Reuters/Mike Segar
Facing an ever-crowded media environment and a competitive ad market, publishers have in recent years invested more in throwing big events that can draw in revenue from sponsors and conference-goers.
The calendar has become packed with panels, seminars, conferences and thought-leading luncheons from publishers ranging from Re/code, the New York Times, the Atlantic, Business Insider, Digiday and The Wall Street Journal. While renting conference space and charging attendees might seem like a relatively simple way to make a buck, publishers are learning that the conference business isn’t all that easy.
Publishers say that the events business has gotten increasingly competitive, and it can be difficult to round up editorial staffers who are often more interested in writing and reporting than moderating panel discussions.
“A lot of publishers go into events not realizing how hard events are,” said Brian Morrissey, editor-in-chief at Digiday, which has since 2008 thrown events in the digital media and marketing world. By the end of the year Digiday will have completed 26 events, which is an increase from last year.
“There [are] too many events and too many similar events. It’s inevitable that there will be a shakeout,” Mr. Morrissey said.
The shakeout may have already begun. Business Insider, for instance, ran just one event last year, compared to four in 2013 and six in 2012.
“The decision to pare back to one event came from our belief that we would have more success hosting one very strong event than a series of smaller, more niche events,” explained Business Insider Chief Operating Officer Julie Hansen.
Holding just one event allows the company’s events team to focus on quality over quantity, and places less of a burden on its editorial staff, Ms. Hansen said.
Business Insider’s “Ignition” event brought in about 700 attendees last year. Full-price tickets were listed at $3,495, and Ms. Hansen said the event was profitable.
The difficulty of live events can also come down to logistical issues, even seemingly small cringe-worthy moments like a microphone not working can dog big publishers.
“If you make a mistake in a story, you can make a retraction. If you fail to serve an ad, you can make a make-good,” said Jay Lauf, president and publisher of Quartz, an Atlantic Media-owned business site. “If things go haywire during an event, there’s not really a fix for that.”
While publishers have pushed into conferences, “There’s no question that events are a complex and precise business, certainly more so than selling advertising is,” Mr. Lauf said.
The Atlantic, which like Quartz is owned by Atlantic Media, did 141 events last year and said it was on track to grow its conference revenue 15% year-over-year. Quartz averages about 10 events a year. Its signature event series is called “The Next Billion,” which has taken place in New York, Seattle and London.
Media companies’ drive for live events was on display in May when Vox Media acquired Re/code, a tech site known for its conference business. Vox Media said at the time that it plans to grow that business and extend it to Vox Media’s other properties. (Re/code, formerly All Things D, ended a partnership in 2013 with The Wall Street Journal, which has continued its digital tech coverage and conference business under the name WSJD.)
Publishers can charge thousands of dollars for tickets to events, where attendees hear top leaders in a given field. Re/code’s conference in May featured big-time executives like Snapchat’s Evan Spiegel, CBS’s Les Moonves, former Twitter CEO Dick Costolo and GM’s Mary Barra.
“As the pressure on advertising rates has increased, you’re seeing increased appetite for diversification,” said Mr. Morrissey of Digiday. “I think the overall market is forcing people to lean more toward events.”
To be sure, throwing events isn’t a new phenomenon for media companies. But as more and more pile into events, the field is getting crowded, and events honing in on similar topics like tech and media can all meld together.
Plus, when times are tough, companies are often quick to slash things like travel budgets, which could put pressure on publishers who favor flashy destination conferences.
“If the economy is not doing terribly, [events] can be a good way to go,” said Pivotal Research analyst Brian Weiser. “It is incredibly cyclical.”
Mr. Morrissey said that publishers often think that events are an easier way to bring in new revenue than, say, a subscription model. But that isn’t necessarily the case, he said.
Abigail Walker, head of strategy at event marketing firm Jack Morton, said live experiences at conferences can “offer something differentiated” given the “ubiquity of content” when it comes to online publishing.
For attendees, “it’s a networking opportunity,” Ms. Walker said. “It’s something that’s as old as time.”
Ms. Walker said that attendees can get a lot out of big events from publishers, even if that just means being in the presence of news-makers speaking about industry issues.
“There’s definitely prestige or cachet in being somewhere when [news] breaks,” Ms. Walker said.
Mr. Lauf said that the industry has not reached “peak event” just yet, but publishers need to make events that are generally valuable and do not simply rely on a publisher’s brand name to fill the seats.
– Jack Marshall contributed to this post.
Correction: An earlier version of this post stated that Atlantic Media held 141 events last year. The Atlantic, a division of Atlantic Media, held the events.
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