Craig Griffin (VP, Solutions Engineering): “I've attended every Strategies Silverchair has ever hosted, and I can say without hesitation that this year was a cut above the rest. It's always great to see clients, colleagues and prospects, and to engage with compelling presentations, but this year was different. Being the first in-person Strategies since 2019, there was clearly an energy bounce from getting off Zoom and into the room.”
Lily Garcia Walton (Chief People Officer): “It should be no surprise to anyone reading this by now that Platform Strategies was an incredible event. I overheard multiple attendees talking about the value of the conference and an attendee sitting next to me in the front row turned to me and remarked unprompted that this was the best industry conference he had ever attended. From my perspective, the panels were thoughtfully conceived and highly relevant. Meanwhile, our keynote speaker, Nita Farahany, left us all wondering whether we wish to be part of a future in which reading (and writing to) our minds is possible.”
Betsy Donohue (SVP, Business Development): “It was invaluable to spend quality time with colleagues and industry friends, catching up with existing contacts, and making new ones. This event definitely reiterated Strategies as a place where industry thought leaders go to network and exchange ideas. Key topics that jumped out for me: AI (of course), author journey support, research integrity, and overall a culture of collaboration.”
Paul Sanders (Chief Delivery Officer): “It was such a great experience seeing so many friends, new and old, from the industry in DC for engaging content, conversation, and creativity. I am inspired by the burgeoning dialogue about Generative AI and how much it is likely to shape our future, and certainly to shape our way of thinking.”
Nicole Brown (VP, Delivery): “The Platform Strategies event convened senior and C-suite colleagues eager to connect and engage. The breakout room on content syndication sparked conversations, particularly around the role of AI in backfile enhancement and content discovery. We also discussed the importance of prioritizing requirements around analytics and usage before developing or opting in to industry initiatives like GetFTR or Seamless Access.”
Deja Forte (Customer Success Manager): “A takeaway that stood out with me from the breakout sessions, particularly ‘Ethics in Publishing,’ is that there is a pressing need for training and education pertaining to publishing ethics and research integrity for researchers. Several instances of misconduct or lapses in good practice which are not intentional but come from inconsistent quality in training. This includes instruction in both sound research methodologies and ethical publishing practices, including the roles and responsibilities of authors.”
Walker Swain (Director, Business Development): “It's easy for all of us at Silverchair to say how great Platform Strategies was - because it was, in fact, great. However the most compelling feedback I can offer is the dozen or so accounts I've heard from fellow industry folks in the week since the meeting: how much fun they had, how insightful they found the panels and keynote, how much they enjoyed the return of this in-person event in general.”
Lisa Cunningham (Program Director): “There was such a feeling of community and positive energy throughout the event. The panel topics and panelists were engaging and thoughtful. I found Nita Farahany's closing keynote to be particularly thought-provoking. On the one hand, after watching both my father and my sister-in-law lose the ability to speak to ALS, I can see how the ability to convert brain waves directly into speech or device control has such potential to improve quality of life for patients with ALS or similar conditions. On the other, the possible invasion of the last bastion of personal privacy has definite drawbacks!”
Micah Jones (Program Director): “This being my first Strategies, it was great to feel like a part of the industry even though I'm usually at arm's length from it. Everyone was engaged and shared thoughts and opinions about AI and its implications to the industry. Stuart Leitch's opening speech and the keynote closing presentation from Nita Farahany were wonderful bookends to the event that left the audience engaged, curious, and anxious to see what the future holds.”
Derek Naughton (VP, Architecture): “It was an amazing event, well organized and structured. AI was very prominent in this event, bookended by two AI talks. What I heard around the room from the publishers was that they are excited for AI, but nervous. They are interested in adopting, but slowly, and also not sure how. Some people think about AI as a threat to what they do, others think it can't do what they do. It was refreshing to hear from some publishers talking about how they want to embrace it, to help them do what they do better.”
Hannah Heckner Swain (VP, Product): “In addition to having specific takeaways to inform our platform's development, I am taking to heart overall themes of lowering siloes between content platforms, and their intrinsic usage data, and having that inform future development of our platform. While we want to bring as much content possible onto Silverchair properties, we also want to make that content and its usage as atomized as possible so that it can be shared throughout the entire ecosystem. This underlines our commitment to collaboration within the industry, strengthens our and our publishers' independence, and puts our money where our mouth is when we talk about cultivating community within our industry.”
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