 
Earl Wilkinson: The Reinvention of Newspapers As newspapers pivot from a recession that has accelerated the digital disruption among consumers and advertisers, Earl Wilkinson, executive director of the International Newsmedia Marketing Association, says our industry must dismiss the myths weighting us down. At SNPA's News Industry Summit, set for Oct. 18-20 in Naples, Wilkinson will talk about how newspapers are reinventing themselves as a “hybrid medium” delivering local audiences for advertisers, creating various new business models built on a re-evaluation of content values for consumers, and how this industry must brace for more disruptive “revolutions” to come in 2011-2015.
Wilkinson joined the staff of INMA in 1990 as publications editor, and was appointed executive director and CEO in 1992. During his 19 years with the Dallas-based INMA, he has helped transform the association into one of the world's fastest-growing and most influential press associations. He has logged nearly 3 million air miles visiting the leading newspaper companies in 46 countries: Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America and the South Pacific. His broad perspective is unique in the newsmedia industry. His mix of global trend-spotting with passion for newspapers and a wry Texas wit make him one of the most popular speakers at newspapers and newspaper industry conferences. Wilkinson has spoken at more than 100 newspaper industry conferences, as well as dozens of corporate boards and town-hall meetings with newspaper employees and college campuses. Wilkinson was honored for his work with the 2005 Silver Shovel Award for meritorious service to the global newspaper industry, as well as the 2001 Golden Tie Award for contributions made to the European newspaper industry. A native of the Northeast Texas city of Tyler, Wilkinson's professional career began in 1982 as a reporter with the Smith County Weekly, a 4,000-circulation weekly newspaper in the Tyler area. Between 1984 and 1988, he served as a reporter, editor, business editor and political editor of the Tyler Morning Telegraph, a 50,000-circulation daily newspaper.
A graduate of the University of Texas (Tyler) and the Institute on Political Journalism (Washington, D.C.), he later worked as press secretary and in communications capacities for the congressional campaign of Hampton Hodges (R-Texas), and the Washington, D.C.-based congressional staffs of U.S. Rep. Tom Tauke (R-Iowa) and U.S. Rep. Ralph M. Hall (D-Texas). His hobbies are reflective of his professional background which include an insatiable appetite for media studies, politics, newspapers, the Internet and global travel. Lately, he can be found trying to figure out the emerging social networking craze on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Plaxo, among others.
Gordon Borrell:
The Rebound of the Newspaper Business During next month's SNPA News Industry Summit, Gordon Borrell, CEO of Borrell Associates, will describe the engine behind his company’s predictions, fueled by some of the country’s leading advertising experts, including last year’s NAA lifetime achievement award winner, researcher Kip Cassino. He also will give a glimpse of newspapers’ future – a world where Borrell believes many will thrive, but some will necessarily die. Gordon Borrell is one of the media industry’s leading analysts and is ranked in the top 2 percent among Gerson Lehrman Group’s 150,000 consultants worldwide. He is quoted frequently in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Ad Age, Forbes and other publications and has appeared on CNN and other TV and radio programs discussing trends in local media. Prior to starting Borrell Associates, Borrell was vice president for new media for Landmark Communications, where he worked for 22 years. He started his career as a reporter and editor for Landmark’s newspaper, The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Va. In 1989, he began pioneering interactive ventures for Landmark and helped the company establish the first TV and newspaper Web sites on the Internet. He conceptualized and helped create InfiNet, an Internet access and hosting company now owned by Gannett Co. He is past president of the Newspaper Association of America’s New Media Federation and was nominated for NAA’s New Media Pioneer of the Year in 2002. Registration A full conference registration for SNPA members is $595. Supplier companies also have the opportunity to host a tabletop display at the conference.
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