GeoScienceWorld provides an independent society‐driven collaborative publishing model that provides the benefits of scale to societies. A mix of society oversight and business independence allows for decisions and strategies that balance mission with commerce. Being flexible and adaptive is crucial to ensure business sustainability and continued alignment with society objectives. Programme expansion is necessary to meet changing needs but needs to be mindful of existing in‐house and outsourced resources. Collaborative programmes need to leverage the collective strength and expertise of partners alongside capable, agile, and entrepreneurial staff.

As publishers and vendors offer more electronic resources, the number of licenses that have to be negotiated and executed increase proportionally. Libraries and publishers often have conflicting goals, making the successful outcome of a license negotiation difficult to obtain. A small group of licensing professionals gathered for a frank, open discussion of the terms and conditions that are important to each side, thereby opening the channels of communication on a larger scale. The discussion panel consisted of three academic librarians and two publisher representatives; the moderator is an academic librarian and a member of the Shared Electronic Resource Understanding (SERU) Working Group, as is one of the panelists. The goal of the session was for each side to come away with a greater understanding of the other's positions on key license points, as well as some strategies for arriving at compromises. The mission of SERU was discussed and promoted, creating more awareness on both sides of the table of the existence and usefulness of SERU as an alternative to the cumbersome license negotiation process.