BEA To Highlight Authors with Author Stages On Show Floor
by Craig Morgan Teicher -- Publishers Weekly, 2/23/2009 7:55:00 AM
At this year’s convention, BEA will add a new feature to its programming, designed to draw attention to authors attending the conference. There will be two Author Stages on the show floor, one situated at each end. Each stage will feature interviews with two or three authors at a time grouped by subject matter. Additionally, all authors at BEA will be identified as “Featured Event Authors” or “Authors in Attendance.” According to Lance Fensterman, Vice President and Show Manager for BEA, “as show organizers we need to start ‘packaging’ and ‘streaming’ content so that it may better serve the people who attend our event. This is where the buzz begins. These stages will provide access, not just to the authors themselves, but to the authors’ ideas and thoughts. BEA is all about ‘connectivity’ and our biggest goal is to put people with similar interests together so that they may ‘connect’ and walk away from our show with more information than they had when they arrived.” Themes under consideration for Author Stage programs include Google and Facebook, memoirs, and New York City, which celebrates its 400th birthday this year.
