Boston, MA, July 29, 2016 — The Independent Publishers Guild (IPG), a leading trade association for publishers, today announced a new partnership agreement with Thought Industries, one of the world’s fastest growing online learning companies. The IPG will leverage Thought Industries’ cloud-based platform to deliver online learning courses and professional skill development opportunities for its growing membership.
The new Skills Hub will build on the IPG’s current online training packages and will add significant value for its members. By partnering with Thought Industries, the IPG will now be able to deliver self-paced, interactive, and mobile-friendly business e-learning modules from leading tutors, geared towards helping members sharpen skills in key areas of publishing. Future projects and learning module development will be determined by a survey of IPG members’ priorities.
In the IPG’s recent Independent Publishing Report, members identified training and professional development as among their most pressing concerns, and the new Skills Hub will help keep publishers fully trained and educated. The project is being funded by the Tim Rix Training Program, an initiative set up in honor of the IPG’s late former president and renowned publisher, and will be available free of charge as part of its membership package.
Thought Industries and its cloud-based Learning Business Platform will enable the IPG to deliver customized online experiences and much more. By leveraging the consolidated feature-set which the platform provides including web page creation, built-in drag and drop course authoring tools and in-depth reporting and analytics, the IPG will now be able to quickly build new learning sites and course modules, and also track a variety of user engagement metrics.
“We are thrilled to be opening up new educational opportunities for our members to make their businesses even better,” said IPG chief executive Bridget Shine, “And we’re excited to be working with Thought Industries to help us provide accessible, user-friendly and engaging learning experiences. We are really looking forward to launching our first modules.”
“Associations and member-based organizations are well positioned to leverage their subject-matter expertise in order to promote online education and training opportunities,” said Doug Murphy, President of Thought Industries, “We’re excited to see IPG take an innovative approach to enhancing its membership offerings through online learning and are looking forward to a long-term and successful partnership.”
The Independent Publishers Guild (IPG) helps publishers to do better business and become part of a community that shares advice, benefits and information. It gives independent companies the support they need to get the most out of publishing and keep their businesses growing. Membership is currently at an all-time high of more than 600 companies of all shapes, from one-person operations to medium sized companies to international heavyweights, operating in all sectors of publishing. Learn more at http://www.ipg.uk.com.