Children’s Publishing Goes Digital
Hosted by Digital Book World 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012, 8:45 – 5:00
Sheraton Hotel & Towers, New York
Register now!
8:45
Welcome and opening remarks
Lorraine Shanley, Market Partners International, Conference Chair
9:00
Traditionalists Gone Digital
Though there are many new players entering the digital children’s market, traditional publishers are also innovating in the digital realm. What routes are publishers taking to develop digital content, and to market this and traditional print, online? What have been the challenges and successes through the transition into digital, and what do publishers see as being the future of children’s content—games, animation, or ebooks? Representatives from major publishers discuss what it means to be a traditional children’s publisher moving into the digital world.
Moderated by: Barbara Marcus, Advisor, Open Road Media & Strategic Innovations Advisor, Penguin US
Josh Bank, President, East Coast, Alloy Entertainment
Deborah Forte, President, Scholastic Media, and Executive Vice President, Scholastic, Inc.
Corinne Helman, VP Digital Publishing, Business Development, HarperCollins Children’s Books
Adam Royce, VP Digital Content Development, Penguin Group USA
Jonathan Yaged, President, Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group
9:55
Sizing Up the Children’s Market
As the publishing community pushes to make digital content available across its key revenue generating genres, the opportunities and challenges of making this happen in the children’s market are both unique and substantial. While some believe the transition to digital to be obvious for a generation of ‘techie natives’, the current realities of digital content creation, marketing, and ultimately acceptance by the consumer present a set of challenges unique to this genre.
In this session, Kelly Gallagher of Bowker and Kristen McLean of Bookigee will present the latest findings of an ongoing national children’s consumer study from the US that seeks to shed understanding on — and provide assessment of the market for children’s digital consumer book products.
Presented by:
Kelly Gallagher, VP of Publishing Services at RR Bowker
Kristen McLean Founder, Chief Executive Officer, Bookigee, Inc.
10:20
Publishers Launchpad: New Players, New Partners
Digital media companies developing apps and ebooks for children are using their skills in animation and gaming – and often new sources of content –to move into the “space” in the children’s market that publishers used to have for themselves. Who are these new players, and what impact will their products have on the established children’s book market? What role do they see their products playing in the future of book-like content, and how do they see themselves interacting with traditional publishers?
Publishers Launchpad will be a forum to highlight new propositions for children’s publishing from both start-ups and existing players. Each of the presenting companies will have five minutes to explain their new initiatives, followed by moderated audience Q&A.
Moderated by: Lisa Holton, CEO and Founder, Fourth Story Media
Presented by:
Anna Belle Abraham, U.S. Manager of Multilingual and Multicultural Marketing & Communications, Genera Interactive
Michel Kripalani, President, Oceanhouse Media, Inc.
Woody Sears, Founder, zuuka
Mark Ury, CEO and Founder, Storybird
Calvin Wang, Founder/CEO, Loud Crow Interactive, Inc
11:10
Morning Break
11:40
Nook and Children’s Interactive eBooks and Apps
Kevin O’Connor and Wendy Bronfin talk about Nook Color and its work with children’s interactive ebooks and apps. They will be joined by author Jane O’Connor in conversation about developing children’s books and apps for the color tablet and what the technical implications are of developing an interactive product to make the most of the development costs.
Presented by:
Wendy Bronfin, Director, Product Management, NOOK Kids, Barnes & Noble
Kevin O’Connor, Director of Business Development, Content Acquisitions, NOOK Kids, Barnes & Noble
Jane O’Connor, Author, Fancy Nancy and Nina, Nina Ballerina
12:10
What Trends Are Emerging for Children – and Their Parents?
Two futurists talk about their analyses of where the market is going, and what the biggest influences are on children, and their parents.
Presented by:
Amy Henry, Vice President of Youth Insights, C&R Research, YouthBeat
Ira Mayer, President, EPM Communications, Inc. & Publisher, Youth Markets Alert
12:40
Lunch
1:45
Disney Publishing: The magic of digital storytelling
Russell Hampton, President, Disney Publishing Worldwide, talks about bringing the storytelling experience to digital devices. Russell will address the transition from print publishing to digital, and the opportunity to build extraordinary multimedia products for children and families.
Presented by:
Russell Hampton, President, Disney Publishing Worldwide
2:10
Education Meets Digital
With the interactive capabilities of ebooks and apps, how are publishers and developers creating new opportunities for education? What new innovations are emerging in the edutainment market, and how are they accommodating new technologies as they develop their products? What type of interaction is most effective to capture and maintain the interest of their target audience, and how do new apps and ebooks grow with their readers? Developers explore these questions as they talk about new systems and products that are combining the classroom with technology.
Moderated by:
Neal Goff, President, Egremont Associates, LLC, and President, Board of Directors, Association of Educational Publishers
Emi Abramzon, USA Country Manager & Partner, Panarea Digital
Todd R. Brekhus, President, Capstone Digital Solutions
Ilene Rosenthal, CEO, Footsteps 2 Brilliance
2:55
AFTERNOON BREAK
3:25
How to Reach and Teach Preschoolers with Digital Books
Jennifer A. Perry, VP Worldwide Publishing at Sesame Workshop, will talk about her organization’s qualitative research efforts with parents and children exploring how children use apps. Perry will also share Sesame Workshop’s experience creating 150 ebooks and 25 apps, and discuss Sesame Workshop’s global expansion in digital media.
Presented by:
Jennifer A. Perry, Vice President Global Publishing at Sesame Workshop
3:50
New Licensing Solutions for a Changing Children’s Publishing Industry
Presented by:
Michael Healy, Executive Director, Author & Publisher Relations, Copyright Clearance Center
4:00
Marketing to a Community
Online communities and media that have already captured the attention of young readers constitute an important resource that publishers must employ. What sites and communities are most beneficial to children’s content developers, and to what extent do publishers need to customize their campaigns based on the communities they target? What are the ways in which publishers are reaching out to these communities/websites to make their books more visible? Moderated by literary agent Laura Dail, panelists talk about their experiences developing an audience among young readers and how they are working with publishers to promote books and apps.
Moderated by: Laura Dail, Literary Agent, Laura Dail Literary Agency, Inc.
Lori Culwell, Founder and Marketing Consultant, Get Creative, Inc.
Jana Kerr Pettey, Publisher/Editorial Director, Justine Magazine
Lucille Rettino, Marketing Director, Children’s Publishing Division, Simon and Schuster
4:45
Closing Remarks
