Contact: Wendy Erman Wels
Conference Chair
International Digital Publishing Forum
[email protected]
tel: 917-586-4484
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JANE McGONIGAL, Ph.D., FAMED GAMING EXPERT, FUTURIST, AND BESTSELLING AUTHOR JOINS
ROSTER OF TOP NOTCH KEYNOTERS AT IDPF DIGITAL BOOK 2015
New York, NY (May 13, 2015) Gaming specialist, futurist, Penguin author, and accomplished TED Talker
Jane McGonigal, PhD, has been announced as a surprise speaker in the keynote address sequence at
the 2015 IDPF Digital Book Conference, which opens BookExpo America on May 27 at the Javits Center
in New York City.
While McGonigal is best known for her cross-cultural humanitarian game designs and advocacy of
gaming as a positive, collaborative force in cultural development, she will focus her presentation for
IDPF’s #DigiBook15 on the challenge that electronic media pose today to reading.
Her title: Reading is an Epic Win: How to Engage the Gamer Generation with the Future of Books.
IDPF’s overall conference theme is “Putting Readers First,” and McGonigal’s address will be preceded by
a focus on “The Customer as Curator” by London publisher and author Michael Bhaskar of Canelo, and
by a consideration of reader primacy in the global market from Richard Charkin of Bloomsbury
Publishing and the International Publishers Association.
McGonigal’s presentation will look at the generational-entertainment gap and what publishing today
faces in trying to engage the readers of tomorrow who today reach for joysticks, not e-readers. An
outspoken critic of gratuitous “gamification,” McGonigal is the author of the controversial Reality is
Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World (Penguin, 2011).
Chief Creative Officer with game-research center SuperBetter Labs, McGonigal has worked with the New
York Public Library, the World Bank Institute, the American Heart Association, and the Institute for the
Future. She has been named one of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders; one of Fast
Company’s Top 100 Creative People in Business; one of Oprah Winfrey’s (O Magazine) 20 Most Inspiring
Women in the World; one of MIT Technology Review’s Top 35 Innovators Changing the World Through
Technology; One of BusinessWeek’s Top Ten Innovators to Watch; and one of Game Developer
Magazine’s Most Important 50 Game Developers.
IDPF Digital Book 2015 comprises two days of presentations and panel discussions designed to spotlight
issues and answers in the industry-wide imperative of “Putting Readers First.” Featuring publishing
leaders Ken Michaels, Liz Perl, Chantal Restivo-Alessi, Amanda Close, Angela Tribelli, Otis Chandler, and
Francie Alexander, the program also fields innovators Andrew Weinstein, Richard Nash, Hugh McGuire,
Peter Hudson, Andrew Lipstein, Molly Barton, Joe Wikert, Kristen McLean, Sherisse Hawkins, Kevin
Franco, Paolo Albert, Nicolas Zimmer, and many more. Early Bird rates continue to May 19 for the
conference, set in the Jacob Javits Center’s Special Events Hall. More information is at the site.
BISG's Making Information Pay, a track of IDPF Digital Book 2015, will take place on Thursday, May 28
from 1:15 pm - 3:55 pm and will highlight the wide-ranging role of standards as the bedrock of
innovation. Speakers include Dr. Jeff Jaffe, Maureen McMahon, Dr. Rob Abel, and many more. The
program will conclude with a panel of the BISG's 2014 Industry Innovation Award recipient and
nominees, including Mary Alice Elcock of BitLit, Jason Illian of BookShout, Rebecca McDonald of Library
for All, Joshua Tallent of Firebrand Technologies, and Alex White of Next Big Sound, discussing the
factors necessary for innovation to flourish.
#digibook15
About the International Digital Publishing Forum
The International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) is a non-profit trade and standards organization for the
digital publishing industry with a membership of over 300 companies and organizations from 35
different countries. IDPF is responsible for the EPUB 3 open standard interchange and delivery format
for digital books and publications as well as related technical information to promote the development
and growth of the global digital publishing market. Proceeds from Digital Book 2014 conference directly
support the organization’s mission and work. Further information about the IDPF, including membership
options, can be obtained by visiting idpf.org. EPUB and EPUB 3 are registered trademarks of IDPF.
About the Book Industry Study Group, Inc.
The Book Industry Study Group, Inc. (BISG) is the book industry’s leading trade association for standards,
education, and research and information. BISG facilitates the connections and conversations that solve
common problems, advance new ideas, and more profitably bring published content to readers. For
over 35 years, BISG has provided a forum for all industry professionals to come together and
collaboratively address issues and concerns to advance the book community. Its 200 members include
publishers, manufacturers, suppliers, wholesalers, retailers, librarians, and others engaged in the
business of print and electronic media.