ABA's Winter Institute Off to a Great Start

Posted Thursday, Feb 4, 2010

ABA President Michael Tucker of Books Inc. in San Francisco

On Thursday, February 4, five hundred indie booksellers were well into the second day of ABA's Fifth Annual Winter Institute, in San Jose, California. Bookselling This Week was there, along with other ABA staff members, 40-plus authors and illustrators, and representatives from the Winter Institute's overall event sponsor, Ingram, and Wi5's publisher partners and friends.

Andrew Weinstein, vice president and general manager of retail solutions at
Ingram Digital

In next week's issue, and in the weeks to follow, we'll be providing in-depth coverage of Wi5's keynote events and educational programming. Here, in place of our usual issue, is a quick look at some of yesterday's highlights at Wi5's Technology Day and at the opening reception at Kepler's Books in Menlo Park.

ABA President Michael Tucker of Books Inc. in San Francisco welcomed booksellers to Wi5's Technology Day, the beginning of three days of programming, and noted that "education remains ABA's most important mission."

Dan Clancy, director of Google Books, speaking with Books & Books' Mitchell Kaplan

Andrew Weinstein, vice president and general manager of retail solutions at Ingram Digital, offered indie booksellers an overview of the evolving role of digital media in the book business and the opportunities in making "the transition from physical to digital media and providing leadership."

Booksellers at one of Wednesday's sessions.

Dan Clancy, director of Google Books, presented the lunch audience with an up-to-the-minute overview of the e-book landscape and of the Google Editions service, which will offer cloud-based e-books that will be readable on any Internet device. The 90-minute presentation culminated in a lively Q&A session with booksellers. Afterwards Clancy chatted with booksellers, including former ABA president Mitch Kaplan, owner of Books & Books in Miami.

The State of General Publishing Panel

Throughout the day, booksellers also participated in four packed sessions, ranging from "The Language of Technology" to "The State of General Publishing," featuring a discussion by three noted publishing executives on how digitization is affecting their business and the industry as a whole. Pictured are the panel's moderator, Barry C. Lynn, author of Cornered: The New Monopoly Capitalism and the Economics of Destruction (Wiley), and panelists David Young, chairman and CEO of Hachette; Madeline McIntosh, president, sales, operations, and digital, for Random House; and Drake McFeely, president of W.W. Norton & Company.

The day ended with a reception for all Wi5 participants at Kepler's Books in Menlo Park.