Readmagine: ‘Human-Centric Digital Innovation’ in Publishing
At Readmagine in Madrid, in the Fundación Germán Sánchez Ruipérez’s unique barrel-ceilinged auditorium. Image: FGSR
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
This Year With Canon, Fondazione LIA, and Libranda
Organized and staged primarily by the seemingly indefatigable Luis González, managing director of the Fundación Germán Sánchez Ruipérez (FGSR) in the Spanish capital’s extraordinary Casa del Lector complex (Reader’s House), this this invitational program has been seated there since 2013.
The event’s three days this year, June 7, 8, and 9, are planned to be again a chance for international industry professionals to meet in an informal setting and talk, exchange notes, catch up with each other’s views, and renew friendships. Always set around a trend, issue, or challenge, the conference’s sessions this year have what might be for some attendees a peculiarly soothing subtitle in this sudden age of “artificial intelligence”: Human-Centric Digital Innovation for the Book Industry.
This opens the program’s inquiries to issues including;
Luis González
The program is produced in three major parts, which will include this time the special option of an “Accessibility Camp” on the Friday (June 9), organized by Italy’s highly influential Fondazione LIA under the direction of product manager Elisa Molinari. Also on the Friday, there’s a focus available on sustainability with Elsevier’s global director of sustainability Rachel Martin.
The second part, the Thursday presentation (June 8), is hashtagged #10IDDM for its formal name, the International Digital Distributors Meeting. This portion of the program has been developed over the years under the leadership of José Manuel Anta, the managing director of the Spanish Federation of Book, Print Media, and Digital Contents Distributors, called FANDE.
José Manuel Anta
And in looking at the varied and ranging program listings below, you can see that this is not your typical trucks-and-tribulations distribution day. For example, here is Beatrice Yongin Lin of Co.Mint on the South Korean market.
The opening day, Wednesday (June 7), this year is going to feature the question of “a toolkit for the future” as a kind of spur to the debates of the day, which is designed to feature an overview on where the European industry’s statistics stand; the generational impact of Generation Z; the power and sometimes curiosities of audio in the business; accessibility’s leading issues (again with Fondazione LIA and this time its secretary general Cristina Mussinelli), as well as “that AI session” now found in so many programs and in this case featuring Christoph Bläsi of the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz); and a roundtable led by González including María José Gálvez Salvador—whom many will remember from Frankfurter Buchmesse‘s Guest of Honor Spain program last year.
On all three days, workshops and working groups are arranged during the afternoons and on the first two days those feature startup company spokespeople with case studies, following midday cocktails.
Readmagine Programming: June 7
9 to 9:30 a.m.: Welcome and Opening
9:30 to 10 a.m.: Figures on the European Publishers Ecosystem
10 to 10:15: A Toolkit for the Future
10:15 to 10:45: What and How Gen Z?
10:45 to 11:20 a.m.: Round Table–The Audio Landscape
11:40 to 12:14: Accessibility
12:15 to 1 p.m.: AI in Our Industry
1 to 1:40 p.m.: How To Attract Talent to the Book Sector?
María José Gálvez Salvador. Spanish ministry of culture
Christoph Bläsi, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz
Porter Anderson, Publishing Perspectives
Moderated by Luis González, FGSR
Workshop Sessions, running 3 to 5:15 p.m., will be added in this space shortly.
Readmagine Programming: June 8
9:30 to 9:40 a.m.: Presentation of the International Digital Distributors Meeting
9:40 to 10:10 a.m.: Keynote: The Book Market in 2023: Publishing Beyond Publishers
10:10 to 10:40 a.m.: Keynote: Focus Market: Korea, More Than Webtoons
11 to 11:45 a.m.: Round Table–The Publishers’ View: Five Years Ahead
11:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: Round Table–The Media Sector: A Benchmark
12:30 to 1:15 p.m.: Round Table–About Innovation
Workshop Sessions, running 3 to 5:15 p.m., will be added in this space shortly.
Readmagine Programming: June 9: ‘NextGen Book’
These sessions will include simultaneous interpretation.
9:30 to 9:45 a.m.: Welcome
9:45 to 10:15 a.m.: A Transmedia Perspective: Orange
10:15 to 11:15 a.m.
Three speakers in succession:
The Weight of the Editorial Carbon Footprint: How Much Does the Spanish Publishing Industry Pollute?
Management of Publications According to Sustainability Criteria
Lessons Learned From the Prototype of a Carbon Print Label for Books
11:35 to 12 p.m.: Sustainability and Eco-Publishing: Readers’ Assessment
12 to 1:15 p.m.: Round Table–Efficiencies and Inefficiencies of the Book Supply Chain
1:15 to 1:30 p.m.: Accelerator 2030: An International and Intersectoral Initiative to Promote Sustainability in Publishing
Readmagine Programming: June 9: ‘Accessibility Camp’
9 to 9:30 a.m.: Welcome
9:30 to 9:45 .am.: Greetings and Introduction
9:45 to 10:15 a.m.: Accessible Reading Experience
Antonino Cotroneo, Fondazione LIA
10:15 to 10:45 a.m.: Keynote: Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall, What’s Going to Happen in the Accessibility World?
11:15 to 11:45 a.m.: European Publishers and the Roadmap Towards Accessibility, a Round Table–Which Are the Most Interesting Initiatives at the European Union Level?
11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.: Toward an Accessible Digital Publishing Ecosystem, a Round Table–What Is the Role Each Player of the Value Chain Must Play?
Working groups operate from 12:15 to 1 p.m., and then from 2:30 to 5 p.m. following lunch.
At the Fundación Germán Sánchez Ruipérez’s recent ‘School for the Spanish Book Industry.’ Image: FGSR
More from Publishing Perspectives on digital publishing is here, more on Readmagine is here, more on the work of Luis González is here, more on world publishing conferences is here, and more on Spain’s publishing market is here.