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With more than 100 years under its belt, Penton Media Inc. is best known as the publisher of traditional industry trade magazines, including its flagship, Industry Week.
In recent years, the Cleveland-based media giant has strategically focused on establishing footholds in the emerging new media marketplace and targeting fast growth industries for new niche publications.
Penton has vaulted to the top of a $12 billion industry, backed by its 51 publications, numerous trade shows and a wide array of Internet and broadband products. The company's aggressive pursuit to develop multiple revenue streams has been spearheaded by Tom Kemp, who assumed Penton's top spot in 1996.
Kemp combined Penton's conservative fiduciary approach with a forward-thinking strategy to move the publishing titan into a new age. SBN Magazine sat down with him to discuss Penton's focus and his view of what the future holds for traditional print publishers in an increasingly digital world. (For the full interview visit www.sbnonline.com.)
Penton has made quite a few changes. In what direction Is the company heading?
We're shifting from being just, a print magazine publishing company to becoming a fully integrated B2B media company. We serve our vertical industry communities through three core channels - in print with our magazine, in person through trade shows and conferences and increasingly, through online information.
We want to be content rich but distribution neutral, connecting buyers and sellers through priority content. We are not as concerned about the...