ANGELA BOLE
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During these brief opening remarks, BISG’s Deputy Executive Director, Angela Bole, will welcome attendees to the 9th Annual Making Information Pay program. Along the way she will discuss the ongoing mission of BISG to create a more informed, empowered, and efficient book industry supply chain for both physical and digital products.

JAKE FREIVALD
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Plenty of people will tell you that “data is your most important asset”, and Big Data is getting a lot of industry attention right now. How, though, can you develop a plan that takes mountains of data and manages it, the way other important assets are managed? How can you find the needle of important information in the Big Data haystack, or ensure that you’re spotting the trends that make collecting all that data worthwhile?

During his Making Information Pay Opening Keynote, Jake Freivald will discuss how to develop an information strategy that capitalizes on data analytics, enabling you to create a data-driven business — based on Big Data (or small) — that makes your processes more streamlined and your decisions smarter.

KYLE MARX
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Readerlink, formerly Levy Home Entertainment, has been putting a strategic focus on data analytics since 2008. During this presentation, Kyle Marx will describe the journey taken by Readerlink to successfully implement Business Intelligence tools throughout the organization, profitably bridging the information gap between Suppliers, Operations, Merchandising, and the end Consumer. Through trial-and-error, Readerlink has learned the importance of gathering as much data as possible and deciphering ‘calls to action’ quickly in order to turn from ‘data-rich’ to ‘insight-rich’. To illustrate, Kyle will present real-world case studies of campaigns that worked well (and some that didn’t!) in a practical presentation that will provide real insight into what it means to operate a data-driven book business.

PETER COLLINGRIDGE
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One of the biggest challenges facing publishers is how they can successfully connect their products to their audience in a challenged retail and promotional landscape, as well as a very fast-moving digital one. Quickly understanding which activities deliver ROI — and which don’t — is more vital than ever.

In 2011, Peter Collingridge and his team developed Bookseer to create a real-time window into print and e-book title performance in response to promotional and marketing variables: price, PR, marketing, social and traditional media coverage, and launch. During his Making Information Pay presentation, Peter will use real case studies from Bookseer to illustrate how even as publishers are becoming more adept at creating digital products, the skills and capabilities around launching and promoting these products still need refining. Measuring the success or failure of traditional and non-traditional marketing campaigns remains one of the biggest unknowns facing publishers today; Peter believes it’s time data — Big or Little — played its part in making the right decisions.

BRIAN O'LEARY
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In January 2012, BISG commissioned a project to map the flow of product metadata across the publishing supply chain. The research is expected to illustrate the critical metadata handoffs, document metadata categories where content is altered or discarded, and identify the points at which changes and revisions occur (or don’t). In-person interviews, supplemented by an industry survey, underpin the research effort. During this session, BISG’s partner on this project, Magellan Media, will present an update on the work to date, including an assessment of prevailing processes as well as preliminary recommendations that would maintain better or best practice and improve metadata effectiveness.

KYUSIK CHUNG
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As the number of bricks-and-mortar bookstores shrinks and e-book sales increase, consumers are increasingly discovering books to read online. Even book recommendations from friends and colleagues are often delivered online via social networks.

During this presentation, Kyusik Chung, VP of Business Development at Goodreads, will provide an in-depth quantitative and qualitative analysis of consumer behavior when discovering books online. Some of the questions Kyusik will address include:

LEN VLAHOS
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Now in its third year, BISG’s Consumer Attitudes Toward E-Book Reading is rife with trend data that shows how the market for digital content is maturing, and what that means for you and your company. Drawing on all three volumes of Consumer Attitudes, as well as information from other sources, BISG’s Executive Director, Len Vlahos, will explore different scenarios suggested by the data. From the resilience of dedicated e-readers to the rise of the “Angry Birds Problem,” to the increasingly predictable behavior of power buyers, attendees will find new and interesting information to help inform their strategic thinking and planning around digital content.

CHARLES DUHIGG
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In the end, perhaps the most significant benefit of Big Data is its capacity to help businesses intimately understand and affect consumer behavior.

In his Making Information Pay keynote address, award-winning author Charles Duhigg will provide insight from his new book, The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business (Random House, February 2012). With penetrating intelligence and an ability to distill vast amounts of information into engrossing narratives, Charles will bring to life a whole new understanding of human nature and its potential for transformation. Along the way, Making Information Pay attendees will learn why some people and companies struggle to change, despite years of trying, while others seem to remake themselves overnight. At its core, The Power of Habit contains an exhilarating argument: the key to building revolutionary companies and social movements is understanding how habits work.

“Once you read this book, you’ll never look at yourself, your organization, or your world quite the same way.”
—Daniel H. Pink, author of Drive and A Whole New Mind