Conference Publications Committee - Minutes - 2008.10

I. 

Review and Adoption of Agenda.  The agenda was approved as submitted. (Attachment 2) 

II.  

Approval of 8 February 2008 Minutes. of the 12 June 2008 meeting were approved as submitted.

III.

Opening Remarks.  Mr. Varian reported that TAB approved the conference publications revenue distribution algorithm at its June 2008 meeting by a very close roll call vote.

IV.

Discussion Items/Reports

A.

Financial Overview.

Mr. Vasquez presented a multi-year financial summary of the conference publications business that indicated continued strong growth, due primarily to revenue from “other channels” (most notably IEL).  The 2008 forecast (through September) projects a year-end net that is better than budget by $365k.  This is primarily due to revenue increases, especially from the IEL and other online offerings.  Expenses are forecasted to be higher than budget due primarily to large volume growth, which affects costs such as acquisition, indexing and print-on-demand (PoD).  The preliminary 2009 budget reflects a significant reduction in single sales revenue, due to the new manner in which PoD will be handled.  However, expenses are budgeted to go down even more significantly as a result of the new PoD model.  (Attachment 3 )

A Motion was made to:

Approve the preliminary 2009 conference publications business budget.

The Motion passed.

B.

Operational Issues.  

1. Conference Publications Staffing. Mr. Vasquez reported on recent changes within the conference publications staff.  Most notably, Kevin Dresely joined the staff in September 2008 as the new Sr. Manager, Conference Content Management. (Attachment 4).

2. Conference Publications Revenue Distribution Methodology. Mr. Vasquez reported that the new distribution methodology was approved by TAB at its June 2008 meeting.  The approved version incorporates one additional year of usage data and also includes a three-year transition period. As recommended by the CPC in June, the TAB Finance Committee agreed to address the financial issues being faced by some Societies due, in part, to the new algorithm.  (Attachment 4 )

3. Single SalesFulfillment (inc. Print-on-Demand).  Ms. Hutton provided an update on the transition to a new fulfillment process for conference publications single sales.  A new vendor has been selected, resulting in a projected $1MM+ financial improvement for the business in 2009.  The transition is scheduled to be finalized in December 2008.  (Attachment 5 ) 
4. Timeliness of Content. Mr. Dresely provided an update on the progress being made with the posting of conference content in IEEE Xplore.He indicated that 35% of the content is now being posted within 30 days of the conference end date, up from only 23% in 2006.  In addition, the long-term backlog (content posted more than 60 days after the conference end date) has been reduced to 45% of the overall content, down from 59% in 2006.  Efforts to further reduce the backlog continue. (Attachment 6)

ACTION: Future timeliness updates are to include performance targets in addition to metrics.   Action Item Due: Next CPC meeting.

C.

Conference Business Items

1. Conference Author No-Shows. Mr. Vasquez reported that TAB did not approve the IEEE Conferences Committee (CC) recommendations for addressing the issue of conference author no-shows at it June 2008 meeting.  A white paper on the issue has been developed and discussions with legal counsel are underway to address the main points of contention raised by TAB.  The CC will discuss the issue again at its November 2008 meeting.  (Attachment 7 )

2. Conference Presentations Online. Mr. Vasquez provided an update on a new venture for capturing the slides plus audio of conference presentations and making them available online during and after a conference.  (Attachment 7 )

Other Items

1. Definitions for Line of Operation, Products, Programs, Platforms.Mr. Varian reported that Hal Flescher, VP-Elect, Technical Activities Board, is heading an ad hoc committee on product management.  One of the activities of the ad hoc committee is defining various terms related to product management.  Mr. Varian distributed a draft version of those definitions for the CPC to review.  (Attachment 8)

V.

Action Items

A.

2009 Conference Publications Business Budget.  This was addressed as part of item IV.A above.

VI.

Information Items

A.

IEEE Product Portfolio.  No item was submitted

VII. 

Time And Place Of Next Meeting.  The first meeting of the 2009 Conference Publications Committee has yet to be scheduled but will be held sometime in late January/early February.  Further details will be provided once the new committee has been formed.

VIII.

Adjournment.The meeting was adjourned at 4:00 PM.