A great thing about blogging is that you get to write what you want: you don’t need to take into account contributions from others. But there are times when others say things really well, and I was particularly impressed with the following email sent out by Patrick Hopper of OpenSystems Media. He doesn’t launch into an attack on UBM, and actually points out they’re really good at running trade shows. He also takes a positive view, and I always love to see a confident publisher! You may have got your own copy of the email, but if not, here it is:
Dear Mike,
There has been much commotion and discussion over the past several days regarding UBM shutting down all its print entities and laying off scores of employees. I wanted to write briefly to compare OpenSystems Media’s vision to provide some assurance in the market.
Journalist and marketing strategist Lou Covey mentioned in his blog on 4/10, “If you are a media company, the door of opportunity has just swung wide open for you to fill the gap with independent content….”
We certainly agree.Do we feel print is dead? No. Do we believe the UBM print model is dead? Yes and arguably, so did they, which is why they are sticking to what they do best: tradeshows. They are the #4 largest tradeshow producer only behind Reed, Messe Frankfurt and GL. We will continue to support UBM and their tradeshows as a media sponsor as well as other leading shows such as Embedded World.
What is our model you may ask? We believe in print and we believe it is only one part of an effective integrated campaign. We also believe in lead generation and nurturing through webinars and whitepapers (and our new E-mag initiative launching at DesignWest). We believe in delivering custom content directly to engineers in the manner they want to receive it, either via print models, digitized versions, iTunes Newsstand, Kindle, social media and via the web. When it comes to embedded, we deliver more leads, articles, news, and products than anyone else.
But – and this is where I think we at OpenSystems Media get it — we listen to our clients first. The company with lots of customer support, lots of hands-on training, lots of discussions and less bureaucracy will inevitably win in the end. Our strategy is to continue to improve in these areas. That is our goal.
Our industry will always have flux. We are pleased that currently we are expanding, adding editorial, support, sales and marketing staff, but there will also be times of contraction as we wade into confusing markets and hope we provide the right products for the right audience.
So, saddle up, let’s start the conversation. Let’s discuss your needs and then see what fits. It may be print, it may be events, it may be webinars and whitepapers or E-mags or apps on the iTunes store.
Together we hope to partner with you to find that path.Patrick Hopper
Publisher
OpenSystems Media