Innovations in Digital Publishing
US Study Tour
Chicago and West Coast
26 November - 1 December, 2006
Join us on our US Study Tour to America's top newspaper and web
technology companies. Share ideas and experiences with some of the
leading players in the digital world and return home with a new focus
on how to ensure a successful future in a rapidly changing media
environment.
Programme
Day 1
Sunday, 26 November : Chicago
Participants arrive in Chicago. Transport to the Orrington Hotel, 1710 Orrington Avenue, Evanston, IL 60201
18h30 - Welcome cocktail in the hotel foyer.
19h15 - Coach transfer to Chicago
20h00 - Welcome dinner at the Everest Restaurant, Chicago Stock Exchange, 440 S. LaSalle St., 40th Floor, Chicago, IL 60605
Day 2
Monday, 27 November : Chicago
08h00 - Transfer to Chicago
09h00 - 12h00 - Visit to the Chicago Tribune
The Tribune has been a leader in online revenue making and cross-media
advertising. Chicago is the headquarters and strategic hub of several
major newspapers, both print and online, across the U.S. Participants
will learn about their editorial and advertising strategies.
12h00 - 13h30 - Lunch at the Chicago Tribune
13h30 - 15h00 - Classified Ventures
CEO Daniel Jauernig and other CV executives will
talk about the classifieds network, owned by the top six newspaper
chains in the U.S. The company owns U.S. nationwide classifieds
verticals Cars.com, Apartments.com, Homescape.com and HomeGain.com. CV
executives will present and discuss their challenges and successes on
the online classifieds fronts.
15h00 - Transfer to the Orrington Hotel
16h00 - Transfer to the Allen Centre, Northwestern University
16h15 - 21h00 - Northwestern University
Afternoon presentation, discussion and dinner with Mike Smith, Director
of the Media Management Institute at Northwestern University, and Mary
Nesbitt, Director of the Readership Institute. The group will
brainstorm strategies to reach and grow newspaper and online news
audiences for the future.
21h00 - Transfer to the Orrington Hotel
Day 3
Tuesday, 28 November : Seattle
05h30 - Transfer to Chicago airport
07h45 - 10h50 - Flight from Chicago to Seattle
11h15 - 12h30 - Transfer to Seattle
12h30 - 14h00 - Microsoft
Lunch presentation and discussion with an executive from Microsoft's Advanced Reading Technologies Group, which is making possible newspapers on tablet PCs, including the New York Times
14h00 - 17h30 - MSN
Visit to MSN, the second most trafficked website, and one of the most profitable Interactive companies, with revenues of more than $1 billion USD. MSN General Manager Steve Cvengros and a variety of MSN producers will lead the discussion on MSN.com's strategy for content and moneymaking.
17h30 - Transfer to the Seattle Hilton Hotel, 1301 6th Avenue, Seattle, Washington
20h00 - Dinner at Café Campagne Restaurant, 86 Pine Street, Seattle, Washington 98101
Day 4
Wednesday, 29 November : Seattle and San Jose
08h30 - 10h30 - The Seattle Times
Visit to the Seattle Times, where executives from both the Seattle Times and Seattletimes.com will share innovations in editorial and advertising strategies.
10h30 - Transfer to Seattle airport
12h45 - 14h55 - Flight from Seattle to San Jose
15h30 - Transfer to Palo Alto
16h00 - 21h30 - Stanford University
Special event - "Media Companies in an Era of Change" - at Stanford University's Cantor Centre for the Arts. A joint seminar and dinner with the prestigious Knight Stanford Fellows Programme.
21h30 - Transfer to the Fairmont San Jose Hotel, 170 South Market Street, San Jose, CA 95113
Day 5
Thursday, 30 November : Sacramento and San Jose
07h30 - Transfer to Sacramento
09h00 - 12h00 - McClatchy's
Morning visit to McClatchy's headquarters in Sacramento with CEO Gary Pruitt and Chris Hendricks, President of McClatchy Interactive. Executives from McClatchy, the largest newspaper chain in America, after its acquisition of many of Knight Ridder's newspapers this year, will discuss innovative strategies on the print and digital sides of the business.
12h00 - 14h00 - Transfer to Mountain View and lunch
14h00 - 21h00 - Google
A visit, including dinner, to Google's fascinating and foreboding 8,000-employee fortress in Mountain View. Participants will hear about the innovative product development process and of Google's many unique online advancements, including its latest $1.6 billion acquisition of youtube.com
21h00 - Transfer to the Fairmont San Jose Hotel
Day 6
Friday, 1 December : San Jose & San Francisco
08h30 - Transfer to Mountain View
09h00 - 12h00 - Yahoo!
Visit to Yahoo! the number one web site in the world in terms of traffic. Participants will go behind the scenes to see their impressive search functionality infrastructure with Yahoo!'s top news and business executives.
12h00 - Lunch
14h00 - Transfer to the Clift Hotel, 495 Geary Street, San Francisco, CA 94102
15h00 - 19h00 - Free time
19h00 - Farewell Dinner
Day 7
Saturday, 2 December
Optional free day in San Francisco
Price includes all domestic flights (business class) and transfers,
hotel accommodation in carefully selected 4 and 5 star hotels and all
meals. Flights to and from the United States are not included.
