ABA Forums Go South

The American Booksellers Association will be hosting two programs in conjunction with the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance [1] in March.

The first is a Booksellers Forum and education session on Tuesday, March 13, in Nashville, Tennessee. ABA members and non-members are invited to join association CEO Oren Teicher, Senior Program Officer Joy Dallanegra-Sanger, and Content Officer Dan Cullen for the education program “The Best of Winter Institute 7’s Best Practices Sessions,” lunch, and an open forum discussion at the Green Hills Branch Library [2] (3701 Benham Avenue, Nashville). The program, which runs from 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., will be followed by a special reception at Parnassus Books [3], featuring authors Ann Patchett (the bookstore’s co-owner), Jeanne Ray, and Adam Ross, that will run from 2:15 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The forum program is designed to provide attendees with an opportunity to share ideas, discuss industry issues, and receive updates on various association projects. Booksellers are encouraged to come with questions and comments.

“The Best of Winter Institute 7’s Best Practices Sessions” will present a roundup of booksellers’ top tips from Wi7’s 12 half-hour “Best Practices” sessions, which focused on everything from children’s bookselling, human resources, and Google Analytics to marketing your store as a digital location, empowering your indie business alliance, and more. 

To provide ABA with a headcount for the forum lunch, booksellers who are planning to attend are asked to RSVP by March 9 to Nathan Halter [4], ABA’s member relationship manager for the SIBA region.

ABA will also present “The Best of Winter Institute 7’s Best Practices Sessions” on Friday, March 16, in Atlanta at the Great American Bargain Book Show. The session will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. in Room 102 of the Cobb Galleria Centre.

The complete list of ABA’s spring Booksellers Forums is available here [5]. ABA education is sponsored by the Ingram Content Group.