O'Reilly TOC Conference 2011 Call for Participation

Call closed 11:59pm 09/14/2010 EDT.

Proposal deadline extended – Proposals due September 14, 2010

Due to overwhelming demand for an extension, we have changed the proposal deadline from September 9 to Tuesday, September 14 to allow more time for submissions.

Tips for Submitting a Proposal | Resources | Important Dates

Are you a(n):

  • Book publisher trying new digital creation, production, and distribution methods and models?
  • Startup building a new business in the publishing industry, especially in digital and mobile content and reading?
  • Professional from the music, gaming, film, arts, or technology community who can share insight on how your industry is dealing with the challenges of rapidly changing tools, formats and distribution channels?
  • Publisher successfully (and profitably) repurposing content across multiple media, including books, ebooks, the Web, mobile, and video?
  • Print or digital designer using new design technology in book design?
  • Online ebookseller or brick-and-mortar book seller who has successfully integrated online bookselling?
  • New publisher building a digital-first publishing business?
  • Publisher who is transitioning to direct to consumer sales?
  • New publisher using traditional methods of production, but following a whole new business model?
  • Executive driving new digital initiatives at your publishing company (and maybe running into resistance along the way)?
  • Author (either previously traditionally published, or new to publishing) who has struck out on your own to independently create, distribute and publicize your book?
  • Publishing business that has figured out how to become (or remain) profitable in a digital world?
  • Technologist at a publishing company driving new digital initiatives and/or emerging products?
  • Technology company with something new to offer in publishing technology?
  • Manager who’s successfully helped their editorial, production, or sales staff migrate to digital workflows?
  • Developer or vendor working on collaborative/distributed authoring/editing tools?
  • Company serving publishers looking for a platform to launch/announce a new product?
  • Entrepreneurial publisher or publishing technology company?
  • Publishing services or technology vendor looking to connect with decision makers?
  • Library finding new ways to connect readers to the content and knowledge they care about?
  • Educator working to train the next generation of publishers?
  • Reader advocate, or researcher who can offer insight as to what real readers want from publishers and the reading experience?
  • Person, organization, or business that cares about books and can articulate your vision for their future?
  • VC or investor currently funding, or looking to fund digital publishing-related ventures?

If so, now is your chance to influence the future direction of publishing. You’re invited to submit a proposal to speak at TOC.

Some of the topics we plan to include in the 2011 conference program are:

  • Reaching mobile readers: when your customers carry bookstores in their pockets
  • The real costs of digital book production
  • The value of creating quality metadata
  • Pricing and packaging digital content
  • Methods for gathering and understanding customers’ behavioral data (through web metrics and surveys)
  • Case studies of successful (or unsuccessful!) new publishing and digital initiatives
  • Case studies from implementing lessons learned at a previous TOC Conference
  • Strategies and tactics for incorporating print-on-demand (including the espresso book machine) into a supply chain
  • Tools and challenges for an efficient all-digital workflow
  • When digital is NOT the answer: Startups using old means of production with new business models
  • Revising your P&L’s for the economics of digital publishing
  • Understanding and responding to the changing retail landscape
  • Game plans for publishers transitioning from B2B to B2C transactions
  • Best practices for working with Amazon, Google, Apple, and other big Internet players
  • Best new practices and tools for working with and supporting authors during editorial, production and/or marketing phases
  • Systems and devices for displaying digital copy (demos welcome)
  • Business models for delivering and/or receiving material via new devices
  • Determining rights, sales, and royalty management: the challenges of an electronic global marketplace
  • XML, EPUB, RDF, and other TLA’s (three-letter acronyms) decoded and explained
  • Using open-source tools to assemble a digital publishing workflow

Proposals will be considered for the following types of presentations:

  • 45 minute conference session or panel discussion
  • 3 hour workshop (these extended classes give participants hands-on, practical, in-depth guidance in using new technologies that are critical for publishing)

A limited number of speaking opportunities are also available through conference sponsorship. Contact Sharon Cordesse at (707) 827-7065 or scordesse@oreilly.com for more information.

Tips for Submitting a Proposal

Help us understand why your presentation is the right one for TOC.

  • Be authentic! Your peers need real-world scenarios they can use. Please submit original presentation ideas that focus on knowledge transfer, with engaging and relevant examples.
  • Include as much detail about the planned presentation as possible. The more we know about what you plan to present and why it matters, the better.
  • Be thorough! If you are proposing a panel tell us who else would be on it. If you are going to have a release let us know. If you feel this is something that hasn’t been covered at TOC before, let us know.
  • Keep it free of marketing.
  • Keep the audience in mind: they’re forward-minded, professional, and already pretty smart.
  • Clearly identify the level of the talk: is it for beginners to the topic, or for gurus? What knowledge should people have when they come to the presentation?
  • Give it a simple and straightforward title or name—fancy and clever titles or descriptions make it harder for people (committee and attendees) to figure out what you’re really talking about.
  • Limit the scope of the talk: Pick a useful aspect, or a particular technique, or walk through a simple program.
  • Explain why people will want to attend: Is the framework gaining traction? Is the app critical to modern systems? Will they learn how to deploy it, program it, or just what it is?
  • Does your presentation have the participation of a woman, person of color, or member of another group often underrepresented at tech conferences? Diversity is one of the factors we seriously consider when reviewing proposals as we seek to broaden our speaker roster.
  • If you’re a PR person, improve the proposal’s chances of being accepted by working closely with the presenter(s) to write a jargon-free proposal that contains clear value for attendees.

Resources

Important Dates

The submission deadline for all proposals has been extended to September 14, 2010.
All proposers will be notified whether or not their proposal is accepted by early November.
Program and preliminary schedule will be unveiled in early November.

Submit a proposal now!

  • Ingram Content Group
  • Qualcomm
  • codeMantra
  • COPIA
  • Impelsys Inc.
  • Aptara
  • Bowker
  • Connotate
  • HP
  • Jouve North America
  • LibreDigital
  • Malloy
  • MarkLogic
  • Random House, Inc.
  • SPi Global
  • Sterling Commerce
  • Baker & Taylor
  • The BookMasters Group
  • Constellation
  • Jacquette Consulting
  • Mashery
  • Silverchair
  • Wolfram
  • Smashwords, Inc.

For information on exhibition and sponsorship opportunities at the conference, contact Sharon Cordesse at scordesse@oreilly.com

Download the TOC Sponsor/Exhibitor Prospectus (PDF)

View a complete list of TOC contacts

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