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*NOTE: We will take a week break from the newsletter next week during the Niche Media Conference

The Niche Media Conference is just ONE WEEK AWAY. If you haven’t registered, do it before we’re completely full!

The event runs April 8-10 in Orlando at the Rosen Center Resort & Hotel, featuring 25+ breakout sessions, 40 speakers across five tracks, Day 1 workshops, and networking events that are actually worth your time.

Every single session is built around revenue generation and growth strategies for niche media companies. Team discounts are available if you're bringing the crew.

Now, let’s talk about the conference…

5 Things I'm Looking Forward to at the Niche Media Conference

By Zach O’Brien

The Niche Media Conference kicks off next week in Orlando (April 8–10), and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little amped. This is the annual gathering where niche publishers stop pretending they have it all figured out and actually talk shop. What's working, what's flopping, and what's next.

Here are five things on the agenda I'm most excited about:

1. Speed Publishing (Wednesday, 4–6 PM)

If you've never done Speed Publishing, you're in for a treat. It's hands down the most energizing event of the entire conference. Think speed dating, but instead of awkward small talk about hobbies, you're swapping revenue ideas with fellow publishers over cocktails.

You meet more people in 90 minutes than most events deliver in three days. It's back by popular demand, and for good reason. If you're coming to Niche and skip this, we need to talk.

2. The Event Profit Playbook Panel (Thursday, 11:30 AM–12:30 PM)

My brother Brien is on this one alongside Nancy O'Brien (my mother), Rory Gillis, and Jenna Parks, and I'm biased, but this panel is stacked. Events have quietly become one of the biggest revenue levers in niche media, and this session is all about what's actually generating money right now.

Pricing, sponsorships, logistics, margins. Just what's working. If you're not doing events yet, this might change your mind.

3. Dr. Jeffrey Magee's Power Keynote on Revenue Streams (Thursday, 12:30–2 PM)

This might be the most valuable hour of the entire conference. Dr. Magee has been running a successful niche publication for 34 years, one that's landed advertisers like Mercedes-Benz and Marriott, with a quarterly circulation north of 417,000.

He's bringing proven frameworks for uncovering revenue opportunities most publishers overlook, and his core message is one I think this industry needs to hear more often: our medium isn't declining, we just need to get smarter about how we grow it.

4. David Arkin on AI Policy and SEO (Thursday, 11:30 AM and 2:30 PM)

I think AI is the single most important topic in publishing right now, and David is pulling double duty to cover it from two angles. His morning session on modern SEO digs into how search is evolving into answer engine optimization, which is critical stuff for editorial teams.

Then in the afternoon, he's walking through how to actually build an AI policy and implement real workflows, not just "we use ChatGPT sometimes." If your team doesn't have a clear AI system yet, these are your sessions.

5. The Nichee Awards (Friday, 10–10:30 AM)

The return of the Nichees is always exciting. Friday morning, we find out who takes home Publisher and Magazine of the Year, and it's one of my favorite moments of the whole event. It puts a spotlight on the people doing exceptional work in corners of media that the big industry awards completely ignore.

Niche publishing doesn't get a lot of glory, and this is the exception. Cheering on your peers and celebrating great work is a pretty perfect way to close out the conference.

See you in Orlando.

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