New Skill Sets

Capabilities publishers don’t have and how they’re developing them

There has been a lot of attention paid to the fact that digital change is upsetting publishers’ business models, with most of the conversation about that revolving around prices for ebooks and the sales terms as big US publishers shifted from wholesale to agency. But perhaps even more dramatic has been the change within the publishing house as the old skill sets and old job descriptions and old workflows yield to new ways of getting new things done.

These new things are going to have to get done in international houses as much as in American ones; our international audience will benefit from what American companies have already learned about how work processes change as digital becomes more important and print declines.

Lorraine Shanley of Market Partners International has been doing executive search work in publishing for two decades, so she has her finger on the pulse of the industry’s changing personnel requirements. Lorraine will lead a panel of publishing executives, most of whom have come into publishing in the last few years from outside, who will discuss the new requirements of a publishing house in the digital age.

Part of the focus is on bringing in new skills that publishers didn’t need five or ten years ago. The panel will also discuss how the business processes, including things that used to be serial that now are simultaneous and things that used to be siloed that now are done by teams, develop in an increasingly digital environment.

Moderator

Lorraine Shanley
President, Market Partners International

Lorraine Shanley is President of Market Partners International, a consulting firm that specializes in traditional and digital publishing in the US and internationally. One of the top recruiters in the industry, MPI also works with publishers, brands, cultural institutions and associations, and technology firms on various aspects of content development and distribution. Shanley is a member (and past president) of Women’s Media Group, and is on the Advisory Board of New York University’s Publishing Program and the board of Fourth Story Media, a New York-based web development company. She graduated from the University of Rochester and received her M.A. from the University of Virginia, where she serves on the Jefferson Fellowship selection committee.

Panelists

John Crant
Author, Career Coach & Speaker on Job Search and Career Management, Self Recruiter.com

As a recognized expert on Job Search and Career Management (as seen and featured in amNY, in The Wall Street Journal, on FINS.com (Resume Renovations, before and after), on CareerBuilder’s CBsalary.com, on The Ladders, in CRAIN’S New York Business, on FOX News, and many others), John shares the Secrets that Executive Recruiters Use to showcase and spotlight their candidates – secrets that you can use for yourself to be seen as a standout in your own job search and throughout your career.

Featured Speaker at The New York Public Library’s JOB SEARCH CENTRAL.
His book: Self-Recruiter®: Changing The Rules.

Peter Kay
Director, Digital Marketing and Strategy, W.W. Norton

Peter is the Director of Digital Marketing and Strategy at W.W. Norton, working with the College, Trade and Professional divisions. Previously he was VP Product Development at MTV Networks, where he built the global music platform mtvmusic.com, bringing semantic and machine listening technologies into the platform. He can be found on twitter at @pkay225.

Joe Mangan
Chief Operating Officer, Perseus Books Group

Joe is the Chief Operating Officer of Perseus Books Group, where he oversees the Company’s physical and digital operations and helps set and execute the company’s strategy. During Joe’s tenure, Perseus has emerged as the leading services provider to independent publishers, with more than 350 publishing clients across the company’s three business lines: Perseus Distribution, PGW and Consortium.Joe has been with Perseus since 2004, prior to which he held managing director and principal positions with Razorfish and Booz Allen respectively, where he helped media companies pursue transformational opportunities. Prior to that, Joe worked as an independent computer consultant.

Charlie Redmayne
Executive Vice President, Chief Digital Officer, HarperCollins Publishers

Charlie Redmayne is the Executive Vice President, Chief Digital Officer of HarperCollins, a subsidiary of News Corporation. He is responsible for the overall strategy, development and management of all digital initiatives aimed directly at the consumer across all of HarperCollins divisions. He reports to Brian Murray, President and Chief Executive Officer of HarperCollins Publishers Worldwide, and sits on the company’s executive committee. He was appointed to this newly created position in October, 2009.