Digital Scene – KC: Print to Digital

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Join us on Thursday, July 11th from 5:00 – 6:30 p.m. for our networking event: DIGITAL SCENE KC: Print to Digital! Visit Andrews McMeel Universal and meet their talented staff. Enjoy an evening of making connections and exploring the future of media! Mingle with fellow industry professionals while experiencing the company’s diverse content across print and digital formats. From iconic comics to captivating books and innovative digital experiences, this event promises a unique opportunity to network and discover the ever-evolving world of Andrews McMeel Universal. This event is a great opportunity for any digital media professional to connect, share ideas, and gain valuable insights.

Connect with KC area digital media professionals in a casual, happy hour event while you learn more about what’s going on in KC with game development and XR games.

• Enjoy free food and drink
• Network with other KC area digital media professionals and digital media educators
• Meet with some of KC’s best web development & design practitioners
• Learn how Crema incorporates strategy, design, engineering and growth principles in developing business solutions

Who Can Attend?

Digital media professionals and digital media educators. (Sorry, no students under 21 as beer & wine will be served).
This event is free, but you must REGISTER to attend.

Guest Exhibitors

Welcoming remarks will be made by Kirsty Melville, President & CEO of Andrew McMeel Universal.  In addition to this, several experts from Andrews McMeel Universal will be on hand to answer your questions about their work in the print and digital domains:

Jasmine Lim is the Production Editor for Print and Digital at Andrews McMeel Universal (AMU). As a digital publishing specialist, she converts print files into engaging e-books, both reflowable and fixed. Her work ensures that readers enjoy high-quality digital experiences.

Rachel DeSchepper is the Lead Content Strategist at AMU.  She started her career in print magazines, writing direct-to-layout and working months in advance to meet print deadlines. That evolved to her first digital job, where she essentially copy/pasted print stories onto this thing called the Internet. Sixteen years later, she’s still creating content that complements print (comics, puzzles)—but today, what’s considered “content” has evolved into apps, games, video, audio, social media, newsletters, and much more.

Kendra Stiles is the Director of Syndication Sales & Operations at AMU.  She oversees the teams that produce and sell Andrews McMeel Syndication content — comics, advice columns and puzzles — both digitally and for print publication. This team creates print-ready files, then converts them to additional digital formats and then distributes them to clients and consumers around the world.

Emily Folks is the Sales Director of Publishing at AMU. Her main responsibility involves partnering with Amazon to effectively promote and sell AMU’s range of books and calendars. One of the main challenges they face while selling products on Amazon is how to persuade consumers to buy their products without the opportunity to physically examine them beforehand. To address this, they are dedicated to optimizing their metadata to maximize product visibility and increase the likelihood of turning browsers into buyers.

Chris Waldron is the Chief Digital Officer for AMU.  He is responsible for leading both technical solutions and digital products at Andrews McMeel Universal.  He is constantly thinking about how to deliver content originally conceived for the printed page, either for newspapers or books, to readers on digital platforms, along with building new business models around that content.

Susan Hosking is a Senior Technical Director at AMU.  Susan champions the Digital Technology department at Andrews McMeel Universal, collaborating closely with software engineers and infrastructure specialists to navigate the intricacies of transforming and delivering content from traditional print to digital mediums.

Kelsey LaHederer is a Contract Administrator at AMU.  For the last year or two she has worked with intellectual property such as comics, puzzles, and advice columns as they shift from a predominantly print media format to the digital realm. This experience, from trademark filings to SoW reviews, has deepened her understanding of the legal implications related to creators and their Intellectual Property.

Jane Turner is a Senior Production Manager at Andrews McMeel Universal.  Digital Features Services and Andrews McMeel Pagination Service are part of Andrews McMeel Syndication. DFS prepares comics, puzzles, games, columns and other features to specified sizes and formats and digitally posts the files for newspaper clients to download. AMPS produces and digitally posts fully paginated, print-ready PDFs for newspaper clients; custom-built to their specifications and includes content from AMS as well as other syndicates.

Charlie Upchurch is the Senior Editor & Producer of Audiobooks at AMU. Her background is in broadcast radio, including stints in voiceover, on-air announcing at Kansas City’s local NPR affiliate, and commercial production. She has been heading up audiobook editorial and production at AMU since 2019, turning humor, self-help, poetry, and children’s titles into engaging and absorbing listening experiences. She also acquires print titles for publishing wing, focusing on podcast creators.

About Our Host:

Andrews McMeel Universal is an independent, global media company that partners with and supports a world-class roster of creative and diverse talent. Through publishing, syndication, entertainment and interactive experiences, they connect audiences to universal messages of truth, humor and hope that have the power to connect people and change lives.

This event is part of the DIGITAL SCENE KC series and is sponsored by: