Making connections at the Society for Scholarly Publishing 38th Annual Meeting

If you’re traveling to Vancouver this June for the SSP Annual Meeting, pack extra business cards. In addition to offering programming on the latest in scholarly communications, the Annual Meeting will give attendees more chances than ever to meet others who face the same opportunities and challenges. Here are a few of the ways you can forge new business relationships, make new acquaintances, or find someone to trek with through Stanley Park.

1. Make new contacts at the Speed Networking session. On the first day of the meeting, attendees can submit to the will of the buzzer and engage in one-on-one conversations with fellow industry professionals. Attendees at all career stages and from all segments of the industry are encouraged to join this event.
   Details: Wednesday, June 1, from 5:15 pm to 6:30 pm

2. Start the day with some fresh air and camaraderie with the Fun Run/Walk. Rise and shine for a community outing through Vancouver’s beautiful Stanley Park. Runners, walkers (not to mention bikers, inline skaters, and wheelchair warriors), are welcome to go at their own pace and join either a 1+ mile or a 5K route. Maps and guides will be provided, as well as water, coffee and snacks upon your return. After your harborside walk, you’ll come back energized, ready for the day’s sessions. The Fun Run/Walk is sponsored by HighWire and you can register here.
   Details: Thursday, June 2, from 6:30 am to 7:30 am. Meet in the Westin lobby.

3. Join a team for the Stanley Park scavenger hunt. Get out and see the sights of Vancouver while visiting with fellow SSP friends and colleagues—new and old—during our Stanley Park Scavenger Hunt. This entertaining photo scavenger hunt will take you to various highlights at nearby Stanley Park and is sure to give rise to some friendly competition as teams vie to be the first to return with the necessary photos in tow and win a prize. No team? No problem–we can help match you up with others interested in participating.
   Details: Friday, June 3, from 4:45 pm to 6:30 pm. Meet at the registration table at the Westin.

4. Check out the pre-conference. The pre-conference on Wednesday, June 1, is a great way to take a deep dive into a subject in a more close-knit setting. Topics this year include predatory publishing, sustainable Open Access publishing models, data publishing, data interchange, global expansion case studies, and user experience design.
   Details: Wednesday, June 1, 8:30 am to 3:30 pm

5. Share ideas for visualizing the meeting with the SSP Graphic Recorder. Illustrator and visual practitioner Corrina Keeling will be on-site at the annual meeting to capture the top themes and takeaways of the keynote speakers and of the meeting itself. Emerging concepts will come to life as Keeling translates them into beautifully organized words and images in a space outside the exhibit hall. Stop by and contribute your perspective and share ideas with other attendees. The graphic recorder is sponsored by Allen Press.
   Details: Throughout the meeting, the graphic recorder will work outside the exhibit hall.

6. Meet fellow rookies at the First Time Attendee Breakfast. If you are new to SSP or attending the SSP Annual Meeting for the first time, attend this casual breakfast to make new friends and perhaps renew old acquaintances. You’ll also meet members of the SSP Membership Committee and Board, who will be there to greet you and answer any questions you may have about SSP.
   Details: Thursday, June 2, from 7:30 am to 8:30 am

7. Help write the book on the future of scholarly publishing. Arizona State University’s Center for Science and the Imagination is bringing together a team of novelists, scholars, digital publishers, journalists, and technologists to write a book on-the-fly in 72 hours at the annual meeting. Using a suite of col­lab­o­ra­tive tech­nol­ogies, Sprint Beyond the Book par­tic­i­pants will quickly write, edit, assem­ble and pub­lish a multimedia anthol­ogy explor­ing publishing topics through a series of sprints that take place in real-time at the meeting. Attendees will have a first-hand view as the book materializes and can even get involved by reacting to content or contributing their own thoughts and ideas. Previous book sprints have been held at the Frank­furt Book Fair, Arizona State University, and Stanford University’s Center for the Study of the Novel. The resulting publication can be reviewed at http://sprintbeyondthebook.com. Sprint Beyond the Book is sponsored by Overleaf, Research Square, Cenveo and JSTOR. #beyondthebookASU
   Details: The Sprint Beyond the Book workspace will be located on the Stanley Park Mezzanine Landing.

8. Stay involved after the meeting with the Getting Involved Luncheon. Over boxed lunches at the Getting Involved Luncheon, chat with SSP board members and committee chairs about opportunities to volunteer within the organization. The annual meeting is always memorable, and many, many volunteer hours go into making it that way. Whether it’s putting the program together (Annual Meeting Program and Education Committees), marketing the meeting (Marketing), sharing SSP and industry news (Communications), reaching out to members (Membership), connecting vendors with attendees (Development), or recruiting the all-star cast of SSP Fellows (Professional Development), SSP’s committees are the reason that the meeting has become essential stop on the scholarly publishing calendar.
   Details: Friday, June 3, from 12:30 pm to 1:15 pm.

If you’re still looking for things to do while in Vancouver, check out this post for some of the area’s highlights.