The future landscape of digital was also a key talking point with The Atlantic, The Washington Post and NPR all discussing what their product teams have been focusing on as mobile usage starts to plateau. Unsurprisingly, the conversation focused on voice technologies explaining that they are growing and integrating faster than smartphones originally did. The three publishers also discussed AR (mixed reality), the future launch of 5G which is said to be 10x faster than what we already have and how these products are affecting our listening/reading behaviours.

The event was extremely thought-provoking and gave PageSuite a great opportunity to meet up and showcase our latest products to existing clients – who picked up a couple of awards and network with other publishers across the world.
For more insights from the INMA18 conference and video highlights from the Congress view here.
See you next year in New York!