Winter Institute Registration Scheduled to Open September 9

Bookstore and provisional members of the American Booksellers Association should be on the lookout for an e-mail announcing the opening of registration and hotel reservations for the 2016 Winter Institute to arrive in their inboxes on Wednesday, September 9, sometime after 1:00 p.m. EDT. The 11th annual Winter Institute (Wi11), sponsored by the Ingram Content Group, will be held at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel in Denver, Colorado, from Saturday evening, January 23, through Tuesday, January 26, 2016.

The event is open exclusively to bookstore and provisional ABA members and is limited to three booksellers per member-company; however, new this year, stores that would like to send more than three booksellers will be able to place additional names on a waiting list as part of the registration process.

The 2016 program will feature a packed education schedule, author receptions, bookseller-publisher networking opportunities, an ABA Town Hall meeting, the Consultation Station, the Galley Room, and more.

On Saturday, January 23, before the institute’s opening reception, ABA is offering full- or half-day tours to area bookstores, and a post-Winter Institute ski trip has been planned for Wednesday, January 27. Look for details and reservation information on the Winter Institute website.

A record-breaking number of publisher-sponsored scholarships, as well as ABA scholarships in memory of former ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz and to foster diversity, will be awarded for Wi11. Scholarships will cover the $99 conference fee, up to four nights’ accommodations at the host hotel, and transportation expenses up to $400.

ABA is currently accepting scholarship applications; booksellers at ABA member stores that did not have a Winter Institute scholarship winner in 2014 or 2015 are eligible to apply. The form will remain open until October 26, 2015.

As in years past, booksellers can also submit their names for an extra chance at winning a scholarship by dropping off their business cards at the ABA booth at one of the fall regional trade shows.

Scholarship winners will be announced in November 2015.