Wednesday, August 21

Most Roundtable participants will arrive Tuesday, August 20, or Wednesday, August 21

7:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.

Golf outing at the Eagle Ranch Golf Club

We will depart The Sonnenalp hotel at 7:00 a.m. for an 8:30 a.m. tee time at Eagle Ranch Golf Club, an Arnold Palmer Signature Desi Course. We have eight golfers for this outing. We will return to the hotel no later than 1:30 p.m.

Location: Sonnenalp Lobby

9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

The Great INMA Vail Hike(s)

We have 50+ Vail Roundtable participants and spouse/guests who aim to join us for a Wednesday morning guided hike — a big enough contingent to break us into four groups. The hikers will meet in The Sonnenalp lobby at 8:45 a.m. for 9:00 a.m. departures. For hikers, wear long pants and long sleeves to keep bugs away. If you prefer shorts or t-shirts, bring sunscreen. Brimmed hats and sunglasses are strongly suggested as well as hiking shoes with good tread. The walkers will meet in The Sonnenalp lobby at 9:45 a.m. for a 10:00 a.m. departure.

  • Gore Creek Trail (advanced hike): This trail immerses hikers into alpine splendor in the Eagles Nest Wilderness. The trail is named after the creek it climbs alongside, which is the same creek that runs through Vail Village. After winding through the forest, the trail opens up to meadows filled with wildflowers. Those interested in a challenge can continue straight to Red Buffalo Pass or take the difficult trail up to Gore Lake.

  • Grouse Creek Loop (intermediate hike): One of the best intermediate half-day hikes in the valley. This beautiful hike features old spruce and fir forests, open aspen glades, and the panoramic views of Meadow Mountain. The climb is gradual, but constant.
  • Cross Creek Trail (moderate hike): The trail begins following a ridge and then drops down to Cross Creek. There is a bridge crossing at one mile in a meadow that is usually filled with wildflowers. This, or a view of Mount of the Holy Cross from a rock outcropping a bit further, make nice destinations for a short-day hike. You will be given time to unplug and immerse yourself in the beauty and quiet of our natural world.
  • Vail Mountain (a walk): For non-hikers, we offer an 11-minute walk to Eagle Bahn gondola in Lionshead, taking the gondola to the top of Vail Mountain, soaking in the views with a short walk, then a steady one-mile walk via trails atop Vail Mountain to Gondola One where we will take a ride down Vail Mountain directly into Vail Village. In total, this is about three miles (4.8 kms) of walking.

Location: Sonnenalp Lobby

3:30 p.m.-4:00 p.m.

Registration and welcome coffee

4:00 p.m.-5:30 p.m.

Session 1: Welcome, introductions, and icebreakers

If connecting our group of 50 CEOs is one of the goals of the Vail Roundtable, introductions are in order. In this opening session, learn who is in the room, why they’re in the room, and what unique insights they bring and want to hear.

Session leaders:
Gert Ysebaert, President, INMA (President and CEO, Mediahuis)
Earl J. Wilkinson, Executive Director and CEO, INMA

Location: Bavaria Room (Lower Level) at The Sonnenalp

5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.

Welcome reception poolside at The Sonnenalp

Be welcomed to Vail poolside in the scenic riverside backyard of The Sonnenalp. Meet with peers from media companies around the world and take in the natural beauty surrounding you. We promise: Speeches will be kept to a minimum as you soak in the river view and mountains and greenery that are hallmarks of this time of year in Vail.

Location: The Sonnenalp

7:30 p.m.-Onwards

Evening free

Make your Vail Village dinner reservations in advance. Suggestions for the evening: Flame (steak), Matsuhisa (sushi), Left Bank (French), Mountain Standard (wood-burning grill), La Nonna (Italian), Pepi's (Austrian), Russell’s (steak), El Segundo (taqueria), Slope Room (organic alpine bistro), Sweet Basil (American), Swiss Chalet (fondue). If you're just looking for drinks, check out Chasing Rabbits (ask for the speakeasy), which is a two-minute walk from The Sonnenalp.

Thursday, August 22

8:00 a.m.-8:30 a.m.

Networking welcome

Join Roundtable participants for morning refreshments before diving into our two-day agenda.

Location: Bavaria Room (Lower Level) at The Sonnenalp

8:30 a.m.-10:00 a.m.

Session 2: What we know about media is about to change

If you spent six months in Silicon Valley to immerse yourself in all things AI, how would that affect your strategic thinking? Having done just that, Jovan Protic will take us through what he learned, how his perception changed, and what he’s planning to do as a result.

Session leader:

Jovan Protic, Vice President of the Board, Ringier Axel Springer

Location: Bavaria Room (Lower Level) at The Sonnenalp

10:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m.

Session 3: What to do at the end of the referred traffic era

With the recent announcements from OpenAI, Google and Apple, it is becoming clearer that their AI products are positioning themselves for closer relationships to consumers. As more sits within their walled gardens and we have less control over search, alerts and summaries, what does the future of our relationships with consumers look like? Where will discovery come from? As a group, we will discuss various scenarios and how we prepare for it.

Session leader:

Jodie Hopperton, Product & Tech Initiative Lead, INMA

Location: Bavaria Room (Lower Level) at The Sonnenalp

11:30 a.m.-11:45 a.m.

Coffee break

Take a break, meet someone new, ask questions of speakers. Text or telephone if you must.

11:45 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

Session 4: AI as business survival and an efficiency tool

How is AI helping news media companies succeed strategically? We examine what works and common mistakes, including a big-picture analysis of news consumers’ attitudes toward AI, successful use cases with positive ROI, scaling AI adoption across organisations, different team structures and guardrails. Plus: What do CEOs need to know about GenAI and their workforce, going into 2025?

Session leader:
Sonali Verma, Generative AI Initiative Lead, INMA

Location: Bavaria Room (Lower Level) at The Sonnenalp

2:15 p.m.-3:45 p.m.

Session 5: Making money in the new era: subscriptions, digital ads, affiliate + e-commerce

Subscriptions will get many publishers to the business model finish line. Yet for others, notably regional publishers, subscriptions are only the beginning. In this session, INMA will fuse together internal data showing a potential for sparking network effects among those who crack content discovery within a subscription bundle – today’s hottest subject. Meanwhile, learn how to navigate the new era of digital commerce. Many publishers see an opportunity to link product discovery and commerce with unbiased, relevant and easily digestible content, and reach some of the growing budgets. AI emerges as a game-changer, powering new contextual targeting, enhancing behavioural targeting based on the first-party data, and transforming creativity in content advertising.

Session leader:
Greg Piechota, Researcher-in-Residence, INMA

Location: Bavaria Room (Lower Level) at The Sonnenalp

3:45 p.m.-4:00 p.m.

Wrap-up and takeaways

We will conclude today's programme with a smart distillation and key takeaways.

5:15 p.m.-5:30 p.m.

Group walk from The Sonnenalp to Vail Village Tasting Room

We will take a brief group walk from The Sonnenalp to Vail Village Tasting Room. Please meet in The Sonnenalp lobby at 5:15 p.m. for a 5:20 p.m. departure.

Location: Sonnenalp Lobby

5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.

Beer tasting and reception at Vail Village Tasting Room

Unwind after a day of sessions at a beer tasting and reception at Vail Village Tasting Room. Mix and mingle with Roundtable participants in a private room. If you want local beers, this is the place to be — with 12 beers from Vail Brewing Company on tap as well as other drink options. If you want local canapés, the INMA reception will feature the work of local chef Alyssa Block from Graze & Torrey's. Punctuate the evening with a private beer tasting led by a Vail Village Tasting Room proprietor before making your dinner reservations. To learn more about Vail Brewing Company's story, click here.

7:30 p.m.-Onwards

Evening free

Make your Vail Village dinner reservations in advance. Suggestions for the evening: Flame (steak), Matsuhisa (sushi), Left Bank (French), Mountain Standard (wood-burning grill), La Nonna (Italian), Pepi's (Austrian), Russell’s (steak), El Segundo (taqueria), Slope Room (organic alpine bistro), Sweet Basil (American), Swiss Chalet (fondue). Also note that The Sonnenalp's Kings Club will have lounge entertainment from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. tonight — a Vail tradition that includes a fantastic bar.

Friday, August 23

8:00 a.m.-8:30 a.m.

Networking welcome

Join Roundtable participants for morning refreshments before diving into today's agenda.

Location: Bavaria Room (Lower Level) at The Sonnenalp

8:30 a.m.-10:00 a.m.

Session 6: The news media outlook 2025: the issues you need to know now

It’s easy to get overwhelmed in the titanic tech changes and the silo’d efforts to retrofit media companies for digital sustainability. In this session drawing on more than three decades of interactions with news media worldwide, what are the macro-trends that lead us to this moment – and point us to the next 18 months? How to roll up consumer revenue models, commerce possibilities, newsroom transformation, generative AI, and the relationships with tech companies into a picture that brings publishers together?

Session leader:
Earl J. Wilkinson, Executive Director and CEO, INMA

Location: Bavaria Room (Lower Level) at The Sonnenalp

10:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m.

Session 7: The new urgency around fixing our brand experience

In a world where media distribution is becoming even more fractured, our brand needs to stand out amongst the noise. But brand is more than a masthead or logo. It’s about how audiences engage with it. What does your brand mean to different audiences? How do they experience it, and how can we create a deep brand engagement with multiple audiences across multiple channels?

Session leader:
Robert Whitehead, Digital Platform Initiative Lead, INMA

Location: Bavaria Room (Lower Level) at The Sonnenalp

11:30 a.m.-11:45 a.m.

Coffee break

Take a break, meet someone new, ask questions of speakers. Text or telephone if you must.

11:45 a.m.-1:15 p.m.

Session 8: Journalism as the sustainable differentiator and how to deliver it

Commoditised content is everywhere, and our journalism needs to stand out to succeed. In an era of significantly declining search and social traffic, newsrooms must evolve to deliver the kind of stories and multi-media – and at the times and in the formats that readers want – to engender longer-lasting, loyal relationships. To get there, it’s crucial that our newsrooms embrace data, understand user needs, and move farther away from journalism of the past. This session will explore those concepts, as well as the importance of breaking silos with other parts of the organisation.

Session leader:
Amalie Nash, Newsroom Transformation Initiative Lead, INMA

Location: Bavaria Room (Lower Level) at The Sonnenalp

1:15 p.m.-2:30 p.m.

Lunch at Ludwig's

2:30 p.m.-4:00 p.m.

Session 9: How to organise for more effective performance

Over two days, we will have discussed the massive changes to our business environment. In this session we will discuss the organisational designs that we need to deliver on our business goals with minimal friction. From organisation structure to working efficiently, and innovation structures that allow us to quickly spin up — and down — ideas, we’ll cover what it takes to create an agile environment.

Session leader:
Greg Piechota, Researcher-in-Residence, INMA

Location: Bavaria Room (Lower Level) at The Sonnenalp

6:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m.

Small-group dinners in Vail

INMA will make reservations at six Vail Village restaurants, and guests who opt in will enjoy a final evening with peers and subject-matter experts. INMA will provide dinner options closer to the Vail Roundtable dates.

8:30 p.m.-Onwards

Drinks at the Red Lion

“Drinks on INMA” will be at the legendary Vail institution Red Lion in the center of Vail Village — always lively and featuring local musicians. Just around the corner from Red Lion is the Shakedown Bar, the best live rock-and-roll music venue in Vail. Please wear your INMA pin for bar service.

Location: Red Lion, 304 Bridge Street 1

Questions? Contact INMA



Bonnie Nolan

Event Manager
Tel.:+1 608 206-7812

E-Mail me

Kelly Brown

Executive Assistant to CEO
Tel.:+1 214 923-7177

E-Mail me