The panelists for the session were Pat Stiegman from ESPN.com, Steve Safran of AR&D consulting and blogger for LostRemote.com, and Manuel Perez of CNN.com.

Making Your Site Sticky
CNN’s redesigned Web site launched last summer with an emphasis on original content and site stickiness, Perez said. Some of the elements of the redesign, tips and the results include:

Play-on-page video, where the video is on a regular Web page instead of operated through a pop-up or third-party application, has helped drive traffic, the Web people think. (They don’t have numbers to support this yet.) The key is making engaging content prominent and easy to use.

Perez said another part of making a site sticky is by providing content not available elsewhere. CNN.com has eight writers and twelve producers working to do just that. In addition, features like iReport, which features user-contributed news content exclusive to CNN.com.

Questions for Perez focused on iReport and the vetting process CNN.com producers go through to validate content. The process includes a series of questions and news judgment, though Perez could not be more specific. He said more than once CNN.com has decided not to publish an iReport because it wasn’t verifiable, but Perez didn’t know of any instances when a false report made it through the vetting process. 

Being Cross-Platform
ESPN.com is one of the most platform-agnostic multimedia companies out there. In addition to multiple television stations and an award-winning Web site, the company has mobile content, print content and more. Stories that run originally on the Web are sometimes also run on television stations, in print and more. In addition, ESPN is active in getting its content out through alternative venues – including iTunes. “We’re trying to take the burden off the front page,” Stiegman said.

Rather than just use the Web or other platforms to promote content that’s available elsewhere (i.e. using the Web to promote something airing on television at 6 p.m.), Stiegman encouraged session attendees to “Make it not just about promotion, but make it about real cross-platform integration,” Stiegman said.

‘Webifying’ Local News: Take Ownership
“I can tell you where the money is, and it’s being spent locally,” Steve Safran said. Safran encouraged looking way beyond banner ads, pre-roll and post-roll ads and more. “You can’t grow as a node on someone else’s network,” he said, discouraging people from sending all their content and advertising information through a third-party. (One television station Safran worked with as a consultant found their growth rate increased when the station took more control over their content.”

Safran also advocated building vertical sites and “organizing the local Web.” This allows for more opportunities for advertisers and helps reach more local consumers. “You already have the content – think about the verticals and who you can sell the verticals to.”