Faber & Faber, which describes itself as one of the last of the great independent publishing houses in London, recently launched an academy for aspiring writers. The Faber Academy's inaugural creative writing course will take place from October 9-12 at Shakespeare & Company, the fabled English bookstore in Paris. Novelist Tobias Hill will be teaching a four-day course that focuses on "How to Tell a Story Without Telling Your Readers What to Think," with Jeanette Winterson joining in for a two-part seminar on authenticity and voice in fiction. The course costs GBP 500 excluding travel and accommodation (but including lunch) and tickets were sold out within days of going on sale. A second course—also taught by Tobias Hill--will be held in London from October 30-November 2, and the publisher plans to organize future sessions in Dublin, Edinburgh and Berlin.

Viewed through a consumer trends lens, the Faber Academy is a clear example of what trendwatching.com dubbed status skills: "In economies that increasingly depend on (and thus value) creative thinking and acting, well-known status symbols tied to owning and consuming goods and services will find worthy competition from status skills: those skills that consumers are mastering to make the most of those same goods and services, bringing them status by being good at something, and the story telling that comes with it." Other successful examples include the Nikon School and the BMW Performance Driving School.

By helping aspiring novelists hone their writing skills under the tuition of its well-known authors, Faber & Faber builds a stronger connection with its core customers (participants are likely to be readers and good customers), and promotes powerful word of mouth marketing, since participants will no doubt be eager to share their Faber Academy experience with friends and family. All of which is great PR for Faber & Faber, and emphasizes their dedication to writing and writers, as opposed to mega-publishers who often seem solely focused on the bottom line. Last but not least, the courses could provide a welcome additional stream of revenue. If your brand isn't already boosting its customers' talents and abilities, this is one to learn from ;-) (Related: Out-of-print books, printed on demand by Faber Finds.)

Website: www.faber.co.uk/academy
Contact: patrickk@faber.co.uk

Roughly 17 million air passengers travel through Paris during the summer, presenting the city's airports with a significant logistical challenge. To keep tempers cool and spirits high this year, the Aeroports de Paris implemented an unconventional plan: free dance lessons for passengers.

Much like the free light therapy the airports offered over the winter holidays--which we covered back in January--summertime passengers can use their wait time at the airport to learn any one of 15 dances offered by the airport's resident trainers from "L'Ecole des Vacances," including Afro Jazz, Disco, Hip Hop, Mambo, Modern Jazz, Rock & Roll, Salsa, Samba, Tango, Cha-Cha and more. Music and trainer instructions are broadcast through cordless headsets so as to minimize the disturbance to other passengers, and lessons last 10 to 15 minutes each. At Paris-Orly, they take place on a dance floor in terminal South at boarding gate 17, with roving workshops also available in the boarding area at Paris-Orly West. At Paris-Charles de Gaulle, the dance floor is located in terminal 2E, gate E51, with itinerant workshops in Terminals 3 and 2F. Dance floors were designed by the Aeroports de Paris boutiques. Classes are available each summer weekend between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. through August 17th.

There's nothing quite like free love to elevate consumers' moods, particularly when it includes a dash of sympvertising to relieve the stress of travelling and provides some status skills to boot. No doubt the airport boutiques will benefit, but another possible scenario could involve the sponsorship of such an effort by a local dance studio chain. Either way, one to emulate in any travel or hotel context!

Website: www.aeroportsdeparis.fr/Adp/fr-FR/Passagers/Departs/Evenement
Contact: www.aeroportsdeparis.fr/Adp/en-GB/Passagers/Contact/contact.htm

Spotted by: RK

Textbooks have long made up an all-too-significant proportion of college students' annual costs, currently approaching an average of USD 1,000 per year in the US, according to Make Textbooks Affordable. General outcry has ensued, but a new experiment from publisher Flat World Knowledge just may provide a new--and ad-free--solution.

Beginning this month and continuing through the Fall 2008 semester, Flat World Knowledge is conducting a beta test in which it is offering four different textbooks online for free to hundreds of students at 15 colleges and universities across the United States. The texts are from the areas of business and economics, and will replace traditional textbooks in a single class or class section at each participating institution. Not only will students have free online access to the expert-written, peer-reviewed and professionally edited texts, but the texts will be open as well through a Creative Commons licensing scheme, giving faculty the ability to customize them as they wish for their classes.

Unlike other free text ventures out there--such as US-based Freeload Press and Danish Ventus Publishing, both of which have been covered by our sister site trendwatching.com--Flat World's business model doesn't depend on advertising. Instead, it offers affordable supplementary materials to students beyond the free online book, including printed, on demand textbooks for around USD 30; audio books for around USD 25; and downloadable and printable files by the chapter. Also available are low-priced study aids like podcast study guides, digital flash cards, interactive practice quizzes and more.

Eric Frank, Flat World's cofounder and chief marketing officer, explains: "The time has come for open textbooks. This new model of textbook publishing will result in increased choices and dramatically lower costs for students. It can enhance learning by giving instructors more control over content, and by leveraging the power of social learning networks around content. Between the oligopolistic practices of the big publishers on one end of the spectrum--and piracy on the other--lies a better solution: open textbooks." Flat World plans to collect feedback over the course of this semester-long test, and then commercially launch its concept worldwide in time for the Spring 2009 school period. The launch will feature an expanded product roster of eight textbooks, all focused initially on business and economics subjects. A total of 15 textbooks are currently under contract and in Flat World's pipeline.

Free and open software is already gaining ground in the world of technology, and now we have the possibility of a similar pattern in textbook publishing. There's no doubt cash-strapped college students love free love, as has already been shown with photocopies, notepaper and notebooks. Will this one take hold? You can bet there are countless students hoping so. One to watch! (Related: Textbook rental for college students.)

Website: www.flatworldknowledge.com
Contact: eric@flatworldknowledge.com

Spotted by: Flemming Birch

A few months ago, we featured a startup focused on helping people find classes taught by local teachers through an online marketplace. TeachStreet got off to a flying start in Seattle, where it won praise from both learners and teachers. Chris Lewis, a Seattle-area tennis coach: "TeachStreet drives my business. Last week I had 12 new students e-mail me asking to take lessons. I don't even do anything else to advertise my business anymore, yet my schedule is always full."

Time to roll out in a second city: TeachStreet launched in Portland, Oregon yesterday. The site now features more than 55,000 teachers, trainers, tutors, instructors, coaches and classes in the Pacific Northwest, 25,000 of which are in the Portland area. Besides offering existing instructors an alternative to advertising on Craigslist and bulletin boards, TeachStreet aims to unearth hidden teaching talent. Convinced that everyone is an expert in something--"You have a hidden talent for beer-brewing, pie-baking or parenting and wouldn't mind showing off your mad skills by inviting folks out to your backyard, your kitchen, or local coffee shop"--TeachStreet encourages everyday experts to list a class, either as a jumping off point for a new career or side business, or as a way to meet new friends with shared interests.

Which reminds us of status skills, a trend defined by our sister-site trendwatching.com, which explains how a growing number of consumers are gleaning status from mastering skills. TeachStreet is prompting them to transfer those skills to others in a semi-professional manner. Sounds like an instant boost in status! ;-)

Website: www.teachstreet.com
Contact: www.teachstreet.com/contact-us

Earlier this summer we wrote about Now Play It, a UK-based site that uses artist-led video instruction to teach music fans to play their favourite pop and rock songs. Now, focusing on a different niche, a similar site based in New York targets professional classical and jazz musicians with a wide range of expert-taught lessons.

Mucony offers video music lessons taught by some of the world’s finest classical and jazz artists. All the major instruments are represented, along with lessons in voice, history and theory, and teaching faculty hail from such prestigious institutions as the New York Philharmonic and Metropolitan Opera orchestras. A lesson for pianists on Schumann's Canaval op .9, for example, spans 30 minutes, while baritones can learn about pronouncing vowels through a 27-minute lesson; pricing for each is USD 5. In the next few weeks Mucony plans to relaunch with a new format that adds a raft of community features as well, the site says. Included among them will be job listings, master classes, live performances, a forum, downloadable music for sale and lessons for beginners.

Making top-level instruction more widely accessible can only please musicians, and the upcoming addition of community elements promises to complete the picture. One to replicate in the other arts as well, or any place practitioners can benefit from the guidance of experts.

Website: www.mucony.com
Contact: cs@mucony.com

Spotted by: Steve Andreacchi