Being a Part of Something Golden

I probably say this every year, but the end of summer/early fall is pretty much my favorite time of year. Besides the promise of the fabulous fall weather, it’s the time of year that we publish all of the winners of our annual Gold Ink Awards competition (page 22)—the best of the best in book production and manufacturing—and we announce the inductees into the Publishing Executive Hall of Fame.

In case I forget what an honor induction into the Hall of Fame really is, every year someone says something to remind me. This year, I was talking to someone at one of the inductees’ companies, and he said that the whole company is excited about their co-worker being inducted into the Hall of Fame, and that it was perfect timing, too, because it really is boosting morale at a very difficult time for the company. Almost everyone likes to be a part of something that makes a difference, and it’s nice to be reminded that things like the Hall of Fame and Gold Ink Awards do make a difference.

This year’s inductee in book publishing (two other executives are being inducted in magazine publishing) is Michael Weinstein, vice president, EDP and manufacturing at Oxford University Press. You’ll see from his career achievements (story on page 20) why he was this year’s choice.

Congratulations to Michael and the other Hall of Fame inductees, and to all of the 2007 Gold Ink Award winners.

Big Conference News

This is the time of year we also plan Book Business’ 2008 editorial calendar. (Thanks to all of you who filled out our reader survey! We had a terrific response and got lots of great input that will help make the magazine even better next year.)

And, it’s the time of year that we dive into planning our 2008 conference. This year, we’ve changed the name of the Book Business Conference and Expo to the Publishing Business Conference and Expo (March 10–12). Why? Because we’ve always held our book conference alongside our conference for magazine publishing executives (the Publishing Executive Conference and Expo), but we’ve received a lot of feedback that many of you are interested in the magazine sessions and vice versa—and the collocated, but separate events were a little confusing. So, we’ve created one big, umbrella conference for all book and magazine publishing executives—the Publishing Business Conference and Expo.