|
Tina Jordan, Press Office Director BEA. |
BookExpo America 2000 Chicago Book Expo -- Press Release III |
|
Tina Jordan, Press Office Director BEA. |
GLOBAL RIGHTS BUSINESS TO BE EXPANDED AT
BOOKEXPO AMERICA
Convention Officials Announce Strategic Alliance with RightsCenter, Inc.
Educational Seminars and Other Key Programs to be Focus of Convention Activity
Norwalk, CT. BookExpo America (BEA), the premier book industry event in North America, which will be held in Chicago’s McCormick Place Convention Center, May 31 – June 4, has announced a strategic alliance with RightsCenter, Inc. (
www.rightscenter.com), the Palo Alto, CA based company which offers secure, global and cost-efficient communication via the Internet. The move is the most recent indication of BEA’s continued commitment to expanding business opportunities for all segments of the global book industry. International participation will be a major focus of attention for convention officials as the recently re-designed BEA Rights Center, which is co-sponsored by the Association of Authors’ Representatives (AAR) and Publishers Weekly, will now be further expanded to feature RightsCenter, Inc. In addition, convention organizers have reaffirmed their intent to develop a quality education program at the annual exhibit, announcing that over 40 seminars will be offered on a wide range of industry issues. Other key features of convention activity include expanded author programs and special events."We’re extremely pleased to be teaming up with RightsCenter, Inc. to focus on this very important part of the publishing process," notes Courtney Muller, Show Manager and Industry Vice President of BEA. "They represent the wave of the future and are clearly at the forefront in applying modern technology to enhance the speed at which this type of international business may be conducted. We expect this will further establish BEA as a major annual meeting ground for rights activity in North America." (more)
The RightsCenter extranet revolutionizes communication among publishers, agents, sub-agents, scouts, authors and other by allowing them to conduct business securely over the Internet. Users are able to exchange materials and interact one-on-one with a wide audience – anytime, anywhere, all verified by an efficient tracking system. Commenting on the alliance with BEA, Jim McCugh, Co-founder and Vice President of Marketing of RightsCenter, Inc. noted: "This strategic arrangement provides anyone conducting rights in North America and around the world with two great forums for increasing their rights business…online at
www.rightscenter.com and in person at BEA. Using RightsCenter will ensure that our customers will have the most product and successful BEA ever. BEA’s understanding and commitment to how the rights business of the future will be conducted makes it a perfect place for these individuals to gather, meet face to face and license rights." BEA will promote RightsCenter throughout the convention hall.OTHER CONVENTION ACTIVITY
The International Community:
International attendees will be afforded the opportunity to see more publishers, meet more authors, and attended more educational seminars than ever before through BEA’s many expanded programs. In addition, many; members of the international community have taken advantage of BEA’s newly expanded rights center which was redesigned at the 1009 convention in Chicago and located prominently in the center of the hall across from the main lobby. The rights center will occupy the same space in 2000, with the added attraction of computer terminals featuring the new technology from RightsCenter, Inc. It will also be the site for a jointly sponsored cocktail party by BEA and the AAR for all international visitors. Once again, a separate registration area will be set up to help speed international visitors to the convention floor and individual international visitor badges will be sent to preregistrants via DHL in advance of the convention.
Exhibit Floor:
Approximately 30 countries and nearly 300 international companies are represented on the convention floor. In total, BEA hosts over 2,100 exhibiting companies representing the largest selection of English language titles gathered under one roof anywhere in the world. This year BEA will pay special attention to Spanish publishers who will be highlighted in their own Spanish Language Pavilion section on the convention floor where upwards of 10,000 Spanish language titles will be displayed.
Participating Countries
Argentina India Norway
Australia Ireland Singapore
Austria Israel South Africa
The Bahamas Italy Spain
Belgium Japan Switzerland
Canada Korea Thailand
China Malaysia Turkey
Colombia Mexico United Kingdom
France The Netherlands
Germany Nigeria
The Educational Program:
The education program at BEA will form a critical part of the convention experience. The ’99 convention in Los Angeles offered seminars in subject areas ranging from E-commerce to niche online marketing to the ethics of book reviewing. In addition, over 600 attendees gathered at an all-convention meeting to hear prominent industry CEO’s discuss Bookselling in the Next Millennium. The ’00 convention will offer a similar diverse learning experience, with more seminars than ever targeted to the international audience and international industry concerns As Courtney Muller notes, "Our seminars are a perfect complement to everything else going on at BEA. We’re one of the few meeting grounds where so many different industry professionals can meet and exchange ideas based on their individual areas of knowledge and expertise." In addition to BEA’s seminars, convention co-sponsors the American Booksellers Association (ABA) and the Association of American Publishers (AAP) also offer meetings geared to their constituencies. Over 40 courses will be offered by BEA in Chicago in 00 on subjects including digital publishing, rights issues, and the influence of online enterprises, among many others. A record number of 700 authors were involved in convention activity a the Los Angeles Convention Center in ’99, almost doubling author attendance figures from any past year, and assuring any visitor to BEA that they will never have the opportunity to see and meet so many authors in one place. The author autographing at BEA in ’99 saw upwards of 400 authors who personally signed copies of their books for thousands of convention attendees. This growth is due, in part, to the creation of more on-site author venues to supplement the traditional author breakfasts. Among the many authors and celebrities who participated in a range of activities at the convention last year were: Thomas Cahill, Julia Child, Nikki Giovanni, Jane Goodall, Jorie Graham, David Guterson, George Hamilton, Marilu Henner, Ward Just, Richard Karn, Frances Mayes, Frank McCourt, Bill Murray, Carl Reiner, Judge Judy Sheindlin, Cybil Shepherd, Robert Stone, Iyanla Vanzant, Damon Wayans, and Mary Alice Williams.The convention in Chicago in ’00 will once again play host to hundreds of authors as they participate in venues including the Opening Night Welcome Reception (traditionally featuring a major celebrity author), the Author Breakfasts, various special luncheons (including the keynote address at the Curtis Benjamin and Charles Haslam Awards Luncheon) and the author autographings.
Special Events:
BEA continues to hosts industry wide events which attract the attention of a wide range of media. Over 1,000 members of the press were present at BEA in ’99 including reporters and produces from such major outlets at CNN, ABC-TV, NBC-TV, CBS-TV, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Time Magazine, Newsweek, People, Business Week, etc. These members of the press gathered, along with a wide range of convention attendees, to participate in The Modern Library’s launch of the Top 100 Non-Fiction Books of the 20th Century, and the AAP’s launch of "Get Caught Reading Month." Other events which attracted attention among convention goers included Independent Publisher Day which featured a luncheon with prominent independent publishers and their authors, the ABA’s annual Celebration of Bookselling, Author Improv, with a stand-up performance by Daman Wayans just for convention attendees, and a literary luncheon featuring readings and commentary from some of today’s most respected authors.
BEA will host even more special events while attracting members of the media from around the world. "We want to make BEA a truly international event," concludes Muller. "Our initiative with RightsCenter, which is global in its outreach, is part of an overall ‘internationalization’ of EA. Attracting foreign media, more international educational seminars and foreign language sections on the convention floor are a part of an overall philosophy that we will be applying in 2000 and beyond."
BookExpo America is owned an operated by Association Expositions & Services, a division of Reed Exhibition Companies. It is co-sponsored by the American Booksellers Association (ABA) and the Association of American Publishers (AAP). The ABA, founded in 1900, is a not-for-profit trade organization whose mission include protecting the well being of retail bookstores and promoting the availability of books. The AAP, the national trade association of the U.S. book publishing industry, has approximately 200 members who publish hardcover and paperback books in every field and range of educational materials for the elementary, secondary, postsecondary and professional markets.
Reed Exhibition Companies (REC) is a world leader in creating high profile, targeted industry events where buyers and suppliers come together to do business. Every year REC events bring together some 100,000 suppliers and over 5.5 million buyers from around the world. Today, REC events are held in 27 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia/Pacific, and are organized by 24 full staffed offices.
REC’s portfolio of over 350 events serves 45 industries in 11 key sectors.
BookExpo America is one of four other Reed events in the REC Global Book Publishing Network. These include the Asia International Book Fair, London International Book Fair, Salon du Livre: Paris Book Fair, and the Tokyo International Book Fair.
As a member of the Reed Elsevier plc group, a world-leading business and information provider, REC offers integrated market access programs covering exhibitions, trade publications, direct marketing and the Internet.
For a comprehensive BEA event program or for other information concerning BookExpo America, please call 800/840-5614 or 203/840-5614 (international) or visit the BEA Web Site at http:/bookexpo.reedexpo.com.
