
Around 100 delegates
attended the third IPF Seminar which kicked off with black tie
dinner on Monday evening followed by the main conference, chaired
by Joanna Parlby,
Newark Advertiser joint managing
director, on Tuesday.
Delegates at the De Vere Belton Woods Hotel, near Grantham,
enjoyed a lively set of presentations which were heavily focused on
multi-media developments across the industry.
Following introductions from Joanna Parlby and Adrian Worsley,
managing director of Clacksons, presentations included an editors’
section where four editors discussed how they are addressing
convergence and multi-media development in their own markets.
Research updates included an overview of research project
the wanted ads Stage III from NS marketing director Robert
Ray, an overview of developments in mobile marketing, and an
overview of the Newbury Weekly News Group convergence plan.

Carol Alexander, Central
Office of Information media manager, presented an overview of how
COI works and challenged the industry to even better understand
their communications challenges and deliver even more innovative
and engaging solutions.
Keynote speaker for the day was Will Lewis, Daily
Telegraph editor.
Delegate Terry Hall, CN Group
publishing managing director, said the seminar was:
“Full of great ideas, opportunities and above all, proof that
we are now truly multi-media publishers.”
Amanda Gee, operations
director, Berkshire Media Group added:
“As always, the conference enables the independents to network,
share ideas and work together to face some of the challenges
identified.”
The main presentations were:
- Editors’ section: Simon Irwin, Kent Messenger; Doug Melloy,
Rotherham Advertiser; Brien Beharrell, Newbury Weekly News
Group; Don Hale, North Wales Living
- Working with national representation to achieve maximum
results: Simon Winten, Clacksons and Rachel Brown, Newark
Advertiser
- The wanted ads Stage III overview: Robert Ray, NS
- Mobile marketing: Mark Challinor, G8Wave
- Cross-platform selling: Jeremy Blake and Bob Morrell, Reality
Training
- Update on convergence plan: Martin Robertshaw, Newbury Weekly
News Group
- Overview of COI: Carol Fisher, COI
- Ideas section
- Keynote speech
The seminar was headline sponsored by Clacksons and further
supported by UPM, Mortons Print Ltd, Dawson News, Communications
Clinic and Interviewing Services, Mistral European Holidays, The
Newark Advertiser Group and Garnett Dickinson Digital.