mediaxchangeWith a stellar lineup of vendors and an A-list of high profile speakers, mediaXchange deserved to see a better attendance record last week at the Mandalay in Las Vegas.

Now a marriage between Newspaper Association of America’s (NAA) marketing and newspaper conventions, last week’s Vegas-based mediaXchange promised to carry a new flame in igniting the industry’s need for digital innovation and redirection.

Although the fire was there, very few lined up to roast marshmallows by it.

mediaXchange’s low turnout is just another sign of the ongoing downward spiral in the traditional newspaper print business. [Not even one week after NAA's convention we saw the popular Seattle P-I newspaper shutter its print product after 146 years in favor of an online-only product.]

mediaXchange speakers and vendors alike believe technology is the key component in keeping print organizations afloat. The common theme resonating through the Mandalay Bay venue was digital digital digital.

Most folks though at the expo acknowledged organizations could be making a too-little-to-late approach in modernizing and migrating to a digital business model. A commonly heard theme among exhibitors and speakers was the urgent need for businesses to advance in leaps-and-bounds rather than rolling out products in a slow, low-risk step-by-step fashion.

The newspaper/media industry is in dire need of disruptive change to survive. All organization eyes must be trained on technology – but is the message sinking in? Attendance at mediaXchange says, not likely.

mediaXchange exhibitors have a grasp on the digital drive and are pushing it in their sales models, but this year’s terribly low attendance in Vegas indicates the message is not making it to where the rubber meets the road — the newspapers themselves.