Publish Asia was scheduled for Bangkok in May, while the IFRA India annual conference and Expo was to be held in Hyderabad in September. Chennai, previously known as Madras, has now been chosen as the venue for the combined event as it is more easily accessible for international delegates. The combined event will be held from 23 to 25 September 2009 at the Chennai Trade and Convention Centre.
Under the theme ‘Creating Value in Challenging Times’, there will be a CEO Conference for senior decision-makers and a Production Conference focusing on cost reductions, revenue generation and innovation. In addition, there will be specialised learning workshops on circulation, advertising, cost control in printing plants, mobile publishing and monetising online readership. The conference and learning workshops will be held together with IFRA Expo India, which in its second edition has become the second largest newspaper trade show in the world after the IFRA Expo in Europe.
Commenting on this latest development, Thomas Jacob, IFRA Deputy CEO and Managing Director for Greater Asia Pacific, said: ‘With the economic crisis in the background, we believe that combining the resources and bringing out one world-class event will benefit our stakeholders, the newspapers and the suppliers active in Asia, Middle East and the Indian subcontinent.’
Chennai will also host the 8th IFRA Asia Media Awards Gala Dinner on 24 September. The awards ceremony at the gala dinner honours the best among newspapers and magazines in colour printing, design, information graphics, photography, special supplements, online publishing and use of cross-media for editorial and advertising offerings.
