Earlier this month, I attended my first conference with Island Press: the Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting in Baltimore, MD. As the sales associate, part of my role here is to coordinate the Island Press conference presence, such as the booth appearance, the books we have on sale, and our promotional materials. After only a few months on the job, it was lucky that my first conference was almost local—just one train ride and a free, local bus ride away. (Free bus! I stored this exciting bit of trivia for the Built Environment editors.)I was surprised and pleased to find that there were many other publishers represented at the ESA conference. I enjoyed meeting the other publishers, learning from their approaches, and checking out some of their books. The University of California Press featured a large book with a vibrant, blue cover photo of a humpback whale—I couldn’t take my eyes away!
While selling books from the booth, I had the opportunity to talk to many attendees, who ranged from professionals, to students, to people who were just interested in ecological issues. The huge exhibition hall quickly filled up with people from many backgrounds.
But at a conference mostly populated by scientists, the book that flew off the Island Press shelf the most was Don’t Be Such a Scientist. I saw eyes immediately grab onto the provocative title. One college student held a copy in her hands and debated if she should use her $20 bill to buy lunch, or buy the book. Other books on topics like climate change, plant intelligence, and conservation drew attention too, but the thing ESA attendees overwhelmingly wanted to know was how to stop being such a scientist. Who would have guessed it?
