It may still be summer, but we're already hard at work planning Tech Forum 2019. As the largest book publishing conference in Canada, we're looking to feature a full roster of panels and presentations with the industry's leading thinkers and experts, covering everything from innovations in audiobook production to improving diversity in publishing.
Next year's Tech Forum conference will be returning to the MaRS Discovery District in Toronto on Wednesday, March 20, 2019! Registration will open in the fall, so don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter to be the first to know about special mailing list promotions!
You can find dates and proposal guidelines for ebookcraft here.
Saffron Beckwith (Ampersand), Bhavna Chauhan (Penguin Random House Canada), and Scaachi Koul (BuzzFeed) at Tech Forum 2018's Women in Publishing panel.
Call for proposals
In the meantime, we are officially opening the call for proposals! Please share widely with all the forward-thinking book pros in your life, whether they're coders, booksellers, librarians, or anything in between. Tech Forum provides hundreds of book industry professionals with the opportunity to share, learn, and collaborate as we build the future of our industry. If this sounds like something you want to be a part of, we encourage you to submit proposals on any of the following topics:
- Innovations, experiments, and case studies, particularly in children's and higher education publishing
- Initiatives, successes, and experiments undertaken to address publishing's diversity problem (in books published and in human resources)
- Audiobooks: production, marketing, and everything in between
- Data analysis and interpretation, particularly considering customer profiles, machine learning, and AI
- Experiments and campaigns engaging with fan culture and social media influencers
- Practical, hands-on workshops related to content creation, particularly for audiobooks and marketing
- Metadata management hacks and creative workflows
- Augmented and virtual reality
- Benchmarking: practical examples and business planning implications
- Working with sensitivity readers/editorial consultants
We are committed to hosting an inclusive event and are particularly interested in hearing from speakers who identify as female, BIPOC and/or LGBTQQIP2SAA+. We are happy to accommodate speakers of all abilities.
Upon acceptance, speakers will be expected to submit crucial details (including a working session title and description, bio, and headshot) within two weeks.
Presentation formats
Proposals will be considered for presentations and panel discussions. A typical time slot is 45-60 minutes.
Tips for submitting your proposal
- Tell us about yourself: why would you be the best person to talk about this topic?
- Give us as much detail about your proposed presentation as possible.
- Remember that these are short presentations, so it's best to narrow your scope. Please indicate the length of time you will need to present your ideas.
- Your presentation can be practical or theoretical, but make sure it contains practical take-aways for the audience.
- Avoid sales pitches.
Deadline for submissions
Please send proposals and suggestions to techforum@booknetcanada.ca by Oct. 10, 2018 at 11:59 p.m. ET. All submissions are considered by the conference committee. Successful candidates will be contacted with more information on presentation opportunities at Tech Forum 2019.
Sponsorship information
If you or your company are interested in partnering with BookNet Canada to present Tech Forum 2019, please get in touch. Varying levels of support – in-kind or financial – are available and paired to your company's objectives. Start the conversation via email to lstewart@booknetcanada.ca.
Suggestions also welcome!
If you’re not a presenter but would still like to suggest a topic or speaker, please get in touch. After all, this conference is for you.
While we gear up for another year of collaboration and knowledge-sharing, feel free to watch videos from previous Tech Forum events on BookNet Canada's YouTube channel and check out our wrap-up blog post. We look forward to hosting you in 2019!
