Hall of Fame Portrait: Nelson B. Heller, Ph.D., Part 3

On December 3, 2009, AEP will induct Nelson B. Heller, Ph.D., MDR; Michael Ross, Encyclopaedia Britannica; and Pleasant Rowland, Rowland Reading Foundation and American Girl into the Educational Publishing Hall of Fame. Here in his third installment, Nelson B. Heller, Ph.D., President, EdNET at MDR, discusses the greatest challenge facing educational publishing in the next five years.

The Heller Reports news and conference activities have provided me with a marvelous platform for observing the evolving impact of technology on educational publishing’s products and services, not to mention its back-office operations. The advent of the Internet and web 2.0 have greatly expanded this digital imperative, but for a host of reasons, including still limited hardware penetration in schools and the cautious response of most school systems to widespread adoption of technology, we’re still looking for critical mass and sustainable business models.

Hall of Fame Portrait: Michael Ross Part 3

On December 3, 2009, AEP will induct Nelson B. Heller, Ph.D., MDR; Michael Ross, Encyclopaedia Britannica; and Pleasant Rowland, Rowland Reading Foundation and American Girl into the Educational Publishing Hall of Fame. Here in his third installment, Michael Ross, Senior VP, Education General Manager for Encyclopaedia Britannica, discusses the greatest challenge facing educational publishing in the next five years.

The market for educational materials will remain highly segmented. This is an enormous challenge for publishers because the direction for effective and profitable products will not be clear. Lack of clarity will be pervasive in both the adoption and non-adoption states. Decision makers will remain confused about how much print they will want and what kind of electronic products they need. They will also lack the experience and tools for evaluating electronic products and how to determine an electronic product’s true value and effectiveness.

Encyclopaedia Britannica named a “Superbrand”

Encyclopaedia Britannica, an AEP member, was named the number 10 “Superbrand” in the UK for 2009-10. The only publishing brand in the top 50, Britannica moved up from its previous slot of 29.

According to the Britannica Blog, “The survey, carried out by the Centre for Brand Analysis on behalf of Superbrands UK, looked at 1,400 brands and canvassed more than 2,000 consumers to arrive at a list of the most respected businesses, based on perceptions of their products’ quality, reliability, and distinction.”

Read more about Britannica at Bookseller.com, and get the Top 10 list and more information about the program at the BBC.

Michael Ross, Senior VP, Education General Manager for Encyclopaedia Britannica, will be inducted into the Educational Publishing Hall of Fame on Dec. 3, 2009.

Hall of Fame Portrait: Nelson B. Heller, Ph.D., Part 2

On December 3, 2009, AEP will induct Nelson B. Heller, Ph.D, MDR; Michael Ross, Encyclopaedia Britannica; and Pleasant Rowland, Rowland Reading Foundation and American Girl, into the Educational Publishing Hall of Fame. Here in his second installment, Nelson B. Heller, Ph.D., President, EdNET at MDR, discusses the greatest challenge he faced during his career and his proudest accomplishment.

What was the greatest challenge you faced in your career, and how did you handle it?

I suppose my greatest challenge was when, in late 1987, I lost my job at SFN and Scott, Foresman due to liquidation of our publicly traded parent company and the sale of its component companies to a host of information and publishing organizations. At 47 I found it impossible to match that job or salary in another publishing firm and reluctantly tried my hand at consulting.

Hall of Fame Portrait: Michael Ross Part 2

On December 3, 2009, AEP will induct Nelson B. Heller, Ph.D., MDR; Michael Ross, Encyclopaedia Britannica; and Pleasant Rowland, Rowland Reading Foundation and American Girl into the Educational Publishing Hall of Fame. Here in his second installment, Michael Ross, Senior VP, Education General Manager for Encyclopaedia Britannica, discusses the greatest challenge he faced during his career and his proudest accomplishment.

What was the greatest challenge you faced in your career, and how did you handle it?

When my oldest daughter was four, her mother died suddenly. I was 36 years old, still very early in my career, and what was already a difficult job and huge responsibility—being a new father—now seemed like an impossible role to fill, alone, on top of the demands of my day job. As an editorial director for an educational publisher, I was required to travel, manage a team of in-house and freelance editors, meet budgets, train the sales force, and produce over 50 profitable titles a year. I couldn’t do all of that and take care of a young child who had just lost her mother, and I refused to compromise when it came to her comfort. So, in essence, I put my career on hold, traveled less, even turned down job offers that would have required me to move to other cities, and did what I could to fulfill my professional responsibilities while prioritizing my daughter’s needs.