Announcing BookCamp Toronto
Comments(3) Has Twitter completely warped your sense of time? BookExpo Canada was cancelled on Monday, and immediately after, quite a few people were twittering about what this meant for the book community and what sort of event should emerge from it’s ashes to replace it.
On Tuesday night, I had dinner with a few girlfriends and the big topic of the night was the cancellation of BEC. Well, it was for them. By then, it had been more than twenty-four hours since Reed made the announcement, BookCamp Toronto was taking shape and I was tired of talking about BEC.
But that’s an aside for another day.
Since entering publishing a little more than a year ago, I’ve been troubled by the fear-driven backwards-thinking happening (nearly) everywhere in publishing. Book publishing needed to move forward with confidence and gusto, needed to try new things, shake old things up and not to be afraid of failing. Clinging to the old way of doing things is a way to ensure its demise, but if we at least try to enter this brave new world, we’ll go down swinging.
I’m not the only one who feels that way. There’s a dynamic online community who is constantly chattering and sharing ideas and concerns about this. It’s amazing and I feel lucky to be (virtually) surrounded by and engaging with them.
Within hours of BEC being cancelled, the idea for BookCamp Toronto, an unconference modeled on the successful BookCamp in London and various other “camps” we’ve seen happening in Toronto over the past year, solidified. Hugh Mcguire of BookOven and Mitch Joel of Twist Image really took the reigns and created a community wiki for organization and secured MaRS as the location. Mark Bertils (whose blog, I think, has the smartest commentary on the state of Canadian book publishing I’ve ever read) and Alexa Clark (whose projects and ideas are always inspiring!) and myself are board too, and hopefully we’ll make this event a huge success. (It should be, I’m making buttons!)
So on June 6 at the MaRS Centre, BookCamp Toronto, the future of book publishing will be debated, discussed and challenged. Please join us by registering here (attendance is capped at 150 people. We learned from CupcakeCamp!) and be sure to share your seminar ideas and anything else you have.
