Starting a local or hyperlocal digital service might seem obvious, but it’s hard to succeed in a publishing field that already has become hyper-competitive in many areas.

As a response, WAN-Ifra and the World Editors Forum will pitch its Summer University 2011 towards ‘putting local and hyperlocal content at the heart of your future projects’. The sixth annual seminar, on June 27-28 in Paris, will examine strategies, best practices and journalistic approaches with hyperlocal pioneers and leaders from Europe and the USA. It is the first time the Editors Forum brings its expertise to the event.

Speakers include Adrian Holovaty, founder of EveryBlock in the US, Bart Brouwers, editor in chief of dichtbij.nl in  the Netherlands, Jacques Natz, director of digital media content for Hearst Television in the United States, François-Xavier Lefranc, director for regional and local news at Ouest-France, Roberto De Celis, director of digital editions at Vocento in Spain, and many others.

Among topics to be covered are:

• · Local communities have high expectations. How can print, the web, and the smartphone be used to satisfy them?
• · Best practices in local journalism.
• · “Added value” citizen journalism.
• · How to reorganise newsrooms to generate multimedia content and reach small communities.
• · How to put data journalism into practice at the local level.
• · How to track audiences and use the data to ensure they are getting the content they want.
• · Refining local web projects to create unique user experiences.
• · How smartphone applications can strengthen the print and digital presence of the brand.
• · How to increase reader satisfaction at the local level to grow sales in print.
• · Moving from hyperlocal to “hyper personal”.

For more information, visit www.wan-ifra.org/summeruniversity2011.