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Opening event for the Product Development Series

Staying Ahead of the Game with outstanding product development


This event was held on Tuesday, 2 November 2021

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Product development has become critical to news media. Therefore, at NWE Academy we plan to offer a whole series of events and workshops on the topic of product development, specially designed for media houses that either want to start with product development or want to deepen their knowledge and practical skills in this area.

We started the series with this opening event on the 2nd of November 2021.

We continue with three specific workshops every Tuesday during the month of November, check them out on our Academyhttps://upgrademedia.fr/en/training/ page.

To the media industry, product development is quite new. Nevertheless, product development is at the core of any monetization strategy for media houses, it is indispensable.

What is a media product? It used to be quite simple: the media product used to be a newspaper for many centuries.

Today, digital products like newsletters, mobile apps, chat bots, project and event sites, and endless other formats are thinkable.

We will take a close look at what enables news media companies to create innovative and profitable products fast, which new roles emerge and how those products fit within the overall strategy.

Our programme

Welcome and Introduction

Ioana Sträter, Co-Founder, NWE
David Sallinen, Founder & CEO, NWE
Caroline Scott, Journalist, NWE

Keynote

Julia Shalet, The Product Doctor, UK

Best Practice

Kara Chiles, VP Consumer Products, Gannett, USA

Best Practice

Max Franke, Managing Director, Axel Springer

Technology Pitches

Peter Resele, Managing Director, COMYAN

Best Practice

Dmitry Shishkin, Digital Transformation & Content Strategy Expert, UK

Best Practice

Lianne Kerlin, Senior Research Scientist, BBC R&D

Best Practice

Ana Bakalinova, Head of Product, dmg media

Questions & Answers

Ioana Sträter, Co-Founder, NWE
Caroline Scott, Journalist, NWE

Wrap-Up and Closing of the Event

Why you should think about product development, too

Digital products require a different set of skills than those of a traditional reporter or editor.

This new role of product management as it relates to journalism, brings with it a new realm of functions and responsibilities in the service of digital platforms, products, data, and engagement. In addition to managing the technical aspects of a product, a product manager must also define the product’s role in the strategy of an organization.

Therefore, a product management mindset for the entire organization is increasingly important. The product manager broadly influences an organization’s commitment to innovation and digital culture, making it a valuable and critical function.

You will be inspired by best practice from top media and product developemt experts worldwide:

  • Mobile Strategy & Products
  • Customer Engagement & Product
  • Local Media Product Development

These were our expert speakers:

Julia Shalet

Product Doctor, Award-Winning Author, Lecturer at the University College, Course Director with the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), UK

Julia Shalet is an acclaimed innovator helping people to move forward with their ideas, aswell as the award-winning author of The Really Good Idea Test (Pearson). She is a lecturer at the University College, and a Course Director with the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM).

Kara Chiles

Vice President Consumer Products at Gannett, USA

Kara leads the consumer product management team responsible for the largest network of national news outlets of more than 200 properties. Responsible for full product lifecycle, strategic development and optimization of experiences for web, video, native apps, newsletters and voice.

Lianne Kerlin

Senior Research Scientist at BBC, UK

Lianne leads the BBC R&D human values team that works on putting audiences’ core values at the heart of shaping future media services. With her team they guide BBC teams to be human values-driven in their innovations, create bespoke tools for the creative process, and provide structure for evaluating products, services, and experiences using the human values framework.  She is a psychologist who is passionate about enhancing experiences in a digital world and is deeply interested in providing new ways to measure value in a digital world.

Her research interests lie largely in understanding the impact of digital technology on people and societies, spans areas around human values, ethics, and metrics, as well as using positive psychology to connect create positive outcomes and valued experiences for people.

Ana Bakalinova

Head of Product at dmg media, UK

Ana is Head of Product at dmg media UK. She is a senior strategic thinker at the intersection of editorial, technology and product development and is an experienced and entrepreneurial manager of people and digital products. She was Women in Product Europe finalist in 2019. Her expertise reaches from digital product management, content syndication, newsroom platforms to broadcast media.

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Max Franke

Managing Director, Axel Springer Audio, Germany

Max has already demonstrated his enthusiasm for audio already at Rolling Stone and Metal Hammer. As COO of Media Pioneer he has impressively proved that that premium audio is also a future-oriented business model.

Dmitry Shishkin

Digital Transformation & Content Strategy Expert, UK

Dmitry is an award-winning, experienced C-level leader, specializing in digital transformation, content strategy, change and culture management, and innovation in a global setting.

Topics to be discussed:

  • What is product development for media?
  • What are best methods and why it is better to test before you invest?
  • Why content and product are one and how knowing your user needs can support your product.
  • What is a good mobile strategy and how to create great mobile products
  • Reinventing local media through user engagement

Event from November 2021

Staying Ahead of the Game with Outstanding Product Development

Virtual Event
Tuesday, 2 November 2021, 3:00 – 4:30 pm CET

Standard price: 29 euros

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Contact us for more information

Let’s start the dialogue. Do you have any questions for us or our speakers? Do you have a project you need help with? Just drop us a line with the contact form below. We are happy to support your initiatives.