PageSuite’s Travels Across the Pond to Visit our American Cousins

Attending conferences - it was work, honest!

At the end of September, a small team of PageSuite employees paid a visit to the States for two exhibitions. They started off in Chicago, with the Niche Digital Conference at the Millennium Knickerbocker hotel. The team then travelled to Philadelphia for the SNA conference in the Hyatt Regency hotel. The team also got the opportunity to travel to New York for some meetings before heading home.

Prize give-aways

Both conferences were a great success for both the attendees and the exhibitors. Each had very interesting conferences, as well as plenty of companies to speak to and a chance for the PageSuite team to meet with some existing clients. The Niche Digital Conference had prize give-aways from each exhibitor and an iPad give away from Niche Digital, so the attendees had a lot to look forward to. The SNA conference had an auction to raise money, with the exhibitors again giving away items to be auctioned. At both of the conferences, we offered free iPhone applications to the lucky winners.

And the winners are..

Congratulations to Breeze Valley, who won the auction at SNA and will have an app developed for a bargain price and also to Pharmaceutical Compounding, who won the app at the Niche Digital Conference. We look forward to working with both companies and helping create great opportunities. Thank you to all the newspaper and magazine companies that stopped by our stands and made the trip worthwhile.

Clarity Media Group launch free iPhone application for Washington area

Daily newspaper app launched for Washington Examiner

As more and more publishers are seeing the benefits of Smartphone applications, Clarity Media Group have launched an iPhone application for their daily newspaper, Washington Examiner. The app creates huge cross sales, advertising and revenue opportunities for Clarity Media. After the newspaper took steps in having twitter and facebook accounts, the iPhone app was the next logical step for the Washington Examiner.

Past and present editions

The local newspaper covers a variety of national and local topics for the Washington DC area. The app includes a digital replication of Washington Examiner’s print edition, where readers can not only read the latest edition, but choose to read any past edition in the archive as well. With exceptional zoom clarity and the ability to read in double page spread mode, the readers get the feel of the paper on their iPhone.

Other features

The app has an incredible search function which enables users to search through all the past and present editions of the paper, for specific stories of interest to them. Readers can also download, share and save editions and articles to read offline at another time. The app is available to download now from the iTunes store and is free of charge.

Windy City and Brotherly Love - Your PageSuite Globetrotters are in Town

Top Trios Trip - Fall in the USA

A three strong team, comprising of our MD, Sales Director and Client Services Manager, will be crossing the pond in a couple of weeks to attend two big industry events. Nathan, Chris and Emma (as they are less formally known!) will be showcasing our brand new digital magazine and newspaper software, cutting edge iPhone, Android and Blackberry applications... and the new big hitter for publishers, iPad and tablet apps.

New Niche - Digital Magazines in Chicago

Our first port of call will be the Niche Digital Conference, hosted by popular publishing aficionado, Carl Landau, aka the Grand Poobah! Niche’s event is especially designed for small to medium sized magazine publishers, with great sessions on mobile and page flip magazines, which sounded a perfect fit for our first ever event attendance.

We have always had a great presence within the UK medium-sized magazine market which is now growing rapidly in North America, so we are hugely excited about showcasing our market leading products and hopefully impressing our US publishing cousins.

PageSuite are a headline sponsor of the event, hosted at the Millennium Knickerbocker Hotel on September 20 and 21, so get in touch if you require a meeting or are keen to attending.

Suburban September - Publishing in Philly

PageSuite have long supported the Suburban Newspapers of America and their annual Publishers Conference, which this year is held at Hyatt Regency between 22 and 24 September. We have already partnered with the SNA to provide their digital edition and iPhone app, which are topics very much at the forefront of this year’s event and-line with our development strategy.

We are offering some unique opportunities to SNA members and attendees, including prizes and trials, bespoke webinars and training, each focused on the unique demands that regional, community and suburban newspapers face. Annual discussions on distribution, marketing and auditing are increasingly multi-channel, so we will be providing our expertise in how to best align print, web, digital and mobile models.

If you are interested in meeting with any of our team visiting the US, then please do get in touch as we would love to take you out for a coffee and bagel... Though we may stick to tea and crumpets!

Bringing the past to the present- The Review to process digital editions from 1893

Helping people find their roots

The Review, a Canadian weekly newspaper published every Wednesday, has been a PageSuite client since 2009. The community newspaper based near Ottawa is beginning to make all 117 years of their archive editions available. The Ottawa Valley is one of the earliest-settled parts of Canada so there is always great interest from people searching for their roots.

Combining print and digital

The newspaper, which began processing in 1893 is planning to make all 117 years of archive editions into digital editions. The Review selected PageSuite to process their archive editions for its ease of use and for its search and sharing capabilities. Another appeal of PageSuite for The Review was the opportunity to integrate and bundle this with their digital edition. They are also planning to upload historic photos to go along with the historic editions.

Louise Sproule, editor of The Review since 1992 says ‘We have had positive feedback from our clients about our digital edition. Our ultimate aim is to offer people the combo so that when they receive the paper edition, they have access to the digital edition’

Bringing history to life for locals

Archiving their back issues into a permanent resource has been an idea for years now. The hard copies that date back more than 100 years exist nowhere else so it is important to them to protect this history. Having the editions online will definitely make it more accessible for readers. The Review even has a waiting list of people who want to be notified the minute our archives go online.

Editor of The Review also adds ‘I have to say the service from PageSuite is outstanding: immediate, courteous and effective -- quite amazing and that counts for a lot’

Clever, Witty and Beautiful People Understand

Regional Publisher iPad App Debate

Last week, one of the UK's leading regional publishers KOS Media, now part of Archant Regional, launched their bespoke newspaper iPad application, which was developed by our team here. Some people (most likely those who are clever, witty and good looking) got it, others (most likely those who haven't even looked at an iPad or Smartphone, let alone the app) didn't.

The free iPad app, available from iTunes here, features live news, video, jobs, motors and property classified search, and over 16 local editions in our scrollable e-edition format - as per Metro UK, Scotsman and all our other apps to date. It is a stonking good application!

Location, Location, Location

In an article for Press Gazette Paul Stannard, Managing Director of KOS Media, said "As soon as we knew the iPad was set for release, we began working on an app with PageSuite. I am extremely pleased with the new app and it will offer huge advantages to our readers who have access to one." No doubt KOS Media's target market will have a great proportion of iPad users and make a huge success of it – London commuter belt, several Apple stores, higher than average disposable incomes and lovers of regional news.

Tackling Free Content - What's Your Model?

Comments on Hold The Front Page showed how some people are struggling with various free, paid for or data driven business models, and dare I say, moving with the times? The context to this debate is obvious - many publishers are increasingly competing against free content providers, be it BBC, Google or news aggregators… So, many publishers will have to tackle 'free content' head on to be a success and make new revenues through new channels, which are opportunities the iPad and mobile apps afford. Take a look at our latest mobile revenue pack for some good examples.
There's a Reason Why It's Only Two Cents Worth

So you've read the HTFP comments... Now 'Clicker' and 'Sly Dig' have had their couple of pennies worth, it's time for some fact. User volumes, engagement levels, time in app, pages consumed and every metric under the sun are going through the roof with mobile content. This ensures publishers can drive advertising and sponsorship to targeted and engaged customers – which is exactly what advertisers demand. You only need to look at the debates about measuring circulation and data to understand that engagement levels are increasingly prominent when compared to clicks and a simplistic head count.

Compared To Journalists Salaries

Another comment rants about iPad apps being a waste of money… the reality? Not a chance. Mobile apps can be developed at hugely competitive rates, and this negative remark is indeed a compliment, as 'Sly Dig' is suggesting the value is as much as a top journalists wage! Which we of course agree on, and then some!