More than 1,400 Publishing Executives Registered for Publishing Business Virtual Conference & Expo

With 9 (business) days until the third annual Publishing Business Virtual (PBV) Conference & Expo (produced by Publishing Executive and Book Business magazines), planning is coming to a head, as the conference staff and speakers finalize details for educational sessions, and exhibitors ready their virtual booths for the more than 1,400 publishing industry executives who have already registered to attend. The free event will be held live on Oct. 27.

“The event is virtual, so registrants can attend from the comfort of their offices or wherever they are at the time,” says Noelle Skodzinski, editorial director for Publishing Executive and Book Business magazines and director of PBV. “That’s part of the draw, but also, as always, we have amazing speakers lined up, ready to share their insights into some of the most pressing challenges and biggest opportunities facing the book and magazine publishing industries right now.”

The event is broken into two tracks: one for book publishing executives and one for magazine publishing executives, but registrants are welcome to attend any sessions that appeal to them.

“We got a lot of input from the board and from our audience on what topics they’d like to see covered this year, and narrowed it down to really hard-hitting topics that can provide publishing executives with practical, take-away strategies. For example, many magazine publishers see great opportunity right now with digital editions, but their challenge is figuring out how to increase their open rates and boost audience engagement. So, we have a session to explore those issues,” says Skodzinski.

“E-book metadata, e-book conversion, e-book trends and pricing strategies are all top-of mind for book publishers right now, so we planned in-depth sessions on all three of these,” she adds. “Digital printing is another hot topic today, and we’re thrilled to have Toby Cobrin from digital printing research and consultancy INTERQUEST moderating a panel with Blake Silber, president of Bridge Publications, and Adi Chinai of King Printing Co. about trends and opportunities in digital printing.”

One of the highlights of the event is the magazine keynote—presented by Neil Stiles, president, Variety—called “Internet Armageddon: Why no one will ever make any money on the Internet.”

“This keynote has already been stirring up some controversy, and he hasn’t even given his speech yet,” Skodzinski notes. “With Variety being one of the first and most widely known publications to launch an online paywall, I can’t wait to hear Neil’s thoughts on this topic. And I’m sure our attendees are going to take full advantage of the opportunity to ask Neil questions during the session.”

Other major topics are:
• monetizing apps and developing effective mobile strategies,
• smart and profitable digital rights management (DRM) and the impact of the cloud on DRM,
• audience development for magazine publishers,
• sales strategies for serving today’s multichannel-hungry marketer,
• social media,
and more.

“Another feature that draws people to the show is the networking opportunities. The virtual environment is a great way for attendees to chat with exhibitors of leading technologies and solutions, and get their questions answered, and to chat with other attendees, either one on one or in the networking lounge,” notes Skodzinski. “It’s a really laid-back, fun and yet informative environment that really works for sharing information and learning.”

Click here for more information or to register.