UMBA Show Proves to Be an Inspiring Experience

"Total attendance at this year's Upper Midwest Booksellers Association (UMBA) fall trade show, which was held from Friday, October 1, to Sunday, October 3, at the RiverCentre in St. Paul, Minnesota, was a bit lower than last year, said UMBA Executive Director Susan Walker, due in part to the closing of St. Paul's Ruminator Books and a change in the admissions policy, which affected the number of "peripheral people" in attendance. This year, 130 bookstores sent staff to the show, compared to 136 stores last year, and there was a small increase in the number of exhibitors.

Among the highlights of the three-day event, noted Walker, were the Booksellers School education sessions, attended by enthusiastic booksellers, and a session on using the UMBA catalog to the best advantage.

"We ran Pick of the Lists sessions for the first time this year, and both booksellers and the participating publisher and commission reps were excited about their success," said Walker. "A number of the participating publishers saw definite follow-up results with booksellers visiting their booths."

Walker also reported that among UMBA's new initiatives meeting with great success this year were "booksellers-only" time on the exhibit floor on Saturday and the one-dollar suggested donation to the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) for each signed book in the autographing section that raised $1,200.

Below bookseller Collette Morgan, ABA's "Intrepid Reporter-at-Large," shares her experiences at a smoothly run show, which to her disappointment was devoid of "scandal ... fist fights ... and jostling in the aisles."

By Collette Morgan of Wild Rumpus in Minneapolis, Minnesota

It was a dark and stormy October day. As the gray clouds rolled over St. Paul, you could hear the echo of distant drummers: UMBA! UMBA! UMBA! UMBA! Or wait, maybe that was the parade of publishers with handcarts in tow rolling over St. Paul. In any case, if the weather was any indication, we were in for a bumpy ride. No, maybe that ominous tone was coming from inside my own head, as I knew that I would be ABA's "Intrepid Reporter-at-Large" for the trade show. I would be obligated to attend workshops, I would need to be observant, I had responsibilities. If there were scandal to be found at the trade show, I was dead certain that I would find it.

First stop: Pick-of-the-Lists. Two hours, 12 publisher reps (although sometimes they tag-teamed so it seemed like legions of reps), trying to convince a roomful of booksellers and rival reps that they had the definitive bestseller of the upcoming fall season. Each one had a time limit of 10 minutes, regardless of how many books were on their fall lists or how many publishers they were representing. Tension was visible. I thought for sure if fistfights were going to break out, it would be in this room.

Meanwhile, in the room next door, Bob Steele was building up retailer momentum at "Inventory Management -- Keeping Score Using Best Industry Practices." By the end of his presentation, I felt like I'd been picked up by the scruff of the neck and shaken. There was no reason that I couldn't be getting four turns per year! What was I thinking -- not reporting to ABACUS?! And the image of unsold books on the shelves as stacks of twenty-dollar bills is burned indelibly into my brain. I had originally planned to socialize with other booksellers on Friday evening, but now I had a burning desire to go back to the store and start pulling returns.

Next, I caught the tail end of Ari Weinzweig's presentation on giving great customer service the Zingerman's way. With a range of brand new employees up to seasoned veterans at Wild Rumpus, customer service can range anywhere between Soup Nazi to On-Star. Ari sent me back to the store with specific tools for training every co-worker to make a difference in every customer's life. My new mantra: "I am the steward of the book. I am the steward of the book. I will find the right home for every book and the right book for every home and I will do it cheerfully."

Now, besides having to pull returns, I needed to order Zingerman's Guide to Giving Great Service (Hyperion) for every bookseller. This "Intrepid Reporter-at-Large" thing was having serious ramifications. I hadn't intended on learning anything, and here I was scrambling to open the door for everyone else and laying my coat over mud puddles.

Time to take an independent poll. I stationed myself in the women's restroom to overhear the shocking and disturbing comments that I was sure would be forthcoming from other attendees of the Annual Booksellers' School Educational Presentations and Panels. The results were unsettling. Booksellers were being inspired left and right. They were talking in earnest tones about the tools and techniques that they would bring back to their stores. They were enjoying the presentations and being educated to boot!

Saturday morning came all too soon. I was forced to miss the Book and Author Breakfast (due to a devious escape by "Bunnicula" aka Chuck, who was destined to be raffled off to some lucky family at the James Howe signing later that afternoon at Wild Rumpus), but I heard nothing but praise for Dean Bakopoulos, Phebe Hanson, Wilma Mankiller, and Miriam Toews. Not one word about the food fight that I had envisioned.

Even the General Membership Meeting was civil. The little black box with the green and red lights only flashed to red once. Booksellers came away enthused about the newly proposed Upper Midwest Book Awards to be implemented in 2005. Surely there would be more controversy on the trade show floor. The doors opened promptly at 10:30 a.m. to booksellers only! Whoa, I didn't mean to sound smug right there, but it gave us all a good head start before the non-booksellers showed up!

I think there is a cadre of trade show groupies who attend every trade show of every profession in the convention center. Maybe they even live in the convention center. I'll find out.

Back to the trade show: Exhibitor numbers were up over last year, and I felt fortunate to be among the first few in the room as the displays were all still intact -- rows and rows of shiny new books and shiny industry professionals. I put on my sunglasses and 'worked' the floor. I even handed in a few backlist orders to get exhibitors' hearts beating. (I've never done that before and really, it was to get my name entered in the prize raffles).

One word of caution: When Alex from Penguin advertises in the trade show program: ".first orders will receive a special prize from Alex" the special prize is not -- as I had hoped -- a new car.

Everyone seemed upbeat about the fall season. I couldn't find anyone crying into his beer. I couldn't even find the beer. The ABA Book Sense Gift Card Users Group was pretty straightforward, and the unsolicited testimonials were heartfelt. Formal author autographings proceeded without incident and garnished a sizeable donation to ABFFE with the new "suggested" one-dollar-per-book donation. Hopefully, some booksellers were more generous than that. Come on, people, these are signed first editions. Can we think about free expression for one minute?

The cocktail party and Book and Author Dinner were spectacular -- so I heard. (I'm rarely invited, and it's so embarrassing when they make me sit at the children's table.) Diane Mott Davidson, Gretel Ehrlich, Bob Greene, and Marilynne Robinson spoke and, presumably, ate.

At the crack of dawn on Sunday morning, I was faced with a dilemma. Go to the Children's Book and Author Breakfast or run the Twin Cities Marathon? They both started at the same ungodly hour. I had certainly done enough carb-loading at a wonderful dinner the night before -- but then, I remembered my responsibilities, traded running shoes for cowboy boots, and went to the breakfast. Rosemary Wells, Peter Sis, James Howe, and Mark Teague held us in awe with their amazing stories.

At yet another independent poll taken near the coffee urns, I asked people if they would be willing to pledge their lives to sell children's books, and they said they would. Even the convention center worker filling the urns said she would. It was that inspirational.

The trade show floor swung into action after breakfast, and the entire UMBA affair ended spectacularly with a sold-out Moveable Feast featuring 24 -- count 'em -- 24 authors moving from table to table, schmoozing and grazing. No scandal. No fist fights. No jostling in the trade floor aisles. And everyone said it was a good UMBA trade show.

Geez. So what's an Intrepid Reporter-at-Large supposed to write about?