Natasha was President/CEO of Ascential Intelligence for six years, a portfolio of digital intelligence brands including WGSN, the world’s leading trend forecaster, Groundsure, the UK’s top environmental data supplier for conveyancers, and the festival business Money20/20 at Ascential plc, the global information company. Prior to that she was CEO of Emap from 2010 to 2015. She started her career in sales and led the commercial teams on consumer brands such as Elle, Red and the EMAP parenting portfolio. Natasha has a long history of growing B2B businesses and selling them to strategic or private equity buyers. Natasha is Chairwoman of Sifted, a Financial Times and PE backed media business for start ups, on the Board of Proven Growth and Income Plc and a Trustee of Just Like Us. Natasha is currently an advisor to a number of businesses including TED Conferences LLC, Moonshot and Walking On Earth.

Subscriptions marketing professional driving revenue growth and optimising customer acquisition strategies. With 20 years of experience in the publishing industry, I have developed a deep understanding of the subscription landscape and a passion for delivering exceptional multi-channel marketing campaigns that maximise profitability and customer loyalty.

An empathetic leader and skilled people manager, understanding the needs and motivations of my team and fostering open communication and creating a supportive environment.

Juan Señor is the President of INNOVATION Media Consulting Group in London - one the world's leading news media consultancies

He has worked with and advised hundreds of media companies on every continent directing transformative projects. He also serves on the Advisory Board of several media groups.

He is also a former Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford.

He has been listed as one of 'The World's Leading Innovators' in Journalism and Media' by Journalism UK. Mr. Señor is a highly-sought commentator on the media industry, speaking at global forums and quoted frequently in leading publications such as The Economist and The Financial Times.

He is co-editor of two annuals books; Innovation in News Media and Innovation in Media, written on behalf of WAN-IFRA and the FIPP respectively. Altogether he has edited 32 books.

He worked for seven years as a war and conflict reporter for PBS's NewsHour. He then became a presenter for EBN-Wall Street Journal TV and CNBC Europe. And he served as London correspondent of International Herald Tribune Television then owned by The New York Times and The Washington Post.

His work has been nominated for an EMMY and his television programme, Media Report, was voted by viewers as Europe’s Best Business Programme.

He continues to work as a live event and television host and presenter. He has hosted the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for 14 years, Reinvention Festival for a decade, and dozens of public speaking engagements every year as a keynote speaker or moderator.

In addition to his passion for the media business, he is a campaigner for disabilities via means of fundraising expeditions to the ends of the earth.

He has skied unsupported to the North Pole, crossed the Western Sahara, trekked the Amazon, and organised the first-ever expedition to the South Pole of a team with physical disabilities.

A Spanish national, he was born and raised in Barcelona and educated in Europe and New York. He is conversant in six languages.

Jess is a Senior Development Producer at Tortoise where she works across the Slow Newscast and the Investigations feed, working with producers and reporters on idea development. She also works closely on the pitching and selling of Tortoise IP to film and television companies. Previously Jess worked as a narrative development producer at a British podcast production company where she developed, managed and pitched a constant flow of stories to UK and US commissioners.

Kerry Parker leads the team at SelectScience, the digital publisher with a mission of accelerating science by connecting scientific communities with trusted solutions. With more than 18 years experience in B2B digital publishing and content, Kerry and team pioneered the concept of content marketing and lead generation programs, as well as peer-to-peer digital communities. She has held editorial, commercial and management roles with a focus on growth, and most recently led SelectScience into its first Private Equity partnership.

Mel is an interim Chief Product Officer and Media Artist. She is a product and technology leader with creative DNA launching digital products across converging worlds - storytelling and commerce. Professionally, Mel leads major digital transformation programmes, reimagining digital customer experiences to reach the widest global audience with inspiration and delight.

In her previous role, she was VP Consumer Product at Condé Nast. She led the digital portfolio across nine brands in 11 markets: Vogue, GQ, Condé Nast Traveller, Architectural Digest, House + Garden, World of Interiors, Allure, SELF, and Glamour.

She was also responsible for the e-Commerce Platform - Retail Media, Storefront, and Affiliate. In her role, she reimagined the Met Gala and Vogue World as a digital livestream experiences, launched Vogue’s new Storefront, Architectural Digest Designer Directory, and Condé Nast Travelers website and booking platform.

Rory is an experienced entrepreneur within the media and information sector.

After two decades in corporate life (Metal Bulletin, Emap, Incisive Media and others), Rory launched his own business in media strategy, before moving into a private equity supported management buy-in of assets in the pharmaceutical and agriculture industry.

Over 2 further cycles of private equity support Rory pivoted the business further towards a market data and pricing business at AgriBriefing.

He was responsible for 8 international acquisitions and 4 disposals during his time with the company. The business was sold in a highly competitive process in 2023 and since then Rory has embarked on a plural career of non-executive and advisory positions alongside some angel investments – primarily in the information, tech and events sectors.

He is currently Non-Executive Chair of financial data company Realfin.

Colin Morrison is founder of Flashes & Flames (www.flashesandflames.com), the longform Global Media Weekly. He is a former journalist who became CEO of B2B and B2C companies, including for: Axel Springer, Future, Hearst, EMAP, Australian Consolidated Press and RELX. For 15 years, he was chair of a national children’s charity and a goverment advisor on education. In 2024, he was awarded the CBE.

Sajeeda Merali joined the PPA as CEO in 2021, with an agenda to transform the way the PPA represents and supports its 300+ UK multi-media business members, consumer magazine publishers, business-to-business data and information providers, customer magazine publishers and smaller independents.

A strategic leader with 20 years’ experience in the publishing industry, Sajeeda has held senior positions with both B2B and consumer-facing organisations, with extensive experience in change management and strategy development.

She joined the PPA from the New Statesman Media Group, where she was Chief Revenue Officer responsible for identifying high-value digital opportunities and launching commercial strategy for new brands in highly competitive markets.

Prior to that, she was the commercial leader of the Insider Publishing Division at Euromoney PLC and has held senior positions at Incisive Media, where she was influential in driving cultural and strategic change. Sajeeda is on the board of the Advertising Association, PLS, FIPP, CAP, PAMCo and ABC. In 2018 she won the WACL Futures Award and continues to be an active member, as well as co-founder of the Amal network, which champions Muslim women in the workplace.

As a Chief Commercial Officer Serena is responsible for developing and executing the commercial strategy across Haymarket Business Media along with P&L responsibility for all divisional commercial activities. Combining strong sales leadership skills with the ability to identify new product developments and opportunities across 13 markets. Brands include Campaign, PRWeek, Third Sector and Management Today.

Abi Spooner is Strategy Partner at Atlas, specialising in customer behavioural data analysis, forecasting and strategic planning, alongside delivering specialist subscriptions marketing training.

Abi worked as Customer Strategy Officer at Dennis and Future, and Chief Customer Officer at Dennis, where she created profitable customer-first strategies to drive acquisition, efficiency and yield across The Week globally. She also launched and grew The Week Junior UK and US as well as driving strategy for over 120 brands.

A highly skilled data storyteller, Abi makes complex analysis accessible and understood, from the board room to marketing teams and the wider business. She is at her happiest creating LTV models and believes creativity really can (and probably should) start with a spreadsheet.

Rosie is the Managing Director for Media and Events EMEA (Communities) at The Channel Company. Rosie oversees the customer success, events and data departments and is responsible for the overall strategy and top line budget. Rosie is adept at managing high-performing teams, product development and has extensive experience in platform migration for all things digital media and digital and face to face events.

Laurie brings a unique blend of expertise in both Marketing and Product Management, offering strategic insights that drive the monetization of subscription content and bridge to Software as a Service (SaaS) platforms. At FMC, Laurie has successfully led a comprehensive digital transformation of a 25-year-old legacy media brand.

Under Laurie’s leadership, the focus shifted to digital subscriptions by breaking down data silos, creating conversion-friendly ecosystems, and basing all product decisions around customer needs. This approach has empowered renewed growth and a customer-centric strategy creating growth & value for the business through improved digital revenues.

Claudia is the Chief Revenue Officer at Stylus, a trends intelligence company. With a background as Chief Strategy Officer, she now combines her passion for driving growth with the hands-on leadership of the global Commercial and Member Success teams. Since joining Stylus in 2012, she has brought an entrepreneurial spirit, having previously founded and run a successful online media business for seven years. Her expertise lies in unlocking potential—whether for her team, the company, or its members—by aligning data and market insights with members’ needs. With a strategic global focus, Claudia is dedicated to driving revenue growth, empowering teams, and delivering member-centered excellence.

Michael is a marketing and customer strategist, NED and board advisor. He was formerly General Manager of Times Newspapers Ltd, with responsibility for the financial performance and for setting and implementing strategies for long-term cross-platform growth. Prior to that he was publisher and COO of The Economist and has served on the board of two publishing industry trade associations, PPA (UK) and MPA (USA).

Three years ago, Michael co-founded HBM Advisory, which helps content businesses around the world to unlock their digital potential. More recently, Michael set up ContentReview.ai, which combines advanced statistical analysis with the latest generation of AI to help publishers build content strategies that support growth goals.

Aliya is a Manager at FT Strategies, where she has spent the last three years working with over 20 news companies worldwide. Since the advent of GenAI, much of her work focuses on helping publishers navigate the disruption and opportunities that AI presents for the news industry. Prior to the FT, she worked at Dataminr and Bloomberg. She is currently a member of the FT's Next Generation Board and just finished her term on the PPA's Next Generation Board.

Rebecca Taylor is Commercial Content Editor at William Reed, working across publications including Retail Week and The Grocer. She is responsible for helping to grow and deliver bespoke reports and events across themes from stores and the consumer to supply chains and tech.

Rebecca has been recognised by the PPA and Conference News with their respective 30 Under 30 awards and sits on the PPA’s Next Gen Board, which aims to encourage inclusivity of younger voices across the special interest media sector. Rebecca is also an active charity ambassador for The Brain Tumour Charity, and was part of their inaugural steering committee, co-creating their latest strategy.

Matt Roclawski is the Managing Director for TTG Media. Matt oversees all commercial functions this multi-award winning purpose driven business that recently attained B-Corp certification and is responsible for the overall strategy and top line budget. Matt has spent the last 15 years working in B2B Media predominantly in the hospitality and leisure sector. He oversees all commercial, marketing and customer success teams and is currently leading the transition of TTG Media into a data-driven, marketing services business within the travel trade sector.

Louis is a passionate commercial leader with 20 years b2b media experience. Louis’ media career began at Faversham House Group where he joined as a delegate sales executive and ended his time there as Group Sales Manager of their Building Services Division, driving commercials on their then flagship brand.

This was followed by time at Datateam Business Media, Communications International Group, and Findlay Publishing/Mark Allen Group. Louis joined Athene Publishing in 2015 before a management buy in and rebrand to Shard Financial Media in 2016.

As Commercial Director, Louis is responsible for P&L and leads a team selling membership, advertising, and event sponsorship/attendance across Shard Financial Media’s four brands. He is also spearheading the evolution of Credit Strategy’s event portfolio as the business transitions to a paid for content/recuring revenue model.

With over 25 years in the media industry, Debra Sharron is a seasoned expert in business development, people management, and sales training.

She specialises in helping commercial professionals and their managers maximise sales effectiveness.

Collaborating with over 75 media organisations annually, Debra works with multinational corporations, SMEs and local family-run businesses across both B2B and B2C sectors.

To date, she has trained over 6,500 delegates both on and offline, including publishers, event organisers, talent agencies and broadcasters. Several of her clients have won Sales Team of the Year at a variety of prestigious annual industry awards.

Debra designs practical, engaging training solutions focused on delivering clear action plans that generate measurable results.

All course materials are regularly updated to incorporate the latest sales thinking and relevant technology and AI platforms.

Amy Ellis is Head of Rights and Licensing at Publishers’ Licensing Services. She is responsible for the delivery and ongoing development of PLS’ services including collective licensing, the PLSclear permissions service, and rights management initiatives. She works closely with publishers across all sectors to ensure the services PLS provides align with publisher needs as the industry continues to evolve.

David Buttle is the founder of DJB Strategies, a boutique consultancy created to help companies in media, information services - and adjacent sectors - succeed and grow. Its focus is primarily strategy and technology. Prior to founding his business, David was Director of Public Affairs and Platform Strategy for the Financial Times. He was responsible for the FT's interfaces with big tech, relationships with governments and legislators and led the business's response to artificial intelligence, including licensing negotiations. David holds a MBA from Warwick Business School and is columnist for Press Gazette on media and technology.