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Platform Strategies 2023: Coopetition: Partnership Models for Independent Businesses

Industry consolidation, infrastructure complexity, the challenges of keeping up with new and ever-changing research policies and publishing models, and technological advancements and innovations, has left smaller and mid-sized organizations looking for options. This panel discussion showcased both established and emerging collaboratives and engaged in a conversation about the challenges faced by these constituencies, the consequences to the scholarly ecosystem if these audiences are lost, and the influence / importance of scale.

Allison Belan

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Director, Strategic Innovation and Services, Duke University Press

Allison C. Belan is the Director for Strategic Innovation and Services at Duke University Press. She leads strategic enterprise projects for the press and manages the information systems and technology portfolio. She acts as director of the Scholarly Publishing Collective and Project Euclid, two press-managed initiatives that provide hosting, distribution, and sales services to other mission-driven publishers.

Phoebe McMellon

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CEO, GeoScienceWorld

Phoebe McMellon is the CEO of GeoScienceWorld, a nonprofit collaborative and comprehensive resource for the geosciences community and an essential partner to 40+ earth and planetary science society publishers. Phoebe is a results-oriented business leader with over 20 years’ experience working in the public, private and non-profit sectors in the US and abroad. She holds a B.S. in Geology from Long Island University and a M.Sc. in Geology from the University of Canterbury, where she attended on a Fulbright Scholarship. Phoebe spent the early part of her career working as a hydrogeologist and water resources scientist. Prior to GeoScienceWorld, Phoebe was Director of Commercial Strategy, Marketing and Partnerships at Elsevier. During her tenure at Elsevier, she worked in a variety of commercial-facing roles in product management, business development, marketing, and strategy, specifically in business units where partnerships and aggregation of content, data and information were critical growth strategies. She currently serves on the Datapages Board of Directors and has held a variety of elected and volunteer positions in a number of non-profit organizations.

Veronica Showers

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VP, Customer Success, Silverchair

Veronica is the VP of Customer Success with more than 15 years of experience in the scholarly publishing industry. She specializes in content hosting, peer review, and production technologies. She excels at listening to publishers to evaluate their workflow needs and collaboratively develops creative and forward-thinking solutions. Veronica combines her passion for technology, deep industry expertise, dedication to customer satisfaction, and analytical mindset to drive exceptional results. As an industry speaker and leader, Veronica has made significant contributions to organizations such as the Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP), the Council of Science Editors (CSE), and the International Society of Managing and Technical Editors (ISMTE). In her spare time, she enjoys adventures with her twins and indulges in anything SciFi.

Wendy Queen

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Director, Project Muse

Wendy Queen is the Director of Project MUSE at Johns Hopkins University Press. She began her career focusing on the intersection of human interaction and technology. With a background in the humanities and a Masters in Information Arts and Technologies, Wendy first joined MUSE in a technical role. Through the years and many positions at MUSE, her leadership and contributions have ensured that MUSE continues to innovate across its platform and business models for the benefit of its partner publishers. Wendy has served on boards and committees for COUNTER, AAP, CrossRef, NISO, AUPresses and ALPSP. She serves on the Scholarly Communications Steering Group at Johns Hopkins University and is a member of the executive leadership at JHU Press.