I pasted a copy below of the press release for BEA's first ever paid webinar program that is going to be awesome. This will be a great program and something that you will get more value than $25.00 it will cost.
Norwalk, CT, November 17, 2010: BookExpo America (BEA) officials have today announced their first ever Webinar which will take place on Tuesday, December 7, 12:00pm – 1:00pm EST. The seminar will focus on leveraging the Facebook application and it will encourage and demonstrate best practices for book industry professionals. Facebook: Driving Traffic with Tips, Tactics and & Applications for Publishers and Authors is presented in partnership with the Book Industry Study Group and sponsored by Combined Book Exhibit and is the first of several webinars and other initiatives that BEA is undertaking to extend service and enrichment to the book community. All participants should go http://www.prolibraries.com/bea/ in order to register.
With over 500 million users talking and sharing on Facebook, publishers and authors need to know the tips, tactics and applications that are going to enable them to connect to readers in this worldwide community and share content, new publications, participate in contests and other marketing efforts. The noted speakers will be Mari Smith and Cindy Ratzlaff (bios below). Together, these two speakers provide a wealth of expertise about social media networking and they will share their knowledge and insight. Facebook is an integral part of publishers’ and authors’ marketing efforts. Ms. Smith and Ms. Ratzlaff are experts and they will be offering attendees the opportunity to learn about ways to improve their Facebook presence and connect with more readers. The moderator and organizer for BEA’s Webinar is Sally Dedecker, a consultant with 30+ years experience in the book industry.
Mari Smith is well-known for being an expert in social networking, and is especially noted for her Facebook expertise. She is a speaker, trainer and author on the subject of Facebook and she is the co-author of the successful book Facebook Marketing an Hour a Day (John Wiley & Sons) which was published earlier this year. Cindy Ratzlaff comes from the publishing industry. She is an author who is certified in social media networking and she has a business where she trains others in social media networking. As an author, she took her Facebook presence from 600 to over 10,000 fans in a few short months.
The official source for BookExpo announcements and news delivered by BEA Show Director Steve Rosato.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Snippets of the future
Two articles in New York Times today caught my attention, one being that News Corp reported it had attracted 105,000 paying customers to the digital versions of The Times (of London) and The Sunday Times of London since it started charging for access to their Web sites in June News Corp. More Than 100,000 Pay . A second item was about a New Mobile Keyboard - more later on that.
Rupert Murdoch is at least putting his page views where his mouth is and making a line in the sand that eventually every content creator will have to cross if they want to stay in business by having people pay for content on-line. The lesson I have learned in reading a myriad of articles and hearing people speak on the subject, people will pay a premium for something they value.
The second article is about a new mobile keyboard system. I have no idea if this will work or not, but it makes me wonder as the future comes at us faster and faster these days, what other blind spots are there to new products (and the industries that come with them) like smart phones? What I am refering to is the keyboard for mobile phones are QWERTY design which is based on a layout created in 1873, when it first appeared in typewriters. The technology and capabilities are accelerating so quickly that my 2 year old Blackberry Curve is nearly obsolete. Yet, no one ever considered a better interface than a 138 year old system designed for a mechanical typewriter that likely weighed 50 pounds for a device that fits in a shirt pocket?
I will happliy admit to not being smart enough for many things, but I know don't have to stick my hand in a fire more than once to know it burns. As publishing moves forward, digital technology will continue to challenge existing models until there is one that works for both publishers and consumers. Until that model is found, people have to think beyond their QWERTY blind spots and not apply 138 year old practices to brand new technologies.
Rupert Murdoch is at least putting his page views where his mouth is and making a line in the sand that eventually every content creator will have to cross if they want to stay in business by having people pay for content on-line. The lesson I have learned in reading a myriad of articles and hearing people speak on the subject, people will pay a premium for something they value.
The second article is about a new mobile keyboard system. I have no idea if this will work or not, but it makes me wonder as the future comes at us faster and faster these days, what other blind spots are there to new products (and the industries that come with them) like smart phones? What I am refering to is the keyboard for mobile phones are QWERTY design which is based on a layout created in 1873, when it first appeared in typewriters. The technology and capabilities are accelerating so quickly that my 2 year old Blackberry Curve is nearly obsolete. Yet, no one ever considered a better interface than a 138 year old system designed for a mechanical typewriter that likely weighed 50 pounds for a device that fits in a shirt pocket?
I will happliy admit to not being smart enough for many things, but I know don't have to stick my hand in a fire more than once to know it burns. As publishing moves forward, digital technology will continue to challenge existing models until there is one that works for both publishers and consumers. Until that model is found, people have to think beyond their QWERTY blind spots and not apply 138 year old practices to brand new technologies.