To: All our valued publishers, vendors, publisher and attendees From: Katina Strauch, Charleston Conference Founder Re: Juried Product Development Forums Date: May 20, 2004 The Charleston Conference is trying a new concept: Juried Product Development Forums as a way for librarians to give our input to publishers, aggregators, and vendors about the products we buy. For many years, we have been asked informally or through focus groups for feedback on new and existing products. We thought the Charleston Conference could expand the conversation and create an opportunity for those attending to contribute to the development of services that we want to buy. The process for the Juried Product Development Forums will be more structured than the regular Charleston Conference basically because we have a limited number of rooms (8-10 depending on size of groups). The Forums themselves are designed to provide for a more structured conversation than the usual casual Charleston atmosphere. We hope that you will participate in the Forums and give us your ideas. We want to know about your experience with this new process when you have issues, problems, complaints, or even good words to share! Thank all of you for participating in the Charleston Conference and I look forward to hearing from you about our new Juried Product Development Forums. All the very best, Katina Strauch <kstrauch@comcast.net> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Charleston Conference 2004 Juried Product Development Forums Goal The Charleston Conference creates an opportunity for a dialog among publishers, vendors and librarians on industry issues. In keeping with this approach, Juried Product Development Forums were created for . publishers and vendors to gather market input from librarians on the development of a particular product or service . for librarians to discuss market issues with publishers and vendors invited to participate in a Forum. Focused on product development, the Forums can provide insights to answer a company's internal questions and ongoing debates about product offerings, pricing, delivery options, and the like. The Forums for the 2004 Charleston Conference will be at the conclusion of the concurrent sessions on the first day of the conference: Thursday, November 4th, 5:15 -6:30 pm. The Vendor Showcase held on Wednesday afternoon November 3rd is the ideal setting for companies that wish to have sales related conversations. The Juried Product Development Forums are not an opportunity to promote or sell products. Publishers and vendors The Charleston Conference is an ideal venue for an extended conversation with librarians about the development of a selected product or service. Publishers and vendors can obtain market feedback on: . new business models . pricing strategies . features and functionality This information can produce customer-oriented products for libraries resulting in a shorter sales cycle. Space available for the Forums is limited and a selection committee will evaluate applications to participate. The application form is part of this document and is also available on the Charleston Conference website. www.katina.info/conference/ . Application Schedule . July 15th Deadline for application form . August 16th Notification of all applicants . October 1st Payment required to confirm participation. Cost $1200 upon acceptance. If required, AV is available for a fee. Application process Announcement of the Forums will be distributed in May, allowing time during ALA to publicize the Forums prior to the application deadline on July 15th. Librarians may also nominate companies especially if there are industry issues to be discussed with the market. Applications are expected from all companies interested in participating. Any publisher or vendor may submit an application. Preference will be given to those: . who have an innovative concept to test with the market . who have a product in development and are seeking guidance on its functionality or pricing . who have generated discussion in the market due to pricing, licensing, distribution or service issues . who are new and seeking customer feedback on the best approach to the market. Librarians value the Charleston Conference as a meeting where they can address industry issues. The Forums are an extension of the dialog between librarians and vendors focused on a specific product or service. Attendees will arrive expecting to discuss a product or service as if they were in a focus group or on an advisory board. Successful Forums will be a dialog with the audience providing for their feedback on a product or service. Guidelines for successful Forums suggest that companies: . Allow at least half the allotted time for discussion. . Involve product development staff. . Distribute literature related to the product under discussion only. . Avoid powerpoint presentations if possible as they limit dialog. . Refrain from handing out giveaways, toys, "stuff". Evaluation forms for each of the Juried Product Development Forums will solicit feedback from participating publishers or vendors and librarians. A representative of each participating company can pick up copies of their evaluations on Friday afternoon, November 5th. Evaluation forms will be reviewed by the selection committee and considered in future selections. Attendees The Forum sessions are intended for library staff and will be closed to other publishers and vendors. Attendees will be pre-registered and each session will be screened by "monitors". Charleston Conference will encourage all attendees to participate through: o Email invitations to preregistered attendees o Via the conference website o During the conference. Publishers & vendors may invite their customers to sign up for this event. Distributors, consultants or individuals from other companies will be admitted if the participating publisher or vendor has added their name to the list of attendees for their session. Rooms vary in size and will be assigned based on response from attendees unless the publisher or vendor limits the number of participants. Forum attendees are expected notify the registration desk if their plans change and to stay for the entire session. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Charleston Conference Juried Product Development Forums Publisher and Vendor Application Form DEADLINE: July 15th, 2004 Company Name: Address: Contact: Title: Email: Phone: Fax: Why do you want this slot? What customer interactions or internal questions prompt you to request this slot? Why should the committee select your application? How will the session be structured? Describe how the session will be developed (demo, handouts, focus group format) to accomplish your objectives? (Powerpoints should be carefully considered as they create a one-way presentation instead of a two way dialog - consider handouts and allow time for discussion.) Which staff will lead this session? Name Title Name Title Name Title Abstract - limit to 50 words. The abstract will appear in the list of Forums from which librarians chose to attend. Abstracts should describe the session and set expectations for participants. Promotional content is likely to be edited. Guidelines: Successful presentations will be a dialog with the audience providing for their feedback on a product or service. . Allow at least half the allotted time for discussion. . Involve product development staff. . Distribute literature related to the product under discussion only. . Avoid powerpoint presentations if possible as they limit dialog. . Refrain from handing out giveaways, toys, "stuff". SEND TO: Regina Semko at SemkoR@cofc.edu Ms. Semko is the conduit for all communications between applicants and the selection committee. The membership of the selection committee will not be made public. Applicants are asked to respect Ms. Semko's neutral role in this process.
