The Observer Group to Centralize its Print and Digital Newsroom with the SAXOTECH Mediaware Center; Moves Operations to the SAXOTECH Cloud

Tampa, Fla. – January 23, 2012 – SAXOTECH, a leader in content management, circulation and

advertising technology, today announced The Observer Group has selected the SAXOTECH

Mediaware Center, the company’s multi-channel workflow and content management solution to

centralize publishing operations across its weekly publications including Sarasota, Longboat, East

County and Palm Coast Observers, Pelican Press and the Gulf Coast Business Review.

The SAXOTECH Mediaware Center will enable The Observer Group to greatly improve its print and

digital workflow. By centralizing the newsroom, news producers will have real-time visibility to the latest

version of every production page and its elements across the enterprise. Content can flow to any digital

channel and to multiple properties. The Observer Group's multiple Web properties will be consolidated

into one single managed environment, empowering both the newsroom and bloggers to manage their

own content and Web strategies. All content, images, text, video and other multi-media assets will be

easily located with the SAXOTECH Mediaware Center's high performance repository.

“One Touch Publishing really resonates with us as we look to achieve greater efficiency while also

publishing to new channels that we can further monetize," said Emily Walsh, associate publisher, The

Observer Group. "With SAXOTECH, we will have control of our content on all channels, and that was

very appealing. We look forward to being able to take full advantage of content and associated ad

revenue by leveraging mobile and tablet devices and social media. And operating in the SAXOTECH

cloud will increase our productivity even more."

SAXOTECH’s Managed Hosting in the cloud will power the newspapers’ three digital products

(yourobserver.com, review.net and palmcoastobserver.com), ensuring uninterrupted access to news

and information that is published by its editorial staff. By migrating to a fully managed Web services

platform, publishers will have access to the technologies that simplify and improve the speed of

publishing, the freedom to focus IT resources elsewhere, and the comfort of knowing additional

capacity is always available to handle any spikes in traffic that could occur. The Observer Group's

weeklies will be able to publish content remotely 24/7, creating a more mobile workforce and giving its

editorial staff the freedom and flexibility to focus on content and deliver more timely news.

"By integrating its newsroom operations with one vendor solution, The Observer Group has built a

completely collaborative publishing environment," said Anders Christiansen, CEO, SAXOTECH. "The

SAXOTECH Mediaware Center will enable all content producers on assignment, or in the newsroom, to

have real-time access to media assets, creating better efficiencies with the editorial and online

workflow. The Observer Group has taken a leap forward in digital publishing and will have new

opportunities to create additional revenue."

Formed in 1995 with the acquisition of the Longboat Observer, The Observer Group Inc. has grown into a family owned and operated multimedia company with six newspapers, three websites, a quarterly arts and social

magazine and more than 80 employees serving multiple communities around Florida. 

The company's portfolio of newspapers includes four free community weeklies serving the Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla., market — Sarasota Observer, Longboat Observer, East County Observer and Pelican Press; Palm Coast Observer, a free weekly serving the east coast market of Palm Coast/Flagler County; and Gulf Coast Business Review, a paid-circulation weekly with subscribers extending from Tampa to Naples. The company’s associated websites include YourObserver.com, PalmCoastObserver.com and Review.net. Season magazine is the quarterly arts and social guide. Altogether, the company’s newspapers and websites reach more than 200,000 readers a week.

SAXOTECH helps media companies meet current and future challenges in the media landscape by providing cost

efficient solutions for new business models based on multimedia, multi-channel consumer interaction. Our

scalable, easy-to-implement solutions are used to plan, create, edit, design and publish content as well as drive

online directories and serve display advertising through multiple channels. Our customers receive world-class

implementation, training and support complemented by ongoing development of products and best practices.

SAXOTECH Circulation tracks subscription revenue, distribution, agent billing, promotions, campaigns,

demographics and non-subscribers. Flexible reporting and decision making tools enable newspapers to improve

retention and increase their subscriber base, as well as empower marketing executives to make quicker, smarter and more profitable circulation management decisions.

SAXOTECH’s corporate headquarters reside in Tampa, Fla. with European headquarters based in Aalborg,

Denmark; additional offices include Maryland, Norway and Sweden. SAXOTECH's solutions are in use by more

than 700 news organizations around the world. For more information visit www.saxotech.com.