-
You can focus on your issues--local station issues: This is the first conference in public broadcasting history to focus on local stations issues: how can you extend and enhance your community service through your website, your stream and your online services.
-
You'll hear great speakers. Starting with keynote from Rob Curley, you can hear (and meet) people who are defining the online and multi-media world. Rob, alone, is worth the price of admission. And you can spend some quality time with him in the small group Q&A following his keynote. That's just the first two sessions.
-
You'll get the big picture. Our national research panel features some the nation's leading firms (Wednesday) to help you follow the evolution of this complex new media landscape.
-
You can learn the details what's really going on--at station sites. Find out--for the first time--how people are actually using local station sites. We'll hear the first public report from iTAP, a 30-station web-metrics project, organized by IMA and NPR (Thursday). The first "apples-to-apples" comparison of traffic and site use.
-
You can learn what people want from public broadcasting websites. Finally, we'll hear a report on what your end-users are looking for from your station website? Could anything be more important than that? Wednesday, we'll present the first public report on 2000-person re-contact survey, commissioned by PRI.
-
You can reduce your costs. This is the only conference in public broadcasting that could reduce your streaming costs. We'll introduce you to the vendors. We'll talk about how you can acquire bandwidth at the lowest cost and use it as efficiently as possible (Thursday).
-
Your registration will be an investment. You can (and you should!) make your money back by developing the four streams of online revenue: online memberships (3 sessions, Thursday), national and local corporate support for your web site (Wednesday), online auctions (two sessions on Thursday, one Friday), and the development of paid content (one general session Thursday).
-
You'll get the most advanced information. Our pre-conference e-mail sessions are the most advanced e-marketing seminar in public broadcasting, bar none. You'll hear from people who really are on the cutting edge of community journalism, blogging, podcasting, CSS design, usability, and large system design.
-
You can help shape system strategy. On Friday, we will hold "Working Groups" on news and election coverage, music services, the iTAP project, and Revenue development. These sessions will set the IMA agenda for 2005.
-
You can get the information you need to compete. This conference is preparing you for the new media competiton that has already started: We are already "the Internet era." Your listeners and viewers are moving away from "Your Time" broadcasting to "My Time"--on-demand use of media "when I want it, the way I want it." This conference will help you meet that challenge.
