On June 6, the American Booksellers Association launched the content for the 2018 Children’s Institute app [6], which aims to enhance the experience for booksellers, publishers and sponsors, speakers, and guests attending the June 19–21 event in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The Children’s Institute event is part of the CrowdCompass AttendeeHub app, which is free and available through the App Store or Google Play [6] for Apple or Android devices.

Once the app is installed, Children’s Institute attendees should look for an icon of a compass on their devices; inside the app, search for “Children’s Institute.” Booksellers who downloaded the app for the 2018 Winter Institute do not need to download it again.

Attendees can use the app to access the Children’s Institute schedule along with full session descriptions; create customized agendas by adding individual events to their personal schedule; message fellow attendees; view keynote speakers as well as the list of attending authors; view all sponsors and Consultation Station vendors; and explore maps of the Sheraton New Orleans and New Orleans itself.

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The app will also be the primary means for booksellers to submit feedback following each session. All booksellers are encouraged to fill out session evaluations to help ABA with planning future programming.

In addition, ABA will use the app to issue real-time alerts to disseminate late-breaking news or schedule changes, so users should allow for push notifications; important changes and news will also be listed within the app.

Children’s Institute attendees will need to create accounts in the app to access all of the app’s features; the “Using This App [8]” guide provides details on how to log in and other useful instructions.

The app is available for Apple devices (minimum operating system iOS 9) or Android (minimum operating system 5.0). Older Apple devices, such as the iPad 1, iPhone 3GS, and iPod Touch fourth generation, are not supported. For Android users, the AttendeeHub app can only be downloaded on Android devices that have access to the Google Play Store. Kindle Fire and other devices that use the Amazon App Store are not supported.

App content is also visible in a web version [6] using the following Internet browsers: Safari, Firefox, Google Chrome, and Internet Explorer (versions 9, 10, and 11). Once users log in, their personal schedules can be synced across multiple devices.

Questions about the app should be sent to Director of ABA Technology Greg Galloway [9].