Michael Cairns is a publishing and media executive with over 25 years of experience in business strategy, operations, and technology implementation. He established Information Media Partners in 2006 to provide boutique strategy consulting to information and education publishers. The presentation discusses challenges publishers face in rethinking and remixing content in the digital age, including reliance on documents, underinvestment in metadata, and inflexible processes. It advocates for programmatic strategic evaluation of content and formats, engaging content distribution platforms, and improving metadata to support flexible, customized content delivery across multiple channels.

1. Michael Cairns
Managing Partner
Information Media Partners
Reusable Content
SSP Meeting San Francisco 2013

2. Introduction
Michael Cairns is a publishing and media executive with over 25 years experience in
business strategy, operations and technology implementation. As a business
executive, Mr. Cairns has successfully managed several troubled and under-
performing businesses, creating new business opportunities, developing new funding
sources and enhancing shareholder value for investors. His years spent as an
operating executive have largely been with brand-name publishing companies such
as Macmillan, Inc., Berlitz International, Wolters Kluwer Health, Reed Elsevier and
R.R. Bowker. As a consultant, Mr. Cairns has worked with clients as diverse as
AARP, Hewlett Packard, InterPublic Companies and Reed Elsevier with an emphasis
on business strategy, market development and corporate development.
His skills and experience include:
 Business and corporate strategy development and implementation
 Operations management and business transformation
 Traditional and digital publishing and operations
 Print-to-digital transformation and adoption of new business models
 Software development and software services
Mr. Cairns holds an MBA (Finance) from Georgetown University and a BA from
Boston University. He has served on several boards and advisory groups including
the Association of American Publishers, Book Industry Study Group and the
International ISBN organization. Additionally, he has public and private company
board experience.
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Michael Cairns
Information Media Partners
Strategy Consulting
New York, London, Melbourne
Tel: 908 938 4889
Michael.cairns@infomediapartners.com
Find me:
LinkedIn Twitter Blog Flickr InstaGram

3. Information Media Partners
Michael Cairns established Information Media Partners in 2006 as a boutique strategy
consulting firm focused on the information and education publishing segment. The work
conducted by the firm includes product development, corporate development, sales
management and corporate reorganizations. We work with established businesses, private
equity owners and potential acquirers.
Examples of our work include:
 Reorganized and re-focused a $25 million software publishing company by aligning
business operations with client priorities; implementing internal collaboration tools and
project management standards; re-building executive team to focus on effective and
efficient management
 Defined a new business strategy for a large non-profit association and advocacy group,
expanding their business model into global markets to exploit their core knowledge and
expertise across a broader market
 Led an information technology capabilities review at a large international advertising
holding company. Completed over 200 interviews in 15 international offices and multiple
group focus sessions to define the operational ‘gaps’ between existing agency capabilities
and those necessary and important for client delivery by region
 Completed a sales management effectiveness review for a global software company and
defined six key project initiatives to improve sales effectiveness, market development and
account management
We approach our client engagements in a standardized, logical manner which creates the best
environment to identify key business drivers, administrative and logistical road blocks and/or
product or market definition issues. Our investigative approach leads to better insights into
your businesses and supports the development of workable solutions and recommendations
for success.
Visit the Information Media Partners website for more information.
Sample Client List

4. Introduction
 Rethinking and remixing content
 Searched, browsed, repackaged, sold
 Fragmenting, bundling, collections, cross selling,
flexible e-commerce, academic adoptions,
community networks, SEO
 The right content when, where and how users
want it
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5. So where are we?
 Content structured linearly
 Movement from ‘Creamy’ to ‘Chunky’
 Journals content is “better”
 Books/Textbooks all inclusive monoliths
 Chapters, abstracts, metadata, keywords,
etc
 The customer wants it their way
 Other content industries do it: Music, TV,
etc.
 Technology has enabled the transition
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6. What are the challenges (any surprises)?
 Reliance on the ‘document’
 Under investment in metadata
 Sclerotic internal processes
 What is the “strategic” value of content?
 Allocation of resources, time and money
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7. Strategic Content Planning
 Programmatic, strategic evaluation
 Format vs document
 Review
 Processes, relationships, technology, etc
 Evaluate your content
 Who does what?
 What do your customers want?
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8. Engage and learn
 Symtext
 SIPX
 GinkgoTree
 CourseLoad
 CourseSmart
 Chegg
 Deep Dyve
 Kno
 O’Reilly Media
 Slice Books
 CUP
 And many more..
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9. In the end we all try to “COPE”*
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* Create Once Publish Everywhere

10. Strategic challenges are opportunities
 Custom and disaggregated content
distribution models are inevitable so how will
you benefit?
 Permissions revenues considered
incremental will become your primary
revenue source
 Your content platform will be the basis for
broad distribution
 Must improve metadata at the ‘unit’ level
 Offer your own custom publishing solution
 Link content across library: Leverage the
principles of cross and upselling
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11. Help me…What should tell them at HQ?
 Make the content less dependent on an
output format
 Chunking content while maintaining a web of
interrelationships across the content
 Can we actively involve authors in the process?
 Establish templates that support flexible
content:
 Book>Chapter>Image>Diagram
 Description>Abstract>Key words>Concepts
 Learn by example – There’s nothing wrong
with borrowing
 Engage the customer: Content everywhere –
so how do we deliver it?11

12. Please review my blog post associated
with this presentation:
http://personanondata.blogspot.com/2013
/06/society-of-scholarly-publishers-
panel.html
Michael Cairns
Managing Partner
Michael.Cairns@InfoMediaPartners.com
908 938 4889
LinkedIn Twitter Blog Flickr InstaGram
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