If you work in an African news organization and you’re exploring how to deepen relationships with your audience members, we hope you’ll join the Membership Puzzle Project and Daily Maverick for a workshop on audience engagement and membership models on Aug. 21 & 22, in Cape Town.

Journalism is evolving and membership models are helping news organisations improve through community building and generating revenue. This workshop will give you the inspiration, tools, and thought partners you need to begin and succeed at this work.

Who we are:

The Membership Puzzle Project is a public research project at New York University studying how to optimize a news organization for trust, primarily through membership in its many forms. They run the Membership in News Fund, which supports promising experiments in membership around the world. Daily Maverick is one of their grantees and together are hosting this workshop.

Daily Maverick is an independent news, analysis and investigative digital publisher based in South Africa. In August 2018,  DM launched Maverick Insider, a membership program and less than a year later, have gained more than 6,500 paying members. DM has also launched new editorial products that have deepened their relationship with their readers.

What we have planned: 

The agenda is a work in progress, but expect sessions on the following:

• The state of membership worldwide
• An in-depth look at Year One of the Daily Maverick’s Maverick Insiders membership program
• Catalyst talks highlighting inspiring audience engagement projects from around the world
• How to do your own audience research
• How to develop and grow newsletters – and use them to support better journalism
• How to develop your own membership offering
• Open times on the schedule for attendees to pitch discussions on topics of their choosing

Costs

The workshop will begin at 9 a.m. on Aug. 21 and will conclude in the early afternoon on Aug. 22. Registration is free, although attendees will have to cover their travel costs and hotel accommodation. Breakfast and lunch will be provided.

Who can apply?

Registration is open to any staff member of an African news organization, but in order to make this a fairly hands-on workshop, we are planning to limit attendance to 60 people. We ask that each news organization send no more than two people.

It is our mutual belief that you do not have to be a startup or an organization with a membership program to find this workshop helpful. The skill of designing for community and getting closer to audience members will be beneficial for any news organization trying to figure out a sustainable business model in 2019.

Interested in joining us? 

Register for the conference here. If you have any questions, please email Ariel at [email protected] and Fran Beighton at [email protected].

We will update this page in the coming weeks with additional logistical information, including hotel information, and a more detailed agenda. We’ll also e-mail that information to registered participants.

Looking forward to seeing you in Cape Town.

The Membership Puzzle Project and Daily Maverick