2016 IDPF DigiCon @ BEA Program

Tuesday, May 10

 Plenary Sessions
7:458:45

Registration and Continental Breakfast

Location: W196

8:459:00

Welcoming Remarks

Location: W196

Bill McCoy (International Digital Publishing Forum)
9:009:20

The Reader, the Retailer, and the End of the Beginning of eBooks

If the ebook market was a novel, we have just reached the part where we remember all of the characters’ names and the plot is starting to heat up. Does the last year of ebook sales represent a pause, a plateau, or a decline in digital and a glorious resurgence of print? For Michael Tamblyn, CEO of Kobo and overseeing Rakuten’s Global eBook businesses, it represents an excellent opportunity to look at what readers want and how that can drive the next phase of growth in digital.

Location: W196

Michael Tamblyn (Rakuten Kobo)
9:209:40

Building a Data-Driven Business

What do Amazon, Netflix, and Google have in common? They used data to understand their buyers and build a better customer experience. The best companies in the world are emulating these leaders and using data to know their prospects, deliver perfectly-timed communications, and exceptional customer experience. Discover insight into how your company can take the first steps to becoming data-driven. 

Location: W196

Sean Callahan (LinkedIn)
9:4010:00

PROBLEMS SOLVED: Surprising Solutions From the Scholarly Sphere

The fast-paced digital world has created so many unrealized opportunities and presented so many unsolved problems for many publishers. Stable, interoperable content identifiers? Metrics that tell you how your content is getting seen and used? Knowing exactly which things in our torrent of publications were written by which authors, especially those with the same or similar names? Providing open access while maintaining the publisher-reader relationship? Accountability: Who funded this work? Was it plagiarized? What about updates: do I have the current version? In this lively presentation, you'll see how these issues have already been solved in the scholarly sphere—solutions that could provide shortcuts for other sectors.

Location: W196

Kent Anderson (Redlink; Society of Scholarly Publishing)
10:0010:45

Keynote Address: Realizing the Vision of Publishing Technology Being Web Technology

With Tim Berners-Lee's invention of the World Wide Web in 1989, the preamble for publishing’s future on the Web was barely a gleam in a few peoples' eyes. As the Web and its foundational technologies matured, the product of content distribution moved from being a single static Web page to become today’s rich media environment for digital publishing. Tim will explain why we are even closer now to realizing the transformative vision of publishing on the Web being completely aligned with Web technology — and how the W3C is accelerating the Web’s impact on publishing across the greatest number of devices, including eReaders, tablets, mobile, and even TVs and in automobiles as the most open, interoperable and accessible global platform in history.

Location: W196

Sir Tim Berners-Lee (Founder and Director, World Wide Web Consortium (W3C))
10:4511:15

Networking and Booth Stroll

Location: W196

11:1511:35

Should Publishers Sell Direct to Consumer?

Direct to consumer is not for everyone. As publishers grapple with the decision of direct to consumer, what are the things to consider? What are the needs? What are the advantages? What are the investments that need to be made? If you choose not to sell direct, what can you do so you are not at a disadvantage? Join Dominique Raccah as she discusses some of the pros and cons, the decision-making process, thinking through your value proposition, what Sourcebooks discovered, the data implications, and much more.

Location: W196

Dominique Raccah (Sourcebooks, Inc.)
11:4012:25

Accessibility is for Everybody—And It's Never Been More Achievable

Everybody acknowledges that accessibility is important, but most publishers just don't know where to start. This session will demystify accessibility, showing how making publications accessible can be mainstreamed, a fundamental part of standard editorial and production workflows using the standards most publishers already employ in the digital world. George Kerscher will discuss the development of an international baseline consensus on what accessibility means and what publishers should be expected to provide. Robin Seaman will describe the tools and resources Benetech and the Diagram Center provide to make it easy for publishers to add accessible features to their publications. And Bill Kasdorf will present the new BISG Quick Start Guide to Accessible Publishing, the go-to resource for publishers of all types.

Location: W196

George Kerscher (IDPF/DAISY), Robin Seaman (Benetech), Bill Kasdorf (Apex Content & Media Solutions)
12:251:30

Announcements and Lunch

Location: W196

 Business & Marketing TrackScholarly, Professional, and EducationTechnology Track
1:302:10

Digital Discovery at Diverse E-Tailers

Title discovery is regarded as the greatest challenge facing the global book publishing industry. It is the “final mile” from author to reader. Join the discussion and gain new insight into the best practices being deployed by booksellers in North America, Europe and China. Learn how different markets and different booksellers are working towards better book discovery for readers. Discover how readers are finding the books they are really interested in? What opportunities exist for better discovery, and what you need to do to ensure your content is discovered by readers!!!

Location: W196

Xiangjun Cheng (iReader), Alice Huang (Trajectory, Inc), Nathan Maharaj (Kobo), Ian Small (Audiobooks.com), Ashleigh Gardner (Wattpad), Jeff Jankowski (Hoopla)
Moderator: James Bryant (Trajectory Inc.)

Digital Learning Solutions: Create, Publish & Deliver

Adaptive digital learning solutions can present a difficult, costly obstacle for those pursuing the transition from print to digital. Authors and subject matter experts often struggle to easily develop innovative, visually appealing and interactive learning material for delivery in different formats and on various devices. Join this discussion on how content owners can move beyond pre-packaged solutions and sales agreements to build joint ventures that drive new product opportunities and real business value. This panel will delve into ways to innovate and reinvent content so that it is flexible, agile and intuitive. Discover ways your content can be dynamic and a personalized learning experience for students who need to know, when they most need to know it.

Location: W193

Moderator: Michael Hale, PhD (VitalSource), Andrew Smith Lewis (Cerego)

Be Who You Are: The International Standard Name Identifier

This session will cover the latest in book-industry identifiers, the ISNI, which identifies contributors. Essential for rights-tracking and search disambiguation, the ISNI has been implemented by such organizations as Harvard Library, Macmillan’s Digital Science, and many national libraries and collective organizations all over the world. Come discover what this new standard is all about, and how it can help you as a publisher, author, or agent.

Location: W192

Michael Healy (Copyright Clearance Center), Phil Madans (Hachette Book Group USA)
Moderator: Laura Dawson (Numerical Gurus LLC)
2:153:00

The Future of ebook Discovery: The Power of Partnerships, Big Data and Innovation

According to a national Pew survey, less than 40% of the general public know that public libraries have ebooks. As digital publishers strive for sustainable business models, imagine a future of ebooks where library expertise could be harnessed to expand greater discovery and engagement of both the retail and library markets. Libraries have the power to drive ebook discovery because they know what people need and read in their communities. Usage and collection data and enriched metadata paired with technology that links community market segmentation can be analyzed and leveraged across industries to pinpoint reading patterns and drive retail sales. Libraries, vendors, and publishers can and should partner to develop innovative new models to curate local user experiences and promote reading at every opportunity. The success of reading ensures a sustainable future for all committed to building a nation of readers. Join this thought-provoking discussion among publishers, libraries, and vendors and help uncover opportunities for strategic partnership.

Location: W196

Andrew Medlar (Chicago Public Library), Lauren Klouda (Independent Publishers Group Publisher), Mitchell Davis (Bibliolabs), Veronda J. Pitchford (Reaching Across Illinois Library System), David Ziembiec (GaleCengage)
Moderator: Keith Michael Fiels (American Library Association)

What is a Publisher Now? Lessons from the Classroom—a Spotlight on Education and Textbook Publishers

Educational publishers were the first to encounter the digital natives.  These publishers quickly adapted to serve digital-savvy learners through the creation of digital products that took the place and worked in conjunction with print materials. With e-learning management systems, online course packs and MOOCs established as the norm, many lessons can be learned from this critical vertical. In this panel, Publishing Technology will speak with experts from education and textbook publishing to share insights on this market’s digital innovations and look towards future trends.

Location: W193

Mark Kuyper (Book Industry Study Group), Tim Stookesberry (John Wiley and Sons)
Moderator: Randy Petway (Ingenta)

Semantics, Structure & Responsive Design: Bring It All Together!

Customer is becoming more powerful and demanding than ever in this interconnected, competitive and digital world.

Creating a good and high quality content from authoring through the publishing process is super critical, but at times could be a daunting task depending on the complexity of content, design, interactivities and tools used within the workflow. Technology is indisputably at the center of the digital revolution and has a profound impact to integrate and collaborate with multiple stakeholders in the content lifecycle. This session will discuss strategies and share best practices towards content architecture, design, tools and platforms, governance model, etc. to deliver superior content and enhance the overall customer experience.

Location: W192

Mike Baker (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), John Prabhu (SPi Global), Veronica Thompson (Inkling)
 Plenary Sessions
3:003:30

Networking and Booth Stroll

3:303:50

Global Update: The State of Copyright

Publishing today depends on technology, and technology is pressing copyright laws in ways never imagined before. The vital role copyright plays in the new “information economy” is widely recognized, yet nearly every month another government launches a review of its intellectual property framework or announces new measures to deal with “the copyright problem.” In courtrooms and legislation across the globe – from India to Canada, Australia to Germany, and beyond – copyright holders must diligently seek to protect their existing rights not only against wide-ranging infringement but also so-called “reform.” In a worldwide review of “the state of copyright,” including controversial copyright-related judgments that have come out of U.S.courts, Michael Healy, Copyright Clearance Center’s Executive Director, International Relations, will lay out details of the disruption underway as well as out outline how publishers have become adept at managing the disruption by harnessing market-driven forces.

Location: W196

Michael Healy (Copyright Clearance Center)
3:504:15

Global Update: Japan and the World

Japan's unique content such as manga is globally relevant, and Japan is also a big market for content from elsewhere. This requires building bridges, not walls. Kodansha recently formed a new digital publishing centric company in San Francisco to foster innovation on the global stage. In this session we'll hear from the Silicon Valley vet who's overseeing the new lab and its work on digital manga and Web publishing.

Location: W196

Alvin Lu (Kodansha Advanced Media)
4:154:50

Libraries in a Digital Age

As technology and media continue to evolve, libraries are creating new digital resources and launching new collections. They source materials not just from publishers, but from other libraries, private collections, corporations, cultural institutions and directly from academia. And they make these collections available online to patrons, students and scholars in new ways that better intersect with our everyday workflows. This shift to expand the role of libraries while enhancing users’ digital experiences requires content owners to provide more complete and complex metadata in order to leverage libraries’ unique audiences and channels. What new business models are possible for library partners… and libraries themselves? What distinctive services will we find at the intersection of “library” and “content?” Join this forward-looking discussion of libraries in the digital age and find out what you’ll need to know to take advantage of these opportunities. 

Location: W196

Steve Potash (OverDrive), Rick Anderson (University of Utah), Jan Chindlund (Columbia College Chicago)
Moderator: Skip Prichard (OCLC)
4:505:00

Closing Remarks

Location: W196

Bill McCoy (International Digital Publishing Forum)

Wednesday, May 11

 Plenary Sessions
8:009:00

Continental Breakfast and Booths Open

Location: W196

 Business & Marketing TrackScholarly, Professional, and EducationTechnology Track
9:009:45

Big Data - It's A Big Deal – What You Need to Know To Protect Your Company!

Just about everything humans do, to the extent it leaves any kind of evidence trail generates data. In the aggregate, we generate mountains of data daily and it all has value to someone, assuming it can be effectively sorted, sifted and categorized. Regulatory schemes have popped up all around the world attempting to govern the use of data that might impact individual privacy. What does this mean in terms of what companies who come into contact with this kind of data can and cannot do? And if you think this means "someone else," and not you or your company, think again. What happens if someone hacks into your systems? What formal risk assessment programs for data breach are you required to have? What if you do business across international borders? What does the European Union require? We will look at these and other issues and give you some idea of what you are up against and what you can do about it.

Location: W196

Samuel Fifer (Dentons)

From Author to Student: Implementing The EPUB for Education Profile

EPUB is no longer just for books. The new EPUB for Education profile provides a sophisticated, dynamic infrastructure that can turn books into platforms, providing a rich, dynamic learning experience for all. In this session, Nick Brown will explain the driving forces behind EPUB for Education - accessibility, interactive/multimedia content, robust analytics and rich integrations - and how VitalSource uses this open, nonproprietary specification to meet those needs. Through demos of VitalSource Content Studio, a new tool for digital first content creation, and Bookshelf, VitalSource’s integration-friendly multi-platform reading system, you'll see a real world example of the open-standards-based EPUB for Education spec powering positive learning outcomes for students today.

Location: W193

Nick Brown (VitalSource Technologies)

Annotating all Books: How web annotations will transform reading

Digital books create a potential for new forms of social sharing and collaboration that never existed in the physical.  Existing platforms have implemented features such as personal notes and “most highlighted passages” that are intriguing, but an emerging web annotation standard and new open libraries such as EPUBjs and ReadiumJS will enable powerful forms of engagement that have simply not been possible before.  We’ll cover these new technologies and showcase an example integration.  We’ll also discuss how this capability is being brought to scholarly knowledge more broadly through a coalition of over 60 publishers and platforms announced on December 1.

Location: W192

Dan Whaley (Hypothes.is), Fred Chasen (Epub.js)
9:5010:35

Why Subscription Works Outside the US Market

The ebook subscription model has been met with hurdles in the US market. However, outside of the US market, companies are meeting with success with this new business model. Join in the discussion as examples from companies operating across Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Poland, the session will explore why subscription models for ebook and audiobooks are thriving in Europe and how they are an essential new revenue source for both local language and English-language publishers in these key foreign markets.

Location: W196

Mikołaj Małaczyński (Legimi), Jens Klingelhöfer (Bookwire GmbH)
Moderator: Nathan Hull (Mofibo)

Move Over Humans, Machines Want to Learn!

Machine learning is one of the most exciting frontiers for scientific advancement. With ever increasing amounts of big data and small data being made openly available, the ability of the machines to solve challenges from personalized medicine to climate change will only increase. However, with big data comes big challenges (and opportunities for publishers). How will data be structured, organized, discovered and made available? What can publishers and societies do to make this process easier for researchers? In this session, we will address the opportunities inherent in machine learning, and discuss what publishers should do, and not do, in order to take advantage of the new technology available to us.

Location: W193

Chris Kenneally (Copyright Clearance Center)

Future of Metadata: A Look at 2025

What will publishing metadata look like in 2025? Will we still be creating ONIX files and sending them via FTP or will all trading partners link data across the web? In this session you will learn about futuristic topics such as linked data, identifiers that tie related works together, and the internationalizing of subject classification.

Location: W192

Graham Bell (EDItEUR), Phil Madans (Hachette Book Group USA), Chip Nilges (OCLC)
 Plenary Sessions
10:3511:05

Networking and Booth Stroll

Location: W196

 Business & Marketing TrackScholarly, Professional, and EducationTechnology Track
11:0511:50

Driving Online Sales: Understanding Why Customers Click to Buy

As consumers increasingly buy print and eBooks online, publishers and authors need a more a more nuanced understanding of what drives customers to click the buy button. This panel will show how customers' online behaviors relate to their in-store behavior, in order to help publishers better understand their purchasing behaviors, and drive better results.  We will cover up-to-date trends, including:  which areas of major retail websites drive the most sales and why; how algorithms such as “customers who like this like that” work; why SEO and metadata are more important than ever; why DRM doesn’t matter (yet) – and how publishers can optimize their titles for better results in all of these areas.​

Location: W196

Andrew Weinstein (Scribd), Nathan Maharaj (Kobo), Erica Lazzaro (OverDrive), Laura Druissi (Google)
Moderator: Kelly Peterson (INscribe Digital)

Opening the Infrastructure: Innovative Tools from Open Source Projects

The Mellon Foundation recently funded a number of innovative projects designed to provide tools that address complex needs using free, open source, standards-based technologies. This session will focus on three of these: Luminos, an open source, web-based workflow and content management system being developed by the University of California Press and the California Digital Library; Manifold, an open source, EPUB-based platform for publishing dynamic, interactive monographs being developed by the University of Minnesota Press and CUNY; and the University of Michigan Press's Hydra/Fedora project, which is part of the Lever Press initiative, which will provide an open-access, digital-first pathway for scholarship in the arts, humanities, and social sciences.

Location: W193

Erich Van Rijn (University of California Press), Susan Doerr (University of Minnesota Press), Jeremy Morse (University of Michigan Press)

We’re Not There Yet : Why EPUB Still Matters For Trade Publishers

In a world where trade publishing will continue to support both print and digital for years to come, ebook standards are more important than ever. But we’re not there yet- EPUB 3 is not yet well adopted and features for 3.1 are still under development. Learn what works and where, what doesn’t work yet, how you can (and should!) get involved to make a difference and how you can take advantage of best practices to make your ebooks stand out!

Location: W192

Moderator: Liisa McCloy-Kelley (Penguin Random House, Inc.)
11:5512:35

Lessons from the Digital Transformation of Audiobooks

There is no question that publishers and content owners have been challenged by the digital transformation that has taken place over the past decade in the world of print.  But, gaining insight and integrating strategies and tactics to build new opportunities – is available – if you look and learn from audiobook publishers.  Join this discussion as comparisons are drawn between the trends from audiobook physical product to digital product to that of print books to ebooks. The transformation in audiobooks with changes in production, distribution and revenue – also provided for new business models – pay-to-own, pay-to-stream, pay-to-listen and subscription – many of which are now readily available models to ebook publishers. But – what about the user experience – did the digital transformation of audiobooks change the user experience? How did the move to digital audiobooks change user discovery of new titles – enhanced or diminished? The lessons from the world of digital audiobooks are road maps for other digital formats in the publishing ecosystem.

Location: W196

Debra Deyan (Deyan Audio), Grady Hesters (Audiobook Publishing Pioneer)
Moderator: Seth D. Gershel (Seth D. Gershel LLC)

Altmetrics: Who's Talking About My Work?

An unexpected side effect of the shift from print to online is the plethora of new ways people communicate and engage with content. Previously, discussions around content were confined to fairly discrete, homogenous communities. Now these barriers have been removed. In the world of scholarly content, funding bodies, the media, policy makers, and the public are now all involved in, and can influence, the discussions that were previously limited to academia. The challenge is that the communication channels these groups use can vary considerably. That leaves the stakeholders who fail to fully understand the impact of these engagements at risk of being left behind by more nimble competitors. Altmetric has developed the tools and technology needed to form a comprehensive view of engagement across disparate communities and disparate sources, for a variety of content. In this session you’ll learn what altmetrics are and most importantly, you’ll see how this rich new resource can work for you.

Location: W193

Kathy Christian (Altmetrics)

TWO SESSIONS: Metadata in EPUB AND Ebooks As A Mobile Experience

Metadata in EPUB: The Rabbit Hole Is Deeper Than You Think

When people hear the word "metadata" they immediately think about ONIX and the process of getting title information to trading partners. With EPUB, there is more to metadata than meets the eye. This session will dive deep into the rabbit hole, showing you how much metadata your EPUB actually has, and providing real, practical advice for how to create and manage that metadata well. Gain insight on how ONIX metadata for ebooks differs from print metadata and the unique requirements of specific ebook retailers. Discover best practices for high-quality OPF metadata as well as semantic markup and other areas where metadata drives more of your business and serves your customers better.

Ebooks As A Mobile Experience

The vast growth of ebook consumption moving forward will occur on mobile devices. This session will explore the ramifications of ebooks as experiences that exist within an ecosystem of digital content, apps, operating systems, and hand held devices and how this presets both unique challenges and opportunities for ebook publishers and retailers.

Location: W192

Joshua Tallent (Firebrand Technologies), Micah Bowers (Bluefire)
 Plenary Sessions
12:351:45

Lunch on Your Own

2:004:00

IDPF Open Member Meeting and EPUB Update

All IDPF members and other interested parties are invited to attend this open member meeting. Come meet the IDPF staff, hear about the latest IDPF activities including recent and upcoming developments with the EPUB standard and learn how you can get more involved. All registered attendees are welcome.

Location: W196

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