PRESS RELEASE
Evangelical Christian Publishers Association


CONTACT:
Michael Covington, Information & Education Director, ECPA
480-966-3998 ext. 209, mcovington@ecpa.org

ECPA’s 2008 PUBu “Customized” Conference:
Sessions presented by professionals from leading companies including Simon & Schuster, Knopf, The Center For Creative Leadershipand the David Allen Company


08/28/2008, -- The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) has released program details for its 5th annual ECPA Publishing University (known as PUBu), to be held November 2-4 outside of Chicago, IL, at the Westin Lombard Yorktown Center. ECPA is pleased to announce Simon & Schuster President/CEO Carolyn Reidy as keynote speaker for the opening session. Other major sessions include the David Allen Company’s “Getting Things Done” seminar and four sessions from The Center for Creative Leadership, along with 24 other sessions presented by major players in publishing from companies such as Knopf, Picador and EPM Communications. This year’s PUBu programming has been designed to allow attendees to not only customize their experience, but to facilitate community experiences as well.

PUBu will kick off Sunday evening, November 2, with a keynote address from Simon & Schuster President/CEO Carolyn Reidy. A publishing insider with more than 30 years experience, Reidy has been named one of the “50 Women to Watch” by The Wall Street Journal and one of the “100 Most Powerful People in Entertainment” by Entertainment Weekly. Reidy will share relevant perspective and insights from beyond the Christian publishing industry.

Monday’s PUBu schedule will offer 28 workshop sessions from which attendees can choose and customize their own experience. Workshops will focus on emerging trends and core disciplines in Christian publishing, such as:

• “Green” publishing in the Christian marketplace
• New trends in media marketing
• Workflow technology that helps publishers sell more content
• Partnering with brick-and-mortar retailers for digital content distribution
• The future of book cover design
• Digital printing solutions
• Selling the sales conference

Among these 28 sessions are four presentations from The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), an internationally known leadership development non-profit corporation. CCL, established in 1970 by Smith Richardson of the Vick Chemical Company, was ranked as the #8 overall in the 2008 Financial Times worldwide survey of executive education. Subjects covered by CCL during the 2008 PUBu include:

• The New Map of Leadership: Key Trends for the Future
• Talent Sustainability: Developing the Next Generation of Leaders
• Unleashing Effective Innovation: The Power of Creative Leadership
• Organizational Creativity: Making It Happen in Your Company

Tami Helm, Executive Vice President and Chief Publishing Officer of Thomas Nelson secured these four sessions which are geared for senior publishing leadership—but attendance is open to all PUBu attendees. CCL’s two day training typically costs more than $5000 per person, but these sessions are included in the PUBu registration fee.

The second day of PUBu will feature a roundtable discussion that allows attendees to address the most pressing issues and best practices within the industry. “This year we want to encourage the cross-pollination of ideas throughout entire publishing houses,” says Michael Covington, Information & Education Director of ECPA. “Roundtable discussions, feedback sessions and community building times will help facilitate this process on site.”

In addition to the roundtable, day two of PUBu will also feature productivity training from the David Allen Company on the topic of “Getting Things Done: Mastering Workflow.” Normally priced at $595 per person, this full-day seminar is also included in the PUBu registration. Professionals from the David Allen Company will teach a five-phase approach to dealing effectively with the incoming “stuff” of our lives—mail, memos, meetings, emails, ideas, notes, to-dos, projects, reference materials, etc., They also provide a practical methodology for utilizing paper-based and computer-based systems to organize the “stuff” of life. PUBu attendees are also eligible for discounts on products ordered from the David Allen Company.

Registration for PUBu is $499 per person for ECPA members; $699 per person for non-members; and $399 for international attendees.

“We have tried to condense volumes of valuable content into 2 1/2 days,” says Covington. “Our program this year delivers literally thousands of dollars worth of training at a mere fraction of the cost.” PUBu is a one-stop educational opportunity for Christian publishing professionals, centrally located for travel and priced affordably so multiple team members can attend and reap the benefits.

Complete information can be found online at www.ecpapubu.org.

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