Technology is fundamentally transforming publishing. From generating ideas to packaging information to delivering products and beyond, technology and change are themes in every aspect of publishing. For publishers, these shifts are taking place so rapidly that it's challenging to keep current--let alone create new, profitable opportunities.

The first O'Reilly Tools of Change for Publishing Conference [1] is being launched to raise the level of technology knowledge and discourse in the publishing industry and to provide a meeting ground for those leading the charge into the future of publishing.

Sessions and topics will include

• New business models for publishers—ideas that could lead to new models   
• Case studies of successful new publishing initiatives
• Why and how to digitize your content/backlist, and what to do with it once you've got it (or permitted someone else to keep it for you)   
• Tools and challenges in an efficient all-digital workflow   
• Best practices for working with Amazon, Google, Ingram and other big players
• Creative web-based marketing strategies, including SEO (search-engine optimization, a.k.a., “turning up at the top of a Google results page”) for publishers   
• Best new practices and tools for working with and supporting authors (during editorial, production and/or marketing phases)   
• How to capture and analyze web metrics of interest to publishers
• Systems and devices for displaying digital copy (demos welcome)   
• Business models for delivering and/or receiving material via new devices   
• Emerging supply chain models
• Standards for metadata and for access   
• Innovative DRM models   
• New copyright clearing, assertion, and determination mechanisms
• How do you do any of these neat things when you don't have or can't afford technical staff in-house?   
• Best practices for experimenting with new business models—while keeping your old-school profit engines running smoothly