Entries tagged with “conversation” from Tools of Change for Publishing

New on O'Reilly Labs: Open Feedback Publishing System

Andrew Savikas
May 21, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (2) | Listen

O'Reilly engineer Keith Fahlgren has formally launched our new Open Feedback Publishing System over on O'Reilly Labs:

Over the last few years, traditional publishing has been moving closer to the web and learning a lot of lessons from blogs and wikis, in particular. Today we're happy to announce another small step in that direction: our first manuscript (Programming Scala) is now available for public reading and feedback as part of our Open Feedback Publishing System. The idea is simple: improve in-progress books by engaging the community in a collaborative dialog with the authors out in the open. To do this, we followed the model of the Django Book, Real World Haskell, and Mercurial: The Definitive Guide (among others) and built a system to regularly publish the whole manuscript online as HTML with a comment box under every paragraph, sidebar, figure, and table.

You can see the system in action at the site for our upcoming book Programming Scala.

Spots Still Open for TOC Roundtables

Andrew Savikas
January 21, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Listen

Despite a grim few months for the industry, attendance for the 2009 TOC Conference has remained consistently ahead of last year's numbers (and remember -- we sold out last year, so reserve your spot now). Last year's show made it clear New York was the right place to be, and this year's program and speaker lineup are shaping up to be an amazing three days (I'm admittedly partial, so don't just take my word for it).

One of the best things about a conference like this is the chance to connect in person with people you've perhaps only met online or follow via a blog or Twitter. It's also a chance to get key players at the same table to agitate for new standards or practices. We added Roundtables this year to the program to give you a chance to schedule informal meetings of like-minded attendees. For example, there's a great panel scheduled for Wednesday afternoon on the universal standards that goes beyond just typical sales and distribution -- a companion roundtable to try and flesh out some concrete next steps would certainly be of interest to a lot of attendees. Sound like something you'd sit in on? Sign up to lead it.

There's limited slots open for the Roundtables, which are scheduled for Tuesday evening, Feb. 10. Plan to grab a drink at the sponsor reception, check out a few of the lightning demos, and then take a seat at one of the Roundtables.

Related TOC '09 Information:

• Conference Registration
• Conference Speakers
• Conference Schedule
• Conference Sessions
• Conference Tutorials

Publishers Need to Get In on the Conversation

Peter Brantley
November 19, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Listen

Kassia Krozser has a Cluetrain-like manifesto for publishers. From Booksquare:

It's time to get your hands dirty, to dig into the real-world conversation. It's a weird thing, and sometimes awkward and uncomfortable, especially if you're accustomed to public relations-speak and the cheerleader behavior that accompanies marketing messages. When you talk directly to real people who read and buy books, they tune you out when you try to stay on message. If they wanted to rehash cover copy, they'd read the back of the book.

Related Stories:

• The Cluetrain Manifesto
• Naked Conversations: How Blogs Are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers
• Web Publicity Grows Up, Learns the Value of Conversation
• Why Blogging and Social Media Shouldn't be Ignored
• How Should Authors Promote Themselves Online?
• Target, Serve and Adapt: A Simple Model for Audience Development

BBC Shifts Conversation Style: Go Where They're Already Talking

Peter Brantley
October 13, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Listen

I think this deserves to be pondered. BBC News is moving away from merely hosting comments to inciting discussion in a variety of formats and locations. From Reportr.net:

For the US presidential debates, it [the BBC] has opened channels on video services Qik, 12Seconds and Phreadz. Some of the videos were subsequently edited and posted on the BBC News website.

The purpose, explains [BBC Editor] Matthew Eltringham, is "to join in conversations wherever they were happening rather than expect people to come to us and host them on the BBC's platforms."

This is a major change in the BBC's approach to user-generated content. It signals a shift away from the idea that the BBC should host the conversation. [Link added]

Related Stories:

• Tricky Relationship Between Mainstream Media and Citizen Journalism
• Cautious Optimism for Britannica's Hybrid Web Community
• Web Community Management Tips
• Maintaining a Web Community is as Hard as Building One
• Opportunities in Book Publishing and Web Communities