Publishers panel at South by Southwest – they didn’t have a clue
By Paul Biba
Kassia Krozser has a nice summary article about the publishers panel at the recent South by Southwest conference. According to Kassia, and several other posts I’ve read, the publishers contingent was clueless about ebook issues, DRM and the new age of publishing. This is shocking considering the conference is one of the most important tech gatherings. You can take a look at her coverage here:
We knew we were in for a bumpy ride when the panel responded to the audience question about the hashtag — a Twitter notation that helps aggregate related comments — with befuddlement before hastily assembling a response. This tells me that most of the panel hasn’t been attending other SXSW sessions. The backchannel conversation is here. I won’t pull punches: it was brutal.
As the panelists expounded upon their lofty roles in the world of publishing — and I’m sorry to say that it sounded as if they worked on a mountain high, whether intended or not — they seemed oblivious to fact that they were speaking to a room filled with publishers. It was as if we didn’t understand the rigors the job.
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