iRex on summer campaign

iRex Technologies, the manufacturer of the iLiad digital paper reader is on campaign in The Netherlands. I recently mentioned that the public library of my home town Almere is renting out an iLiad to its member, now the Dutch association of public libraries is organising a meeting on May 21. Announcements for that meeting are:
- The newspapers de Volkskrant and NRC are working on putting the dailies online witjh ilLiad (already announced);
- The Mobi pocket catalogue is available for the iLiad with 40.000 titles in English, German, French and Spanish; just in time for the holidays! (see iRex site)
- The Dutch association of public libraries will put together a holiday case of e-books;
- Seven public libraries with subsidiaries on the beach will demonstrate the iLiad to the sun seekers.

Meeting:
Organisation: KIVA/iRex and ProBiblio
Location: ProBiblio, Hoofddorp (NL)
Date: 21 May2007
Time: 9.30h till 12.30h
For more info: evdmeer

(It is a good idea to promote e-books in the summer season. People read many books during the holidays and especially on the beach. But it reminds me of a marketing campaign of an encyclopedia company I worked for in the late seventies. The sales manager grounded all sales people (advisors you would call them these days) and told them to join the summer caravan organised by a broadcast station, which would broadcast from the beach. The sales people were supposed to sell the 25 volumes encyclopedia on the beach. Whenever they had a victim, they would invite him/her to the trailer and start the sales talk. There was the victim in swimming suit and the sales lad in summer outfit. In the end, when the victim was convinced, he/she was asked to sign an agreement. Officially under Dutch consumer law he/she would have another 8 days to reconsider. But by that time the agreement had been lost in the tent or camper!
Come to think of it: the encyclopedia was more expensive than an iLiad. The sales people sold more encyclopedias in 1977 and 1978 due to this beach campaigns; but after 1979 the whole Dutch print encyclopedia market crashed.)

Blog Posting Number: 744

Tags: iliad, digital paper, e-book, e-book reader