It's Show Time!

Having (somewhat, mostly) recovered from our fabulous and content-packed Publishing Business Conference a few weeks ago, I’m preparing to hit the road again to attend a few other shows.

There are so many terrific conferences happening in the publishing space—too many to possibly think of attending and absorbing them all. One of the largest, the Frankfurt Book Fair, has just ended, but stateside we have ongoing opportunities for continuing professional enlightenment and edification.

I find it incredibly useful and stimulating to get out from behind my desk and attend a conference. Put me in a room with smart people talking about the interesting work they’re doing and my brain wakes up and starts generating new ideas I can take back to my office and try to implement. Plus nothing beats face-to-face—when meeting new people or when seeing people you work with by phone or email in person, conversations take surprising turns and, again, new ideas arise.

Next week I’ll be attending Books in Browsers in San Francisco. The meeting is described as “a small summit for the new generation of internet publishing companies, focusing on developers and designers who are building and launching tools for online storytelling, expression, and art.” I expect the techy side of my brain (i.e. the underdeveloped piece) to be exercised and engaged. Talk about being in a room with smart people! I look forward to hearing conference convener and director of scholarly communications for Hypothes.is Peter Brantley and many others open my eyes to the possible future of digital storytelling.

A week after that trip I head in a very different direction. I go south to the charming town of Oxford, Mississippi, home of Ole Miss and Dr. Samir Husni’s Magazine Innovation Center. Mr. Magazine himself hosts an annual conference for magazine industry professionals, and this will be my second visit. This year’s theme is: “Don’t Let the Digital Scare You: The Power of Print Integrated.” It’s not hard to anticipate, both from the title and from my knowledge of Dr. Husni’s platform, that on this trip we will be celebrating print over digital. Ah, the debate continues.

Next week, The Association of Magazine Media also convenes its American Magazine Media Conference 2013 with an agenda that plans to touch on buzz, engagement, partnerships, print, consumer marketing, niches, and much more. And on November 8th and 9th, here in Philadelphia, we’ll be attending the The First Annual APSS Book Marketing Conference, “From Book Publishing to Book Selling,” run by our star blogger Brian Jud.

The learning never ends – thankfully! We’ll be reporting on all these events, so watch here for further updates and idea sharing!