About Global Rights Exchange
The Bologna Global Rights Exchange (GRE) is a yearly event that is open to publishers, scouts, literary agents, licensing agencies, developers, licensors, licensees, audio-visual producers, services, and promotions. It’s dedicated exclusively to international rights content, licensing, and distribution. Visitors and exhibitors come from all over the world to sell or buy book rights. Because of the pandemic, the event had to be moved online.
Need
Exhibitors and visitors need to be able to join the GRE virtual show and communicate with each other to effectively do business, such as sell book rights. For this to happen, a platform has to be built for exhibitors and visitors. The biggest challenge was gathering user data during a pandemic situation and guiding users on how to use the platform, as most of them have never been to a virtual fair before.
Solution
Pulse Solutions provided the technology needed by exhibitors and visitors to attend the virtual show. Here is an overview of those facilities:
- Translation for Chat: Users can use the chat function in several different languages, either for 121 or in group chat.
- Instant Video Meetings: Exhibitors can instantly click a button to access the video chat without scheduling a Zoom-type video meeting. Screen sharing is also available within this feature.
- Exhibitor Meeting Invitations: All GRE exhibitors get unlimited passes to invite non-GRE registered publishers and agents to attend meetings and use the platform for up to 24 hours.
- The Bologna Licensing Trade Fair/Kids: The BLTF/Kids area was launched in 2021 and it includes the search criteria for licensing specific types of brands, age levels, and more. This special licensing “virtual” zone is a place for learning what’s new in licensing brands and properties.
Pulse Solutions also provided these new features for the virtual fair:
- The BolognaBookPlus (BBPlus): This was soft-launched in 2021 and is taking place as a physical fair in 2022. BBPlus extends its reach through Global Rights Exchange to provide rights trading opportunities across general trade publishers and agents.
- Blog: A new feature for 2022 that lets Global Rights Exchange host its own blog to share key trends, international industry news, and interviews. Recommendations are welcome, as always!
- Live videos: Another new feature for 2022, Global Rights Exchange now has the opportunity to live-stream content and play it through its platform.
For almost 60 years, the Bologna Children’s Book Fair has been a consistent meeting place for the children’s book industry. It’s a global marketplace to sell and buy book rights.
The virtual Bologna Global Rights Exchange was launched in March 2020 because the pandemic made it necessary to cancel the physical event. But from the start, it represented a much larger project. It’s not merely a digital alter ego of the fair. It is also a useful tool that publishing professionals can use throughout the year.
The virtual Global Rights Exchange is the jewel in the crown among the many digital activities that BCBF has put in place since March 2020. It offers publishers the opportunity to discuss, sell, and buy book rights with one another while reaching a broader and more articulated target audience.
Content reigns supreme and moves easily from books to other media and other products. As a result, the Bologna Licensing Trade Fair/Kids was integrated into the GRE platform in 2021. For 2022, BBPlus-the new general trade brand extension of BCBF-has been integrated as well. The platform is now a wide-reaching tool that accurately reflects the business environment of the physical fairs. GRE is available all year round, giving exhibitors the chance to use it to sell book rights and do other activities outside traditional fair calendars.
Results
Many physical events-including trade fairs-had to be canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to the GRE platform developed by Pulse Solutions, the Bologna Global Rights Exchange was able to host a virtual fair. The platform is now used year-round to facilitate networking among publishers, literary agents, scouts, and other professionals in the field.
