Information for Change II
Beyond the Book: Integrating Alternative Media into Your Publishing Strategy 

A workshop held at the Cape Town International Book Fair Monday 16 June 2008 

 This participatory workshop explored the role of “non-book” media in publishing and communications strategies. The workshop focused on three general themes:

1. Repurposing content
Why should book content be “repurposed” onto CD-Rom, mobile phones, online, non-book printed products, etc.? What are the benefits? Which audiences are being reached in this way? What are any downsides to such work? What methods are available? What are others doing? How can its impact be measured?

2. Increasing visibility and discoverability
What are new (and some old) mechanisms available to help your audiences find your content? How can you identify them and then take advantage of them: mass media (broadcast and print); online search engines; localisation; viral marketing techniques; web2 technology. How can you think about and use these to increase the visibility and discoverability of your content?

3. Balancing free and paid access
What are some of the strategies, including open access models, to successfully balance free and paid access to your content? Is ‘free access’ a sustainable model for distributing information for development? When to charge, and how much? And where will the content producers of tomorrow come from?

This workshop brought together individuals and organisations involved in generating, publishing, and using information for development from the Western Cape, from the wider South Africa, from the region, and from the rest of Africa.

Programme & Speaker Presentations

  • Moderator: Denis Beckett, Journalist and Writer, Johannesburg
  • Keynote: Alternative media for social change in Africa
    Speaker: Firoze Manji, Fahamu
    This presentation provided an overview of the three general themes of the workshop, how they are interrelated, and how they can be used to affect social change. Download presentation (PDF 48KB).
  • Talk show
    Host: Denis Beckett, Journalist and Writer, Johannesburg  
    Panel discussion on the areas of repurposing content and increasing visibility and discoverability. Panelists: Shehnilla Mohamed, Country Director, Oxfam South Africa and Dick Ng'ambi, The Centre for Education Technology, University of Cape Town.
  • Lunch, poster set-up and poster marketplace
    This session enabled participants to network and discuss experiences in publishing through alternative media channels.
  • Open Access: Opportunities for African publishers
    Speaker: Eve Gray    , Publishing Lecturer and Consultant
    Moderator: Mike Schramm, National Inquiry Services Centre (NISC) 
    This session, led by Eve Gray examined the growing and evolving Open Access movement and what it means for publishing in Africa. 
  • Five minutes of fame: Poster presentations
    Open discussion and wrap up