By Kirsten D. Sandberg, Adjunct Professor
For two weeks, from September 25 to October 5, Pace University hosted a delegation of Chinese media executives from Jiangsu province. They came to meet their counterparts in New York and learn current best-practices in publishing (digital technology) and broadcasting.
Co-directed by Professors Xiaochuan Lian and Kirsten Sandberg, the two-week program focused on the future of media, particularly trends in digital strategy, content marketing, and operations; digital rights management, intellectual property law, and blockchain technology; and innovation through acquisition, partnership, and integration of technology platforms.
Guest Lecturer, Paul Levitz.
Guest lecturers included the following publishing professionals (listed alphabetically):
- Mario Aieta, managing partner of Satterlee Stephens LLP, and his colleagues, Mark A. Fowler and Jennifer Philbrick McArdle, both partners of the firm. They presented “Five Action Points for Non-U.S. Content Providers in the Digital Economy.”
- Ken Brooks, chief operating officer of Macmillan Learning, spoke on creating and future-proofing a learning ecosystem – not just products, markets, and channels but technology platforms – with interoperability of content, tools, assessments, and services.
- Mark Fretz, editorial director at Radius Book Group, underscored the value of a well-formed XML document and workflow.
- Jim Hanas, senior director of audience development and insight, HarperCollins Publishers Worldwide, explained how to gather market intelligence from readers through e-mail newsletters.
- Rick Joyce, former chief marketing officer at Perseus Books Group, shared his experience in structuring a pilot project for culling information from social media and building a process for translating insights into new product development and marketing.
- Paul Levitz, Eisner-award-winning author DC Comics, talked about transmedia, how comic book publishers were telling stories across multiple formats and platforms.
- Professor Lian applied Moore’s Law to the publishing industry and discussed how the rate of technological change has influenced every aspect of the business.
- Jim Milliot, editorial director of Publishers Weekly, gave a “state of the U.S. market” address.
- Richard Nash, serial entrepreneur, digital media consultant, and start-up advisor, gave a history of publishing innovation, pre-Gutenberg to post-mobile.
- Camille Nordby, manager of content services for Ingram Content Group, spoke of Ingram’s supply chain, its work with publishers and authors, and its ability to customize content and distribute direct to consumers.
- Brian O’Leary, executive director, Book Industry Study Group, and founder and principal, Magellan Media Partners, discussed some of BISG’s research findings and trends in US publishing.
- Bill Rosentblatt, founder and president, Giant Steps Media Technology Strategies, examined the state of digital rights management and what publishers could be doing to preserve the value of their IP holdings.
- Annie Stone, international account manager, BookBub, and Bridget Marmion, founder and CEO, Your Expert Nation, shared their expertise in e-book publishing, marketing, and pricing.
- Professor Sandberg previewed how blockchain technology will affect publishing over time and walked through some blockchain applications in the publishing space.
- Manuela Soares, senior lecturer at Pace University and associate director of Pace University Press, discussed trends in children’s publishing.
The head of the Chinese contingent, Mr. WU Jianlun (吴建伦), is the deputy division chief of the Jiangsu Administration of Press and Publication, Radio, Film, and Television, the provincial media regulatory agency. Joining him was the vice chair of the Jiangsu Federation of Trade Unions. There were also representatives from:
- Jiangsu Cable Information Network Corporation
- Jiangsu Workers Press
- Nanjing Publishing Group
- Nanjing University Press
- People’s Publishing House
- Phoenix Science Press
- Phoenix Vocational Education Company
- Taizhou Daily Media Group
- Vocational Institute of Commerce Journal Press
- Yanfu Newspaper Group
- Zhenjiang Daily Media Group
The publishing program’s relationship with the Jiangsu media community is a strong one, largely because of the tireless efforts of Professor Sherman Raskin, founder and director of the M.S. in Publishing Program, and Professor Lian, who also serves as senior staff associate. Pace also hosts the Sino American Publishing Research Center, co-founded in 2006, with Nanjing University and the Phoenix Publishing and Media Group, one of China’s largest publishing multinationals.
