May 2007
2007 VISTA Executive Exchange (VEE)
“A Manhattan Melody”
After braving the hustle and bustle of every-morning-NYC, one guest settled in for an afternoon of what he deemed, “a Manhattan Melody.” This enthusiasm was reiterated in feedback from attendees of the VEE. Held on May 9th at Beacon Restaurant in New York City, there was plenty of positive feedback ranging from the charming location to the delicious menu to the informative presentations. Attendees were offered an introduction to Publishing Technology, the company formed through the merger between VISTA and Ingenta, and the new breadth of end-to-end products and services, as well as an update on new technologies and products available specifically from VISTA. The day closed with a presentation from Jim Lichtenberg of Lightspeed LLC of preliminary findings from the next VISTA-commissioned research report entitled “Commerce in Digital Content.”
VISTA customers interested in viewing the material presented should go to www.vistacomp.com/user_group to access the Customer-Only portion of the VISTA website. If you do not already have a user ID and password for the customer-only section of the VISTA website, you can request one by emailing solutions@vistacomp.com.
Kogan Page Selects VISTA to develop their new e-commerce website
Kogan Page Ltd, Europe’s largest independent publisher of professional and business titles for over 35 years, is planning to re-launch its website to provide a series of market-facing communities that will offer transactional services for the company’s conventional book retailing operation.
Kogan Page is revamping their business model from being a traditional book publisher to being an online resource to professionals by offering a wealth of digital content. This new e-commerce site is the first step in enabling Kogan Page to achieve their goal and become a web provider of career, academic and personal development literature and information.
VISTA is excited to have been awarded the contract to develop the new website, which will be integrated with the e-commerce facilities in their UK and US distribution systems and will be updated directly from Kogan Page’s existing bibliographic database – VISTA’s Product Information Manager.
It Paid To Attend "Making Information Pay"
The 2007 Making Information Pay conference, hosted by BISG on May 10th, was a big success with another sell-out of over 200 attendees! For the fourth year in a row, VISTA was proud to be the primary sponsor of this significant industry event. Attendees started to pour in as early as 7:30 am to participate in breakfast, coffee and networking opportunities. Many well-known companies such as Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, McGraw-Hill, Pearson Education, Random House and Thomson were represented by senior executives and managers.
The focus of the event was “using emerging technology to improve your bottom line.” While the popularity of the iTunes continues to grow, the thought is that eBooks can eventually evolve into the same kind of emerging digital technology. Speakers Allen Noren, Director of Online Marketing at O’Reilly Media and Chris Hart, Vice President of Publishing and Sales Applications at Random House, Inc. share the belief that the success of iTunes is easy to explain – people will pay if the product is easy to access and the price is reasonable. Currently, consumers can get articles, book pages and chapters, etc. online via Google and Wikipedia and it’s free. However, it’s not always easy to find via a search. The argument has been made that publishers should follow the example of iTunes by making this content available through an easily searchable site, with limited clicks and decent prices.
A common thought throughout the event’s presentations was the idea that publishers who don’t embrace this concept of digitizing books will one day be left behind.
Michael Healy, BISG’s Executive Director, opened the event serving as Master of Ceremony. Speakers included:
- NICOLE POINDEXTER, VP & Director of Strategic Planning, Hachette Book Group USA
Presentation: "Reaching a New Generation of Readers”
- JOHN RUBIN, Founder and CEO, Above the Treeline
Presentation: "Improving Inventory Management Using Web-Based Analytical Tools”
- TED TREANOR, President, Rosetta Solutions, Inc and Seattle Book Company
Presentation: "Creating Buzz and Increasing ROI in Pre-Publication Review, Marketing, and Sales”
- MIKE SHATZKIN, Founder & CEO, The Idea Logical Company, Inc.
Presentation: “Success in a Parallel Universe, Perhaps with Some Help From Your DAD”
- CHRIS HART, Vice President of Publishing and Sales Applications, Random House, Inc.
Presentation: "Case Study – Gaining Insight into Digital Asset Management at Random House”
- ALLEN NOREN, Director of Online Marketing, O’Reilly Media
Presentation: "Thinking Beyond the Book: Responding to a Changing Marketplace”
George Lossius, CEO, Publishing Technology plc, also spoke to the audience about VISTA’s role in publishing and the importance of supporting forums like Making Information Pay.
If you would like to view the presentation slides presentations, they can be found on the BISG web site at http://www.bisg.org/conferences/mip4_program.htmlWill We See You At BookExpo America?
For those attending the event who would like have an opportunity to learn more about VISTA’s expanded offerings and the newly formed Publishing Technology plc please contact Nick Weir-Williams at nick.weir-williams@vistacomp.com to schedule a meeting.
Stephen Page Receives 2007 VISTA Award for Industry Achievement
Congratulations to Stephen Page, Chief Executive Officer and Publisher of Faber and Faber and the recipient of the 2007 VISTA Award for Industry Achievement. The award was presented Tuesday, May 1st at the British Book Industry Awards in Harrogate, UK. Page was recognized for his professional accomplishments at Faber as well as for his work in serving as president of the Publishers Association in 2006. Page’s contributions to the industry over the years have been immense and are reflected in his being shortlisted for this prestigious award the past three years.
Prior to the announcement of the winner, the candidates for the Industry Achievement Award were narrowed down to five deserving finalists, including Page. These outstanding individuals are recognized as innovative leaders and agents of change within the Book Trade, fostering better business operations within their own company or throughout the trade as a whole. The other four finalists were:
- Will Atkinson, Sales and Marketing Director, Faber and Faber
- Francis Bennett, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Book Data, Nielsen BookData
- Gail Rebuck, Chair and CEO, The Random House Group
- Jacqueline Wilson, The 2005-2007 Children’s Laureate
Congratulations once again to Stephen Page as well as all the shortlisted candidates whose hard work and dedication to the industry has been the driving force behind many of the successes the Book Trade has achieved in recent years.
For more information on the British Book Awards go to http://www.britishbookawards.co.uk.BISG to Hold Supply Chain Event at BookExpo America
Book Industry Study Group will present two special sessions during BookExpo America in New York City: Supply Chain 101:Toward a More Profitable Bottom Line (May 31 @ 2:30) and BISG Presents Book Industry TRENDS 2007 (June 1 @ 1:00).
The agendas for the events as well as a list of presenters and topics, can be viewed on the BISG website at http://www.bisg.org/conferences/BEA_2007.htmlChronicle Books Builds with a Green Thumb
By Bridget Kinsella
Publishers Weekly
When Chronicle Books decided three years ago that the time was right for it to buy its own office building, the publisher also determined that it wanted a workplace that not only allowed for the cross-pollination of ideas among departments but was as ecologically friendly as possible. Last month, Chronicle moved into its new, green offices, just in time to celebrate its 40th anniversary.
[read more]
New E-mail Marketing Service for Booksellers
BATCH is to launch an e-mail marketing service for booksellers later this year. Called batch.connect, it has been developed by consultant Simon Edwards and will be aimed most particularly at independents. It will allow publishers to tell their customers about new titles and promotions, and will also enable booksellers to request information on particular genres using information from Nielsen. It also has what Edwards called a "community" aspect whereby bookshops can upload pictures to help publishers make decisions regarding author tours. A test will take place in the summer, ahead of a launch of the free service soon after.
Source: Publishing News
Lightning Source Is A Source Of Innovation
At the 18th Annual Galaxy British Book Awards ceremony in London, Lightning Source UK—a subsidiary of La Vergne, Tenn.-based Lightning Source Inc., a provider of digital publishing support and print on demand services—was honored with the Nielsen Bookdata Award for Innovation in the Book Industry. The company was recognized for the success of its Pilot Large Print Initiative, which makes books available on-demand in large-print format for the visually impaired. The initiative is the first of its kind in the publishing industry.
Source: Book Business Extra
