ABA Announces Impressive Roster of Wi3 Presenters

Next month's American Booksellers Association Third Annual Winter Institute (Wi3) will feature more than 35 veteran business professionals offering valuable insight at 24 education sessions on topics ranging from authorless events to green retailing to RFID technology. The two day education event, exclusively for ABA member booksellers, will include keynote addresses by Gary Hirshberg, president and CE-Yo of Stonyfield Farms; Danny Meyer, renowned restaurateur, entrepreneur, and president of the Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG); and Stacy Mitchell, senior researcher for the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) and Michael Shuman, vice president of enterprise development for the Training & Development Corporation and co-founder of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE).

"We are especially excited about the caliber of this year's Winter Institute presenters and keynote speakers," said Len Vlahos, ABA chief program officer. "Knowledge is power, and ABA believes our members will gain much from the breadth and depth of knowledge and veteran experience that each of our featured presenters and panelists bring to this year's event."

Educational programming begins on Friday morning, January 25, with a keynote address by USHG President Meyer, author of the Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business (HarperCollins). USHG includes New York City's Union Square Caf, Gramercy Tavern, Eleven Madison Park, Tabla, Blue Smoke, and Jazz Standard, among others. Each is a distinctive restaurant, distinguished by warm hospitality and consistent excellence. At Wi3's opening session, Meyer will share his insights about what it takes to create excellent customer service with ABA members. (Look for an interview with Meyer in the January 10 edition of Bookselling This Week)

Stonyfield Farms President and CE-Yo Gary Hirshberg, the author of Stirring It Up: How to Make Money and Save the World (Hyperion, January 2008), will be the featured speaker at the Friday lunch. For the past 25 years, Hirshberg has overseen the growth of Stonyfield Farm from a seven-cow start-up to the world's largest organic yogurt company while remaining true to the business' founding ideals of sustainability and a commitment to protecting the environment. The recipient of five honorary doctorates and numerous other awards, Hirshberg will share the unconventional wisdom that has made Stonyfield Farm an extremely successful business and placed it at the forefront of the movement to save the planet.

The Winter Institute's Saturday lunch will offer keynote addresses by professionals at the forefront of the Localism movement: Stacy Mitchell and Michael Shuman.

In addition to her role as senior researcher for the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Mitchell is a member of the board of directors of the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA) and author of Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America's Independent Businesses (Beacon) and The Hometown Advantage: How to Defend Your Main Street Against Chain Stores and Why It Matters (ILSR). She has traveled the country extensively to educate policy-makers and the public about the economic and social importance of locally owned independent businesses.

BALLE co-founder Shuman, author of The Small-Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition (Berrett-Koehler), has long been an advocate of buying local: A periodic commentator for National Public Radio, he has written articles for The Nation, Weekly Standard, Washington Post, and New York Times. In The Small-Mart Revolution, Shuman notes how buying, planning, and thinking local is not just a marketing strategy, but a movement, or small-business revolution, with the capacity to revitalize and improve various aspects of community, including the economy, environment, security, and overall quality of life.

Friday Morning Keynote
Danny Meyer, author of Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business (HarperCollins) and president of the Union Square Hospitality Group.

Friday Lunch Keynote
Gary Hirshberg, author of Stirring It Up: How to Make Money and Save the World (Hyperion) and president and CE-Yo of Stonyfield Farms.

Saturday Lunch Keynote
Stacy Mitchell, author of Big Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for American's Independent Businesses (Beacon), senior researcher for the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, and American Independent Business Alliance Board member; and

Michael Shuman, author of The Small-Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition (Berrett-Koehler), vice president of enterprise development for the Training & Development Corporation, and co-founder of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies.

The 2% Solution for 2008
Presenter: Chuck Robinson, Village Bookstore (Bellingham, WA).  

Authorless Events
Moderator: Oren Teicher, Chief Operating Officer, ABA. Panelists: Valerie Koehler, Blue Willow Books (Houston, TX); Collette Morgan, Wild Rumpus (Minneapolis, MN); Dave Weich, Powell's Bookstore (Portland, OR).

Bookstore Self Audit
Moderator: Oren Teicher, Chief Operating Officer, ABA. Panelists: Wendy Hudson, Nantucket Bookworks (Nantucket, MA); Sylla McClellan, Third Street Books (McMinnville, OR).

Business of Publishing
Presenter: Richard Hunt, Publisher, Clerisy Press/Menasha Ridge Press.

Cost of Goods Sold 101
Presenter: Avin Mark Domnitz, Chief Executive Officer, ABA.  

Consumer Behavior Revealed
Presenter: Len Vlahos, Chief Program Officer, ABA.  

Designed to Sell: Merchandising
Presenters: Donna Paz and Mark Kaufman, Paz & Associates.  

Developing a Business Plan: Putting All the Pieces Together
Presenter: Avin Mark Domnitz, Chief Executive Officer, ABA.  

Digital Revolution 2.0
Presenter: Len Vlahos, Chief Program Officer, ABA. Panelists: Megan Sullivan, Harvard Bookstore (Cambridge, MA); Margie Scott Tucker, Books Inc.(San Francisco, CA).

Getting the Most Out of ABA
Presenter: Meg Smith, Chief Marketing Officer, ABA.  

Getting the Most Out of Your Children's Section
Moderator: Kristen McLean, Executive Director, Association of Booksellers for Children. Panelists: Becky Anderson, Anderson's Bookshop (Naperville, IL); Leslie Hawkins, Spellbound Children's Books (Asheville, NC); Fran Keilty, Hickory Stick Bookshop (Washington Depot, CT); Ellen Scott, The Bookworm (Omaha, NE).

Getting the Most Out of Your Website
Presenter: Len Vlahos, Chief Program Officer, ABA.  

Green Retailing
Moderator: Oren Teicher, Chief Operating Officer, ABA. Panelists: Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA), author of Apollo's Fire (Island Press); Sue Lynn, Confluence Bookstore, Bistro, and Business Center (Bellevue, NE); Scott Sklar, co-author of Consumer Guide to Solar Energy (Bonus Books) and president of The Stella Group, Ltd.

Growing Your Business (formerly Expansion)
Presenter: Avin Mark Domnitz, Chief Executive Officer, ABA.  

Handselling: Customer Service With Results
Presenter: Meg Smith, Chief Marketing Officer, ABA. Panelist: Joe Drabyak, Chester County Book Co. (West Chester, PA).

Improving Efficiency to Achieve Success
Avin Mark Domnitz, Chief Executive Officer, ABA.  

Independent Retailing
Moderator: Oren Teicher, Chief Operating Officer, ABA. Panelists: Steve Bercu, BookPeople (Austin, TX); Betsy Burton, The King's English (Salt Lake City, UT); Carla Jimenez, Inkwood Books (Tampa, FL); Clark Kepler, Kepler's Books (Menlo Park, CA)

Inventory Management: Key Drivers of Success
Presenter: Bob Steele, Above the Treeline  

Loss Prevention
Presenter: Avin Mark Domnitz, Chief Executive Officer, ABA.  

New Booksellers: What I Learned in Year One
Moderator: Meg Smith, Chief Marketing Officer, ABA. Panelists: Jackie Harris, Under the Sycamore Tree (Greyslake, IL); Dave MacQueen, Beyond the Cover Family Bookstore (Hastings, MI); Lisa Sharp, Nightbird Books (Fayetteville, AR); Nancy Simpson, The Book Vault (Oskaloosa, IA).

Print-on-Demand: An Opportunity
Moderator: Len Vlahos, Chief Program Officer, ABA. Kelly Estep, Carmichael's Bookstore (Louisville, KY); Phil Olilla, Senior Vice President, Ingram Publisher Services/Ingram Book Group.

RFID: What the Heck Is It, Anyway?
Presenter: James Lichtenberg, President, Lightspeed LLC.  

Succession Planning
Moderator: Ivan Barkhorn, Managing Director, Redstone Strategy. Panelists: Nicole Magistro, Bookworm of Edwards (Edwards, CO); Pete Mulvihill, Green Apple Books (San Francisco, CA); Barbara Theroux, Fact & Fiction (Missoula, MT).

What a Great Bookstore: Store Design
Presenters: Donna Paz and Mark Kaufman, Paz & Associates.  

For a complete schedule of Wi3 events, visit BookWeb.org.