This is part 7 of the Travels with Terence series, following our digital projects editor on his pilot press in-person training program. Last week Terence was ensconced at home in Minneapolis at the heart of the polar vortex, learning first hand what a wind chill of fifty below felt like. This week he fled journeyed to Kingston, Jamaica to meet with the good folks from the University of the West Indies Press, where the Manifold program is being led by the press's management team: Joseph B. Powell, General Manager; Nadine Buckland, Finance Manager; and Donna Muirhead, Marketing and Sales Manager.

Terence writes:

I had never been to Jamaica before, and I was struck by the warmth and welcome of the Jamaican people from the moment I stepped off the plane. Every interaction wasn't just well mannered, it was earnestly friendly and engaging. Mr. McKenzie, who picked me up from the airport, was a fast friend. Moments after we met we were joking and laughing as if we were old friends reconnecting. And as we drove through the city he was often being hailed by others on the street or in traffic with quick hellos and well wishes.

That first interaction underscored the dominant theme that emerged from the two days of training at UWI: building relationships and community. As we worked through the different discussion sections, our conversations blossomed from questions rooted in ways to supply the community at large with a rich host of local materials —from dissertations and lecture series, to events around book launches that draw celebrated figures from the area, to focused events oriented around faculty, like the university's Research Days, which were just starting up as I was leaving.

Beyond Manifold, as Joseph and Nadine graciously toured me through campus, community remained at the heart of our conversations. We talked about how important the AUP community is to scholarly publishing and as a resource to share knowledge and expertise among its members. We sat with department heads at the outdoor faculty club, where world-renowned experts from different fields can share a drink and exchange ideas in a relaxed environment. And as we made our way around, whether at the bookstore or the library, we saw how integral the press is to the university, with its books, its catalogs, notices of its events always on display. Just fantastic.

And absolutely energizing, because I feel like what we are doing with Manifold is very much in keeping with this spirit. We've created a platform that anyone can start using today, and we have a growing and vested community already exchanging ideas and setting up events and workshops around how best to leverage it in new and important ways. On the first day of training, not long after we began, Donna commented that at first it was a little difficult to parse my American accent, but that the younger generation of Jamaicans sounded just like me, that YouTube was working as a colonizing agent of language. Part of the reason we created Manifold was to help counteract that, decolonize publishing, and empower local communities to make it their own.

• Miles traveled: 4,174
• Banana bread breaks: 2
• Traffic Notes: If you've never been and are considering renting a car, don't. Take a taxi. Kingston's is next-level driving and not for the uninitiated.

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