Conference planning is a key responsibility of the marketing team and since many of the conferences we attend fall in early Spring, we need to begin the planning process for these events in December of the prior year. We have always physically attended 10-15 exhibitions a year, but this cluster in April requires exceptional planning and a degree of compromise, not least because we have just finished the follow up from the London Book Fair, but also because there are only so many marketing team members available to manage our stands. So, in the past we’d alternate meetings, arrange unmanned stands, or similar.
But by December 2025 the University Press team had reached full capacity, with 7 full-time dedicated marketing colleagues, bringing a combined experience of 147 conferences under their belt to the table. Finally, the conditions were right to break our previous record of three simultaneous exhibits!
It started with the Society for Latin American Studies Annual Conference (SLAS), The Classical Association (UK) Annual Conference (CA) and Association for Art History Conference (AAH) all taking place locally for various colleagues in Cambridge, Manchester and Leeds. Then came the British Association for American Studies Conference (BAAS). We work with 53 American UPs making it an obvious fit. The BAAS team are incredibly collaborative; I’ve wanted us to attend in person again for years and the time had finally come.
Finally, the British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies Conference (BASEES) shared their booking form, the first meeting hosted by their new events team, The Crane Event taking over from Suzy Howes in a new location, Birmingham. A quick check of the annual leave calendar and it was booked. 5 meetings covering 5 days. We were set to break our record!
The Society for Latin American Studies Conference, Leeds 9-10th April 2026
Between 8-12th April, 511 different titles will be made available for sale, 51 different publishers will be represented. Better yet, 20 of those publishers will feature at three or more events at the same time. Our stands will also boast books by 4 keynote speakers covering two meetings and several titles from panellists and chairs:
- Sinéad Moynihan, Mia Bay, Simon P. Newman, Myka Tucker-Abramson, Andrew Monteith and David Ballantyne at BAAS
- Chika Okeke-Agulu at AAH.
- Anna Calori, Ian Garner, Mario Biagioli, and Félix Krawatzek at BASEES
- Paulo Drinot at SLAS
BAAS is also set to host a Roundtable organised in collaboration with MNG – 1776 Book Discussion Roundtable (Boyd Orr D) – featuring a further three MNG UP books, Scholasticism in the Colonial Colleges, Historians on Hamilton and The Art of Retreat Domestic Romanticisms in the Early United States. Whilst McGill-Queen’s University Press author, Abigail Harrison Moore will be awarded the AAH Fellowship.
The Classical Association Conference, Manchester 10-12th April
Over the past 15 years, and certainly since the pandemic, exhibition costs have skyrocketed, rising in some exceptional cases by as much as 400%. Thankfully however, many conference organisers are prepared to negotiate, recognising the value we bring to the event.
Internally, we often debate the value of conferences. They are certainly one of the largest marketing investments we make over the year and we never cover the combined cost of the stand, hotels and general expenses. Moreover, organising and attending conferences is incredibly labour intensive and they pull key team members away from the other valuable marketing work we do.
The Association for Art History Conference, Cambridge 8-10th April 2026
Indeed, as pressure builds on UP budgets we know that our UP client publishers also have similar internal debates, often regarding which department’s budget should absorb the exceptional cost. We know that even before 2020, there had been noises questioning the value of publishers attending academic meetings with a stand displaying books. Some major previous co-exhibitors will now just send an acquisitions editor to hover at casual meeting tables, navigating catching prospective authors without a natural base. Publishers that would previously send a team and take multiple tables have reduced their presence or failed even to attend at all.
The British Association for American Studies Conference, Glasgow 9-11th April 2026
However, at MNG we have remained determined to resist this trend. Getting out of the office to meet with academics is an essential part of what we do, and with every press that joins us, we gain further economies of scale to make attendance at these conferences possible. Beyond onsite sales, we are able to speak with the academics interested in our client’s books, ask them questions and feedback to our publishers. We also get the opportunity to meet authors, gather mailing list subscribers, and generate brand awareness. As a team we find it an incredibly valuable experience and always return from an event energised by the interest in our client’s books and the conversations we have had.
The British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies Conference, Birmingham 10-12th April 2026
This year’s record-breaking feat would not have been possible without the committed University Press team, but we also owe thanks and appreciation to our wider MNG colleagues. In the face of promotions and injury, marketing team members from other divisions stepped up to attend both BAAS in Glasgow and CA in Manchester. It was a collaborative, collective effort that our new scale has enabled and I feel reassured we will be able to continue to rely on each other’s support and expertise whenever the need arises.