ABA Offers Variety of Regional Trade Show Programming

Win a color inkjet printer at the upcoming fall regional trade shows.

At the upcoming fall regional trade shows, ABA is offering independent booksellers programming that includes sessions on financial operations and succession planning. In addition, two major ABA initiatives -- the online ABA Book Buyer's Handbook and the enhanced options for reporting to the Book Sense Bestseller List -- will be showcased, and, at each show, booksellers will have chance to win an color inkjet printer.

At the Budgeting and Monitoring Workshop, a seminar conducted by ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz, booksellers will be presented with a series of Excel worksheets that will allow them to integrate into their operations a system of financial controls, which will enable them to predict bookstore performance and then to measure outcomes against those predictions. This seminar, which is modeled after Domnitz's popular financial seminars that were offered at BEA and across the country this past year, will be presented in conjunction with the Mid-South, Northern California, and Pacific Northwest regional association trade shows. Advance registration is necessary to ensure the preparation of adequate seminar materials.

The Succession Planning session will address a number of key issues regarding valuing and selling businesses, including insights from booksellers and industry professionals who have been involved in the process of exiting various-sized businesses. The panel at each session will include both recent sellers and purchasers of bookstores. The session will be presented at the Mountain and Plains, New Atlantic, New England, Northern California, Southeast, Southern California, and Upper Midwest regional association trade shows.

The session How to Use the New Electronic Book Buyer's Handbook will offer the latest info on the new ABA Book Buyer's Handbook online, now updated throughout the year. Booksellers will learn more about the Handbook's flexible search features and will be able to preview a new feature, the listings of publishers' special short-term offers. This is the place to ask questions and to explore how better to use this important new resource. The session will be offered at the Great Lakes and New England regional trade shows.

What's New at Book Sense will offer the latest news about developments at Book Sense. Booksellers will learn the latest on reporting to the Book Sense Bestseller List in a matter of seconds, and about the up-to-the-minute data reporting stores receive. There will also be updates on key book promotions, new Book Sense 76 plans, and regional bestseller lists, and a preview of exciting new Book Sense marketing ideas that emanated out of the marketing session with Doug Hall at BEA. This session will be offered at the Great Lakes, Mountains and Plains, and Upper Midwest regional trade shows, and a session to be moderated by Carl Lennertz was recently added to Sunday programming at the New Atlantic fall show. Look for a preview of all programming planned for the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association trade show in next week's Bookselling This Week.

A combined Handbook and Book Sense Session was recently added to the schedule for the Pacific Northwest regional show. This session will also be offered at the Mid-South, Southeast, and Southern California regional shows.

The ABA exhibit at the regional shows will feature scheduled demonstrations of the enhanced reporting options to the Book Sense Bestseller List and of the online ABA Book Buyer's Handbook. Booksellers can get answers to questions regarding these programs, as well as any other ABA issues, throughout the shows.

In addition, staff at the ABA booth at the Mountains and Plains, New England, Pacific Northwest, and Upper Midwest regional shows will include a representative from LIBRIS, an insurance company formed and owned by the ABA, whose goal is to ensure ABA members get the broadest insurance coverage at the most competitive cost. The LIBRIS representative will be available to provide information on program coverage and to answer questions.

At each of the shows, booksellers will have the opportunity to win a new color inkjet printer, which will be used at the ABA booth to demonstrate how easily the Book Sense Bestseller lists can be printed. To be eligible to win, a bookseller need only bring a photo of the store's current Book Sense 76 display to the ABA booth to be included in a drawing for the inkjet printer. The drawing will take place 30 minutes before the close of the exhibit floor on the final day of the show, and a bookseller need not be present to win. All entry photos must have the name of the store, store address, and a phone number. In addition, the best 76 display photos gathered at all the regional shows will be included in a a portfolio that will be shared with publishers over the next few months.

BookSense.com will also be represented at the regionals, and is setting up appointments with stores participating in the free BookSense.com trial offer, current users, and other interested bookstores. To set up an appointment, contact BookSense.com Director Len Vlahos at [email protected].

To read BTW's regional trade show previews and for regional association contact information, click here.