Platform Strategies 2023 Recap: Breakout Sessions

Platform Strategies offered attendees a variety of formats in which to engage with content and with each other: keynote talks, panel discussions, in-app polls, Q&A, networking breaks, and topical breakout rooms. The breakout rooms offered a chance for structured, smaller-group discussions on specific industry topics. Below, read our notes and takeaways, then explore the full Platform Strategies 2023 archive here.

 

Integrating digital event workflows, assets, and strategy into your business

With publishers looking to increase member engagement and grow revenue, this group discussed how digital event content is being leveraged: what's working, what's not, and what's coming up next.

The group included a diversity of perspectives, ranging from those who see treating digital meeting artifacts as first-class objects as an obvious next step for publishers, to those uncertain about the interest from users in having artifacts available for a longer time post-event (”How often is someone really going to re-watch a session?").

Some of the primary themes were: 1) a desire to diversify and grow revenue streams (with OA making revenue much more volatile), and 2) the recognition that Events and publishing teams, usually siloed from each other, need to work together more.

Overall, the consensus was that there is room to grow with digital events but perhaps we should not assume that this is something everyone is thinking about the same way we are. Meaning that, we should all be openly exploring business models for digital events as a new opportunity for revenue, and actively examining silos and how we can build bridges within our organizations.

 

Ethics in Publishing: Research integrity, trust in science, transparency in data usage

This group discussed the tools, challenges, and opportunities surrounding ethical industry topics. Overall it was agreed that at a very high level, it starts with trust in science.

Topics included:

  • Putting too much focus on output volume and not enough on the actual impact of the outcome of the research being published (including environmental or societal impact)
  • The inequality inherent in the use of APCs
  • The unbalanced distribution of research and peer-reviewers and how to remain as inclusive as possible
  • AI and the fabrication of data and content
It was also discussed that STEM publishing is meant to be a self-correcting field, so we should do more to engage with universities and researchers. This could mean finding ways to highlight and encourage things like negative results studies.

Some potential solutions the group have experimented with include double anonymous peer-review, supporting ethics organizationally by appointing an Integrity Officer, and creating an AI advisory group to advise your society and Board

 

Syndication: Your platform as a hub, not a destination

The third and final breakout room discussed pilots, models, and approaches for finding readers off-platform and bringing data, usage, and community efforts back to the version of record.

The syndication breakout room was a good mix of publishers and vendors, and while there was discussion of discrete publisher syndication initiatives, conversation quickly became wider in scope and mused on the topic of data atomization and discoverability writ large. 

The topic sparked many conversations, particularly around the role of AI in backfile enhancement and content discovery. The group discussed the importance of prioritizing requirements around analytics and usage before developing or opting in to industry initiatives like GetFTR or Seamless Access. Publishers interested in syndicating funded content can join our Sensus Impact CoP here.

 

For more takeaways, recordings, and transcripts from the 2023 Platform Strategies event, visit the archive.

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