By: Melissa Marin, OverDrive Marketing Specialist

Thank you to everyone who joined us for Digipalooza 2017! We were proud to welcome all of you to Cleveland (and to see so many familiar faces!) We had libraries, schools and industry partners joining us from across North America, as well as world travelers from the UK, Japan, Israel, New Zealand, South Africa, Singapore, and Colombia.

 

Key takeaways from the conference this year include:

  • Toronto Public Library’s efforts to bring millenial men readers to their digital collection, with the help of visits to Comic-Con, interactions on Reddit, and the gateway drug to a library card: candy!
  • National Library Board of Singapore’s campaign targeting commuters with breathtaking transformations of train cars into books come to life.
  • San Antonio shared how they focus on curating content and marketing to particular subsets of their community like kids, military, art lovers, and foodies to make sure everyone can find something they want to read.
  • Los Angeles Public Library has found a pattern of purchasing that works for their readers and set expectations for their power users: New content every Friday and Monday keeps people coming back for more.
  • Quick and easy tips to navigate Marketplace and get the most bang for your buck from Dayton Metro Library, Indianapolis Public Library, Livebrary, Midwest Collaborative for Library Services, Mid York Library System, and members of Team OverDrive including establishing parameters to manage RTL selection, hacking searches using BISAC subject headings, using smart lists to fill gaps in a collection and identify expiring metered access books, and watching out for zombie titles!
  • Key perspectives on the state of the digital lending industry from former ALA President Sari Feldman, Library Journal editor Matt Enis, Executive Director of the Audio Publishers Association Michele Cobb, Executive Vice President of Publishers Weekly Cevin Bryerman, and Jeff Julian, the Director of the Public Awareness Office for the American Library Association.
  • Breakout sessions that included tips for staff and end user training, troubleshooting, getting started in OverDrive Marketplace, consortium best practices, social media marketing, lesson planning with digital content, and discussions of screen time and digital citizenship for students.
  • Secrets from the Front Lines, including how Harris County Public Library launched Project Mill-E and reached a million digital checkouts in 2016; how Sno-Isle Libraries pioneered DDA (demand-driven acquisition) at OverDrive and shared what they learned from paying attention to what their users are really looking for; and Wisconsin Public Library Consortium gave on the ground details about how they train their staff to support their popular statewide digital consortium.
  • American Prison Data Systems shared inspiring stories of how access to digital books has impacted inmates and NC Kids Digital Library shared their journey to providing access to their digital library to every child in the state of North Carolina.
  • How Toledo-Lucas County Public Library and Auckland Libraries use data to make decisions for their digital collection and try to find new users.
  • Demos of the recent updates in the Libby app, the development of a school specific app geared towards students, and the pilot program to get library cards into the hands of more people instantly.
  • A funny and heartfelt live podcast interview with bestselling author Kelly Corrigan and our own Professional Book Nerds.
  • And as always, we learned that Digipalooza attendees know how to have a good time! Bowling, karaoke, arcade games, and plenty of laughs kicked off our opening night at Punch Bowl Social Wednesday and the dance floor was packed Thursday night at the House of Blues.

We are grateful for the generous support of our conference partners (Baker Publishing Group, Blackstone Audio, Books on Tape, HarperCollins, and Penguin Random House) and the dozens of other fantastic sponsors and exhibitors who helped make Digipalooza happen.

If you attended Digipalooza and didn’t receive the follow-up email providing access to presentations and your certificate of attendance, please contact your Account Specialist or email digipalooza2017@overdrive.com.

We hope to see you in 2019!