The event – focussed on cross-platform ad strategies – will bring the latest gadgets, from iPads to the ‘talking newspaper’, to Dubai on February 8-9. Chaired by Bander Asiri, managing director of ‘Al Khaleejiah’ in Saudi Arabia, it will present international and local case studies of publishers who are profiting from the unique position of newspaper companies as multimedia providers.

Holm Münstermann, head of strategy and advertising at Axel Springer Media Impact in Germany, will examine how newspaper companies can profit from the iPad, and what the best approach should be. Should the iPad presence reflect online platforms or the printed issue? And, above all, can the tablet become a mass medium?

Also on the programme is Kasturi Balaji, managing director of ‘The Hindu’ in India, who will present a closing keynote address on ‘The Speaking Newspaper - a Mass-Media Innovation’. Readers literally jumped when they heard their newspapers talking, thanks to a pre-recorded chip embedded in an Volkswagen advertisement. Balaji will talk about how such innovations take advantage of newspapers' unique quality, and how innovative thinking brings them about.

The conference also features Geoff Tan, senior vice president and head of strategic marketing for Singapore Press Holdings, whose keynote presentation is titled ‘Building a cross-platform advertising strategy in 3D’. SPH is at the forefront of integrated media practices and advocates a consultative, solutions-based approach to ad sales.

The Conference, which takes the theme, ‘Make Money Now!’, will be held at the JW Marriott Hotel in Dubai, which has been named ‘best conference centre in the Middle East’ three times by the Depa Hotel Awards.

Full details can be found at http://www.wan-ifra.org/middleeast

Other conference presentations include:

- ‘The future looks good - for print advertising! Global media and advertising trends and their impact on Middle east advertising,’ by Eamonn Byrne, founder of The Byrne Partnership in the United Kingdom, who will examine the opportunities for strong revenue growth.

- A panel discussion with top local publishers. Chaired by Mohamad Alayyan, publisher and chairman of United Jordan Press. The panel will discuss  how to profit from the best experiences in the region.

- ‘Measure your success,’ by Mathew Dodd, vice president for research and analytics for Nielsen Online's EMEA region, who will provide insights into the way advertising is measured and the standards needed to sell effectively.

- ‘Social networks and their impact on advertising,’ which will provide case studies of how media companies can develop a major business from the continual explosion of social networks.

- ‘The power of print: Innovative advertising solutions,’ by Manfred Werfel, deputy CEO and executive director for newspaper production at WAN-Ifra, who will show why print is the most innovative media for the second half of the 21st century, and how newspapers can profit from it.

- ‘The future of print advertising in a multi-platform environment,’ a panel discussion with system suppliers chaired by Dietmar Schantin, WAN-Ifra executive director of publishing, editorial and general management. The panel will whether print will continue to be a leading media in multimedia advertising.

- ‘Multi-media packages - The key steps to successful implementation,’ by Rainer Esser, CEO of ‘Die Zeit’ in Germany, which offers its clients individual, innovative and all-embracing multi-media packages based on close inter-departmental cooperation.