Frankfurter Buchmesse’s Academic & Business Information Stage at the 2019 fair. Image: FBM, Anett Weirauch
By Hannah Johnson | @hannahsjohnson
See our complete guide to Frankfurter Buchmesse 2020 here. It has our latest stories, event highlights, our free digital magazine, and more.
Noteworthy Sessions in and Around the Trade Show
Publishing Perspectives has asked several publishing industry experts to take on the challenging task of narrowing down the vast number of noteworthy sessions in the 2020 Frankfurt Book Fair’s calendar of events and to recommend a selection of events to you.Despite the fact that most Frankfurt events are taking place online this year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are still thousands of interesting, informative, and inspiring events being presented during the Frankfurt Book Fair week by companies and organizations in many parts of the world.
Below are the event selections from Robert Baensch, president of the Baensch International Group Ltd. with a focus on international publishing, start-up and turnaround management. See his complete bio here.
NODE20 Second Nature
- When/where: Ongoing exhibition at the Künstlerhaus Mousonturm Frankfurt / More information
- Organizer: Government of Canada | Gouvernement du Canada
- Why Baensch recommends this event: “Important to learn about an international approach by two museums to develop a database, information services, and access to art collections beyond the traditional museum catalogues.”
ReBoot: Books, Business and Reading
- When: October 13 at 1 to 7 p.m. CEST / More information
- Organizer: Wischenbart Content and Consulting
- Why Baensch recommends this event: “A session of interest for management to review past and present in relation to projections, and to develop strategies for publishing after the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Open Access and Changes in Scientific Communication
- When: October 14 at 9 to 10 a.m. CEST / More information
- Organizer: Karger Publishers
- Why Baensch recommends this event: “Essential for STM publishers to confront the changes in content (open access), distribution, and library economics responding to the dramatic increase and costs of digital information. Here is an opportunity to discuss to the global issues confronting the STM publishers and libraries. “
Agility in the Publishing Industry
- When: October 14 at 11 to 11:30 a.m. CEST / More information
- Organizer: PublishOne
- Why Baensch recommends this event: “We talk about change, we complain about change, but what we really need to do is learn how to manage change. Here are several interesting examples of change management in the book publishing industry.”
Where Are We on the Path to an Open Future?
- When: October 14 at 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. CEST / More information
- Organizer: Springer Nature Group
- Why Baensch recommends this event: “The initial development and growth in open access publishing was in STM journals. This session will explore the new developments in open access book and other open access publishing. A good review and exploration of future developments.”
Free Online Demo: Publish Multiformat Educational Content 80% Faster!
- When: October14 at 5 to 5:45 p.m.CEST / More information
- Organizer: Typefi Systems
- Why Baensch recommends this event: “As elementary, high school, and university education has moved into the distance learning mode, it is important to take a look at this multi-format educational content for distance learning.”
#Overview – Publishing Software in Times of Mobile Working
- When: October 14 at 5 to 7 p.m. CEST / More information
- Organizer: knk Business Software AG
- Why Baensch recommends this event: “Publishers need to review and revise their systems as so much of the editorial, production and design work has moved out of the office to individuals homes. Manage content and information in a decentralized and distance staffing are important topics.”
“How Much is the Fish?” – Von Wertschätzung und Wertschöpfung
- When: October 15 at 10 to 10:30 a.m. CEST / More information
- Organizer: Digital Publishing Report
- Why Baensch recommends this event: “A review of ebook pricing in relation to costs and the ever increasing competition in the market. It will present an interesting insight on the economics of German ebook publishing.”
OAPEN Open Access Books Toolkit
- When: October 15 at 4 to 4:30 p.m. CEST / More information
- Organizer: Springer Nature Group
- Why Baensch recommends this event: “Publishers are in the early stages of open access book publishing, and this session describes the ‘toolkit’ for open access book publishing as part of the new developments in academic, scientific, technical and medical publishing—what are the systems, what are the economic models, what are the distribution strategies.”
Copyright Clearance Center – Where Publishing and the Pandemic Meet
- When: October 15 at 5 to 6 p.m. CEST / More information
- Organizer: Copyright Clearance Center
- Why Baensch recommends this event: “Important to focus on future role of copyright for digital information as there is a dramatic increase in journal articles on the topic of COVID-19 and related virus pandemics.”
#Royalties – Royalty Handling in Times of Distributed Royalties
- When: October 15 at 6 to 7 p.m. CEST / More information
- Organizer: knk Business Software AG
- WhyBaensch recommends this event: “The importance of a system that can capture and manage the different royalty streams generated by multi-format and multi-media digital publishing.”
Report: “Listen & Read: The Battle for Attention
- When: October 16 at 10 to 11 a.m. CEST / More information
- Organizer: Digital Publishing Report
- Why Baensch recommends this event: “The consumer—general trade customer is trapped by social distancing—more time to read and, therefore, the question is in which format: print, ebook, audiobook or podcast ? Here’s a good overview of the competing formats.”
Bibliotheken im Veränderungsmodus
- When: October 16 at 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. CEST / More information
- Organizer: Elsevier
- Why Baensch recommends this event: “Open access journals and the dramatic increase in content in ongoing journals, plus the number of new journals, has caused a major challenge in terms of how STM publishers serve and relate to libraries—in particular with new forms of subscription fees, services, and agreements.”
Robert Baensch
Robert E. Baensch is president of the Baensch International Group Ltd. with a focus on international publishing, start-up and turnaround management. He also is currently the Editor for the Publishing Research Quarterly journal. He has served eleven years as the associate professor of publishing and former director of New York University’s Center for Publishing. He received the Award for Outstanding Service while faculty member of New York University. He was senior vice president for marketing for Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., and prior to that he was director for publishing at the American Institute of Physics from 1988 to 1991, responsible for over 60 journals, a book program, print publishing and database online information services. From 1983-1988, Baensch was vice president-marketing of Macmillan Publishing Company where, in addition to a full range of marketing/sales responsibilities, he directed the Macmillan Software Company and English as a Second Language Multimedia Program. Prior to 1983, he was president of Springer Verlag New York, and from 1968 to 1980 vice-president and director of the International Division of Harper & Row Publishers, Inc. Baensch started his publishing career with the McGraw-Hill Book Company, where he was manager of the Translation Rights Department and editorial director of the International Division.
Awards and Recognitions:
On September 4, 2007, the Chinese Institute of Publishing Science, China Academy for Press and Publications, awarded Robert E. Baensch an Academic and Research Fellowship.
On September 6, 2010, the General Administration of Press and Publications, Beijing, appointed Robert E. Baensch to be an Adjunct Professor of the Education and Training Center, GAPP.
On September 10, 2011, the China State Administration of Foreign Affairs awarded Robert E. Baensch the “Friendship Award” for outstanding service to the China publishing industry.
On August 25, 2015, the State Administration for Press, Publications, Radio, Film and Television awarded Robert E. Baensch the 9th Special Book Award for fifteen years of developing and presenting management training seminars for the Chinese publishing industry
On December 12, 2018, the 2nd International Publishing Cooperation Conference in Tai’an, China presented Baensch with an award for the years of training and education programs for the China’s publishing industry.
More from Publishing Perspectives on Frankfurter Buchmesse is here, more from us on academic publishing is here, and more on education is here. More from us on the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on international book publishing is here.
And from international industry trends to curated guides to the many online events during this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair, our digital magazine offers you the information you need to make the most of the fair and the rest of 2020.