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Evolution Summer 2012: FreePint Consolidates
Wednesday, 27th June 2012

By Robin Neidorf

Abstract:

In the summer of 2012, FreePint is undergoing evolution, consolidating its publishing brands into the single FreePint brand. Read about these changes and the expanded access and added value they will bring to you.

Article:

Some readers have been with FreePint since the dark days of the early internet ... when all newsletters were plain-text and the ability to be in dialogue with unknown professionals around the world was still a novelty.

The look and feel of FreePint has evolved dramatically since then. Fundamentally, though, the purpose of FreePint remains constant:

FreePint supports the value of information in the enterprise

Fifteen years ago, enterprises needed one set of resources; today, enterprises, and more importantly the people whose hard work creates enterprise, needs something else.

From 1997 to 2012: A set of products for different purposes

Until now, FreePint has published under three main brands:

• FreePint and FreePint Research:
  "Umbrella" or "Family" brand; includes reports based on original research about the information industry as well as the flagship FreePint Newsletter
  
  
• FUMSI:
  Practical resources supporting how professionals Find, Use, Manage and Share Information
  
  
• VIP:
  Product reviews and news analysis for corporate information managers.

The separation of these brands enabled us to devote resources to higher value articles and reports, but it’s also been increasingly confusing to current and potential customers.

Consolidation

During the summer of 2012, we are hard at work to pull all our content back together under the single FreePint brand.

In the coming weeks, you’ll start to see this consolidation across our weekly newsletters, articles in our database and the publications you may be getting through paid subscription.

Information Content, Practice and Strategy

When we consolidate the content that was previously branded VIP or FUMSI into FreePint, our editorial commissioning will continue to be guided by the business needs behind those publications:

• Information Practice:
  Articles and resources that support how practitioners interact with information to create business value and outcomes (formerly covered by FUMSI)

• Information Content:
  Articles and resources about the products, services and sources that organisations buy, license and access to support information work (formerly covered by VIP)

• Information Strategy:
  Articles and resources based on original and secondary research that support how organisations set and measure to strategies around the value of information to achieving their goals (formerly covered by FreePint Research)

Those business needs remain in organisations of all sizes. How we support you in addressing them is evolving.

FreePint Subscription

Access to articles, reports and resources will now be through a single FreePint Subscription -- an offering that encompasses everything we publish.

FreePint subscribers get all premium articles and reports, including the archives, and can get them via email, login and RSS as they prefer.

We're also working on enabling subscribers to be able to share individual articles with internal colleagues without restriction, as part of the single cost -- a big improvement over our previous site license approach.

If you want to know more about how a FreePint Subscription can benefit your organisation, complete our online form, How can FreePint help?

Changing times, changing needs

If there's an industry that changes more dramatically than the information world, I don't know what it is. The pace of change shows no signs of abating, which makes publishing resources about and for this world incredibly exciting.

And it also means we have to be willing to adapt our business all the time, constantly working towards simplicity.

Share your thoughts as you see the developments. Post a comment below, or reach me at robin.neidorf@freepint.com.

By Robin Neidorf

Robin has been working with FreePint since 2004, and, since joining full time in 2006, is responsible for strategic planning, product development, relationship management, research and communications. She currently heads the FreePint Research division.

Robin Neidorf ran a research and communications consulting business for 10 years, prior to joining Free Pint Limited. As a consultant, she focused on strategic planning, using information to make better decisions, and creating effective audience-focused communications across different media.

Robin has worked with a wide range of organisations in the for-profit and non-profit sector. She has developed online communities, publications and distance learning modules for a range of business purposes. She is the author of Teach Beyond Your Reach: An instructor's guide to developing and running successful distance learning classes, workshops, training sessions and more (second edition, Cyber Age, 2012) and the co-author of E-Merchant: Retail Strategies for e-Commerce (Addison-Wesley, 2001).

Robin can be reached at robin.neidorf@freepint.com

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