David Scott, Freshspot Marketing, moderated an intriguing panel on new publishing paradyms and business models. Scott Virkler, Gobalspec, provides vertical search for design engineers and technical buyers, by having a database of part numbers and technical specifications. Manufacturers pay to have their product catalogs includes in the database, then GlobalSpec drives users to their sites--a nice lead generating system! Corilee Christou, V.P Online and New Media Licensing & Development, Reed Business Information, described an experiment with their publications pulling pricing information from the periodicals into a separate chargeable database to create a new revenue stream. Larry Swartz, President, Newstex, is adding new content to his service by licensing the top financial blogs and paying royalties, just like any other publisher. Bruce Antelman, President, Reviews.com has built his business by relying on volunteers to write review articles for publication, then partners with societies for a successful marketing channel.

All of these publishers are successfully stepping beyond the traditional publishing boundaries to create new opportunities. The web is disruptive, but the technology enables new approaches to products and services, as these have demonstrated!