WWhen Earl Wilkinson was first asked to address the INMA World Congress eight years ago, the association CEO's instructions from the programme committee were, sketchily, to structure the global INMA conversation in a way digestible for members. The harsh truth was there was little road map. The harsher truth is the presentation marked Wilkinson’s first extemporaneous presentation.

The annual presentation to the INMA World Congress has since become one of the highest-rated aspects of the conference and a reason many delegates stay until the end.

To conclude the World Congress Tuesday afternoon, May 17, in New York, Wilkinson will present what has become his “Newsmedia Outlook” for the year, a presentation that combines stories from his travels, a connect-the-dots approach to industry trend-spotting, and a casual storytelling style developed since organisers pushed him on stage in 2004.

Wilkinson expects the presentation will focus on the seismic shifts in consumer media behaviour, audience management combined with platform management, and the emerging non-traditional advertising opportunities that may be a road map of how to transition from print to multi-media.

During his nearly 21-year career with INMA, Wilkinson has written books and reports related to the future of media, marketing, and the strategic outlook for the newspaper industry — notably the annual Newsmedia Outlook report.

The Texas native is the publisher of Ideas Magazine, author of The Earl Blog at INMA.org, as well as a frequent speaker at newspaper industry conferences worldwide. His views on where newspapers fit into the new media landscape are sought after by the world's leading newspaper companies, and he is widely quoted in trade magazines, newspapers, industry web sites, and more.

Click below for a 2009 interview with Wilkinson.

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