Johann Oberauer and Thomas Hofbauer are very kind organizers.
The Congress offered a very rich program.
Grand venue: the magnificent City Hall Ball Room.
Dr. Norbert Kupper made a perfect review of the latest design trends: European newspaper design rules.
Yes, he was right.
Mario Garcia did another superb presentation, this time as a “Media Designer.”
My presentation started and ended with quotes from Rupert Murdoch in his introduction to our 2009 INNOVATIONS IN NEWSPAPERS World Report:
“I BELIEVE NEWSPAPERS HAVE A WONDERFUL FUTURE AS PRINTED PRODUCTS AND AS A NEWLY EMPOWERED BRANDS THAT DELIVER GREAT JOURNALISM ACROSS MANY PLATFORMS CUSTOMIZED TO THE INTEREST OF READERS…
THE REAL FOE IS NOT COMPETITION FROM NEW THECHNOLOGY, IT IS THE COMPLACENCY IN OUR INDUSTRY AMONG PEOPLE WHO HAVE ENJOYED MONOPOLIES, WHO HAVE TO COMPETE FOR AN AUDIENCE THEY ONCE TOOK FOR GRANTED, WHO DON’T TRUST THEIR AUDIECES AND HAVE NOT RESPONDED CONSTRUCTIVELY TO CHALLENGES FROM READERS WHO NO LONGER THINK EDITORS ARE OMNIPOTENT ORACLES”
In the evening, INNOVATION’s Diari de Balears got a precious award as the Local European Newspaper of the Year.
And Valentina Villegas, my former assistant for many years, now a designer in Greece, got an award for Athens Plus as the European Weekly of the Year.
The mood?
This is time to change, and invest.
And let’s focus on the future.