We will depart The Sonnenalp hotel at 7:30 a.m. for an 8:30 a.m. tee time at EagleVail Golf Club. We have nine
golfers for this outing, which will be led by Roundtable Founder Tom Ratkovich.
We will return to the hotel no later than 1:00 p.m.
Location: Sonnenalp Lobby
We have 30+ Vail Roundtable participants and spouse/guests who aim to join us for a Wednesday morning guided intermediate/moderate hike — a big enough contingent to break us into four groups. We will meet in The Sonnenalp lobby at 8:45 a.m. for 9:00 a.m. departures. For hikers, wear long pants and long sleeves to keep bugs away. If you prefer shorts or t-shirts, bring sunscreen. Brimmed hats and sunglasses are strongly suggested as well as hiking shoes with good tread.
Location: Sonnenalp Lobby
If connecting our group of 50 c-suite media executives is one of the goals of the Vail Roundtable, then introductions are in order. In this opening session, learn who is in the room, why they’re in the room, and what unique insights they bring and want.
Session leaders:
Maribel Perez Wadsworth, President, INMA
Earl J. Wilkinson, Executive Director and CEO, INMA
Location: Bavaria Room (Lower Level) at The Sonnenalp
Be welcomed to Vail in style at the gorgeous, glass-enclosed Ludwig's at The Sonnenalp. Meet with peers
from media companies around the world and take in the natural beauty surrounding you. We promise: Speeches
will be kept to a minimum as you soak in the river view and mountains and greenery that are hallmarks
of this time of year in Vail.
Location: Ludwig's at The Sonnenalp
Make your Vail Village dinner reservations in advance. Suggestions for the evening: Flame (steak), Matsuhisa (sushi), Left Bank (French), Mountain Standard (wood-burning grill), La Nonna (Italian), Pepi's (Austrian), Russell’s (steak), El Segundo (taqueria), Slope Room (organic alpine bistro), Sweet Basil (American), Swiss Chalet (fondue). If you're just looking for drinks, check out the recently opened Chasing Rabbits (ask for the speakeasy), which is a two-minute walk from The Sonnenalp.
After breakfast (opens at 7:00 a.m. in Ludwig's), join Roundtable participants for morning refreshments before diving into our two-day agenda.
Location: Bavaria Room (Lower Level) at The Sonnenalp
Across 21,000 members at nearly 1,000 media companies in 90 countries, INMA is uniquely positioned to distill the state of news media and the industry’s strategic direction. INMA CEO Earl Wilkinson will brief Roundtable participants on where the news industry is today and peer over the horizon where it’s going — drawing on insights never before shared on a public stage. Learn where all media types are skating, and how media can get back in the business of building value rather than slowing decline. What are the priority subjects on the minds of c-suite executives? What is the real impact of global and industry forces on news media business? And what headwinds and tailwinds are your fellow c-suite executives feeling?
Session leader:Earl J. Wilkinson, Executive Director and CEO, INMA
Location: Bavaria Room (Lower Level) at The Sonnenalp
Thirty years into digital disruption, news publishers are now facing a new challenge: generative AI. According to former Harvard Business School professor Thales Teixeira, author of the bestselling book Unlocking the Customer Value Chain, it is the customers who disrupt markets, not just technology or start-ups alone. In this session, designed in a style similar to an MBA class, Professor Teixeira will explore the distinctions between the company's value chain and the customer value chain, as well as the differences between company synergies and customer synergies. These innovative concepts have proven instrumental for Fortune 100 executives in comprehending market disruptions and formulating strategic responses. To help us prepare for the imminent AI disruption, Professor Teixeira will also discuss strategies for aligning investments in high monetisation value journalism and leveraging automation and generative AI for other aspects of the industry.
Session leader:
Thales Teixeira, Author, Unlocking the Customer Value Chain
Location: Bavaria Room (Lower Level) at The Sonnenalp
Take a break, meet someone new, ask questions of speakers. Text or telephone if you must.
Reader revenue vs. advertising revenue. Legacy print/broadcast vs. digital. After an era of total focus on subscriptions, media companies tell INMA that the pendulum is swinging back to advertising – with a twist. How to better integrate advertising into a subscription business model? How to accelerate digital transformation of your business model? And how to strategically evaluate and prioritise revenue streams that don’t tie up too much capital? What are those models vs. those too far outside of the bull’s eye for a news media company?
Session leader:
Greg Piechota, Researcher-in-Residence, INMA
Location: Bavaria Room (Lower Level) at The Sonnenalp
Continue the INMA conversations over a buffet lunch at Ludwig's at The Sonnenalp.
Location: Ludwig's at The Sonnenalp
INMA’s underlying view on culture change at media companies focuses on customer-centricity. How do media leaders achieve a breakthrough in this space? How do you drive performance and manage risks? How to lead strategic innovation across the newsroom, product, marketing, and technology? Meanwhile, innovation is usually about product, which is why INMA is getting more reorganisational requests centered on product – organising business and tech teams for fast flow. In this session, INMA will distill best practices in culture change, innovation, and organisational excellence – subjects that are intertwined and that INMA will bring together in this final session of the day.
Session leader:
Jodie Hopperton, Product Initiative Lead, INMA
Location: Bavaria Room (Lower Level) at The Sonnenalp
We will conclude today's programme with a smart distillation and key takeaways.
We will take a 10-minute group walk from The Sonnenalp to the home of Jim Moroney: through Vail Village near Gondola One in a residential neighbourhood. Please meet in The Sonnenalp lobby at 4:50 p.m. for a 5:00 p.m. departure.
Location: Sonnenalp Lobby
There's a secret in Vail about seven minutes walk through the village near the ski lift. In a quiet residential neighbourhood lives a former news publisher turned wine entrepreneur. When Jim Moroney retired from The Dallas Morning News a few years ago, he didn't really have retirement in mind. Instead, he built up Sixmilebridge in California where the finest wines are made from noble Bordeaux grape varieties. Sixmilebridge wines are made from fastidiously farmed grapes, and the resulting wines are balanced and savory ... well-suited for aging. In a unique experience at his family's home, enjoy a sample of wines across four stations — punctuated by Jim telling us more about Sixmilebridge and the wines. The home is known as BassHaus and was made available to Gerald Ford and his family by Jim’s wife’s family when he became President of the United States in the 1970s. Known as the “Western White House” during his presidency, Ford held Cabinet meetings there, spent Christmas’s with his family, and would stay there whenever he visited Vail. Eventually he moved out when he completed his own home in Beaver Creek, and Jim’s wife’s family got their house back.
Make your Vail Village dinner reservations in advance. Suggestions for the evening: Flame (steak), Matsuhisa (sushi), Left Bank (French), Mountain Standard (wood-burning grill), La Nonna (Italian), Pepi's (Austrian), Russell’s (steak), El Segundo (taqueria), Slope Room (organic alpine bistro), Sweet Basil (American), Swiss Chalet (fondue). Also note that The Sonnenalp's Kings Club will have lounge entertainment from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. tonight — a Vail tradition that includes a fantastic bar.
After breakfast, join Roundtable participants for morning refreshments before diving into today's agenda.
Location: Bavaria Room (Lower Level) at The Sonnenalp
After a quick distillation of what we learned Thursday, we will set the stage for the Roundtable's final day.
Location: Bavaria Room (Lower Level) at The Sonnenalp
We’ve all played with ChatGPT. Newsrooms felt threatened at first, and now they see more opportunities than threats. All the while, as media gets closer to being all-digital, the temptation to see generative AI as an opportunity to at least replace commodity content generation is nigh upon us. In this session by INMA Researcher-in-Residence Greg Piechota, we will put generative AI in the perspective of data and broader Artificial Intelligence. Learn how to capitalise on the technological disruption brought by data and AI. Learn what c-suite executives are thinking about generative and walk away with a list of what can be done now vs. what the technology will offer in the next 12-24 months.
Session leader:
Greg Piechota, Researcher-in-Residence, INMA
Location: Bavaria Room (Lower Level) at The Sonnenalp
If tech ultimately determines news media’s future, how does a c-suite executives balance the “now” vs. building for the future? Where will tech be in 3-5 years? How to cover AI from an existential threat/copyright points of view, and where do the Big Tech platforms fit in news media’s future?
Session leader:
Robert Whitehead, Digital Platform Initiative Lead, INMA
Location: Bavaria Room (Lower Level) at The Sonnenalp
Take a break, meet someone new, ask questions of speakers. Text or telephone if you must.
Where to deploy capital is critical for any media c-suite executives. That’s the case whether to move your share price, your ROI, to manage debt, or otherwise maximise free cash flow for investment in transformation such as automation. In this session, hear more about the INMA playbook in this space, and then let’s turn our attention to the smart c-suite executives in the room about what they are thinking about with capital deployment. We will think like an investor should, and it goes to our very survival.
Session leader:
Robert Whitehead, Digital Platform Initiative Lead, INMA
Location: Bavaria Room (Lower Level) at The Sonnenalp
Another day, another buffet lunch at The Sonnenalp's Ludwig's.
Location: Ludwig's at The Sonnenalp
We leave the Roundtable’s final session open. We will dive into a new topic discussion based on your feedback or we will dive deeper into a subject that didn’t get enough time earlier in the Roundtable. Then we will distill what we’ve learned during the Roundtable and conclude. And for the heartiest among us, we promise we will stay for every question you might after the official close.
Session leader:
Jodie Hopperton, Product Initiative Lead, INMA
Location: Bavaria Room (Lower Level) at The Sonnenalp
INMA will make reservations at four Vail Village restaurants, and guests who opt in will enjoy a final evening with peers and subject-matter experts. INMA will provide dinner options closer to the Vail Roundtable dates.
“Drinks on INMA” will be at the legendary Vail institution Red Lion in the center of Vail Village — always lively and featuring local musicians. Just around the corner from Red Lion is the Shakedown Bar, the best
live rock-and-roll music venue in Vail. Please wear your INMA pin for bar service.
Location: Red Lion, 304 Bridge Street 1