Meet the Speakers


With three dedicated conferences taking place on 1st December, many of the audio, educational and digital publishing sectors’ most experienced staff will be sharing their expertise on the day. The Bookseller has compiled the vital statistics of 71 speakers in order to familiarise delegates with the faces and backgrounds of those who will be...


Taking to the stage


Kevin Addley Audible UK


Vice-president of marketing


Having worked for the company for more than five years, Kevin leads Audible UK’s customer strategy, overseeing audi-


ence insight, customer acquisition, engagement and retention, communica- tions and product marketing across Amazon and Audible websites, devices and apps. Most recently, Kevin led the launch of Audible’s “Feel every word” and “Life’s more interesting when you listen” campaigns. He is also respon- sible for the marketing of Audible Origi- nal titles in the UK.


Fionnuala Barrett HarperCollins Senior editor, audio


Fionnuala joined Harper- Collins in 2016, after cut- ting her teeth at Penguin Random House. She over- sees the audio publishing


programme for HarperCollins’ mass- market adult fiction and non-fiction titles. She was instrumental in setting up the #loveaudio campaign, the first industry-wide celebration of audio- books in the UK.


Arifa Akbar Unbound


Head of content


Arifa is head of content at Unbound, where she is launch editor of online lit- erary website Boundless. She is also a freelance


reviewer for the FT, the Evening Stan- dard and Sky News, and was formerly the literary editor of the Independent, where she worked for 15 years. Arifa is a trustee on the board of the Orwell Foundation and is on the advisory com- mittee for English PEN’s Writing in Translation programme. She will be one of the judges for the Costa Prize’s Biog- raphy category for 2018. @arifa_akbar


Ed Barton Curiscope C.e.o.


Ed has a background in filmmaking (primarily in advertising) and web developing. At the age of 15, he founded one of the


@fionnuala_b Sue Black


Technology evangelist and digital skills expert


Recently named as one of the top 50 women in tech in Europe, Sue is an award-winning computer scientist, radical thinker


and entrepreneur. She started the high- profile campaign to save Bletchley Park, capitalising on social media as a fitting continuation of its legacy. A passionate advocate for women in tech, Sue founded #techmums, an enterprise that empowers mums and their families through tech. She was made an OBE in 2016 and advises the government on improving digital services.


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largest teen forums in the UK, which had close to 100,000 members. Ed entered filmmaking as he believed it was a medium through which he could make a mark on the world, but moved into the tech and VR industry as the potential impact felt greater. In 2016 he was named as a Wired Innovation Fellow, and was featured in Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list in 2017.


Paul Butcher English Language iTutoring Co-founder and chief technology officer


Paul has held senior tech- nical roles at several start- ups. Before co-founding English Language iTutor- ing, he was chief software


architect of SwiftKey, which uses natural language processing and machine learning to make text entry painless. SwiftKey, a bestselling Android applica- tion worldwide for several years, was recently acquired by Microsoft. Paul is the author of two books on software engineering, and he is working on a third.


@writeandimprove


Ravina Bajwa Potermore


Senior commissioning editor


Ravina is responsible for global audio product development at Potter- more, managing foreign- language production of


Harry Potter audiobooks. Ravina has worked in audio publishing for a decade; she was formerly an editor of Penguin Audiobooks, leading audio publishing and production across mul- tiple literary brands, and helping to launch the Penguin Studio: the first fully-fledged audiobook recording


studio at a UK trade publishing house. @ravinab


Molly Barton Serial Box


C.e.o./co-founder


Molly is the c.e.o. and co- founder of Serial Box, which has been called “the HBO of reading”. She is also the executive pro-


ducer of “The Genius Dialogues” pod- cast. Previously global digital director at Penguin, where she led its e-book and audio business, digital product innova- tion and content strategy. Molly also served on the board of Pearson’s start- up investments unit and founded Book Country, a collaboration and self-pub-


lishing platform for genre fiction writers. @molbarton


Jamie Byng Canongate C.e.o.


Jamie is the c.e.o. of Canongate, which pub- lishes Michel Faber, Miranda July, Barack Obama, Margaret Drabble,


Nick Cave, Matt Haig, Ayobami Adebayo, Ruth Ozeki, David Byrne and Olivia Laing, as well as four Man Booker Prize winners. Canongate has twice been voted Publisher of the Year at the Brit- ish Book Awards. In 2011, Jamie co- founded World Book Night, and he is also a director of Letters Live.


@baddabyng


Nicky Birch Rosina Sound Founder/director


Nicky is an award-winning creative producer and consultant working in audio and technology. Nicky began her career


making radio shows for BBC networks and commercial platforms. Subse- quently she produced a number of bin- aural audio iPhone games, and recently consulted on audiobooks for Pan Mac- millan and The British Library. Nicky also created an interactive radio drama for Google Home and Amazon Alexa.


@birchos


Kirsten Campbell-Howes busuu


Head of education


Kirsten started out as an English teacher in China, and moved into designing and building edtech prod- ucts nearly 20 years ago.


Currently she runs the education department at busuu, working on con- tent and product design for its 70 mil- lion language learners. She is an advo- cate of intelligent blends of traditional teaching methodologies with cutting- edge technologies, and feels privileged to work in such an interesting and rewarding industry.


@campbellhowes FutureBook | 1st December 2017


Nick Barreto Canelo


Co-founder/technology director


Nick works where books and technology intersect. He has managed and built apps and is an expert on e-book formats, metadata


and workflows. Nick is one of the co- founders of Canelo, and works as its technology director.


@nickbarreto


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