Everything will be on the table: finding the right way to take an icon like Harry Potter digital without selling out; getting free from DRM and still getting paid; shifting to digital first without losing traditional values; creating appointment broadband viewing; mixing technology with insight to heighten discoverability; the rebirth of the browser; digital subscription strategies and more.

It’s a lot of ground to cover for a one-day, single-stage event. Luckily, we have a stellar roster of speakers and moderators who are more than up for the task, including:

• Lisa Gersh, president of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia
• John Borthwick, Founder & CEO, betaworks
• Jon Miller, Chief Digital Officer, News Corp.
• Fred Wilson, Managing Partner, Union Square Ventures
• Amy Banse, Managing Director & Head of Funds, Comcast Ventures
• Anil Dash, Co-Founder & Managing Director, Activate

  The full list of confirmed speakers is here.

  Just as important as the speakers, though, is the fact that we have great attendees with a lot to add to the discussion.

  But space is limited. This isn’t a ballroom where we can squeeze in a few more chairs at the last minute — so if you want to take full advantage of this jam-packed agenda and the opportunities that come with networking throughout the day from breakfast to closing cocktails, I strongly suggest you register now.

  If you’re interested in sponsoring paidContent 2012, please contact eventsales@gigaom.com.

  

The best part of planning a conference is getting to bring a fascinating mix of innovators and disruptors together with industry vets. I’m pleased to announce our last big batch of speakers for a jam-packed paidContent 2012: At The Crossroads, May 23rd in New York:

• Jim Bankoff, CEO, Vox Media
• Josh Marshall, Editor & Publisher, Talking Points Memo
• Jonah Peretti,  CEO, BuzzFeed
• Mark Johnson, CEO, Zite
• Amit Kapur, CEO, Gravity
• Valla Vakili, CEO, Small Demons

Together with the rest of our stellar roster and high-level attendees, they’ll take part in an energetic day of programming that goes to the heart of issues affecting anyone who creates or distributes content. We’ll look at the challenge of  discoverability; the ease of distributing video and how to make  money from it; a  shifting publishing landscape that levels playing fields while creating new obstacles; how media execs have to change the way they manage; how to manage a brand’s move into new territory; the app economy and the back-to-browser options; and much more.

Check out the agenda for details.

Register today to join us at The TimesCenter in New York on May 23rd for paidContent 2012 and take part in a day-long conversation about the best ways to create, distribute and make money from content. Other recently confirmed speakers include Pottermore CEO Charlie Redmayne and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Russo.

The full list of confirmed speakers is here.

If you’re interested in sponsoring the event, please contact eventsales@gigaom.com.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve brought some of GigaOM’s stories to paidContent and vice versa, only hinting at the depth of coverage our combined efforts will offer. But most of the integration has been behind the scenes — until now.

In just a few days, we will move into that new home when paidContent shifts to the same publishing platform as GigaOM. Most of the changes are under the hood — you’ll still see the same great stories by the same top-notch writers and much of the site’s look and feel will be very familiar. But we are making a few important changes that we want to fill you in on before you visit our new virtual digs.

Same furniture, different rooms

Now that we are part of the larger GigaOM Network, some of our content will be appearing in different places. Both mocoNews and paidContent:UK are being phased out as sites; rest assured, their content stays. Links are being preserved and all the content is moving over.

Between the ubiquity of smartphones and the growing importance of tablets, content lines are getting more blurred. Having a separate site to cover mobile content no longer makes sense. But that doesn’t mean that we’re reducing our mobile coverage — far from it. Tom Krazit, who has so adeptly led mocoNews for the past year, is joining forces with GigaOM’s mobile writers. Together, that combined team lets us get deep into mobile technology on GigaOM, while at paidContent we continue to focus on how it fits into digital content strategy and monetization. The mocoNews archives will live on paidContent.org. You will have access to it all.

paidContent:UK has been an important voice on the transformation of digital content. But there are more stories to be told about Europe, and we’re delighted that Robert Andrews, an integral part of that site since its launch, will continue his coverage as part of a bigger team with a broader international reach. We’ll reveal more about those plans soon. As is the case with mocoNews, all of the content will be at paidContent.org and existing links will be redirected.

It’s only getting better

Thanks to the intense effort of our developers, you’ll have access to all the vital pieces of the current paidContent site when we switch to the new platform: our daily coverage, our archives, our newsletter, RSS feeds, search, a revamped event site, and more. With most of these pieces, you may not even notice a change. There are other features that we won’t have initially but will be rolling out gradually. Don’t worry, we’ll provide you with a comprehensive guide to all of the changes when the new paidContent goes live next week.

Most important, as we promised in February, paidContent is only getting better as part of GigaOM.

As we near the end of our first decade, I’m thrilled to be able to say we continue to bring you the same news coverage, smart reporting, and insightful analysis of the rapidly evolving economics of digital content — and we will be able to bring you more of it.

Thanks for your support. Welcome to the new era of paidContent.

We need someone who is at heart a business reporter, and who wants to figure out what’s working and what isn’t as the rules of the media and advertising get rewritten in the digital era. If you don’t have much interest in paywalls and unique visitors, or pre-roll advertising and real-time bidding ad exchanges– this probably isn’t the job for you. The best candidates will be fast on their feet and creative — able to blast out a piece of news quickly but equally capable of conceiving of and reporting out an original analysis piece. See the job description here, and send us a note if you’d like to apply. The job will be based in New York.

We’re also hiring for a SF-based startup reporter.

We want a reporter who can look at a startup and see compelling storylines, rather than just a bunch of names and numbers. We want a reporter who doesn’t just regurgitate press releases, but who can conceive of and then report out their own fresh ideas. We want a reporter who is a great networker and who has a knack for picking up nuggets of news along the way. The best candidates will be both fast on their feet and creative: able to blast out a piece of news quickly but equally capable of producing an original analysis piece. See the job description here, and send us a note if you’d like to apply.

We’re also hiring for a NYC-based media/advertising reporter.

It’s a very exciting development for us, as ContentNext and GigaOM share so many of the same goals and have such similar cultures. We both believe fundamentally in the power of breaking news and smart, useful content across different platforms, and we both have a core conviction about practicing truth and fairness in our journalism. We also both happen to believe that you can build very profitable businesses if you can execute on those principles.

We have other things in common, too: Both companies’ founders — in our case, Rafat Ali, in GigaOM’s case, Om Malik — turned influential one-man blogs into vibrant media companies by being way ahead of the curve. (A side note: The two founders have also long been close friends.) The chance to work with Om is one that anyone would leap at. He is a true visionary with a unique understanding of technology and a gift for communicating that knowledge. He’s also stacked GigaOM with talented writers and editors who, like him, have a deep curiosity about the intersection of technology and business, particularly innovation. (You can read Om’s post on the sale.)

At a time when so many content companies are groping for sustainable business models, GigaOM has a dynamic approach to making money. Its multiple revenue streams extend from site advertising to conferences to subscription products and beyond; from its online audience of more than 4.5 million monthly unique visitors, to its leading events like GigaOM Structure and GigaOM Roadmap, to GigaOM Pro, which provides research on emerging technology markets from over 110 independent analysts. GigaOM has built a suite of products that can serve a variety audiences, all of which congregate under the GigaOM brand. And now that will expand to include our sites, newsletters and conferences.

For readers of ContentNext’s sites — paidContent, MocoNews, paidContent:UK and ContentSutra — there’s nothing not to like about this deal. You’ll still be able to attend our stellar conferences and enjoy our trenchant posts about the industries we cover. You’ll still be getting all the content you know from the writers that you’re used to getting it from. But now you’ll be getting something else, too: more smart voices on different and vital topics, and even more news and analysis.

Under the terms of the purchase, Guardian News & Media (GNM), which bought ContentNext Media in 2008, will take a minority stake in GigaOM. GNM joins existing GigaOM investors including Reed Elsevier (NYSE: RUK) Ventures, Alloy Ventures and True Ventures. The sale is the culmination of a process that began back in the fall, with multiple bidders for ContentNext. The New York investment bank Coady Deimar Partners advised GNM on the deal.

“With our shared commitment to journalistic ethics, GigaOM and paidContent are a natural fit,” said Paul Walborsky, CEO of GigaOM. “paidContent is the leading voice covering the evolution of media, an area that is very important to us. Integrating our teams will enrich our editorial coverage and expand our footprint immediately in two markets that are critical to our growth – New York City and the UK.” GigaOM, which was founded in 2006, is based in San Francisco. ContentNext, whose roots go back to 2002, is based in New York.

The sale ends ContentNext’s three-and-a-half-year run as part of Guardian News and Media. When GNM had bought ContentNext, part of the idea was that it could help the UK publisher gain mindshare in the U.S. as the Guardian expanded there. In recent months, GNM has been focusing its investment activity in the U.S. around the buildout of a new site. “paidContent has a fantastic presence in the tech/media space, and the match with GigaOM, itself a really smart and pioneering company, is a good one. We are delighted to become shareholders in GigaOM as part of the deal,” said Andrew Miller, CEO of Guardian Media Group, the parent company of GNM. “The Guardian’s focus in the U.S. is on building guardiannews.com, but we look forward to seeing paidContent thrive and grow in its new home and wish its staff all the very best for the future.”

We thank the Guardian for their stewardship, and can’t wait to start working with our new colleagues at GigaOM.

See GigaOM’sannouncement of the deal for additional details.

»  What’s Coming In 2012: The Age Of Ubiquity (For Some)

»  What’s Coming In 2012: Digital Advertising, Up Close And Personal

»  What’s Coming In 2012: The Content Industry Strikes Back

»  What’s Coming In 2012: Internet TVs Out-Box The Boxes

»  What’s Coming In 2012: Book Publishing

»  What’s Coming In 2012: A New Era For Apple

Digital is at the crossroads. While last year’s efforts are starting to show results, other areas are now facing huge disruption. It’s all happening at breakneck speed, making it even more of a challenge than ever to understand what it will all mean for your business. On March 1st, we’ll convene industry leaders, innovators and disruptors across the digital landscape to hear first-hand what’s working, what’s broken, what’s new, and what’s coming next — and to learn from each other.

With that in mind, here are some of the sessions we’re developing:

Discoverability: When everything is everywhere, how do you get the right content to surface at the right time in front of the right people? How do you avoid search-engine syndrome? A look at who’s leading in discoverability, how it ties into branded content distribution, and the results of getting this critical piece of the puzzle right.

Tablets: Not Just an iPad World: A look at the latest research on how tablets are being used–how are people using tablets differently than smart phones? When the post-holiday numbers come in, what other tablets have gained market share and consumer attention? As a content creator/producer/seller/distributor, how do you survive in a world with one dominant player, but where there is increasing fragmentation?

The New Publishing Landscape: Who Profits Now?: Tablet momentum is spreading beyond Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) and the iPad with the less expensive Kindle Fire from Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN) and other contenders. Add that to the e-reader finally taking hold thanks to the price war between Amazon and Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) and you have a new publishing landscape with e-books bringing in real dollars. But who will win the battle for readers–the standalone or media devices? And how much of an effect will the cloud have in determining the victor?

The App Economy: Holy Grail or Dead End?: Seems like there’s an app for almost everything today–or will be. But is this a deep well or are we headed to rock bottom? Is app success at the expense of the web? Can the “appified” web bring in the same kind of revenue? What are the benefits and limitations of native apps vs. web apps? Is HTML5 the solution? A look at the limits and possibilities of the “app economy.”

Paying the Way: Spotify has 2.5 million paying customers. One year in, The New York Times’ pay wall is proving successful. Once a question of “will they?/won’t they?”, consumer online content payments appear to have a rosier future. In these new frontiers, how do you effectively price your content when there are few comparisons and free alternatives elsewhere? Meet some of the companies making it work globally–and find out.

Getting Creative: Finding the Nexus of Digital Content and Value: Creatives from the advertising, music, film and television industries talk about the changing marketplace, offering first-person accounts of how they were able to take advantage of the accessibility and opportunities the digital space offers–and make money doing it.

You’ll find the rest of the preliminary agenda here. Stayed tuned for more.

At paidContent events, attendees have come to expect unparalleled business intelligence and networking opportunities with bold-faced names both on stage and in the audience. We hope you’ll join us to explore this pivotal moment in the growth of digital. Sign up now to take advantage of our early registration discount.

Register now.

Contact us if you’d like to suggest speakers, if you’d like to advertise with us, or if you have general questions.

Check out coverage of last year’s paidContent 2011 conference and the previous year’s paidContent 2010 conference.

– The staff

The world may be getting smaller, but the sector now defined as digital media is only getting bigger. We’re looking for occasional contributors, part-time writers, analysts or content partners who can help us distill the latest developments in their regions for our audience of digital influencers. What are the key digital media stories on your home patch — the ones that are getting told as well as the ones that aren’t? Help us amplify that news for a global readership. Even if you’re not a potential contributor but you follow the digital media business in these areas closely — email us with your favorite sources of news and information on those markets.

Ideally, writers will be based either in the UK or in their home country, will be well-versed in the digital-media business, will be able to write well in English, and will be available for plenty of online communication.

We are keen to hear your ideas. Please email robert [at] paid content [dot] org with suggestions, credentials and, where appropriate, your cuttings.