The International SYP conference

Posted on June 2, 2009 in Uncategorized

The first ever International Society of Young Publishers Conference took place at this year’s London Book Fair. It was an opportunity to bring together young publishers from all over the world, and with six panellists and around seventy young publishers in attendance it was an exciting venture.

The conference was a huge success, as the session discussed how our foreign counterparts run their own young publishers’ societies and opened communication for future international ventures.

Chairing the discussion was Emma House, International Director of the Publishers Association. On the panel we had the SYP’s very own Jon Slack, SYP Chair 2008 and International SYP Co-ordinator, and Louise Rhind-Tutt, SYP Chair 2006 and Publicity Manager of CCV, Random House UK. Also speaking were Gesa Jung, co-chair of Junge Verlags Menschen (Young Professionals in Publishing) in Germany, Henrik Ægidius from Ægidius Publishing, former honorary treasurer of Forening for Forlagsfolk (Danish Association of People in Publishing) in Denmark and Chris Gruppetta, the Chair of International Young Publishing Entrepreneur Award (British Council) and also Director of Publishing at Merlin Library in Malta.

After a short introduction from Jon, the conference began with the premiere of the new SYP video. The brand new video contains information and images about the SYP, as well as some fascinating photographs taken by past and present members. The photographs included those from the boating trips, picnics, conferences and highlighted the friendly, social atmosphere of the society.

We then heard from our speakers, who all ran their own publishing societies in their respective countries. There was some interesting discussion on various issues relating to international publishing, as well as the issues facing different young publishers.

We all know about the recession and the credit crunch, but Louise Rhind-Tutt raised the issue of financing a publishing society. She was chair of the SYP in 2006 and she told delegates that when she took over as chair of the SYP there was no money in the treasury, so they had to market the society in order to get money through membership and events.

Another issue raised was how publishing societies are started. Gesa Jung from Junge Verlags Menschen discussed how the society she belongs to in Germany came into being. Their society began through a series of informal social events during which they realised the importance of contacts and networking – they subsequently set up their own society of young publishers.

Our panellists also discussed getting local businesses involved in publishing societies. Chris Gruppetta mentioned that in Malta the publishing industry is very small, and so it can be difficult to get a society running. However, Henrik Ægidius was enthusiastic about how, in his experience, local businesses have allowed members to learn more about the industry, leading to some important connections being made.

In the second half of the conference the floor was open to delegates, who were representing countries including India, America and the far reaches of Europe. The discussion began with how other countries could set up their own equivalents of the SYP. Most of the international delegates agreed on the importance of having their own SYP – the main benefits being the ability to network, make contacts, learn more about the industry and generally make new friends.

It was encouraging to see how many delegates were in attendance at this year’s first international conference. The work that the SYP does is clearly spreading throughout the world, which is an exciting and encouraging thought! It will be interesting to see what happens in the coming years, as now the connections and discussions have began between UK SYP and the rest of the world.

Kathryn Langley