ABA Forum Tour to Wrap Up in Philadelphia and North Carolina

At the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association's (NAIBA) Spring Workshop, to be held in Philadelphia on Sunday, April 25, ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz will lead a session about the 2003 ABACUS study results and how they can be used by bookstore owners and managers to make better operational decisions. The session, from 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m., will begin a full day of NAIBA programming at the Sheraton Society Hill.

For more information about NAIBA's Spring Workshop and to register, visit www.naiba.com. Questions should be addressed to NAIBA Executive Director Eileen Dengler at (877) 866-2422 or readingent@aol.com.

The forum tour concludes in Pittsboro, North Carolina, on Wednesday, May 5, with a program that was postponed in January due to inclement weather. Domnitz and ABA COO Oren Teicher will conduct the forum, held in conjunction with the Southeast Booksellers Association, at McIntyre's Fine Books at Fearrington Village (near Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill).

The schedule begins at 11:00 a.m. with a Book Sense gift card demonstration, followed by the Booksellers Forum from noon - 2:00 p.m.

At the forum, ABA staff will present an update on the association's activities and plans for the future, and booksellers will have the opportunity to discuss whatever issues are on their minds. (Lunch will be provided.)

From 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m., Domnitz will be available for one-on-one meetings with booksellers to demonstrate how easy it is to submit financial information to the ABACUS study. Participants have found that data from the study is extraordinarily useful in their efforts to improve store operations. (For more information about ABACUS, click here. Booksellers wishing to schedule a meeting with Domnitz should send an e-mail to avin@bookweb.org.)

Booksellers planning to attend the Pittsboro forum are asked to RSVP to Kristen Gilligan at ABA at (800) 637-0037, ext. 1286, or at kristen@bookweb.org.

Forum attendees will automatically be entered into a drawing to win hotel accommodations and admission to BookExpo America for the next five years.

For directions to McIntyre's Fine Books, go to www.fearringtonvillage.com/mcintyres.asp.