Price: Free (pre-booked ticket required; limited seats available)
Opening Remarks:
Jas Rai, Chief Operating Officer, The British Library
Jas Rai currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer at the British Library, where she is responsible for the Library's strategic and operational delivery, including its capital programmes.
Previously, Jas was the Director of People at the British Library. Before joining the British Library, Jas was the Global Head of Talent & Development at Sony's Tokyo headquarters, where she contributed to shaping the company’s global talent strategy.
Jas is also committed to sustainability and societal impact and serves as a trustee at Bore Place, Commonwork Trust. She combines her passion for people, nature, and education to support initiatives that drive positive change in the community.
Hou Xiaonan, Chief Executive Officer and President of Yuewen, Vice President of Tencent’s Platform and Content Group
Mr. Hou Xiaonan currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer and President of Yuewen, as well as the Vice President of Tencent’s Platform and Content Group. Mr. Hou joined Tencent in 2003 and has held various management positions in businesses including Mobile QQ, Qzone, Tencent Open Platform, YingYongBao, Qingteng and Penguin Media Content Platform, playing a key role in Tencent’s open ecosystem strategy. After joining Yuewen in 2020, he led the development of the "Yuewen Plus" strategy and championed the upgrade of the company's mission and vision. He deepened the operation of the IP ecosystem with continuous release of blockbusters in multiple formats including online literature, comics and animation, film and television series, games and merchandise.
Chair of the Panel:
Caroline Brown, Director of Commercial, The British Library
Caroline is the Commercial Director at the British Library and has worked in cultural commercial roles for the past 20 years.
Caroline leads a dedicated team who have developed a strong commercial brand both in the UK and internationally, and who contribute to the British Library strategy 'Knowledge Matters' by increasing brand awareness and financial resilience
Prior to joining the library in 2012 Caroline was the Head of Commerce at Royal Museums Greenwich - home to the National Maritime Museum, Royal Observatory, Queens House the famous tea clipper 'Cutty Sark'.
Speakers:
Richard Pooley, Director of The Conan Doyle Estate and Step Great Grandson of Arthur Conan Doyle
Richard spent most of his career working for, and ultimately running, an international management training company.
For the past 16 years he has run the Conan Doyle Estate Ltd – www.conandoyleestate.com - on behalf of the beneficiaries of the will of his step-grandmother, Dame Jean Conan Doyle. CDEL manages the Doyle family’s literary, merchandising and advertising rights in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s works and characters. Its main goals are to bring Doyle out from the shadow of his greatest fictional creation, Sherlock Holmes, and to work with publishers, tv and film companies and others to breathe new life into all his characters.
Ian Cooke, Head of Contemporary British & Irish Publications, The British Library
At the Library, Ian leads the curatorial team responsible for 21st century publications from the UK and Ireland. This covers print and digital work, including the UK Web Archive and digital mapping. Last year, Ian was co-curator on the Library's Digital Storytelling exhibition, which showcased examples of innovative use of mobile and online technology in creating new stories. He has supervised PhD projects on online environments for reader and author interaction and on web comics.
Susan Li, General Manager of Marketing and Public Relations, Yuewen Group
Susan Li is the General Manager of Marketing and Public Relations of Yuewen Group, she is committed to promoting and building Yuewen’s brand influence as well as its IP marketing in the global market.
She has more than 15 years of experience in market public relations and management. She has held senior management positions in brand marketing, channel marketing and public relations for leading Internet companies such as Meitu and Dianping.
Yan ZK, Writer
Yan ZK is a prolific writer for Yuewen. He is a leading writer of online literature, and is known as the 'King of Suspense and Fantasy’. He was featured on the 2022 China Internet Literature Influencer List and Newcomer List.
Yan’s works include "The Museum of Demon Busters" (镇妖博物馆), "I, Immortal Hero" (我为长生仙) and "Order of Peace" (太平令). He has published more than 10 million characters worth of works, and is excellent at structuring works in the form of anthology series.
