When I was in graduate school studying journalism, we created a special insert into the Columbia Missourian called Vision 2020. I don’t recall now what stories we published, but as you might expect, it was trying to envision what Columbia, Missouri, would look like in 2020. This was 2003, and 2020 seemed so far off. Now, it’s only months away.
I felt the same way when the Prince song “1999” came out. When that came out in 1982, it seemed like the world would be a much different place in 1999. And it was…but not as much in the way we expected. We thought for sure there would flying cars by 1999, for example.
As we approach 2020, still no flying cars. But we do have cars that drive themselves, so I suppose that’s something.
I’m thinking about all this because WMG just announced its 2020 Vegas Workshops schedule.
We have three craft workshops, our annual anthology workshop (which is where we buy some of our Fiction River and Pulphouse stories), and the annual Business Master Class, which is where some of the best minds in the publishing business look at where we are in the industry and what’s on the horizon.
You can read more about the 2020 workshop schedule here.
And don’t forget, if you want to sign up for the 2019 Business Master Class, you still have time (although it’s filling up fast). And there’s still a couple spots in the fall craft workshop. Sign up here for the Master Class and here for the Romance Workshop.
And, of course, our online lectures and workshops are available year-round. You can check those out here.
So, go check them out. If I’ve learned anything, it’s that we all need to keep learning and growing; because you never can predict where the future might lead you.
Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer.