NY conference and association name change usher in new e-era for newsletter publishers.

A record number of newsletter publishers, editors and marketers, 350, enthusiastically attended a first-of-its-kind conference sponsored by the Newsletter Publishers Association, "Prospering from the Electronic Revolution," Dec. 5-7 in New York City. E-mail and the internet clearly dominate the planning strategies of both large and small newsletter and specialized information publishers, who came from the U.S., Canada, Ireland, England, Germany, and Greece.

During the meeting the NPA board voted to change its name to Newsletter and Electronic Publishers Association (NEPA) in a move designed to attract a range of publishers from a field much wider than the traditional print newsletter medium. The name change ostensibly counteracts the association's stagnant membership level and recognizes the growth of electronically delivered specialized information.

In the opening presentation at the standing-room-only conference, Andrew Jacobson of MCG Credit Corp. (NL/NL 10/15/99) noted two trends that are changing the face of newsletter promotion and that would characterize the preoccupations of those attending the meeting. Jacobson asked for a head count of those publishers currently collecting e-mail addresses for promotion purposes, and about 60-70% said they were. He compared that with the same question asked of magazine publishers recently: less than 10% answered affirmatively.

The second trend revolutionizing newsletter publishing, Jacobson said, is that publishers are moving away from traditional direct mailoriented operations to sales oriented-advertising in their move to internet promotion and publishing.

Jacobson titled his speech "Clicks and Mortar"--the combining of existing print business (bricks and mortar) with online and e-commerce (clicks) models.

In a keynote address, Esther Dyson, publisher of the monthly newsletter Release 1.0 and considered one of the world's top computer experts, stated, "The newsletter industry was waiting for the internet to happen."

Dyson gladdened the hearts of the conference participants with the observation that the internet was made for the type of "contentcommunity" that newsletters are noted for--that while thousands of publishers and marketers are spending billions attracting internet customers, newsletter publishers are in the enviable position of already possessing substantive, value-added content.

In a fast-paced, brilliant and witty speech, VerticalNet Inc. president and CEO Mark Walsh also pointed out that newsletters are uniquely positioned to take advantage of the three elements that spell internet success: content, community and commerce. He also advised the audience that in creating e-mail promotions and designing web sites, "Simple always wins"--a fact that newsletter publishers should understand much more than their magazine and newspaper colleagues.

The eminently successful online publisher Charles W. Henderson also combined solid information with an entertaining presentation in chronicling the growth of his company, which now produces the world's largest number of health weeklies, 40 delivered electronically and 25 of them also delivered in print. He has also recently launched a daily health news wire service (NL/NL 10/30/99).

Henderson also alluded to the brave new world of e-commerce by saying he had dropped the eponymous name of his company: "On the internet you must have a brand that is memorable, and a URL address that is memorable. CW Henderson Publisher looks good in print but does not translate as branding on the internet. Our branding efforts will now focus on NewsRx.com," the new company name.

Some of the industry's leading DM copywriters also reported that more and more of their work is focused on e-mail and web promotion. CDMG president Craig Huey said that more than 25% of his work for clients is on the internet, mostly redesigning web sites to become direct marketing web sites. (See article on p. 6.)

Bob Bly, copywriter and author of Doing Direct Mail on the Internet, has been doing a vigorous business writing e-mail promotions, with imbedded links to web sites offering free trial copies.

Copywriter David R. Yale, of controlBeaters.com, said, "Everything is new, and we're all learning Nothing is new, and we have years of experience" --meaning that the online medium is new but the traditional principles of direct marketing still hold.

Conference chairwoman Margie Weiner, of American Lawyer Media, was ably aided in her success by NPA executive director Patricia Wysocki, her staff, and NPA president James Muntz.