Wi5's Consultation Station: Schedule Appointments Now
New this year is the opportunity for booksellers to schedule one-on-one conversations with a wide variety of service providers who will be on-hand at the Winter Institute. Currently scheduled to have representatives at the Consultation Station (from 3:00 p.m. - 6:15 p.m. on Thursday, February 4) are 14 book industry service providers, including POS vendors, trade associations, Ingram, LIBRIS insurance, W.G. Ellerkamp Paper Company, PartnerShip, and more. The complete list, with contact information, is below. ABA is encouraging booksellers to contact the participants now to schedule one-on-one conversations.
Consultation Station Participants (subject to change)
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American Specialty Toy Retailing Association (ASTRA)

Kathleen McHugh, President

Matthew Burnett, Program Manager

info@astratoy.org
(312) 222-0948
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Anthology

Jim Bean, Director of Sales

jim@anthology.com
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Booklog

JJ Jaffe, Director of Technical Services

jj@booklog.com
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Computac/[i]merchant

Mike Hartman, Vice President, Retail Division

mikeh@computac.com
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Edelweiss

John Rubin, Above the Treeline Founder and CEO

john@abovethetreeline.com
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IBID

Mike Feldman, Sales Manager and Senior Support Representative

mike@ibid.com, mike_ibid@yahoo.com

(415) 251-2238 (direct)
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Ingram

Ron Smithson, Director of Field Sales

Ron.Smithson@ingrambook.com
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National Association of College Stores (NACS)

Wendy Holliday, Vice President, Marketing and Member Services

WHolliday@nacs.org

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PartnerShip

Keith Korhely, Program Manager

kkorhely@PartnerShip.com
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Paz & Associates

Mark Kaufman, Trainer and Consultant

mkaufman@pazbookbiz.com
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W.G. Ellerkamp Paper Company

Jack Ellerkamp, Owner

jack@wgellerkamp.com
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ABA Gift Cards (Only available from 3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.)

Jill Perlstein, ABA Gift Card Program Manager

jill@bookweb.org

Industry consultant Maurizio Divito will be available to discuss specific questions about reconciliation, breakage, and tax implications. Appointments are required, and all financial information will be kept confidential. Both Perlstein and Divito will moderate the "ABA Gift Card Users Group: Preparing for the Transition," which starts at 4:45 p.m. Reservations are also required for that session.
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ABA IndieCommerce

Scott Nafz, Senior Customer Service Representative

scott@bookweb.org

Aimed at current IndieCommerce users with specific questions about the new platform; ABA members who are not current users are encouraged to attend the IndieCommerce Demo on Friday, February 5.
There are also still openings for a few of the other Wi5 sessions requiring sign up, which were announced in mid-December.
Booksellers who are interested in participating in any of these four sessions are encouraged to sign up by e-mailing the appropriate ABA staff member as soon as possible:
- ABA's Gift Card Users Group: Preparing for the Transition -- contact Jill Perlstein at jill@bookweb.org

- Fundamentals of Security & Loss Control -- contact Lisa Winn at lisa@bookweb.org

- IndieBound Design Workshop -- contact Paige Poe at paige@bookweb.org

- Large-Store Roundtable -- contact Sarah Rettger at sarah@bookweb.org