Hands On
From its inception, BookTech West has been designed for attendees by industry experts, editors and inventive coordinators. This year, Conference Coordinator Rebecca Churilla invites participants to e-mail questions to her prior to the show to be included in "On the Cutting Edge" sessions listed below. According to Churilla, "BookTech West is founded on the ideal that one-to-one communication is a good business practice. That's why I'm inviting curious professionals to send their questions to me even before the show begins." Churilla explains that by opening up dialogue before the show begins, she'll compile and present the inquiries to each speaker to consider. "If the speakers understand what the attendees most want to hear," Churilla says, "they'll be more effective in delivering the best advice possible."
BookTech West 2001's "On the Cutting Edge" sessions are the first sessions to ever initiate free preliminary participation within three years. Churilla anticipates that by welcoming ideas, the sessions will be best suited towards the intended audiences "For instance," she suggests, "if a session attendee really wants to discuss the future of e-books, we want to ensure that our talented speakers fulfill this expectation. Or if someone is specific about discussing digital rights protection, our speakers will make sure that they have valuable evidence to support their insights."
Once the e-mail inquires have been sent, on Wednesday, August 1, 2001 from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM, design, e-books, strategists and managers, and small and independent publishers will meet in separate forums to discuss, "On The Cutting Edge at BookTech West," and answer each specific question.
Churilla says the session will commence as a forum. She asks, "Did a previous session bring up an issue that you would like to delve further into? Did a speaker run out of time? Or did we miss your topic of interest completely?" Panelists tackling these issues will include:
