News - Regional

ABA staff will be at this weekend's Upper Midwest Booksellers Association (UMBA) Trade Show at the RiverCentre in St. Paul, Minneapolis, to present the results of 2003 ABACUS study and to provide demonstrations of the new electronic gift card program.

The 2003 Northern California Independent Booksellers Association (NCIBA) Trade Show was held at the Oakland Convention Center/City Center Marriott in Oakland, California, from October 3 - 5. Hut Landon, executive director of NCIBA, told BTW, "We were very pleased with the workshops and events at this year's show, which many booksellers called the best overall program we'd ever offered.

Dearborn, Michigan, was once again the venue for the Great Lakes Booksellers Association (GLBA) Trade Show, which was held on October 3 - 5 at the Dearborn Hyatt Regency. All indicators were up this year, as were the spirits of booksellers and vendors. The Dearborn location, just outside Detroit, has become a favorite for booksellers, authors, and exhibitors.

The Mountains and Plains Booksellers Association (MPBA) 2003 Trade Show was held at the Marriott Denver Tech Center in Denver, from October 2 - 5. This year's show was a hit with many booksellers and included new author events and a great selection of educational seminars. "It was the best trade show in years," said Lisa Knudsen, executive director of MPBA. Overall, the show was "great, great, great."

This coming weekend is a busy one for ABA and for booksellers in the Mountains & Plains, Great Lakes, and Northern California regions. Full schedules of educational programming and lively trade shows are planned by MPBA (October 2 - 5 at the Marriott Denver Tech Center in Denver; GLBA (October 3 - 5 at the Hyatt Regency in Dearborn, Michigan); and NCIBA (October 3 - 5 at the Oakland Convention Center/Oakland City Center Marriott, Oakland, California).

The 2003 Southern California Booksellers Association (SCBA) Authors Feast and Fall Seminars will be held Saturday, October 25, at the Westin Hotel in Pasadena, California. The day will include a full agenda of educational workshops and seminars and will be capped by the 11th Annual Authors Feast.

Booksellers, publishers, and authors gathered at the Events Center at the Borgata Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, for the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA) Fall Trade Show on Sunday and Monday, September 21 - 22. It was the association's first trade show in Atlantic City since 1997, and over 500 publishers were represented on the trade show floor. In addition, over 100 authors attended to sign books.

With the threat of Hurricane Isabel lurking behind the scenes, the Southeast Booksellers Association (SEBA) Annual Fall Trade Show was held on Jekyll Island in Georgia from September 19 - 21. Not only was the weather "perfect," said SEBA Executive Director Wanda Jewell, "I can't think of anything that didn't go well." Jewell renamed the spot "SEBA Island" and spoke of polling members to make Jekyll Island the show's permanent venue.

This year's Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association (PNBA) trade show, held from Thursday, September 18, through Saturday, September 20, offered up terrific educational sessions and a vibrant trade show floor, according to attending booksellers who spoke to BTW.

This year, the educational events and banquets took place at the Doubletree Columbia River Hotel in Portland. The trade show and all exhibits were located at Portland's Metro Expo Center.

Booksellers in the Great Lakes, Mountains & Plains, and Northern California regions will be gathering next week for fall regional trade shows featuring extensive educational programming and a number of special author events.

ABA will be providing educational sessions at each of the shows, as well as ongoing demonstrations of the new Book Sense Gift Card Program at the ABA/Book Sense booth on the trade show floors.

This coming weekend is a busy one for ABA and for booksellers in the Pacific Northwest, Southeast, and New Atlantic regions. Despite predictions of bad weather caused by hurricane Isabel on the East Coast, the Southeast Booksellers Association will be meeting on September 19 - 21 in Jekyll Island, Georgia; the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association will be hold its fall trade show on September 21 - 22 in Atlantic City, New Jersey; and on the West Coast, the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association began its fall show today through September 20.

If advance hotel reservations are any indication, this year's New England Booksellers Association Annual Meeting & Trade Show will boast very robust attendance. The show, NEBA's 30th, will be held in Providence, Rhode Island, at the Rhode Island Convention Center from October 24 - 26. The trade show floor will be open from 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. on Saturday and 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. on Sunday.

The Mid-South Independent Booksellers Association (MSIBA) held its fall trade show at the Renaissance Austin Hotel in Austin, Texas, from September 4 - 7. Austin, an apt choice for the trade show, was celebrating the "Keep Austin Weird" campaign, which promotes independent businesses and was created by Austin's BookPeople and Waterloo Records.

Booksellers in the Pacific Northwest, New Atlantic, and Southeast regions will be gathering next week for fall regional trade shows featuring extensive educational programming and a number of special author events next week. ABA will be providing educational sessions at each of the shows, as well as ongoing demonstrations of the new Book Sense Gift Card Program at the ABA/Book Sense booth on the trade show floors.