Monday, May 23
  Schedule BEA 2011

Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, New York, NY
(As of 3/31/2011)

Monday, May 23, 2011

8:30 a.m. - 9:45 a.m.

       Opening Plenary Featuring Christopher J. Zane, President, Zane's Cycles (1E13/1E14) 

       Handout

10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

Small & Mid-Size Store Roundtable (Room 1E06)
A veteran bookseller will moderate this roundtable discussion for owners and managers of small to mid-size stores. Come and learn from each other!  This session is open to booksellers only.  Space is limited and on a first-come, first-served basis. Handout

• Moderated by Annie Philbrick, Bank Square Books (Mystic, CT)

 

E-Books 101 (Room 1E09)
Are you lost in the e-book woods?  You are not alone!  Come to this beginner-level discussion about the rapidly evolving digital marketplace.  This session is for booksellers who need basic answers about what e-books are, how they are used, and why they matter.  No handout for this session.

• Presented by Len Vlahos, ABA (Tarrytown, NY)

 

E-Books 201 (Room 1E10)
If you are actively selling, marketing, or promoting e-books, creating events around them, or otherwise interacting with your community through e-books, this conversation is for you!  Come for the latest updates on Google eBooks (TM), e-readers, and apps, and how to sell digital.  This session will be co-presented by an ABA member bookseller and a member of ABA staff.  No handout for this session.

• Matt Supko, ABA (Tarrytown, NY)
• Matt Norcross, McLean & Eakin Booksellers, (Petoskey, MI)

 

SESSION CANCELED Using Strategic Thinking to Create New Business Models (Room 1E11)
From the creation of new publishing ventures and stores within stores to offering space for community classes and more, indie booksellers are using their ingenuity and their roots in the community to develop models that enable them to sustain book sales.  This process involves recognizing opportunity and using strategic thinking.  This session will walk you through the strategic thinking process and provide you with the tools to plan new ventures.   This session has been canceled.

• Moderated by Oren Teicher, ABA (Tarrytown, NY)
• Chris Morrow, Northshire Books (Manchester Center, VT)
• Jessica Stockton Bagnulo, Greenlight Bookstore (Brooklyn, NY)
  

 

Turning Mind Share into Market Share in the Children's Market (Room 1E12)
The recently released Bowker/PubTrack survey highlighted that independent children's booksellers are highly prized for their knowledge of children's books, yet overall sales continue to erode as other channels capture consumer dollars.  This session will focus on how to improve your chances of both capturing sales while customers are in the store and closing the mind share/market share gap.  Handout

• Moderated by Kristen McLean, Consultant to the ABC Children's Group at ABA (Miami, FL)
• Diane Capriola, Little Shop of Stories (Decatur, GA)
• Valerie Koehler, Blue Willow Bookshop (Houston, TX)

12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.

Large-Store Roundtable (Room 1E06)
A veteran bookseller will moderate this roundtable discussion for owners and managers of large stores. Come and learn from each other!  This session is open to booksellers only.  Space is limited and on a first-come, first-served basis.  Handout

• Cathy Langer, Tattered Cover Book Store (Denver, CO)

Reimagining Your Store (Room 1E09)
Learn how to organize your store to best meet customer needs in the 21st century.  Topics include layout, signage and other visual cues, merchandising, staff expectations, technology, and more.  Handout

• Moderated by Len Vlahos, ABA (Tarrytown, NY)
• Jonah Zimiles, Words (Maplewood, NJ)
• Chuck Robinson, Village Books (Bellingham, WA)

Free for the Asking:  Marketing with PR & Social Media (Room 1E10) 
Putting your store in the media spotlight and keeping it there does not have to cost a lot of money.  In fact, it does not have to cost anything at all beyond the usual staff hours.  This session will focus on how to take advantage of free media outlets to market and promote your store.  Handout

• Moderated by Meg Smith, ABA (Tarrytown, NY)
• Jarek Steele, Left Bank Books (Saint Louis, MO)
• Rob Dougherty, The Clinton Book Shop (Clinton, NJ)
• Jack McKeown, Books & Books (Westhampton Beach, NY)

 

Selling Non-book in the Children's Department (Room 1E11)
Creativity is the key!  This panel discussion will touch on how non-book items can be sold through creative merchandising, marketing, and events.  A few top-selling items will be displayed. Handout, Handout

• Moderated by Becky Anderson, Anderson's Bookshop (Naperville, IL)
• Beth Puffer, Bank Street Bookstore (New York, NY)
• Andrea Vuleta, Mrs. Nelson's Toy and Book Shop (La Verne, CA)

Creating Events for Children (Room 1E12)
This session will leave you with a notebook full of creative ideas for kids events!  It will provide a brief overview of best practices as well as an example of an outstanding event from start to finish.  Attendees will also have the opportunity to break into groups to learn from each other, and will then come together for a room-wide discussion.  Handout

• Cynthia Compton, 4 Kids Books (Indianapolis, IN)

2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

 Children's Roundtable (Room 1E06)
A veteran children's bookseller will moderate this roundtable discussion for store owners and managers of children's sections.  Come and learn from each other! Space is limited and on a first-come, first-served basis.  Handout

• Moderated by Shelly Plumb, Harleysville Books (Harleysville, PA)

 

Making Nonfiction Sexy (Room 1E09)
Is your store as popular among the gardening clubs, the history buffs, and science wonks as it is with literary connoisseurs?  A panel will discuss how you can curate and merchandise nonfiction titles to increase sales and provide a unique in-store experience for your customers.  Handout
Arts & Crafts, Baseball, Buseinss, Gardening, House & Home, Medical,  Nature, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Science, Self Help, Sports, Technology & Engineering

• Moderated by Oren Teicher, ABA (Tarrytown, NY)
• Joe Foster, Above the Treeline, LLC (Ann Arbor, MI)
• Anne Leyhe, Mrs. Dalloway's, (Berkeley, CA)

 

Handselling (Room 1E10)
Handselling inolves so much more than having a creative sales pitch and a good personal manner (although both of those are vital).  Come to this session for a brush-up on your handselling skills and a look at new ways to handsell in the digital age. Handselling, Handselling Checklist, Children's Handselling, Handselling Vignettes

• Moderated by Dan Cullen, ABA (Tarrytown, NY)
• Suzanna Hermans, Oblong Books & Music (Rhinebeck, NY)
• Panelist to come

 

ABACUS Data Revealed (Room 1E11)
ABACUS is a survey of independent bookstore finances that creates benchmarks for the measurement of store operations.  These benchmarks are invaluable in helping participating booksellers evaluate the relative health of their businesses.  At this session, ABA Chief Operating Officer Len Vlahos will review the summary results from the 2010 ABACUS Survey (based on 2009 numbers), identify key drivers of profitability, and share lessons that can be learned by all booksellers.  He will also discuss how booksellers can participate in the 2011 ABAUCS Survey.  Handout

• Len Vlahos, ABA (Tarrytown, NY)                                                                                   

 

The Digital Market and the YA Audience (Room 1E12)
The recently released Bowker/PubTrack survey tells us that there is a correlation between the YA audience's use of social media and their consumption of digital books.  Join a discussion exploring how booksellers can leverage this information to connect with their YA customers. No Handout for this session.

• Moderated by Kristen McLean, Consultant to the ABC Children's Group at ABA (Miami, FL)
• Jacob Lewis (Figment.com)
• Meghan Dietsche Goel, BookPeople (Austin, TX)
• David Levithan, Executive Editorial Director, Scholastic (New York, NY)

 

3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

       Closing Plenary Featuring Margaret Atwood (1E13/1E14)  

       Handout

Questions about any of the ABA's events or programs should be addressed to Lisa Winn at (914) 373-6657 or lisa@bookweb.org.

Tuesday, May 24 

• ABA Town Hall:  3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. in room 1E09/10
• ABA Annual Meeting:  4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. in room 1E09/10

Wednesday, May 25

• IndieCommerce 201: 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. in room 1CO3
For experienced IndieCommerce users, this session will help you to take your ABA IndieCommerce site to the next level.  Topics to be discussed include:  optional Drupal modules, best practices for search and security, and a demonstration of successful strategies. 

• Bookbanning 2011: A Report from the Frontlines of the Battle for Free Speech:  11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. in room 1E12