Roger B. Wilson, Jr., newMeetia, The Conference Department, Inc., Winchester, Mass.
SIPA: What was your first job out of college and how did you get into this business?
ROGER: I pounded nails when I graduated from college, continuing a construction business I had started before college and operated through college. I employed as many as 5 guys. I’ll never forget cold-calling Bernie Goldhirsh, the founder of Inc. Magazine in my effort to break into publishing. “Mr. Goldhirsh, I love your magazine!” I blurted when I sensed his receiver heading for the hook. His hesitation, piqued by my honest passion (and perhaps my hungry desperation—Bernie loved a bargain), led to my first publishing job as business manager of that magazine. I always had a passion for publishing although I took a detour into finance and operational analysis with Xerox Corporation when a recruiter took a shine to an article I’d written for a school paper at the University of Chicago (now) Booth School of Business. I was an editor, reporter and cartoonist for that paper which we named Chicago Business before Crain came out with a publication by the same name.
Has there been a defining moment in your career? Perhaps when you knew you were on the right road.
One defining moment for me was at Inc in 1985 in the midst of the first big tech industry crash. Bernie was insisting that we cancel a celebratory conference that was costing him a lot of money. I knew there was magic in the event. Everyone in the room turned to me in shock when, as the “numbers guy,” I said, “OK, cut it out of the budget but don’t cancel it. It’s too good to kill. Give it to me and let me figure out how to make money with it.” The Inc. 500 Conference continues to this day and I’m still in the business of making good information and good experiences into good money. But I’ll always wonder about the many roads not taken.
In brief, describe your business/company?
Turning good information into good business is what NewMeetia does. This is principally achieved through the medium of conferences which NewMeetia helps develop in partnership with information companies. We are creating, repositioning, or turning around information products and product lines from concept to plan and plan to execution. I’ve personally worked in magazines; directories; newsletters; conferences, seminars and other events; audio; video; books; webinars; hybrid events; eletters; etc.
What are two or three important concepts or rules that have helped you to succeed in business?
– Be a media utilitarian. Work across media. All media is in the business of moving minds. Any particular medium is a means to that end.
– Start with something to say then figure out how to make it pay. Editorially-driven products are the most resilient and sustainable, and life is too short to waste on stuff you don’t think is important.
– Don’t take risks. Take what other people think are risks. Risk is simply uncertainty of outcome. To consistently earn rewards, make the outcome as certain as you can by empirical research, creative planning, energetic execution and quick correction when things go wrong.
What is the single-most successful thing that your company is doing now?
We are having great success extending Internet-only brands into the face-to-face medium, working with younger people who have a zeal for growing their businesses.
Do you see a trend or path that you have to lock onto as we look to 2012?
World-wide, a huge shift in the political-economics of information is in its early stages. I am much more concerned about the future of our republic than I am about the future of our industry. What I’d really most like to do now is start a new political party organized around a new information model.
What are the key benefits of SIPA membership for you and your team?
Emotional support as an entrepreneur has been the key benefit of SIPA participation for me. SIPA members are uniquely open to sharing the lessons of successes and failures, from the smallest scale on up. The stuff that gets discussed is visceral and it’s nuts-and-bolts-practical. It’s real. When I quit my newsletter job to start my company, members of my church were horrified that I was endangering my family’s economic security. Members of what was then the Newsletter Association, especially Jim Flanagan who was the local chapter chair, were enthusiastic. Plus SIPA people are just plain fun to be around.
Where did you grow up?
I had the privilege of growing up in Lexington, Mass., the birthplace of American liberty and in Marlboro, Vt., on an ancestral farm that has been in the family since 1796.
What college did you attend? Is there a moment from that time that stands out?
I transferred into Williams College after traveling around the country and working in construction, in a record store and for a conservation organization. A moment that stands out was when a professor took me aside and told me that if I didn’t conquer my terrible, dyslexic spelling, my ideas wouldn’t be taken seriously. I was a history major writing lots of papers and I had to practically memorize the dictionary to overcome the problem.
Are you married? Do you have children?
My wife is an assistant director in the career program at MIT. We have two grown children: a daughter who teaches Spanish and a son who was an Army officer and is now supervising a manufacturing operation.
What is your favorite hobby and how did it develop in your life?
I have continued to compete in cross country ski racing since college and recently took up ocean kayak racing and road biking. My love of endurance sports developed because of the dedication and patient leadership of a young college coach who I still keep in touch with today.
Is there a book you recently read or movie you saw that you would recommend?
I have just finished the Memoirs of William Tecumseh Sherman which I picked up at a used book sale. It is on the dry side since a lot of it consists of military orders and reports, but he was a true hero of our nation’s greatest calamity and reading the book makes it clear why he deserves to be so remembered.
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As Roger said, “SIPA members are uniquely
open to sharing the lessons of successes
and failures, from the smallest scale on up.”
Those lessons will be overflowing this week at
SIPA’s 28th Annual Marketing Conference
in Miami Beach starting Wednesday, Dec. 7.
There’s still time for you to join in!
But you need to act fast!
Check the agenda and sign up now!
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