The Ongoing Challenges of Transitioning to Multimedia
It’s been a whirlwind of an autumn. Between traveling to the Frankfurt Book Fair, heading out to Chicago for our annual Gold Ink Awards and Hall of Fame Banquet, and relaunching our Web site, there’s been a lot going on.
A highlight for me, however, was Book Business’ first-ever live webcast, called “Expand Your Brand: Webinars for Publishers.” We broadcast on Oct. 19, and had a great panel of speakers lined up. The potential for webcasts seems to be enormous for both book and magazine publishers, and the experience of holding a webcast of our own shed a whole new light on the process for me.
If you missed the live webcast, you can still view it on-demand. And, make sure to check out the 34 tips for producing a webcast, which we compiled from the event.
For many publishers, a major challenge in forging into this and other digital arenas is staff and budget. How is a company supposed to ramp itself up to take advantage of the opportunities out there without a sizable investment? We tackle the subject in one of this month’s feature stories, “Get Your Multimedia House in Order.”
There seems to be no question that especially during this time of transition, many executives are facing increased workloads. Even for us here at Book Business, it was a real trick fitting in a new content format to our schedule. And for many of us, it’s not just a matter of “squeezing it in” to an already full plate, it means piling work on to a second or even third plate.
As your company dips its toe in the multimedia publishing waters, it seems wise to keep an eye on your staff’s motivation levels. Change is stressful for most people, especially when it means an even more hectic workload, and sometimes confusion about priorities can complicate matters further. Make sure to constantly communicate with your staff about priorities, clearly indicate who is responsible for what on each new project, and above all, recognize and reward your staff, if even in small ways. It won’t help you transition your staff to face the multimedia future if you have no staff left at the end of the day.
- Companies:
- Frankfurt Book Fair
- Places:
- Chicago