From the Bayou: A recap of CRMA 2026
New Orleans delivered — and so did CRMA. From May 30 through June 1, the NPS Media Group team was on the ground in NOLA for the City and Regional Magazine Association annual conference. As always, it was a hit - from the energy of the sessions, the familiar and new faces, and finally experiencing Bourbon Street (yikes!), it was the perfect end cap to a wonderful spring conference season.
Our NPS team won the swag game this year (self-awarded), with voodoo doll keychains that captured the essence of the conference. If you grabbed one, consider yourself officially part of the NPS family! Beyond the fun, the booth gave us a chance to connect with existing clients, meet new contacts, and have the kind of real conversations you just can't replicate over email. We even had the chance to take a group out for dinner and catch the fireworks along the river to celebrate America's 250th — a perfect backdrop for mixing client appreciation with some great new introductions.
On the content side, our CMO Natalie Sorge had the opportunity to present on subscription strategies for regional publishers, and the turnout and discussion that followed were genuinely energizing. The conversation kept coming back to one central theme: quality over quantity. The era of chasing raw subscriber volume is giving way to something more intentional—building deeper value for the readers you already have. We talked through how to use AI strategically to streamline operations without losing the human touch that audiences are increasingly craving (UGC, real voices, real stories), why print is having such a meaningful moment, and how creating compelling value add-ons is almost always a better play than defaulting to a discount. And as always: test, test, and test some more before you give up on anything.
The keynote sessions were full of ideas worth bringing home. Megan Schertler delivered a compelling case for the enduring power of print, with the numbers to back it up. A striking 72% of Gen Z and millennials say they wish more brands would surprise them with physical mail (hint hint, NPS can help!). In a world of infinite digital noise, print cuts through in a way that's harder to replicate than people assume. It was great to connect with Megan again and hear her articulate what so many of us in this industry feel but sometimes struggle to put into words.
Andrew Davis' session on the Cube of Creativity was another standout — a practical, no-fluff framework built around four steps: Limit the Options, Raise the Stakes, Eliminate the Unnecessary, and Define the Outcome. It's the kind of thinking that helps teams move forward instead of getting stuck in the weeds, and there are already a few places at NPS where we're putting it to work. Can’t wait to hire Goat-to-Meeting at our next virtual company event :)
As always, the CRMA team outdid themselves. The programming was sharp, the networking opportunities were genuine, and New Orleans was the perfect host city. If you weren't there this year, put it on your calendar for next time. We'll see you there — and we'll make sure to up our swag game.
More pics of our time in NOLA below - enjoy!
