In the run-up to its October 11 start, organisers of the World Printers Summit have named as speakers, four publishers preparing their companies for what may be the end of print.

They are two chief operating officers – Mohit Jain of Times of India publisher Bennett, Coleman & Co, and Paul Verwilt of Mediahuis – Funke Medien managing director Christian Siebert, and Carsten Knop, who is publisher for digital products at Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

WPS director Ingi Rafn Ólafsson says there is much debate over the future of print newspapers. “While print still contributes significantly to the revenue mix, a decline in print circulations is seen in several regions,” he says. “This raises many questions: How long can the printed product remain profitable? What are the strategies of the top publishers? How do they see the future of print versus digital? What measures are they taking to enhance efficiency and reduce costs?”

The four leading publishers promise to share their plans and strategies.

“Insights from these four keynote speeches will help you formulate your own plans and take critical strategic decisions on your printed product,” says Ólafsson.

The event, October 11-13 in Frankfurt, works on a combination of case studies and meetings with 20 participating suppliers. Currently there’s still an opportunity to save the 690 Euros (A$1134) registration fee by agreeing to meetings with five of them.

More details here. GXpress is a media partner.

Pictured: Paul Verwilt and Almut Reichart, a senior scientist at the German Environment Agency who will also speak