April Kicks Off With Four Booksellers Forums

The American Booksellers Association will host four of its 11 Spring Forum programs within one week, beginning next Tuesday. Between April 2 - 9, ABA staff will be in Boulder, Colorado; Seattle, Washington; San Francisco; and Santa Monica, California, to host an open forum discussion of industry issues and to present the ABA education session “The 10 Things You Must Do Now!” Representatives of Kobo will also be at each to present a Kobo eReader training session.

ABA’s Spring Forum programs are free and open to all booksellers — ABA members and non-members alike.

The education session “10 Things You Must Do Now!” presents creative things that booksellers can do to make their stores more successful and profitable in 2013. The best practices were culled from hundreds of ideas submitted by ABA member stores, and each has proven a great success. Topics include marketing/promotion, finances, store operations, human resources, inventory, ambiance, customer service, and more.

Tuesday, April 2: Boulder, Colorado

Join ABA CEO Oren Teicher and Content Officer Dan Cullen for a Spring Forum in conjunction with the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association at The Rembrandt Yard.

ABA’s schedule is:

• 10:30 a.m. – Noon: “The 10 Things You Must Do Now!”
• Noon – 2:00 p.m.: Booksellers Forum over lunch
• 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.: Kobo eReader training session

MPIBA will be offering additional programming from 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. and an author reception from 4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. at Boulder Book Store.

For planning purposes, booksellers who will be attending ABA’s forum program are to RSVP to ABA Member Relationship Manager Nathan Halter.

Thursday, April 4: Seattle, Washington

Join ABA CEO Oren Teicher, Senior Program Officer Joy Dallanegra-Sanger, Content Officer Dan Cullen, and Member Technology Director Neil Strandberg for a Spring Forum in conjunction with the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association at The Elliott Bay Book Company.

ABA’s schedule is:

• 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.: “The 10 Things You Must Do Now”
• 12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.: Booksellers Forum over lunch
• 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. : Kobo eReader Training session

For planning purposes, booksellers who will be attending ABA’s forum program are to RSVP to ABA Member Relationship Manager Nathan Halter.

Sunday, April 7: San Francisco, California

Join ABA CEO Oren Teicher, Senior Program Officer Joy Dallanegra-Sanger, and Member Technology Director Neil Strandberg for a Spring Forum in conjunction with the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association’s Spring Gathering at The Thoreau Center at The Presidio.

The complete Spring Gathering schedule is available here.

ABA’s program times are:

• 8:45 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.: Booksellers Forum over breakfast
• 10:15 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.: “The 10 Things You Must Do Now”
• Throughout the day: Hands-on Kobo eReader training

The deadline to register for the Spring Gathering and ABA Forum is Friday, March 29.

Tuesday, April 9: Santa Monica, California

Join ABA CEO Oren Teicher and Member Technology Director Neil Strandberg for a Spring Forum in conjunction with the Southern California Independent Booksellers Association at The Annenberg Community Beach House.

ABA’s program schedule is:

• 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.: “The 10 Things You Must Do Now!”
• 11:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.: Booksellers Forum over lunch
• 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.: Kobo eReader Training session

SCIBA will be offering additional programming from 2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. and an author reception from 3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. For further information, contact SCIBA Executive Director Andrea Vuleta.

For planning purposes, booksellers who will be attending ABA’s forum program are to RSVP to ABA Member Relationship Manager Kaitlin Pitcher no later than Monday, April 1.