The New Yorker’s “Stories from the Near Future” conference begins this week and I’m sure it will be worth every penny of the $2,000 people are paying to attend. How can I be so sure? Because it is just SO New Yorker it can’t possibly fail, even if nobody shows up.

It is no secret that publishers are turning to events to replace revenues that are disappearing from traditional advertising. Their success or failure in doing so has a great deal to do with how strongly represented the brand is in the event concept. Because anyone can invite a speaker to pontificate. Publishers have to really know their titles, their audience, and the difference between what needs to be on the page and on the stage to turn events into the brand multiplier that they can be. The PRWeek Awards is a good example of that, and Haymarket is incredibly good at distilling the values of the publication into an awards celebration.

Running an event is not easy, however. First of all, it’s bloody hard work. Second, it’s expensive. Third, it’s fun when it works and sheer hell when it doesn’t. And what makes it work is as much alchemy as planning. PRWeek has had hits and misses, and you can’t always point to the winning or losing elements of either.

It is tough to turn journalists - even with their heightened focus on branding themselves - into presenters, and yet for publishing events it is essential that you do so. The media brand does not just host the event, it embodies the event, and editorial leadership must be prominently on display, often playing the role of moderators for panels or Q&A sessions. This can be an uncomfortable role for some editors, who are accustomed to having a certain kind of relationship with their contacts and suddenly have to switch gears to play Merv Griffin with them in front of hundreds of people. However “hard hitting” you plan to be, you won’t get great participants if they know you might ask them in public if they are lying or whatever.

I love the arrogance of The New Yorker conference, which has given some of its best slots to its contributors, unapologetically making them the attraction. Of course, it’s easy when you have names like Malcolm Gladwell (however played he may be) on your contributors list.