Press release: Editors can make better use of Facebook, social media: World …

Mr Brady, who the Washington Business Journal calls “an online news visionary,” has formerly worked at AOL, washingtonpost.com and the local news site TBD.com. As head of Project Thunderdome, he is responsible for generating and organising common content for the Journal Register’s 18 daily papers and related online publications.

Mr Eltringham is an expert in social media and digital engagement with 16 years inside the BBC’s news operations. He has overseen BBC News‘ use of social platforms as a source of content and as a channel to share its own material and engage audiences.

Ms Novak has been working to turn the 100-year-old Norran into a modern media house with a focus on co-creation, moving the trademark position from “news leader” to “motor in shaping the community’s future.”

More than 1,200 chief editors, publishers, managing directors, CEOs and other senior newspaper executives are expected at the Editors Forum, Congress and Info Services Expo 2011, the annual global summit meetings of the world’s press. For the evolving programme, registration and other information, please consult http://tinyurl.com/6apyyff  (early bird discount available until 31 July).

Other WEF sessions include:

- After WikiLeaks: the next step for newspapers, featuring Mathias Müller von Blumencron, Editor-in-chief of Der Spiegel, Daniel Domscheit-Berg, founder of OpenLeaks, and other speakers to be announced.

-  Paywalls, from the newsroom perspective, which will include Jim Roberts, Assistant Managing Editor at The New York Times, Matúš Kostolný, Editor-in-Chief of SME in Slovakia, and other speakers to be announced.

- Rethinking newsroom integration: the latest experiments in a multi-platform age, featuring John Hillkirk, Editor of USA TODAY, Christian Ortner, Editor-in-Chief of Vorarlberger Nachrichten in Austria, and other speakers to be announced.

- The steps towards a successful tablet application, with Mario Garcia, CEO and Founder of Garcia Media, Peter Hossli, Editor-in-Chief of the Collection from Ringier, and other speakers to be announced.

- Looking beyond the article, a session dedicated to new storytelling techniques and featuring Scott Klein, Editor of News Applications at ProPublica, Bill Adair, Founder and Editor of Politifact, Justin Peters, Managing Editor of the Columbia Journalism Review online, and Marcelo Rech, Director General for Product at RBS in Brazil.

 -  What content should print newspapers focus on to survive and thrive?, followed by a session on how editorial initiatives can contribute to print success. Speakers include Simon Kelner, Editor-in-chief of the UK’s The Independent, Shyam Parekh, Editor of DNA in India, Alexandra Föderl-Schmid, Editor-in-Chief of Der Standard in Austria, Tom Kent, Standards Editor and Deputy Managing Editor at The Associated Press, and other speakers to be announced.

- Plus much more, including special sessions focused on the Arab Spring, ethics and quality journalism in the wake of the UK phone hacking scandal, the Innovations in Newspapers World Report, and the annual World Press Trends report.

The events, organised by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and hosted by the Austrian Newspaper Association (VÖZ), will be accompanied by a rich social programme, tours, meetings with local and international political, business and cultural leaders, and more.

The evolving conference programmes and other details can be found at http://www.worldnewspaperweek.org/

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Facebook Targets Grumpy Google+ Users With Business Friendly Page

Facebook introduced “Facebook for Business,” a step-by-step guideline and tips page for small businesses using Facebook on Tuesday. This news is interesting, Colleen Taylor from GigaOm points out, primarily because it comes in the days after Google+ purged its social network of business accounts.

Google recently began removing business accounts–including Mashable, Ford, and Sesame Street–from its Google+ social network. The reason? Google+, as it stands now, is for individuals–not businesses (hey, at least that’s in line with their “real names” policy). Ford’s and Mashable’s accounts were later restored, and Google said it would allow a “tiny” number of businesses to keep their profiles.

Of course, this doesn’t mean Google isn’t (supposedly) planning something big for businesses–Google has said that a business version of Google+ is coming, and that companies just need to be a little patient.

Meanwhile, Facebook has apparently taken this opening and decided to run with it. Facebook’s new “Facebook for Business” page features a step-by-step walkthrough on how to use Facebook to help build your small business. This includes guides on how to set up a Facebook “Page” for your business, how to promote your business with ads, how to drive traffic to your site using “Sponsored Stories,” and how to involve people, create a personalized mobile experience, and build apps on Facebook’s platform.

Sure, it’s nothing new–it’s basically just a convenient small business guide to Facebook, but it does seem like Facebook is telling the world that they’re ready to welcome businesses, even if Google isn’t.

Ok, so what Facebook is really telling the world is this (in an email to GigaOm on Tuesday): “Facebook allows small businesses to create rich social experiences, build lasting relationships and amplify the most powerful type of marketing–word of mouth. We created Facebook.com/business to make it even easier for people to reach these objectives and grow.”

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