Hold the Date! ABA’s Spring 2011 Forum Schedule

This week, the American Booksellers Association announced the opening schedule for its 2011 Spring Booksellers Forums.

The first forum will be held in conjunction with the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association on Thursday, February 24, at Katy Budget Books in Houston, Texas, from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. The forums are designed to give booksellers in every region of the country an opportunity to meet with ABA senior staff and to share ideas, discuss industry issues, and receive updates on various association projects. Each forum will also offer an education component from ABA’s highly regarded Winter Institute.

The Houston forum will include:

IndieCommerce
ABA Chief Operating Officer Len Vlahos will demonstrate and answer questions about the association’s IndieCommerce program. The session will include information on e-books, the relationship between Google Local Shopping/IndieCommerce/Above The Treeline, the HarperCollins stipend, future developments, and more. Intended for new and current users alike.

ABA Booksellers Forum
An open forum and discussion of industry issues led by ABA Chief Executive Officer Oren Teicher. ABA Board and staff want to hear from members. Attendees help guide the agenda of the forum, so booksellers are encouraged to come with questions and comments.

MPIBA President Meghan Goel will also be in attendence to update attendees regarding the regional’s activites. Light refreshments will be served.

“It’s our hope that we’ll have a chance to meet as many members as possible at the Booksellers Forums this year,” said COO Len Vlahos. “These informal meetings are great networking opportunities, and each year the comments and concerns we hear from booksellers give the ABA Board and staff crucial input for developing new programs, initiatives, and educational content for all indie booksellers.”

Below is a look at the Booksellers Forum schedule to date. Watch for updates and the announcement of additional forums in upcoming editions of BTW.

In addition, ABA member booksellers will be receiving spring forum invitations via e-mail from their ABA Membership Relations Manager.

Questions about the forum schedule should be addressed to ABA Meetings and Planning Officer Jill Perlstein via e-mail or at (800) 637-0037, ext. 6642.

ABA Spring Forum Schedule 2011

• February 24, 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.: Katy Budget Books (2450 Fry Road) Houston, Texas
  In conjunction with the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association
   
• March 19: Milwaukee, WI
  In conjunction with the Great Lakes and Midwest Booksellers Associations (Additional programming from GLIBA/MBA)
   
• March 25 - 26 (Specific date TBD): Spring Book Show (Cobb Galleria Centre) Atlanta, GA
  In conjunction with the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance
   
• March 30: Southern California (specific location TBD)
  In conjunction with Southern California Independent Booksellers Association
   
• March 31: Pacific Northwest (tentative): (specific location TBD)
  In conjunction with the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association (Additional programming from PNBA)
   
• April 3: NCIBA Offices, Presidio National Park (1007 General Kennedy Avenue) San Francisco, CA
  In conjunction with Northern California Independent Booksellers Association
   
• April 5: New York City
  In conjunction with the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association
   
• April 6: Medford, MA
  In conjunction with the New England Independent Booksellers Association
   

An additional date for an MPIBA forum and all other details to be announced.