ABA and BEA Partner to Offer Education Program

The American Booksellers Association has partnered with BEA to present education sessions at the upcoming trade show on the future of brick-and-mortar retail, James Patterson’s $1 million giveaway, managing social media with Hootsuite, and the latest updates on the Common Core State Standards.

In addition to these four education sessions, ABA has developed two new programs to help members connect with publishers: Meet the Editor and One-on-One Publisher meetings. Preregistration for these meetings is required, and the deadline is Monday, May 12. Here’s a link to more information about both programs and the full schedule of ABA programming at BEA.

Below is updated information on the education program’s session topics and presenters. All programming is at New York’s Javits Convention Center.

Wednesday, May 28

1:30 p.m. to 2:20 p.m.

The Future of Brick and Mortar Retailing (1E12/13/14)
Bricks-and-mortar booksellers have always been the lifeblood of our industry, driving discovery, promotion and purchasing for more than a century. Join a discussion with key industry leaders that will be illuminating and idea-filled, full of hands-on advice on what works (and what doesn’t) when it comes to building your bricks-and-mortar business in the age of e-books and online retailing. Hear details about enhanced programs, deeper customer understanding, and stronger community connections from the perspective of independent booksellers, major retailers, as well as their digital and online retail partners. Panel members will share what is working in stores, give an overview of trends across the industry, and discuss how bricks-and-mortar stores are succeeding today and planning for tomorrow.

Speakers include:

Dominique Raccah, Publisher and CEO
Sourcebooks, Inc.
Moderator

Michelle Collier, Senior Buyer, Books and Magazines
Target

John R. Ingram, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Ingram Content Group, Lighting Source and Digital Ingram, and Ingram Industries

Joyce Meskis, Owner
Tattered Cover Book Store, Denver, Colorado

Michael Tamblyn, President and Chief Content Officer
Kobo

Oren J. Teicher, Chief Executive Officer
American Booksellers Association

3:00 p.m. to 3:50 p.m.

Helping Bookstores, Saving Lives: James Patterson’s 1M Indie Store Campaign (1E10)
Bestselling author James Patterson has pledged to give $1 million to independent bookstores in 2014. Join James Patterson and three booksellers who received funds in the first round of grants to find out about the genesis of the program, Patterson’s hopes for what his grant money can do, and how these booksellers are putting those dollars to work. The next round of grant recipients will be announced at the end of the session.

Speakers include:

Al Roker, Host
NBC’s “Today” Show
Moderator

James Patterson, Bestselling Author

Mitchell Kaplan, Owner
Books & Books, Miami, Florida

Dave Shallenberger, Co-owner
Little Shop of Stories, Decatur, Georgia

Karen West, Director of Events and Conferences
Book Passage, Corte Madera, California

ABA and BEA Present: How to Manage Your Social Media With Hootsuite (1E07)
Hootsuite is a social tool that helps to manage all of your social media efforts, including Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus. Hootsuite ambassador Denise Alicea will introduce session attendees to the software and will explain how to set it up on mobile devices and laptops, and what it offers to authors, booksellers, and publishers. In addition to explaining how keywords and hashtags are important for your event publicity, Alicea will take questions from the audience.

Speaker:

Denise Alicea, Ambassador
Hootsuite

Thursday, May 29

11:00 a.m. to 11:50 a.m.

ABA and BEA Present: Common Core: An Update for Booksellers and Librarians (1E15)
In 2013, many states across the country began implementing Common Core State Standards for K-12 education. The development of new curricula aligned with the new standards will have significant implications for schools, teachers, and students and, also, will directly affect booksellers, librarians, and publishers. At this panel, industry experts will provide an update on Common Core and provide insight into opportunities over the next year for members of the industry. Booksellers and librarians will learn ways to meet the challenges of supplying books and content for students who will be reading more.

Speakers include:

Neil Jaffe, President
Moderator
The Booksource

Becky Anderson, Co-owner
Anderson’s Bookshops and Anderson’s Bookfair Company, Naperville, Illinois

Marc Aronson, Lecturer
Rutgers University School of Communication and Information

Eric Heidemann, Owner and Managing Partner
Fujii Associates

Melissa Jacobs-Israel, Coordinator
Office of Library Services, New York City Department of Education

IndieCommerce staff will also be offering a series of mini-education sessions and one-on-one meetings on the platform upgrade from Drupal 6 to Drupal 7 in the ABA Indie Booksellers Lounge (Room 214 at the front of the “200” aisle on the BEA show floor) on all four days of the show. Session descriptions and times are available here.

To receive free badges to the trade show, booksellers must register as ABA members via the BEA website and provide an ABA member ID number. (Booksellers who need their ABA ID number should contact ABA’s Member Relationship Managers.)

The Remainders and Gift pavilions will open on Wednesday, May 28, at the Javits Convention Center. The full trade show floor will be open Thursday, May 29, through Saturday, May 31.