"Don't Preach to the Choir" - Comment #10

A familiar comment we heard was that although a session might have been good, it was targeted to the wrong audience. Sometimes a session within the Editorial Track, for instance, is really something that should be presented to writers and not the editors. Therefore, with the reformatting of the event for 2008, there will be an emphasis on who should be attending each session. Without the partitions that Tracks seem to create, this should breed greater cross-pollination between communities.

Well, that wraps up the top ten comments from 2007. If you have any further comments or suggestions as we look to this year's Pub U, please don't hesitate to send them my way!

Subject Matters! Comment #9

Apparently if you put a panel of printers in front of a room full of people from Christian publishing's production community and tell them they can ask anything, you end up with a very popular session. That is what happened when Pete Larson, COO of Bethany Press International moderated the discussion last November at Pub U.

According to Pete, he made it very clear to the printers involved that it was not the time to stand up and pitch an ad for their company. Rather, as one of them, he urged them to spend their time discussing what they felt were the biggest issues facing the industry.

Additionally, Pete led a separate session on the use of Recycled Paper and brought in experts from varying positions to discuss the topic with those in attendance.

Of course, not every session needs to have a panel, however a panel done right with a "hot-button" topic is one that really gets people thinking (and talking), so we will be looking for ways to incorporate similar sessions this fall.

Careful! Don't Step Over the Line! - Comment #8

As an association that exists to serve the Christian publishing industry we are tremendously aware that content is highly important. Not only the content in the books our members publish, but also the content we present at the various ECPA gatherings throughout the year.

One of the challenges we often face is that as we seek to bring in experts related to various business disciplines, they are oftentimes not experts in Christianity. For that reason we try to make sure presenters not familiar with our community are mindful that their content is not offensive in any way and that it focuses on the business discipline for which we asked them to present.

Occasionally, we will find a video clip or a live presenter, that even though there is some off-color or mildly innappropriate material presented, the value of the message presented is so great that we feel it is worth the risk.

By-and-large, people understand this tension. Sometimes however, we blow it. There was nothing in particular that people complained about overwhelmingly this last year, however there were the comments that "The speaker didn't know the audience", or "I can't believe they said $@&!". Unfortunately, in a live event we do not have the benefit of a 10-second delay to filter out any potentially objectionable material. However, we are always open to criticism and know that while we need experts from both within and without Christian publishing, we need to be mindful not to cross those lines.

Let's Talk - Comment #7

According to our survey one of the top reasons/benefits people give for attending Pub U , is the opportunity to network with other industry colleagues. If you have ever attended a conference that contained some time for discussion groups however, you will know that these can go terribly awry. It's for this reason that we steered clear of them last year.

However, we are making some key changes to the format of Pub U for 2008 that will fundamentally change the way we interact with each other. For that reason, this is the post I have been wanting to write for some time.

The initial goal for Pub U was to create a program where 50% of the content used for Pub U each year was the same (curriculum). Initially, the program would be something that industry insiders would attend and then “graduate” from.

Over the last three years, Pub U has become the Christian publishing’s industry conference with an emphasis on highlighting the topics that matter most to industry professionals, with the content changing from one year to the next. In the interest of wanting to cover all the bases, we have found that many of these topics are best categorized by “community”.

These communities are: Editorial, Rights, Sales & Marketing, Publicity, Design, Production, and Management. By focusing on these core areas we ensure that the content for Pub U is relevant to the needs of those attending.

With this in mind, we initially developed “Tracks” for each area with a corresponding “Track Leader”, a person with real working expertise in that field, that can help us to identify the sessions and presenters that would best speak to the issues concerning that community, both for the present and future, as well as for all stripes of professionals from each field (in terms of experience).

This model has been working well, and I believe led us to our best event thus far this past November. Pub U has been mentioned now on multiple industry blogs as well as both internet and print media. In fact, Book Business Magazine just ran a multi-page article with content directly from one of our sessions in the Production Track.

Even though the “Track” concept has worked well, we have now realized, through attendee feedback that it has created a bit of a silo affect. So, we end up with a session in the Design track that really should have had some Marketing folks mixed in and it became a bit of the “preaching to the choir” phenomenon.

Therefore, this year we are moving away from Tracks, yet still focusing on community’s by soliciting the help of industry experts that can help identify four or five sessions/topics that should be addressed with each respective community in mind. Secondly, that person will then be responsible for identifying folks (from both within and outside of Christian publishing) to speak/present in each of those sessions.

Next, since no one person can attend each of the more than 30 sessions, we will host a facilitated round-table time where the Community Leader will moderate some discussion on day two between people within their respective community based on what was learned the day before. We feel by doing this we can still promote best-practices within each discipline, but also create a certain level of cross-pollination among each area. This discussion time would last about 90 minutes.

This new format will focus in on each session and topic instead of track in order to promote a broader dialogue between all components of the publishing industry. We believe this will be a dynamic component to the success of Pub U 2008, we hope you will feel the same way!

Starting Off Right - Comment #6

We admit it, the opening session was loooong, and disjointed. There are reasons why Jane Friedman had to lead off rather than close, and why we thought we should do the design awards during the same time span, but you don't care about all of that, do you?

This year will be different, we promise, not too long, but will still have a power-punch of a keynote to kick things off. We already have a lead we are following that is sure to be what you have come to expect.

Stay tuned!

Where are the 401 Classes? - Comment #5

I have to say, pulling together more than 40 sessions dealing with everything from using blogs for publicity to offshoring is difficult enough as it is. However, trying to do that AND make sure that the content is comprehensive enough to speak to both the seasoned professional and the rookie is a real mountain of a challenge.

One thing we have tried in year's past was to create a track called "Advanced Management". This was a tough challenge, because what was advanced for some, wasn't necessarily advanced for others. However, we recognize the fact that there needs to be some sessions with content focused towards those in areas of greater responsibility...topics on management, leadership, etc.

This year, we are working with Tami Heim, EVP and Chief Publishing Officer for Thomas Nelson, Inc. to help us design some sessions for this community of people. I have given Tami the freedom to develop some session ideas that are sure to fill this need. Prior to Tami's current management responsibilities with Nelson, she was Presidet of Borders Book Group for a time. We are excited to be working with her, and believe Pub U will be that much better because of her involvement.

Back to the Future - Comment #4

Every year after Pub U, we ask those who attended what they would like to see addressed as content for future Pub U events. It seems that this year people had the digital content bug. This comes as no surprise as the Kindle was on the horizon at the time of Pub U and many publishers were trying to wrap their arms around this nebulous idea of how digital content will change the publishing industry.

So what is ECPA doing to address this issue? First, if you haven't already decided to, you should consider attending our Executive Leadership Summit this May in Dallas, TX. We have solicited the President of the Book Industry Study Group, Michael Healy, to moderate a discussion on "DIGITAL PUBLISHING & DISTRIBUTION: STRATEGIES & EXPERIENCES FROM TRADE PUBLISHING". This will be a time to hear from representatives from the trade publishing industry about the latest trends and strategies to consider for publishing in a digital age.

In addition to this, ECPA will be mindful of the desire to address these issues as we look towards the 2008 event. Should you have any particular presenter in mind, it is not too late to float their name my way.

As a side note - ECPA has been in talks with Quality Solutions to create an ECPA Title Management Database available exclusively to ECPA members. This would allow publishers the ability to upload their title databases onto a hosted server where they could manage all of the biblio information related to their title offerings as well as create tip sheets and, with the click of a button, distribute that data to over 80 different industry partners, including Barnes & Noble, Borders, Amazon, Christian Books & More and Ingram/Spring Arbor. Their will be a monthly discounted subscription fee. Stay tuned to ECPA's press releases and other member news for more information.

Bring 'Em Back - Comment #3

We had an outstanding lineup of presenters in each track this year. And because cloning hasn't yet reached the human species, people were only able to actually attend one session at a time. However, when word got out about some of the presenters at Pub U that they missed out on, we had many comments requesting that we do more with those folks.

So, here is what we plan to do. While Pub U will most likely have a completely new lineup of speakers for 2008, to keep things fresh, we have begun to engage with some of last year's presenters on new projects.

First we will be offering an ECPA E-Seminar titled "Hands On Blogging - Tools for Implementation and Strategies to Optimize Your Blog's Effectiveness" with Joe Wikert, Executive VP and Publisher for the Professional/Trade Division of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Joe presented as both a session speaker in our tech track and as a keynote presenter in last year's Pub U. More information can be found here.

Next, we will be offering a four part ECPA E-Seminar titled "Presentation Revolution" with Scott Schwertly, Founder/CEO Ethos3 Communications. Registrations for each session will be sold seperately with a discounted price when you register for all four. More information will be available on these sessions soon. I can tell you that the first date will be March 11 with the remaining three following on each successive Tuesday (March 18, 25 and April 1). We will be offering this E-Seminar series once a quarter throughout 2008, so if you cannot make one session due to a scheduling conflict, you can make it up later.

Finally, we have been working hard on creating an entire event utilizing the talents of Michele Miller. Michele was hugely popular at Pub U (we had over 60 written comments about her content), therefore we began talking with her immediately about a special "one-off" event that would focus on Christian publishing's strategies for reaching the female consumer. The event will be at Michele's training facility near Austin, TX. The dates are September 23 & 24. Registration will be $799 per person (Michele's normal two-day seminar runs $1400 per person) and limited to the first 100 people due to space limitations. This will be a retreat-type event. More information will be available soon. For those of you already interested, I can tell you that there are only 11 dorm-style rooms available on-site available for $200/night. This is a beautiful facility, you will not be let down, staying on-site with members of your team could provide the perfect opportunity for some strategic-planning. For those not fortunate enough to get one of these rooms, here is some information about local hotels.

In the near future, I will be looking at engaging with some of the other popular Pub U presenters from 07 as well. In the meantime, we've got some work to do!!

"We're Cold & Cramped!" - Comment #1 & #2

Of the hundreds of details that need attention and management during an event like Pub U, it seems as if the one most difficult to regulate is the temperature in the meeting rooms! I would have to say though, that some of the sessions I joined were cold, however some were very full with people (standing room only) and had the temperature not been turned down a notch, people would have been using their Pub U notebooks as fans (which could have led to some serious facial injuries).

For 2008, we will be careful to do two things. First, we will watch for any signs that the rooms are chilly, and make adjustments accordingly. Second, we will make sure to remind folks who have a tendency to get cold during meetings such as these, to bring a sweater or a jacket. Because everyone's internal thermostat works differently, it would be impossible to fix this entirely, but you can be sure that we are mindful of the issue and will do our best to make the temp as comfortable as possible.

Issue #2 - If you ever attended any of the previous three Pub U events at the Indian Lakes hotel, you will know that the exhibitors often felt like there wasn't enough traffic in their area, simply because the meeting space wasn't "exhibit-friendly". This year, we were excited that so many folks were able to engage with the exhibitors (so were the exhibitors). I think putting the dessert by their tables really helped! However, due to the narrow hallway outside of the ballroom, during the break times the exhibit space was just too cramped.

Fortunately, this will not be an issue with this year's event as we are moving all of our meetings to the other side of the hotel, where there is a much wider common area. This year, the hotel wouldn't allow us to use that space because they had already committed it to other groups, however it is all ours in 08!

Survey Round-Up

After all the post-Pub U surveys were in, we spent over a month (there were more than 600 comments in addition to the multiple choice questions that were answered) analyzing and categorizing the results into actionable items. Through that process, we were able to create a Top 10 list, here it is (in no specific order)

1) The exhibit hall space was too cramped.

2) The meeting rooms were too cold.

3) There were multiple comments requesting we reengage with the following speakers: Joe Wikert (Technology), Scott Schwertly (Marketing), Gabe Lyons (Design), Steve O'Keefe (Publicity), Michele Miller (Marketing). Interesting note - all five of these speakers dealt with progressive and future-trend issues.

4) On the question of what future topics we pursue, the most popular topics were: Internet marketing, technology and ebooks.

5) There were many requests for an Advanced Management (Leadership) track.

6) The opening session was too long and not well-organized.

7) People expressed a desire to see some sort of organized discussion and networking time.

8) An outside (non-Christian publishing) perspective is helpful, but don't overdo it.

9) Roundtable sessions with "hot-button" topics such as the Green Press Initiative were very well received.

10) One of the most-oft heard comments related to some of the sessions needed to have representatives from other communities in attendance. For instance, there was a session in the design track that really needed to have the heads of marketing departments in attendance, but they were all in the Marketing Track sessions.

In the coming posts, I will go over each one of these and talk about how we are going to address them.

Returning Faculty

A quick note to say that both Torrey Sharp (Design) and Ben Todd (Technology) have signed on again to help us pull together some of the best talent in each field and deliver some incredible sessions. I believe we already have some other returning vets (probably Brian Flagler (Rights), he just doesn't know it yet) as well as some outstanding newbies that will really round out a stellar group of publishing experts for 2008. Stay tuned!

Getting Things Done @ Pub U

If you follow Mike Hyatt's blog at all, you will know that he has become an evangelist of sorts around a new method of workflow that has him checking his email only a couple of times a day (no longer a slave to the Blackberry - or iPhone in Mike's case) and generally increasing his productivity in ways he never imagined. This revolutionary new method is called GTD, or Getting Things Done, and was created by David Allen, author of the book by the same name.

Coming off the heels of a tremendous Pub U we wondered who we could bring in that would deliver the level of practical tools and provide real take-away for those in attendance. Well, guess what? We have found someone. Representatives from the David Allen Company will be spending a portion of the Pub U conference schedule with the entire "Class of 2008" as we focus on "The Art of Stress-Free Productivity" and learn cool new buzzwords like: RAM dumps, Next Actions, Weekly Reviews, 43 Folders, and Open Loops.

This is not your conventional Pub U session, and we have had to rework the schedule a bit to make it happen. You can rest assured that there will be plenty of great Pub U sessions to go around for each community within publishing, but this one topic is one that touches everyone for sure, and had we not snagged the GTD people now, we would have missed the opportunity forever, as their price tag is normally WAY too steep.

For more information I would encourage you to read Mike's blog on the topic, or watch this video.

Pub U...In the meantime.

I bet you didn't know that in addition to two days every November, Pub U actually convenes multiple other times throughout the year through ECPA E-Seminars.

In fact, we are already hard at work on a couple of projects with presenters from this past November's event. Joe Wikert of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. will be doing an online seminar for us on Tuesday, February 19 @ 12PM ET. The title is "Hands On Blogging: Tools for Implementation and Strategies to Optimize Your Blog's Effectiveness". The price is $99 and all registrants will receive a free copy of David Meerman Scott's book "The New Rules of Marketing & PR".

Next, we have on tap a series of four E-Seminars with Scott Schwertly, Founder/CEO & Chief R.E.B.E.L. (you have to attend to find out what the acronym means) of Ethos3 Communications. Scott will be breaking down the keys to building, designing and delivering a top-notch presentation, as well as an entire session dealing with the art of telling your story. The first session will be held on Tuesday, March 11th at 12PM ET and then the remaining three will be at the same time/day over the following three weeks. Each session is $99, or buy all four for $299. If one of the sessions doesn't fit your schedule, you can still buy all four and make up the one you miss, because Scott's sessions will be available once a quarter. Details on how to register along with a brief flash-recorded message from Scott will soon be available on the ECPA website.

In the meantime, stay tuned - there is some very exciting news forthcoming about Pub U 2008!