News and Updates on Quantum Partners and Projects

• Stefanie Lemcke Speaks at Three Prestigious European Media Events

December 02, 2012: 

Stefanie Lemcke was recently engaged to speak at three industry events in Europe in November:

• At the distinguished German Publishers' Association Summit in Berlin she addressed the challenges and opportunities that Social Media provides to publishers. In her presentation she pointed out successful case studies of US publishing companies social media efforts.
• She spoke to  an executive circle at the leading German car manufacturer Volkswagen's own university "AutoUni". During her one hour presentation she discussed US media trends as well as best practice approaches for brands in media and communications, including social media. Cultural differences are still playing a role even for international corporations like Volkswagen: For example, Twitter has  become a mainstream media tool for most brands in the US, while the usage of Twitter is still in its early days in Germany and other Europeancountries.
• Stefanie Lemcke gave the key note at Austria’s' "Cable Days" in Salzburg. More than 200 cable television and media executives learned about the US Over the Top business models, online video and latest trends in social media for television and broadcasting companies. The Austrian television markets even holds legal restraints for some of the large players: The Austrian public broadcaster ORF is not even allowed to promote their television shows on Facebook, which proves to be a challenge in the broadcasters' efforts to reach younger audiences.

• Key Take-Aways from Erica Gruen’s Keynote at E-Business Conference

October 15, 2012: 

Quantum Media Principal Erica Gruen delivered the plenary keynote address and received the University of Wisconsin E-Business Institute 2012 Distinguished Fellow Award at the 14th Annual UWEBC Business Best Practices & Emerging Technologies Conference held Oct. 4 in Madison WI. 

In her presentation “How to Succeed in Uncertain Times: Three Ways to Pioneer and Prosper”, Gruen shared insights that were particularly timely for facing the challenges of today’s turbulent economy in which innovation can provide a key competitive edge. “A pioneer is someone who sees the a future that others don’t and has a high tolerance for not knowing exactly the path to get to that future,” says Gruen , “A pioneer is someone who is strategic, practical, and results-driven."

She gave three basic pieces of advice:

1. Watch what matters
2. Inspire loyalty beyond reason
3. Be your own media

The photo shows Gruen receiving the award from Dr. Raj Veeramani.  

To read a complete summary of her talk go here.

• Brian O’Leary Joins Quantum

October 07, 2012: 

Veteran media consultant, Brian O'Leary, has officially become a Quantum Media Associate, after working with the group on various projects over the last eight years. Brian and his company,  Magellan Media Consulting Partners , work with publishers seeking support in content workflows, benchmarking and financial analysis.

Brian writes extensively about issues affecting the publishing industry, including the much acclaimed "Content First" that he first presented at the Books in Browsers conference in 2010. Most recently, he is  editor with Hugh McGuire of "Book: A Futurist's Manifesto", a collection of forward-looking essays on publishing that was published in three parts by O'Reilly Media.  McGuire explains that the book is a guide : "If you were going to start a book publishing company today, this would be the owner's manual."

He is also the author of research reports on: the use of metadata in the book industry supply chain, territorial rights in the digital age and best practices in digital exports. Brian has studied the impact of free content and digital piracy on paid book sales and was the editor and primary contributor on a study of the use of XML in book publishing, two reports published by O’Reilly Media in 2009.

Before he became a consultant, Brian served as senior VP and associate publisher with Hammond Inc., where he restructured editorial operations to benefit from the firm’s prior technology investments. Brian came to Hammond after a 12-year career overseeing production and distribution operations at several of Time Inc.’s weekly magazines, including Time, Entertainment Weekly and People.  Brian joined Time Inc. after earning an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.  He also holds an A.B. in chemistry from Harvard College.

To read more about the assignments that Brian has completed in recent years, go here.