Nathan Hull

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Nathan Hull is CSO at Beat Technology powering audiobook and ebook services for the publishing industry. Beat is the pulse within market leaders Skoobe (DE), Fabel (NO), Fluister (NL), Audiotribe (RO), Volume (PL), Adlibris (SE & FI) and Jukebooks (GR). Prior to Beat, Nathan launched the curated Dutch service Bookchoice in 9 markets and was Chief Business Development Officer at Denmark’s Mofibo launching in two further markets prior to its purchase by Storytel. Notably Nathan was also Penguin Random House’s Digital Product Director, with strategic responsibility for its award-winning digital portfolio and innovation strategy working closely with the likes of Stephen Fry, Jamie Oliver, Jeff Kinney, and Roald Dahl’s estate.

Monika Kolb

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The challenges of the future are huge. Understanding these changes, accepting them, learning from them together, developing a new best version for people in the book industry – this is an exciting task. Once again, it underlines the value of lifelong learning

Monika Kolb has been managing director of the mediacampus frankfurt since 2007 and is also responsible for educational work in the German Booksellers and Publishers Association (“Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels”). 

mediacampus frankfurt is the most important education and training company in the German book industry. The service portfolio aims towards specialists and executives in the book trade as well as book and magazine publishers. The wide range of educational programs and seminars reaches from training and study courses (for newcomers and young professionals) to seminars and further training events for managers and specialist staff (further training). A huge number of inhouse programs is also carried out at member companies, which makes mediacampus frankfurt a central place for cross-divisional integration – book trade, wholsale, book and magazine publishers – for the entire book industry. 

mediacampus frankfurt is a highly frequented meeting place for authors of all literary genres and a discussion and event location for many politicians, for example local politicians or the respective ministers of state for culture. In her role as educational Director of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association, Monika Kolb is responsible for vocational training topics such as the amendment of job descriptions, accreditation of degree programs and the linking of different educational institutions such as universities, vocational schools and independent training providers with the involvement of publishers and booksellers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In order to do something against the shortage of for specialists and managerial staff, the vocational training department of the German Booksellers and Publishers Association implements numerous initiatives such as a youth parliament, events at trade fairs and mentoring programs.

Monika Kolb, born in 1966, holds a degree in business administration, is a trained and experienced mediator and a systemic organizational developer. She also advises and supports national and international organizations and associations on strategic issues and accompanies specialists as well as executives through personal coaching. 

María José Gálvez

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Reading is the beginning of everything. In order to enlarge our reader society, book and reading public policies also must focus on the strengthening and sustainability of the book industry

Managing Director of Books and Reading Promotion in the Spanish Government is in charge of promoting literary creation and translation, supporting the publishing industry and promoting reading, specially through public libraries. Previously she was Editor-in-chief for Tirant lo Blanch publishers, and previously worked in the Spanish Parliament and national government. Gálvez is Associate Professor at Carlos III University of Madrid, she holds a PHD in Constitutional Law.

Christian Schumacher-Gebler

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After training as a publishing bookseller at Piper Verlag in Munich, Christian Schumacher-Gebler got a degree in business administration at the University of Regensburg in 2001.

After his studies, he started his professional life as assistant to the managing director of the German Bonnier Group.

From 2004 to 2012, Christian Schumacher-Gebler was Managing Director at Ullstein Buchverlage in Berlin.

Since 2013, Christian Schumacher-Gebler has been working for the German Bonnier Group as CEO in Munich to champion the interests and growth potential of the group.

In an honorary capacity, he is involved with the FEP and is active on the board of the Committee for Publishers in the German Publishers & Booksellers Association.

Michiel Kolman

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It’d better be sustainable and inclusive!

Dr. Michiel Kolman is Senior VP and Academic Ambassador at Elsevier and former President of the International Publishers Association (IPA) where he now chairs Inclusive Publishing and Literacy. Michiel also serves on the Federation of European Publishers (FEP) board.

During his tenure as president the IPA launched the SDG Book Club together with the UN and supported by key players across the book industry. More recently he was instrumental in launching the SDG Publishers Compact, another IPA – UN collaboration.

Since joining Elsevier in 1995, he has held various core publishing roles in Amsterdam and Tokyo. He launched one of the first online journals in the industry in 1996: New Astronomy. Michiel was Managing Director in Frankfurt, Germany. For 10 years, he spearheaded academic relations for Elsevier, building up a global network of ambassadors engaged in strategic discussions with research leaders. Today he continues to engage with research and government leaders in his role as Academic Ambassador for Elsevier.

Prior to Elsevier, he worked for Wolters Kluwer in a division that is now part of Springer Nature. He holds a degree from Leiden University in the Netherlands and a PhD in astrophysics from Columbia University in New York, where he studied with a Fulbright scholarship.

Michiel is co-chair of Workplace Pride supporting LGBTIQ+ workplace inclusion internationally. He is the executive sponsor of Elsevier Pride and was listed two years in a row in the Financial Times’ Top 100 ranking of most influential LGBT senior executives. He supports inclusive publishing, e.g. through the Accessible Books Consortium at WIPO where he served several years as vice-chair.

 

Tom Morris

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Writing means sharing. It’s part of the human condition to want to share things – thoughts, ideas, opinions.

Tom Morris is a Senior Trends Analyst at GWI, a market research company running the world’s largest ongoing survey on the digital consumer. He analyses this rich dataset, alongside other material, to uncover the latest trends and insights in media and beyond.

Specialising in gaming, he regularly speaks to journalists and publications around the world about how the landscape is ever-changing – particularly after the pandemic.

Prior to joining GWI, Tom was an MA student studying English language and literature. During this time he wrote his thesis on the representation of fatherhood in US animated television, working alongside a team of PHD students to further investigate the portrayal of gender and masculinity in media.

Alicia Sellés

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Datos, datos, datos… y relatos

Alicia is Librarian. She developed her professional career in the private sector as an independent consultant with more than 20 years of experience in the information and library sector, more focused on the research, design, strategy but also on the implementation of technology.

She combines these tasks with teaching specialized courses, degrees and masters related to information management and libraries, tutoring projects and academic work (UOC) and activity in University research groups (UMU). He participated in the IFLA IAP program and worked in the advocacy initiatives for libraries as agents of development. From that experience she coordinates the «Libraries and 2030 Agenda» at the Library Cooperation Committee (Ministry of Culture) and is member of the Council for Sustainable Development of Spain. She is a member of the Royal Board of the National Library of Spain.

In the field of professional associations, she is president of FESABID (Spanish Federation of Archival, Library, Documentation and Museum Societies), has been president of the Official College of Librarians of Valencia region and a member of the executive committee of EBLIDA (European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation Associations). She is currently a member of the European Division of IFLA

Arantxa Mellado

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Digitalisation of the book supply chain and sustainable growth are key elements for the publishing industry. We have to tackle them in the present in order to have a future

Arantxa Mellado has more than 20 years of experience in the book world, first as a publisher and then as a publishing consultant. As such, she has advised publishers on issues related to the multi-format book commercial chain, metadata management and POD production.

She is currently director of LiberExpress, a digital platform for the distribution of print-on-demand (PTO) books, which she co-founded.

She also founded DataLibri, a company specialising in metadata marketing training and consultancy.

Arantxa Mellado has a degree in Law and a Master’s degree in History of Medieval Law (UB). She is also the author of the blog Actualidad Editorial, lecturer in the Master’s Degree in Publishing at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, and author of numerous studies and reports on the book industry.

Roberta Franceschetti

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Technology and languages are ever changing. But the need to tell stories, which is deeply rooted in human nature, stays the same.

Roberta Franceschetti has been working in publishing and children’s media for the past 20 years. She co-founded Mamamò, a website that promotes media education for children, and ContentMakers, a creative studio that produces content for kids and families across different media.

A journalist and content creator, she graduated in literature and earned a Master of Arts in Design History at the Royal College of Art, London and a postgraduate specialization in digital publishing at the Politecnico di Milano. She’s been a member of the jury of the BolognaRagazzi Digital Award (Bologna Children’s Book Fair).

Roberta is co-author of «Youtuber. Manuale per aspiranti creator» (Editoriale Scienza), a children’s guide to Youtube and videomaking, and «Educare ai nuovi media. Percorsi di cittadinanza digitale per l’educazione civica» (Pearson Academy) a media education guide for teachers. She’s also co-author of the story of the animated series «MeteoHeroes».

Nana Lohrengel

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Nana Lohrengel is born in Munich. She starts working as a bookseller in Berlin at the bookstore Bücherbogen am Savigny Platz and studies at the Buchhändlerschule Frankfurt am Main (known today as Mediacampus). She starts her career working for Könemann Publishing (Köln) in 1998, being in charge as Sales Manager of major German clients, such as Hugendubel and Thalia. In 1999 she moves for Könemann to Milan, becoming Sales Director for Italy, Greece, Turkey, Israel and Middle East. From 2003 to 2005, with Mauro Loce, she works in printing and binding producing mainly visual books for international publishers. Mother of two girls, she decides to take care of her family for a few years. In 2009 she starts working again as a bookseller at the Hoepli bookstore. Since 2013 she is in charge of all didactic activities of the Umberto and Elisabetta Mauri School for Booksellers in Italy. Since 2014 she is General Secretary of the Umberto and Elisabetta Mauri Foundation.