Ten reasons to book a place at our Autumn Conference

Have you booked your place at the IPG’s 2020 Virtual Autumn Conference on 21 October? Here are just ten of the highlights to look forward to!

1. A global outlook

Global trends and opportunities will be major themes of the Autumn Conference. We’ll have BBC global trade correspondent Dharshini David on the big developments to watch, plus David Taylor on worldwide publishing trends and close looks at markets including the US, Ireland, France and South East Asia. 

2. Help with rights

With no London or Frankfurt Book Fairs this year, our session on selling rights with Red Rock Literary Agency’s Renata Kasprzak will be extra useful.

3. Tips for starting up and growing

Our case studies are always popular parts of IPG Conferences, and we’ll be hearing about the ups and downs of starting a business from Guppy Books’ Bella Pearson and Levine Querido’s Arthur A Levine. There’ll also be advice for sustaining momentum from Confer Books’ Kathy Rooney, and Practical Inspiration’s Alison Jones will take us through the ups and downs of 2020.

4. Action on diversity and inclusivity

We’ll have several sessions about ways to continue publishing’s good work on diversity, including trainers from Stonewall on improving LGBT inclusivity.

5. The latest from the academic sector

Our stream of sessions dedicated to academic publishing includes a special focus on libraries, with guests including Brigham Young University’s Rick Anderson, Cambridge University Press’ Jenny Mathias and ProQuest’s Helene Stewart and Anna Termine.

6. Editorial and marketing expertise

Hands-on sessions include a couple of editorial-focused break-outs with experts from the Publishing Training, and a guide to modern marketing with the popular Sam Missingham.

7. A Minister’s message

We’re pleased to welcome to the Conference Caroline Dinenage MP, the Minister of State for Digital and Culture, with the government’s latest thinking on the publishing sector.

8. Support on tech

This year has brought a lot of change in the way we use digital technology, and the Conference will have several sessions to improve practice—including MetaComet’s David Marlin and Emerald’s Sarah Boyd on embedding systems in a business and Amnet’s Venu Prasad Menon on making the most of epub3. We’re also looking forward to hearing from Alice Newton-Rex about using WhatsApp to communicate and sell.

9. Making the most of audio

As the audio boom continues, we’ll have a couple of sessions on capitalising: Bookwire’s Videl Bar-Kar on big consumer and market trends, and Michael O’Mara’s Rumana Haider, Princeton University Press’ Kimberley Williams and Zebralution’s Carla Herbertson on getting started.

10. Networking

Our modern events platform can help you connect with old publishing friends, make new contacts and talk to some of the industry’s best suppliers and service providers in our Exhibitors Zone. There’ll be opportunities to put questions to our speakers and breaks throughout the day to explore the platform.

Book your place at the IPG’s Virtual Autumn Conference here.