One on One with Michelle Manafy of Information Today

Michelle Manafy has been involved in book and magazine publishing for more than 20 years. She is currently the Editorial Director, Enterprise Group, for Information Today, Inc. where she serves as editor-in-chief for EContent magazine, the Intranets newsletter, and the Enterprise Search Sourcebook. She is also the programming chair of Information Today's upcoming Enterprise Search Summits and co-chair for the upcoming Buying and Selling eContent Conference. We spoke to Manafy and asked her about the types of issues these conferences are exploring and how the two are connected. (Please note: I am a contributing editor at EContent.)

FCM: You're pretty busy over the next couple of months with two conferences. Let's start with the Buying and Selling eContent Conference in April. What's the biggest change you've seen in selling content since last year's conference?

MM: I’d say the biggest trend I’m seeing right now in the content industry is that the fear of failure is overcoming the fear of free. For those who live on the open web, it can be hard to imagine how resistant most traditional content companies, which have invested vast sums in developing quality content, are to giving any of it away for free. On the other end of the spectrum there has always been the notion of masses of low-quality, free content sources. While the free stuff is improving in quality and value every day, it is a market still struggling to be self-supporting.

There’s starting to be an intersection, in which these major players are tapping into the blogosphere, into free audio and video content, even into Twitter feeds and building it into higher value content offerings. They are discovering that, while web users expect free, they are still willing to pay for essential content. Thus, giving them access to some content really does entice them to pay to get more.

FCM: What are your thoughts on free versus paid content?

MM: Like I said, it isn’t a versus situation. You need both to create a viable content economy. Growth happens by bringing in new users. A free sample has always been a good way to get users’ attention, but the fact is that the newest generation of potential content buyers--millennials who are entering the workforce--expect content to be free. That said, they aren’t completely immune to the value of something that will help them get ahead in their jobs. We will influence their relationship with content by demonstrating the difference between quantity and quality, between endless search results and the one right answer. One way to do this is through the freemium model, in which some very good content is free, but that even better content, presented in more useful, usable, actionable ways is also available.

FCM: Everyone talks about social media so much, but what impact is it really having on content delivery?

MM: Our social networks have always provided us with the best content filter. Think about mixed tapes you used to make for girls back in high-school (I know you did, Ron [RM: I actually did; she's right]): You selected what you liked, and certainly targeted it at the tastes of your audience, and then you passed it on, I know I ended up buying a lot of good vinyl based on songs from those tapes. I still find that the best music, film, book, and yes, professional content through my network. Only now, it comes in the form of email forwards, LinkedIn groups, and Twitter feeds. Social does something search engines can’t: It filters a lot of what sounds like noise to me, and leaves only what I’ll find musical.

FCM: You're also hosting the Enterprise Search Summit in May. What are some of the main themes you are exploring this year?

MM: Interesting to be doing these two shows so close together, really. This year’s theme for the Summit is: Enabling Information Access & Action. Why? Because finding information is not enough, particularly in the enterprise. People need to find what they need in order to act, in order to achieve real business value from information. Of course we’ll also be exploring things like maximizing the value of your existing investments, and the true value of effective search for such essential business concerns as informed decision making and compliance.

FCM: When you meet real enterprise users at your conference, what are the biggest pain points and how well are current search products addressing them?

MM: Right now the pain is all about revenue. The challenge across the technology industry is to stay in touch with what the customers really need to benefit their bottom line, not to get caught up in appealing, yet abstract notions. Right now, companies can’t afford to make poorly informed decisions; they need to make the absolute smartest ones to stay in business. We need to keep the lines of communication open to help them do that.

FCM: What are the biggest new trends in search you're hearing about?

MM: I love the idea of social search and searhcasting. Essentially, combining what I said about social media and content delivery with enterprise search. Gene Smith of nForm turned me on to this idea: That we broadcast a search out to our network to navigate to what we really need to know. I’ve done it through email for a decade, and more recently through LinkedIn, but Twitter might be the most amazing example of this, of sending out a question to your network in real time to cut through the clutter and find what you need, when you need it.

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