Booksellers Invited to Dublin, Ohio, for Forum Program

The American Booksellers Association will hold a Booksellers Forum and Education Program in conjunction with the Great Lakes Booksellers Association (GLBA) on Wednesday, March 29, at the Hilton Garden Inn in Dublin, Ohio. All members of ABA and GLBA -- owners and staff -- are invited to attend.

ABA's forum program format encourages discussion of regional as well as national issues affecting independent booksellers. Over the years, these forums have provided ABA with very constructive member input that has been indispensable in shaping future programs and initiatives. The forum is free of charge and includes lunch.

The day's programming will kick off at 9:15 a.m. with the hour-long session "How to Be the Story: Developing and Implementing a Public Relations Plan," presented by BookSense.com Director Len Vlahos. On average, independent bookstores spend two percent of their annual budgets on advertising, but what is the budget for public relations? This must-see seminar will show how a comprehensive public relations plan can have a greater impact on a store's visibility than advertising, and at a much lower cost. Attendees will learn the difference between advertising and public relations and how to formulate and execute a PR plan.

At 10:30 a.m., Meg Smith, associate director of Book Sense marketing and director of membership marketing/media relations for ABA, will lead the seminar "Know Your Customer: Increase Sales." According to Gartner Research, businesses "that fail to establish strong relationships with their customers will see their position eroded by up to 20 percent per year." Booksellers' single greatest asset is not their lease, computer, or even their inventory, it's their list of customers. At this session, participants will learn how individual contact, surveys, market research, and the use of the store database can combine to form an effective strategy for communicating with customers. Effective communication will help identify and achieve objectives that will grow a business and make a store more profitable.

From noon to 1:45 p.m. will be the ABA Booksellers Forum, which will be led by ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz with Vlahos and Smith. The forum is the venue to ask questions, express opinions, and share concerns with bookseller colleagues. ABA staff will provide updates on many of the association's programs and initiatives and will discuss issues of concern to independent booksellers.

Following the forum from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. will be a GLBA Update. The update will start with "The Big Switch -- The 13-Digit ISBN Is on Its Way," which will detail how, beginning January 1, 2007, the whole publishing industry will officially switch to the 13-digit ISBN. This session will provide an overview of what the change means, information about resources for booksellers, and a checklist of steps that need to be taken to assure that a business is ready.

Following the ISBN overview, GLBA will present "The Spoken Word: Brought to You by Independent Bookstores Nationwide." Booksellers will hear how GLBA and seven of other regional associations have teamed up to back the nationwide launch of The Spoken Word, an hour-long, weekly NPR program that features authors reading or talking about their writing. Details of the program will be provided at the update, including ways booksellers can have events at their stores considered for broadcast and how they can encourage their local NPR stations to carry the program.

To help ABA and GLBA make arrangements for the forum program, booksellers who are planning to attend are asked to contact GLBA's Joan Jandernoa at (800) 745-2460 or joanj@books-glba.org or ABA's Margaret Petrie at margaret@bookweb.org or (800) 637-0037, ext. 6614.