Dear Booksellers, ABA’s Annual Meeting and Town Hall are scheduled for the afternoon of Thursday, June 11. I wish we could all be together in person. We all need that right now. And, selfishly, I was looking forward to my first opportunity to speak with all of you face to face. Nevertheless, I am grateful to be together virtually. We will start with the Annual Meeting at 2:00pm ET. This is when ABA Board President Jamie Fiocco (Flyleaf Books) and I both get to present a bit of a state of the union. Technically, we’re reporting on this past year but as I’ve only been in this position three months and the last few months seem like a lifetime for all of us, our emphasis will be on recent months and the days ahead. Either way, this part of our gathering will be relatively short, so we will flow immediately into Town Hall. This may mean that the Town Hall starts as early as 2:15pm ET, so be ready! Don’t miss the opportunity to communicate your opinions, concerns, and ideas to ABA Board members, me, and the rest of the ABA team. Before we begin the Town Hall, Jamie will read ABA’s antitrust statement to remind bookstore members that we cannot discuss things like publisher terms in this meeting. ABA’s general counsel will be on hand to jump in and remind us, if needed, for our own protection. Jamie will also read ABA’s code of conduct statement. That one’s simple: We all agree to treat one another with respect. Town Hall will last until 4:00pm ET or until people are finished asking questions, whichever comes first. A short PW Bookseller of the Year Award ceremony honoring Porter Square Books will immediately follow the Town Hall. Lately, ABA has adopted the title of Reshma Saujani’s book as our motto: “Brave, not perfect.” Like for many of you, the last few months have necessitated us trying all kinds of new things and addressing all kinds of new issues, so we appreciate your patience in general, but specifically as we navigate the waters of our first virtual Annual Meeting and Town Hall. Thanks to those who have already sent us questions. (You can still do so at [email protected].) Questions submitted ahead of time will be addressed as part of the Annual Meeting or in the course of the Town Hall. Members will also be able to raise their Zoom hands to speak and/or submit questions via the Zoom Q&A function during the Town Hall. Daniel O’Brien, ABA’s Senior Membership Manager, will call on members who wish to speak in the order that their hands are raised. Once all hands are called on and all who wish to speak have spoken, Daniel will then read the questions submitted via Zoom Q&A, excluding questions that have already been asked and/or answered. (The general chat will be turned off to avoid confusion.) Note: Due to capacity concerns, publishers and other industry partners will be watching both the Annual Meeting and the Town Hall in a different forum and will be able to hear questions and comments raised but will not be able to address them on the call. Publishers can use this link to watch the event on June 11. Remember that this link will not allow for participation in the meeting. We suggest that members log on a few minutes early to ensure that they are able to access the webinar. If you have technical difficulties, contact ABA’s event tech team. Booksellers: Register now for the Annual Meeting and Town Hall. I hope you all join us. We have important information to share. You have important questions, comments, and concerns. And we look forward to “seeing” you, or at least being together in the moment. In the meantime... ABA is here for all of you. Please reach out if there is anything we can help with. We are an incredibly creative, resilient, supportive industry. We’ll get through this, together. Best,
Allison |
