On September 19 and 20, Firebrand is hosting another of its periodic Community Conferences. It takes place in Newburyport, Massachusetts.
Firebrand hosts the event "to bring our community (publisher, distributors and trading partners) together to show them our newest functionality, discuss industry issues, and share knowledge." I've been asked to deliver a keynote address at the end of the day on the 19th.
Recently, Christopher Hislop interviewed me for Firebrand's Community Blog. Our conversation touched upon the conference itself, print "versus" digital, our recent work on book industry metadata as well as the presentation I am planning to deliver at the conference.
Its working title, "The next plateau", is intended to invoke both the challenge and the opportunity inherent in how publishers think about metadata. We are already moving away from a container-first model, but many publishers are still struggling to manage metadata locally and at the level of an object.
As I note in my response to Chris:
"The ability to distribute content globally exists today, and it is shifting how we plan for and negotiate distribution rights. Digital formats really require that metadata travel with or as part of the content, something most publishers need to address. The ability to capture conversations about book content is an increasingly critical part of marketing, but we’re not doing this now. I’m planning to look at these and other areas to offer a perspective that might help those attending navigate the next few years."
You may have your own perspective on what "the next plateau" will involve. If so, I'd love to hear your thoughts. If you're interested in attending the conference, registration is open. Don't expect to just sit in the back though; the Firebrand team has been known to draft its session leaders from the audience.
