Organizer of BookCamp Vancouver

http://bookcampvan.pbworks.com/

Summary

Boxcar Marketing, along with John Maxwell at SFU, Sean Cranbury of Books on the Radio, and the fine folks at BookNet Canada, organizes BookCamp Vancouver, an annual unconference that brings publishers, educators, community builders and the tech community together to explore the future of books and book-like technologies.

Client Quote

“I would recommend it. It brought together elements of the book world who generally don’t mix. And the energy was like a cocktail of electricity and tonic.”—Robert Chaplin, Library Editions

“I would highly recommend Book Camp. I had a great time and began to rethink some of my ideas around how publishing will work in the future. The only thing that I wished to change was the fact that I could not be in the room for every presentation!”—Leanne Prain

Challenge

The publishing industry is going through a period of immense change—new technologies are attempting to replace “the ‘book”, the way individuals read and relate to content is in flux, and publishing business models have to be re-evaluated. BookCamp Vancouver is a chance to bring together thought-leaders from various backgrounds to share ideas, spark discussions and find ways to respond to these changes.

Approach

Held in October, BookCamp Vancouver is a day of talking and doing. Attendees come from all over Canada and from a variety of backgrounds, including authors, librarians, technologists, typographers, designers, developers, printers, booksellers, literary agents, and publishers.

Through panel discussions, networking and audience-chosen sessions, BookCamp is a chance for the community to share ideas and engage in conversation to explore the future of the book and to discuss future book technologies, business plans and workflows.

Results

BookCamp Vancouver is a free conference made available by the fine support of the publishing community. The Canadian Centre for Studies in Publishing provides the rooms at SFU and BookNet sponsors the lunch and coffee breaks. The rest is done by the sweat and enthusiasm of many student volunteers and a core group of organizers.

The inaugural BookCamp Vancouver was held October 16th, 2009, and we had 250 people registered for the conference within days of its announcement.

Feedback following the event was exceptional:

“I really enjoyed myself and left feeling inspired, empowered, and actually hopeful. It’s great to spend time with like-minded people, and people really were very friendly.”—Rachel Fox, @FoxMe

“It ran incredibly smoothly, the sessions were terrific, and the level of participation made it all the more worthwhile.”—Kim Werker, LexPubli.ca

“I liked the short sessions, the encouragement of discussion rather than lecture (this doesn’t always work, but in a room full of smart & articulate people it sure does), and the generous breaks in between, so as to keep the talk going, say hi, meet new folks, etc. I learned lots as a civilian, and also as a teacher—the day was an eye-opener for MPub students. They found out for themselves how many points of view there are and how willing our colleagues & friends are to share insights and work together to sort out technological, legal, intellectual issues. In general they got lots of encouragement to think creatively, cooperatively & critically, and to try stuff.”—Mary Schendlinger, SFU MPub.

Completed on October 2009
Publishing & Media