ABA Day of Education on June 4 at BEA

The American Booksellers Association will hold its 2012 Day of Education on Monday, June 4, during BookExpo America [1] at New York’s Javits Convention Center. The free program, sponsored by the Ingram Content Group, is targeted at ABA bookstore and provisional members but is open to all BEA attendees.

The Day of Education will feature two plenary sessions featuring speakers and subjects of special interest to indie booksellers. Watch for an announcement of this year’s plenary presenters in upcoming editions of Bookselling This Week.

To help booksellers plan their time at BEA, below is a look at Monday’s Day of Education schedule to date. More information will be provided in coming weeks.

• 11:00 a.m.  – 12:15 p.m. : Morning Plenary Session
   
• 12:15 p.m.  – 1:30 p.m. : Lunch on your own
   
• 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.: Afternoon Plenary Session
  Key issues and innovations in the book industry will be examined from a national and international perspective.
   
• 2:45 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.: ABA Roundtables
  Booksellers will share their ideas on such topics as creating and managing your community connections, increasing online sales, buying and selling non-book inventory, and more.
   
• 2:45 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.: Putting the “Sell” in Bookseller
  Indie booksellers highlight and handsell curated inventory in many ways — through person-to-person discussions and the use of shelf-talkers, newsletters, and social media.  But the market today is one of ever-increasing media choices, and being a good salesperson has never been more important.  This session will focus on how to take your “salesmanship” to the next level.
   
• 4:15 p.m.  – 5:30 p.m.: BEA Editors Buzz
  ABA’s educational programming will end at 4:00 to enable booksellers to attend BEA’s Editors Buzz [2].

Tuesday, June 5, at BEA will feature ABA’s Celebration of Bookselling Author Awards Luncheon and the association’s Annual Membership Meeting and Town Hall.

The luncheon, which is free and open exclusively to ABA member bookstores, will bring together indie booksellers and dozens of authors whose works have appeared on the Indie Next Lists. The 2012 winners of the Indies Choice Book Awards and the E.B. White Read-Aloud Awards will be feted, and all of this year’s finalists will be invited to attend.

Reservations for this very popular event are being accepted from two booksellers at each member store on a first-come, first-served basis. (Make a reservation now.) [3]

From 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 on Tuesday, ABA members are invited to the association’s Town Hall meeting, where booksellers can express opinions and share ideas with the ABA Board of Directors and staff in a less formal setting than the Annual Membership Meeting, which follows.

 At the Annual Membership Meeting, from 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., the ABA Board and senior staff will report on the past year’s activities as well as upcoming initiatives.

New this year, on Wednesday, June 6, at BEA, ABA will host its inaugural ABC Children’s Institute [4]. This daylong program of learning, networking, and special events focusing on children’s books and bookselling combines ABA’s free, in-depth education sessions and roundtable discussions with a specially priced package of popular author events.

Children’s Institute registration, at the discounted price of $99 for ABC Group member booksellers and $149 for all other ABA member booksellers, includes:

• A table seat at the BEA Children’s Breakfast
• The Speed Dating Lunch With Children’s Authors
• The ABA/CBC Tea With Children’s Authors and Illustrators
• A ticket to the Annual Children’s Art Auction and Reception [5], presented by the ABC Group at ABA and the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression [6]; and,
• Priority seating at ABA’s Wednesday education sessions

For ABA members who wish take part in the Children’s Institute education program only, no registration is required.

For the complete Children’s Institute schedule and to register, visit kids.bookweb.org [4].

For ABA provisional members who are planning to buy or open a bookstore, the association is sponsoring a free, one-day workshop, “How to Succeed at Retail Bookselling: Introduction to the Bookstore Business,”on Sunday, June 3. The program to be held at the St. Giles Hotel in New York City is open exclusively to ABA members and will be facilitated by Donna Paz Kaufman and Mark Kaufman of The Bookstore Training Group of Paz & Associates.  Watch for details and registration information in an upcoming edition of BTW.

BookExpo America [7] will be held from Monday through Thursday, June 4 - 7, at the Javits Convention Center. All ABA member bookstores are eligible for a number of free badges; registration is via the BEA website [1] or by calling BEA customer service at (800) 840-5614.

BEA is offering a variety of hotel options and travel discounts though its travel partner, OnPeak. Visit the BookExpo America Hotel & Travel Desk [8] for more information. There is no one hotel specifically for ABA members this year.

Booksellers with questions about ABA programming at BEA should contact their Member Relationship Manager (Nathan Halter [9] in the GLIBA, MIBA, MPIBA, PNBA, and SIBA regions; Kaitlin Pitcher [10] in the NAIBA, NCIBA, NEIBA, and SCIBA regions). Questions about ABA’s children’s programming should be addressed to ABC Group Manager Shannon O’Connor [11].