Webinars
AUPresses Webinars are opportunities for members of our community to learn from each other and from industry experts. Webinars are typically developed by the Association’s Professional Development Committee.
Webinars are recorded unless otherwise noted.
Browse a video library of AUPresses Webinars.
Webinar sponsorship opportunities are available. Contact Alexis Fagan if you would like more information.
Association committees also organize informal online hangouts for members.
Upcoming Webinar
AUPresses Webinar: DEIA and Staff Retention – Creating a Neuro-Diverse Work Culture
Tuesday, May 27th at 9 AM ET
Hosted by the Equity, Justice, Inclusion and Belonging Committee
The Equity, Justice, Inclusion, and Belonging (EJIB) committee invites the AUPresses community for a webinar event on DEIA, staff retention, and neurodiversity in the workplace. Joining us in leading this webinar is Amanda Rogers, Communications and Engagement Manager at BioOne, and member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Committee. Amanda will be presenting on neurodiversity in the workplace, barriers to inclusivity that neurodiverse workers face, and steps that press leadership should take to avoid creating a hostile work environment and promote staff retention. Amanda’s presentation will be followed by a Q+A.
Speaker: Amanda Rogers, Communications and Engagement Manager, BioOne. Moderator: Victoria-Lola Montecalvo Leon Guerrero, Director, University of Guam Press
Recent Webinars
AUPresses Webinar: Building Global Audiences
May 13, 2025
Hosted by the AUPresses Professional Development Committee
What does it mean to be a “global” university press? What strategies and tools can university presses use to reach international audiences? And what are the main challenges and opportunities associated with building global audiences? This panel aims to answer these questions through a discussion with an international rights manager from a U.S. university press and marketing manager from an English-language university press located in the Middle East.
Panelists: Angelica Lopez Torres, International Rights Manager, University of Texas Press, Suzan Kenawy, Marketing Manager, The American University in Cairo Press. Moderators: Steven Rodríguez, Scholarly Acquisitions Editor, Vanderbilt University Press, Kelly Fattman, Senior Director, Sales, Marketing, and Business Development, Harvard Education Press, Rebecca Carhart, Academic Production Editor, Intervarsity Press
AUPresses Webinar: The State of DEIA Efforts at University Presses: An AUPresses Member Town Hall and Discussion
April 9, 2025
Hosted by the AUPresses Equity, Justice, Inclusion and Belonging Committee
The Equity, Justice, Inclusion, and Belonging (EJIB) committee organized this virtual event for all Association members to discuss the state of the publishing industry and higher education, where university presses are at the center of that nexus, with respect to the impact of recent federal actions on workplace safety, censorship, and press business in general. The event featured a short introduction by the EJIB Committee, followed by a roundtable with our speakers and then a section for facilitated discussion open to all attendees. The goal of this discussion forum was to bring AUPresses members together to share news and experiences, and to begin to build conversations and structures for community and industry responses in the face of these challenges.
Speakers: Christie Henry, Director, Princeton University Press; Damita Snow, Director, Accessibility & Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Publications & Strategy at the American Society of Civil Engineers; Andy Etzkorn, Lead Marketing Manager, University of California Press; Lauralee Yeary, Senior Associate Editor, Oxford University Press; Carah Naseem, Associate Editor, Rutgers University Press; and Victoria-Lola Montecalvo Leon Guerrero, Director, University of Guam Press
This session was not recorded.
AUPresses Webinar: Workshop on AI for University Presses, Part 2 – AI Tools for University Publishers
February 25, 2025
Hosted by the AUPresses Editorial Design & Production Committee
When chatGPT burst onto the scene in November 2022, it seemed like the future was here. Machines that write text and generate art. Computers that conduct peer review. Algorithms that control marketing. Artificial intelligence (AI) seemed poised to revolutionize the publishing industry. It also raised a number of practical and ethical questions for university presses. Should an AI be listed as an author? Can copyrighted text be used to train AI? What bias might an AI bring to the review process? Before we can answer these and similar questions, we need to be clear on what exactly we are talking about. In this two-part virtual workshop, we will provide a crash course in artificial intelligence. This second session will look at some practical AI-driven tools that can be used today by staff at university presses. The first session explored what AI is, its current capabilities, and its ethical implications. Watch the session recording here. These sessions will be interactive; no technical experience is required. Bring your questions and your curiosity.
Panelists: Jose Esquilin, Visual Information Specialist, Marine Corps University Press; Stephen Downes, Digital Technologies Research Centre, National Research Council of Canada; Samara Rafert, Publicist and Marketing Manager, Ohio State University Press; Moderator: James Ayers, University of New Mexico Press
AUPresses Webinar: Workshop on AI for University Presses, Part 1 – The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence
February 11, 2025
Hosted by the AUPresses Editorial Design & Production Committee
When chatGPT burst onto the scene in November 2022, it seemed like the future was here. Machines that write text and generate art. Computers that conduct peer review. Algorithms that control marketing. Artificial intelligence (AI) seemed poised to revolutionize the publishing industry. It also raised a number of practical and ethical questions for university presses. Should an AI be listed as an author? Can copyrighted text be used to train AI? What bias might an AI bring to the review process? Before we can answer these and similar questions, we need to be clear on what exactly we are talking about. In this two-part virtual workshop, we provide a crash course in artificial intelligence. This first session of two in this series explores what AI is, its current capabilities, and its ethical implications. The second session will look at some practical AI-driven tools that can be used today by staff at university presses.
Panelists: Leo Lo, Dean of the College of University Libraries & Learning Sciences, University of New Mexico, and current President, Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL); James F. McGrath, Chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies and Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature, Butler University; Jeffrey Riman, Assistant Professor, Fashion Institute of Technology. Moderator: Nicole L. Tilford, SBL Press
AUPresses Webinar: Making Accessibility Accessible – A Discussion Hosted by the EJIB Committee
January 28, 2025
Hosted by the AUPresses Equity, Justice, Inclusion and Belonging Committee
Join the EJIB Committee and representatives from various university presses in a discussion about ways to make accessibility more accessible. Panelists will share successes, challenges, and resources related to publication production; workplace accessibility and advocacy; and author relationships.
Speakers: Cathy Felgar, Princeton University Press, Publishing Operations Director; Ana Bichanich, Director of Editorial Design and Production, University of South Carolina Press; Grace Evans, Publishing Associate, Modern Language Association; Via Justine De Fant, University of Guam Press, Publicist; Sara Thaxton, Digital Publishing Specialist, University of Arizona Press; Alec Loganbill, Assistant Editor, University Press of Kansas
Recording coming soon!
Sponsored Webinar: Royalty Automation for University Presses: Your Path to an Optimized Workflow
November 14, 2024
Sponsored by MetaComet® for the AUPresses community.
Royalty management has historically been a tedious and error-prone process, involving multiple spreadsheets, complex calculations, and not a few headaches. But it’s no longer necessary to rely on messy, manual processes. Automated royalty management systems are affordable, reliable, and easy to implement.
In this webinar we’ll look at exactly how they work, walking through real-world royalty processing scenarios. We’ll see how to use an automated system to record contract terms, process disparate sales files, perform calculations, and generate and transmit royalty statements, reports, and payment files. We’ll also review the implementation process and discuss best practices for a smooth and painless transition to automation.
Automation typically saves 90% of the time spent on royalty management, and most of the stress. In this webinar you’ll see for yourself how it can work for your organization. Bring examples of your most complex royalty challenges, and we’ll discuss whether automation can resolve them for you.
Speaker: David Marlin (he/him), President, MetaComet® Systems
Sponsored Webinar – Instant purchasing capabilities from all your sales and marketing channels has proven to halve cart abandonment
November 20, 2024
Sponsored by Supadu
Implementing instant purchasing capabilities across all your sales and marketing channels has been proven to significantly reduce cart abandonment rates by half. Providing a seamless and efficient purchasing experience means customers encounter fewer obstacles in completing their purchase, which leads to increased sales and customer satisfaction. Supadu will explore the data behind this trend, diving into why instant purchasing is so effective in retaining customers who might otherwise abandon their carts.
Speaker: Sarah Arbuthnot, Chief Commercial and Operations Director, Supadu
Sponsored Webinar: Navigating AI in Publishing: Best Practices and Use Cases for IP Management, Equity, and Accessibility
October 1, 2024
Sponsored by Knowledge E for the AUPresses Community
Run by digital library Zendy in collaboration with the Association of University Presses, this one-hour webinar will provide a balanced introduction to Artificial Intelligence and its application to IP management in publishing, specifically in the context of publisher/library relationships, and examine the key issues of equity and accessibility through the lens of emerging technologies. In the first part of this webinar, a range of speakers from across publishing and the library sector will discuss their experience of stewarding their IP through the new opportunities offered by AI. This section will explore how publishers can safely engage with AI in closed systems that enable consent, credit, and compensation where appropriate, and consider best practices and case studies as seen from a publisher use case and the perspective of a mission-driven digital library. The second part of the webinar will look more broadly at how AI in publishing can positively impact equity and accessibility, notably considering the potential of AI to democratize access to content, but also addressing concerns about content protection and AI bias from a range of views.
Speakers: Andreas Chrysostomou, Publishing Relations Manager, IT Governance Publishing Ltd; Kamran R. Kardan, Founder and CEO of Knowledge E; Rodrigo Pinto, Chief Technology Officer, Zendy; Lucy Lu Wang, Assistant Professor, University of Washington Information School
AI, Video Calls, and Beyond: Exploring Technological Advances in Peer Review
September 25, 2024
Hosted by the AUPresses Acquisitions Editorial Committee
Seeing peer review deadlines increasingly slip? Concerned about the volume of submissions outpacing the availability of experts? Join us for a Peer Review Week 2024 virtual event, where we dive into the intersection of innovation and technology to address these pressing issues. This session will explore how acquisitions editors are leveraging video calls and emerging AI tools to support peer reviewers, authors, and press colleagues throughout the peer review process. Panelists will discuss practical ways to use technology to facilitate the exchange of academic ideas, and will open a discussion about potential uses of AI now and in the future.
Moderators: Carli Hansen, Acquisitions Editor, University of Toronto Press; Elisabeth Maselli, Senior Acquisitions Editor, University of Pennsylvania Press
Panelists: Rachel Stapleton, Senior Acquisitions Editor, University of Regina Press, Treaty 4 Territory; Noah Springer, Acquisitions Editor, MIT Press
Sponsored Webinar: View Inside Technology and Copyright Protection in the AI Landscape
September 17, 2024
Sponsored by Bowker for the AUPresses Community
There are two top challenges facing university presses—and Bowker, the US ISBN agency, has been working to address them with two new services to help university presses reach more readers and protect creators. Join Bowker’s Mary Carlomagno in this informational session where she will highlight two areas of publishing that are
essential to publishing in the future: “inside view” technology and protecting copyright in the AI landscape.
Learn how view inside technology is changing the ways publishers’ market books digitally. Did you know that when readers spend time sampling books, they are more likely to purchase? Once a nice to have program, view inside technology has now been adopted globally as an essential way to market books. Find out how this technology can help you market you your books.
Copyright protection is an essential element in the changing landscape of AI. Now more than ever, creators and publishers need to protect their work from bad actors and piracy. Understanding the needs of copyright protection is now more important than ever.
Speaker: Mary Carlomagno, Director of Sales and Business Development, Bowker
AUPresses Webinar: Getting the Most out of the AUPresses Annual Meeting
May 23, 2024
This session is a virtual pre–AUPresses Annual Meeting webinar!
Whether it’s your first AUPresses Annual Meeting or your tenth, you can get more out of the meeting with a bit of preparation. In this pre-meeting webinar, we’ll lead a conversation about what you can do in advance of the meeting to get the most out of your time in Montreal. We’ll provide a general overview of the meeting, with descriptions of the various types of sessions, social events, and plenaries. We’ll offer tips for how to build a great schedule of sessions when there are so many intriguing options from which to choose. Finally, we’ll talk about networking—the outreach you can do in advance of the meeting, how to approach the big social events while in Montreal, and what you can do to sustain those relationships once you’re back at home. The discussion will be followed by a Q&A, so please do come with questions!
Speakers: Jaden Young, Assistant Production Manager, Princeton University Press; Caitlin Tyler-Richards, Acquisitions Editor, University of Washington; Ken Carpenter, Director of Marketing, Harvard University Press; and Meagan Levinson, Editorial Director of Three Hills, Cornell University Press
AUPresses Webinar: Public scholarship: Strategies for amplifying academic publication’s impact beyond the academy
May 9, 2024
Public scholarship is an approach to academic publication that aims to benefit audiences beyond the academy. Such scholarly work is increasingly recognized by institutions, professional associations, and funding agencies; for example, the National Science Foundation rewards projects that show broader impacts on society, and the National Endowment for the Humanities dedicates extensive grant opportunities to public humanities projects. Across disciplines, scholars can become versed and skilled in the arts of public impact by learning how to focus and frame their expertise in ways that that can reach—and help—broad audiences. This webinar explores the opportunities public scholarship presents for university presses and scholars alike and effective strategies for pursuing this mode of scholarly engagement.
Speakers: Christopher Schaberg, PhD, Director of Public Scholarship, Washington University in St. Louis; and Liz Wolfson, PhD, Public Scholarship Media Specialist, Washington University in St. Louis
AUPresses Webinar: How Abstract and Citation databases help research journals improve international impact
April 17, 2024
Hosted by the AUPresses Journals Committee
Abstract and Citation databases are considered as important channels for researchers to find trusted data and decide where to publish their work. In order to promote an academic journal to an international level, editors may consider preparing for database indexing an important step to start with. This webinar shares how journals can get ready for Scopus, a source-neutral abstract and citation database used by millions of global researchers. Its content is curated by independent subject matter experts who are recognized leaders in their fields. This preparation journey gives tips on how to improve the international impact for your journal. Inclusion and diversity are greatly valued by the global research community, and the webinar will share how to promote this theme in practice.
Speakers: Wim Meester, Senior Director of Product Management, Elsevier; and Tracy Chen, Lead Product Manager, Content and Policy, Elsevier
AUPresses Webinar: Social Media Beyond Marketing
April 11, 2024
Hosted by the AUPresses Professional Development Committee and the Faculty Outreach Committee
Social media offers many opportunities for UP professionals to connect with colleagues in the industry, as well as with scholars in the disciplines where we publish. They offer space for us to demystify the work we do, both by sharing info and resources about academic publishing and by presenting a more informal side of ourselves than may come across in email chains or “About Me” pages. In this webinar, we’ll chat about how to use social media platforms from LinkedIn to TikTok to the platform formerly known as Twitter to build our professional networks, promote our press’s work, and educate a broader audience about what we do in UP publishing.
Moderators: Jenny Keegan, Faculty Outreach Committee, Acquisitions Editor, Louisiana State University Press; and Bethany Wasik, Professional Development Committee, Assistant Editorial Director, Cornell University Press
Panelists: Rebecca Colesworthy, Senior Acquisitions Editor, SUNY Press; Freya Gowrley, Lecturer in History of Art and Liberal Arts, University of Bristol; Kishonna Gray, Associate Professor in Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Studies and Africana Studies, University of Kentucky; and Ashley Kole, Social Media Coordinator, Cornell University Press
AUPresses Sponsored Webinar: Drive books sales through Smart Buy Buttons and AI
February 28, 2024
Sponsored by Supadu
Using AI and Smart Buy buttons across all your sales and marketing channels will
drive engagement and sales. Come and join us to find out how easy it is to do!
Speaker: Sarah Arbuthnot, Chief Commercial and Operations Director
Navigating Legal Issues in Nonfiction Works About Real People
February 13, 2024
Hosted by the AUPresses Intellectual Property & Copyright Committee
Writing about real people can raise a number of complicated legal issues for authors and editors. Laws governing defamation, privacy, and rights of publicity have a number of fact-specific rules, exceptions, and exceptions to exceptions that can be difficult to navigate without help. These issues can be an obstacle to publication, especially for nonfiction authors.In collaboration with Authors Alliance, the AUPresses Intellectual Property & Copyright Committee is pleased to offer this webinar on how to navigate these issues when working with authors. The webinar is based in part on Authors Alliance’s newly published open access legal guide, Writing About Real People, which is part of its larger series of guides on legal issues for authors.
Speakers: Rachel Brooke, Senior Staff Attorney, Authors Alliance; Lorri Hagman, Executive Editor, Special Projects, University of Washington Press; Dave Hansen, Executive Director, Authors Alliance; Casey Kittrell, Editor in Chief, University of Texas Press; and Ann Regan, Acting Director and Editor in Chief, Minnesota Historical Society Press
Moderator: Aurora Bell, Associate Editorial Director, University of South Carolina Press
Making Books Accessible: A New Guide
January 16, 2024
This free members-only webinar will present an overview of the new guidelines published by the Association of University Presses for making books accessible.
Speaker: Bill Kasdorf, Principal, Kasdorf & Associates, LLC
Workshops and Special Group Meetings
Professional Development workshops allow individuals to explore topics in depth. Workshops are typically developed by Association Committees and are generally held in conjunction with Annual Meetings. Professional interest groups (journals staff, press directors, financial officers, EDP staff) often meeting face to face to network and collaborate. Special Group meetings are occasionally stand alone, but more often held in advance of the Annual Meeting.
View a list of pre-meeting workshops held in recent years.
The AUPresses Marketing, Journals, and Editorial, Design, and Production Committees hosted pre-AUPresses 2022 Annual Meeting workshops. More information.