We Have Liftoff!

By: Rich Kane

The Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association knows that new technologies shouldn’t be intimidating or threatening. But here’s a trigger warning, anyway—if you still haven’t figured out what this crazy Internet thing is, you should probably stop reading now.

In fact, the PNA is not only embracing digital innovation, it’s also backing them up by pairing tech startups with real newspapers (and their websites) in the Keystone State—papers that could stand to greatly benefit from implementing these ideas in their newsroom or on their advertising side.

That’s the thinking behind PNA’s LaunchPad program, which recently wrapped up its debut year when its advisory panel picked three companies from a group of about 15 to pitch their products at the 90th annual PNA convention, held in Pittsburgh in early November. Their reward was the chance to get some one-on-one time with potential customers.

“What’s interesting to me is how many new tech companies are out there with products that have synergies with media companies, in terms of creativity and diversity,” said PNA president Teri Henning. “A large majority of our members are family-owned, and because of that, we think Pennsylvania is a very rich environment for this kind of program, because smaller newspapers are more willing to try new things and products to help position themselves for the future.”

The selection criteria was based on categories such as ease of use, audience potential, importance to the news industry, and several others, Henning said.

This year’s winning entries included Pennsylvania-based TapCliq (tapcliq.com), a user engagement and advertising platform for mobile devices that offers contextual interaction at moments when a user is most receptive, and FEM Inc. (fem-inc.com), based in Los Angeles, which delivers relevant video experiences for websites and apps, including high-performing content recommendations.

The third winner, Boston’s dSide Technologies (dsidetechnologies.com), boasts a customizable classified platform that allows readers to discover, compare, and rank things like homes and cars in a fast, engaging, interactive way.

“We’re very excited,” said dSide CEO Leo Hermacinski. “For newspapers, dSide will differentiate the vehicle and real estate classifieds from all other e-commerce sites and, more importantly, will generate incremental ad impressions and revenue.”

“Some entries aimed to increase newspaper audiences, others were focused on revenue generation, but the goal is that they would be adopted successfully at media companies around the state,” Henning said. “Some have ideas about building on existing products, some have things we’ve never thought about, seen, or tried before. There’s been a lot of creativity.”

Reached after the PNA convention, Henning said the first LaunchPad went over so well that they’re hoping to eventually conduct it several times each year.

“The crowd seemed really interested in the technologies,” said Henning. “And it was a nice range, with advertising, classified and video represented. The next step is to match the tech up with media companies, and we’re looking forward to that.