Michael Hyatt posts a good summary of some of the key ideas that most stood out to him at this conference.
One core question of late is whether electronic books and the ability to self publish more effectively will eliminate the need for publishers altogether. Hyatt records a really good answer to this question from Tim O’Reilly:
Tim O’Reilly, founder and CEO of O’Reilly Media, was the host of the conference and the final speaker. He spoke on “The Future of Digital Distribution and Ebook Marketing.” He made a powerful case for why publishers are not going away any time soon. For starters, retailers want and need someone to aggregate the content. They are unwilling to deal with thousands of individual authors. Second, publishers act as a filter and bestow status on the authors they publish. Both of these functions are still valuable in the digital world.