Publishers, Developers, and School Districts: Change Agents in Transformation

One of the key themes running throughout the 2009 AEP Summit was that all players in educational publishing need to work together more efficiently and effectively to succeed in the new digital world, as well as in difficult economic times. During the session “Publishers, Developers, and School Districts: Change Agents in Transformation,” Randi Brill, President and Founder of Quarasan!, and Keith Garton, Managing Partner of Garton Media Strategy, discussed the four key groups in our industry, the challenges facing them, and 20 actions each could take to try and move ahead. Here are highlights from their session.

Randi Brill and Keith Garton began by reminding everyone that no contributor to the educational publishing industry can do business the same way that they did a year ago. The belief in technology and how it affects our business is manifest. Where once developers might be able to charge $88 a page for a textbook, sometimes they now can charge as little as $7. But while contributors are not going to be paid as much as they were before, Brill and Garton believe that financial restrictions can bring opportunities for innovation, as long as you understand the Fab Four of our industry.

I’m Dreaming of a Place We Can All Go for Content – Which Platform Should Publishers Use?

As part of the 2009 Summit, AEP held an international CEO Roundtable, allowing executives from around the world to discuss the impact of “free” content on educational publishing. Kim Kleeman, President of Shakespeare Squared, attended the event and told AEP the five most important lessons she learned from the presentations.

The International CEO roundtable proved to be the perfect springboard for a variety of discussions regarding content and how we choose to deliver it to the general public.

Our panel was a powerful group of people who understand the balance between capital enterprise and availability of free content. The moderator, Seth Russo for Edureach International Consulting, facilitated a conversation and the presentations of companies from different countries allowing for a variety of opinions and strategies. Jim McVety from Bill Smith Group started us off followed by Poland native Artur Dyro, Young Digital Planet; Sameer Shariff from Impelsys; and Lewis Bronze from Espresso Education located in the UK.

The topics covered ranged from how to create an infrastructure to distribute content, to the scope of the market regarding technology, to how this will affect the US on the state level.

Educational publishing’s top marketing products honored

AEP has announced the winners of the 2009 Beacon Awards for excellence in education marketing. This year’s winners were honored at a special luncheon held during the AEP Summit in Washington, DC, at the JW Marriott hotel. The featured speaker at the event was Joe Rospars, founding partner at Blue State Digital and New Media Director on Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.

Diversity has a New Home with ‘Improving Learning Resources through Diversity’ Initiative from AEP

AEP has launched the Improving Learning Resources through Diversity (ILRTD) initiative as a way to attract and retain diverse populations to the field of educational publishing. Designed to address the needs of students in K-12 schools, especially those in large urban areas where minorities are the majority, the project was funded by a grant through the state of Pennsylvania. The ILRTD initiative kicked off at the AEP Summit’s Out of the Box Breakfast  on Thursday, June 11, 2009 at the JW Marriott Hotel in Washington, DC.

AEP Honors Year’s Best Educational Products

AEP is pleased to announce the winners of the 2009 AEP Awards, recognizing the year’s most outstanding materials in the field of teaching and learning. The winners of this year’s Distinguished Achievement and Golden Lamp Awards were honored at special gala event Friday night at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.