FOCUS ON: John Blossom

"Surviving and Thriving as Social Media Technology Changes Our Lives and Our Future"

John Blossom, founder, President and Senior Analyst of Shore Communications, is a smart and interesting guy. He is one of the most influential and widely recognized content industry analysts and his book Content Nation, published in January 2009, uses analysis and case studies to examine the dynamics and impact of social media. It proved an immediate hit and gets straight 5 star reviews on Amazon.com.

As you might expect from someone so savvy in marketing and social media he maximises the use of social networking technologies and the web: Content Nation, though published by a mainstream publisher (John Wiley and Sons), was developed through a collaborative wiki; he's very active on Twitter with close-on 1500 followers; has his own YouTube channel; and has active profiles on Facebook, LinkedIn and a host of other social and professional networking services. But most impressively John consistently appears at the top of search engine results lists in a way that is simply stunning! Seriously, check it out - for me 9 of the first 10 hits on Google and 8 of the first 10 on Bing are to him. Not bad for someone with a name that's not that uncommon.

Not surprisingly John is in demand which is why it's so terrific that he's one of the keynote speakers at the 2009 ALPSP International Conference which will take place from 9-11 September 2009 at the Oxford Belfry Hotel and Conference Centre.

I honestly believe that John's keynote will be worth the conference registration fee alone. Places are still available and you can find out more and register on-line at the Conference website.

ALPSP Chairty Golf Event - confirmation

I am pleased to confirm details of the inaugural ALPSP Charity Golf Event!

We will hold a 'Texas Scramble' team competition starting at 3:00 pm on Friday 11 September 2009 at Hinksey Heights Golf Club, Oxfordshire.

We have decided to run a Texas Scramble competition as this is primarily intended as fun event and an opportunity to raise money for charity. Golfers of both sexes and all abilities are welcome!

Places are strictly limited and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis with a reserve list in operation should there be any late withdraws. Allocation of individuals to teams will be done by the organizers to try to ensure a mix of experience and ability.

The event will finish with a barbeque and prize giving ceremony for the winning team and runners-up.

Our chosen charity is the Multiple Sclerosis Society; you don't have to play in the competition to make a donation which you can do online.

The cost for taking part will be £30 including green fees, barbeque and a donation to charity.

If you wish to register then please contact me.

July industry announcements

• SAGE partners with the American Sociological Association to publish 8 of its journals
• The Charlesworth Group Helps Nature Publishing Group Semantically Enrich PDFs [press release]

ALPSP Charity Golf event

Attention golfers of all standards!

I am pleased to say that, thanks to Helen Henderson of Ringgold, ALPSP will be holding a charity ‘Texas Scramble‘ golf event on the afternoon of Friday 11 September 2009 (immediately after the ALPSP International Conference) most likely at Hinksey Heights gold course in Oxfordshire.

More details will be announced very shortly but in the meantime you can register your interest by e-mailing me. (You don’t need to be attending the Conference to take part; players will be assigned teams to try to ensure a mix of ability.)

Copyright Infringement Portal

Illegal distribution of in-copyright material via websites and peer-to-peer file sharing is becoming an ever greater concern to scholarly and professional publishers as we have highlighted previously (see the Advice Note on the topic).

As also previously reported, the UK Publishers Association (PA) has developed an online Copyright Infringement Portal to streamline the process of serving take-down notices and to give an overview of where infringement is taking place. I am delighted to say that, thanks mostly to Alicia Wise, ALPSP is now working with the PA who have launched an ALPSP version of the portal. The service is available at a very substantial discount to ALPSP members with prices starting at just £247.50 – that’s about the price of an hour’s worth of legal advice. The service is completely free if you are a member of the PA.

Full details of the pricing structure are available on the website where you can also register and pay online.