Review of the 2009 AGM

Posted on February 1, 2009 in Uncategorized

The 2009 AGM was a spectacular way to open the SYP’s 60th year.  Committee member Rachel Menzies came up with the original idea of a Publishers Q&A, and the 2008 Chair, Jon Slack, was as instrumental as ever in establishing a stellar cast: Will Atkinson (Chair of the Independent Publishers Guild and Sales Director, Faber & Faber), Bob Campbell, (Senior Publisher, Wiley-Blackwell), Mike Clarke (Head of Libraries, Camden), Helen Fraser, (Managing Director Penguin and Chair of the Environmental Action Group), Simon Juden (CEO of the Publishers Association), and Graham Rand (President of the Booksellers Association).  The panel was chaired by the very witty Sandy Balfour, who is an author, as well as writing for the Guardian.

  A wide variety of questions came from floor, concerning topics such as the Net Book Agreement, electronic copyright theft, diversity in publishing, and the fate of independent bookshops.  As an ex-Amazonian, I was particularly interested in the following question: "How can chain and independent booksellers work together to prevent Amazon from completely dominating the book retail industry?"  Simon Juden’s practical response was to say that they couldn’t, since that would be illegal, and Sandy Balfour commented that while he ideally wanted to support independent bookshops, when it came to the buying of books, Amazon’s fast and competitive service tended to win the argument for him.  It’s a pity that there was no opportunity to put points forward from the floor, but we only had one roaming mike, limited time, and besides, our expert panel covered every issue in great depth.

  Then came a part of the night that I was perhaps not so eagerly anticipating, for, in a first for the AGM, there were three candidates for the position of 2009 Chair, myself included.  I was first up to speak, and I thought my speech went well, despite my legs shaking slightly – people laughed in the right places, although there were a few good-natured boos when I mentioned that I had previously worked for Amazon.  However, I was then blown away by the depth and quality of the speeches from my competitors, Angie Solomon and Julia Wells.  So, I wasn’t totally surprised when Angie was elected as the 2009 Chair, and Julia as the Vice Chair.  I think it was the correct decision on the night, and I’m sure that they’ll be a very strong team.

  The AGM was also the opportunity to meet the new committee members, who were all voted into their new offices.  It was also the chance for me to speak to Nicholas Jones and Giles Clark, as I had been previously worried that they had regarded me as very rude when I arrived late for their seminar at the 2008 Conference, especially as I had seemed to be texting throughout, when I was actually jotting notes down into my PDA!  Suzanne Collier, Business Director of bookcareers.com and a sponsor of the AGM, then stood up to give a speech to celebrate the 21st anniversary of the first time that she became Chair of the SYP (and her record of having been Chair most often will never be bettered).  Angie got down to business straight away, as she met the new committee members. Later on in the evening, I overhead one former Chair congratulating Jon Slack on the success of the night: in her opinion, the AGM had been bigger than some previous conferences!  A splendid time was had by all, and it’s gratifying to relate that the SYP is in some very safe hands.