Frankfurt Book Fair: More knowledge… inspiration… networking

The countdown for Frankfurt Book Fair 2014 has begun, which will be held from October 8-12, 2014. An update.

The Frankfurt Book Fair is the international publishing industry’s biggest trade fair – with 7,300 exhibitors from more than 100 countries, around 2,75,000 visitors, over 3,700 events and around 9,000 accredited journalists in attendance. It also gathers key players from other media, including the film and games industries. Since 1976, the Book Fair has featured an annual Guest of Honour country, which showcases its book market, literature and culture to attendees in a variety of ways. The Frankfurt Book Fair organises the participation of German publishers at around 20 international book fairs and hosts trade events throughout the year in major international markets. With the establishment of the Frankfurt Book Fair Business Club, the Frankfurt Book Fair now offers entrepreneurs, publishers, company founders, pioneers, experts and visionaries the ideal setting for conducting business.

Situated at the heart of the Book Fair in Hall 4.0, the Business Club of the Frankfurt Book Fair will offer its members a comprehensive range of valuable services and a brand new way to experience the Book Fair. With its flexible range of conferences, consultation sessions, networking formats and lounges, the Business Club shall provide its members inspiration, guidance and a space where new business ideas can flourish. Every day at the Business Club will start with a Business Breakfast and end with a get-together. In between, they will introduce visitors to future business partners via networking and pitching formats. The Business Club is geared towards dialogue – and enables exchange on a level playing field.

It will also offer guided tours, where professionals and experts will walk visitors through the most exhilarating trends and innovative projects at the Frankfurt Book Fair. The Business Club programme will feature high-quality presentations, workshops and master classes, along with three conferences: the Rights Directors Meeting and CONTEC on October 07, 2014, and StoryDrive on October 10, 2014.

Finland makes Frankfurt cool

Uncomplicated, creative and cuttingly “cool” – this is how Finland, this year’s Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair will be present. This will be in addition to 130 publications in German, bringing more than 50 authors from almost all genres of literature to Germany, Austria and Switzerland to sustainably present literature from Finland. New, brave, crazy and surprising are the attributes that will distinguish the Guest of Honour’s appearance in 2014. Finland.Cool. is the motto, the focus of which is on Finnish literature and reading. But also numerous art events and exhibitions shall be representing Finland.

“Literature belongs to everyone and should be accessible everywhere. Therefore we are also bringing Finnish literature and books to Frankfurt, to the literature centres of the city, in urban saunas, private apartments and clubs. We have even organised a saunamobil in cooperation with the Finnish Goethe Institute,” stated Iris Schwanck, director of FILI (Finnish Literature Exchange) and manager of the honorary guest’s appearance in Frankfurt.

“What fascinates me about the Finnish guest appearance is the ease and also the consistency with which Finland presents its education and culture as an inseparable unit”, says Juergen Boos, director of the Frankfurt Book Fair. “As the first Guest of Honour country the Finns are also organising a national stand in the education area in Hall 4.2. To me this attitude signalises the greatest confidence in the future of Finnish society and also respect for their tradition. We are receiving a “lesson” in the best sense of the word.”

Finnish authors shall be not only present in city of Frankfurt, they shall also be appearing at around 25 literature festivals and other events in German-speaking countries. One of the literary highlights in Frankfurt is definitely an evening with Finnish-Estonian bestselling author Sofi Oksanen (When the Doves Disappeared) on October 8, at the Schauspiel Frankfurt.

All-media conference…

The international all-media conference Frankfurt StoryDrive will celebrate its fifth anniversary during the Frankfurt Book Fair with a special focus on “Heroes”. Since the launch of the conference in October 2010, 150 speakers have gathered with a total of around 1,500 attendees from 10 countries to redefine the art of storytelling and build crucial momentum for the media business of tomorrow. Since 2012, this successful concept has also been held in Asia in the form of StoryDrive Asia.

With the “Heroes Edition”, StoryDrive celebrates the heroes in and behind the stories with a special focus on those who bring stories to life: the protagonists, as well as the authors and developers, directors and producers, publishers and TV networks, and, of course, the consumers.

As the first conference of its kind, Frankfurt StoryDrive has been bringing together professionals from the games, film, TV and publishing industries on a level playing field since 2010. “There will always be good stories. What’s changing is the way they’re being told. And professionals from a variety of media and entertainment industries can learn a lot from each other here, and inspire each other”, says Britta Friedrich, director of events and programmes at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

In 2014, StoryDrive will once again foster dialogue between speakers and audience members, uncensored and up close and personal. To make this possible, StoryDrive will once again feature a discussion arena that will encourage the speakers and audience members to interact directly with each other. This year, for the first time, StoryDrive will be part of the Frankfurt Book Fair’s new Business Club (Hall 4.0).