As events producers and publishers shift to virtual events, the results have been mixed, observes Brian Morrissey, long time editor-in-chief of Digiday, who stepped down from his position in October.

He suggests that events scheduled this Spring as physical events will inevitably become virtual.

In my podcast with Brian, he points to the upside of virtual events of allowing more extensive programming with speakers being more readily available via a Zoom call from home.

On the downside is the business imperative for sponsors who expect in-person networking.  And admission prices are nearly free now, making the business of event registration problematic.  There are too many events and they are becoming “commoditized” he observes.

But for business publishers who retain a close relationship with a particular industry sector, there are a plethora of other monetization opportunities.

Also in the session, he shares his views on media trade publishing, which he suggests need to be more tech focused vs. personality driven.   And he reflects on the trend of out of work journalists who have embraced micro publishing on Substack.  He doesn’t see it as sustainable for most.

We caught up with Brian in Miami  last week where he is evaluating his next moves.

His platform at the moment is his weekly newsletter call The Rebooting.    If you are  keen to see what’s next in business publishing sign up.

Note from the Editor:  Thanks Brian for your support of Beet.TV, my work and for your kind words about it in this session.

Please subscribe to the #BeetCast on your favorite podcast service.  And you can listen right here on this article page on Beet.TV

The #BeetCast is sponsored by Tru Optik, a Transunion company.

“This is a massive story – it’s touching every single company and industry we cover across three brands,” says Morrissey in a remote interview via BeetCam. Digiday Media owns media and marketing publication Digiday, fashion and beauty publication Glossy and retail industry publication Modern Retail. “The actual editorial direction isn’t difficult – we put ourselves at the center of these industries. We connect people with the information they need to do their jobs better, and in a world of massive uncertainty that roles becomes even more important.”

There’s no shortage of business angles for reporters to explore right now; what’s important for an organization to do is keep up morale as companies continue working remote and some workers are dealing with an external crisis for the first time. “This situation is unique in a lot of ways, but we’ve been through the post 9/11, dot com bust and the financial crisis, and some others haven’t. It’s new, and it’s shocking.”

As companies work to make their ways through the crisis, advertising strategies are up in the air. Some have paused advertising spend all together as they figure out their messaging, Morrissey says, and some categories will be more resilient than others. More important than campaign angles, slogans or “how we’re dealing with coronavirus” emails is the actions companies take.

“One of the more interesting aspects is companies need to figure out what they can do to help during this time,” Morrissey says. “That will stick. Not all the tactical stuff about whether they put on ads.” Companies like LVMH turning over supply chains to hand sanitizer production leave an impression, similar to when Hyundai defer car payments after the 2008 financial crisis.

“That’s the kind of stuff that not only will it contribute to solving this problem but it’s actions and it’s not words,” Morrissey says. “A lot of advertising gets caught up in what the right words are when really what’s needed are the right actions. That’s what I’m looking for.”

Digiday is soon to expand in to other topics and regions, Morrissey tells Beet.TV in this video interview.

“We’re looking to launch new brands in other verticals, take our model and tweak it and apply it to similar models to media and marketing but different industries,” he says.

For anyone hoping that may suggest mission creep on Digiday’s part, Morrissey says staying true to a USP is key – for his site, and all other publishers. He calls it “the power of building a differentiated brand”.

“At Digiday, we believe in having a focused brand,” says Morrissey, speaking at his own Digiday Publishing Summit in Colorado. “There is going to be a reckoning for publishers that haven’t focused solely on audience development.”

Digiday ha grown to number 54 people, including expanding its London team from two to three and a growing roster of events in Europe.

Next up, Morrissey aims to be big in Japan. Having struck a JV with local publisher Infobahn in September, a first Asian conference is coming up in Kyoto in June.

This interview took place at the Digiday Publishing Summit in Vail, Colorado, in March.

“Native is growing up,” says industry news site Digiday‘s editor-in-chief Brian Morrissey. “Custom things don’t scale. Advertising is a scale business. We’re seeing native figuring out a way to marry the advertising systems that are able to distribute things efficiently with the more custom placements that are native.”

Morrissey’s Digiday has become a popular read amongst marketers and publishers. Now it is expanding in Europe with the hiring of a UK editor, recently holding its first European conference in Barcelona and planning another in Nice.

“The future of media is having a focus,” Morrissey says. “It can be on video, a local level or an industry level – that kind of media is incredible valuable. There are opportunities for new kinds of media companies to spring up.”

We spoke with him at the Mindshare party at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.