The iBooks Author Conference is an annual gathering of the user community of Apple's iBooks Author digital content creation software, including educators, creative professionals, marketing professionals, entrepreneurs, corporate trainers, self-published authors, and many others. "The iBAs," the awards recognizing achievement in iBooks Author production, are part of the iBooks Author Conference and recognize books and individuals from around the world.
The 2015 iBooks Author Conference took place at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee with Apple, NASA, Southwest, HCA, and other large companies in attendance. Keynote speakers for the inaugural iBooks Author Conference included Kelly Gabrysch, Director of Digital Publishing at Trailer Park Los Angeles, Dr. Julia Maurer of Mercersburg Academy (PA), and the co-creators of The Mozart Project, an interactive book created used iBooks Author.
The 2016 iBooks Author Conference took place at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center on October 6–7, 2016. The keynote was provided by Southwest Airlines, which uses iBooks Author to create their company-wide training curriculum (called "Southwest Airlines University"). Apple was the largest attendees of the conference, with an entire international business unit attending.
The 2017 iBooks Author Conference has been announced for October 12–13, 2017, on the campus of Vanderbilt University. The keynote will be provided by NASA, which has used iBooks Author extensively and most recently to create the multi-touch book Destination: Jupiter, which tells the story of the successful Juno mission. Southwest Airlines, the newest major sponsor of the event, will provide a reception for attendees during the event.