Monday, September 19, 2011

Setting the Course For BEA 2012 and beyond

BEA has for a long time been many things to many people.   That will continue to be part of the the essence of BEA.  However, BEA's approach has become more refined to insure that it is a high value to the individual constituencies that call BEA home.  Having the Book Bloggers Convention, the IDPF Digital Book program, Publishers Launch and the Audio Publishers Association events integrated into BEA insures those constituents' priorities are served and still allow for the huge 'commercial' benefits of bringing all the various interests of those collective groups together.  That is a mouthful but I want to reassure people that BEA will always invest in these core values and continue the to do things we do well while we chart a course that moves forward in a positive yet new direction.

The future of BEA will be delivering extraordinary value in content - that includes in the depth of what is seen on the show floor and in programming.  Throwing the word digital around is like dot.com IPO back in 2000 - everyone wants in and everyone knows it is the future, but place your bets carefully.  Saying BEA will be digitally focused or the destination for all publishing issues that are digital - is not asking you to place a bet.  BEA will be the place to see and learn the latest trends, technology and applications for what is going on digitally - that includes social media - how to leverage it and what is proving successful.

The other path that BEA barrels down is engaging consumers and influencers of books to promote and discover what interests them.  This is for consumers and booksellers, librarians and book club leaders, bloggers and reviewers.  BEA will very quickly be the main venue for people who are buying or selling books in any format to discover what is in the market.  New York Book & Media Week is going to take an exponential leap in 2012, BEA is going to capture our best programs and deliver them through podcasting and video. 

Details will emerge through the fall but I wanted to share at least very generally the main themes for BEA going forward.  If you are placing bets on BEA's future, they are:
  • Being the #1 market place and education destination for all issues related to digital publishing.
  • Become a Direct to Market conduit for promoting books that serves booksellers and consumers alike.

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