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ABA Programming at BEA 2004
Printer-friendly versionIn an effort to give booksellers more time to make plans for BookExpo America 2004, to be held June 2 - 6 at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, ABA is providing below a preliminary programming schedule for the convention.
Highlights include:
- On Wednesday, June 2, an all-day booksellers school;
- On Thursday, June 3, ABA's All-Day Education Program: How to Attract More Customers and Increase Profits and Revenue Through Effective Marketing;
- On Friday, June 4, ABA's Celebration of Bookselling caps a busy day that includes the Book Sense 76 Luncheon, Annual ABA Town Hall Meeting, ABA Membership Meeting, and two Book Sense Users Group meetings;
- On Saturday, June 5, ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz hosts a session on profitability; ABFFE hosts a session on the USA Patriot Act, and of course, the Book Sense at Five Birthday Bash!
Look for continuing schedule updates in future issues of Bookselling This Week.
 To review all of the educational programs and ticketed events during BookExpo America, visit www.bookexpoamerica.com. There's a lot to see and do and tickets for special author events usually sell out prior to the convention, so make your reservations early! |
| Wednesday, June 2, 2004 |
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Booksellers School: Fundamentals of Independent Bookselling: Strategies for Opening & Growing a Profitable Business Room S106
Once upon a time, you might have expected that "if you open a bookstore, they will come." Not any longer. In an era where there is more retail space than ever before devoted to selling books -- plus the presence of Internet retailers -- sustaining and growing a profitable bookstore business requires that each person in a management role fully understand the fundamentals of running a business. Then your own knowledge of the community and a highly personal touch can be infused to create a tangible competitive edge. When you register for this workshop, the world of bookselling is open to you. From educational sessions to networking opportunities -- plus free admission to the largest U.S. book industry trade show -- you'll be immersed in the book business. Who Should Attend:
Registration: This educational program is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association and facilitated by Donna Paz Kaufman and Mark Kaufman of Paz & Associates. The Thursday morning break-out sessions are facilitated by ABA staff members. Tuition is $350 per person and includes registration to the trade show and free events. To register for this program, visit http://www.bookweb.org/read/6763; call Kristen Gilligan at (800) 637-0037, ext. 1286; e-mail: [email protected]; or fax registration to Kristen at (914) 591-2724. |
| Thursday, June 3, 2004 |
ABA’s All-Day Education Program:
How to Attract More Customers and Increase Profits and Revenue through Effective Marketing
9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. including lunch. (Afternoon sessions will be offered twice -- at 1:45 p.m. and again at 3:15 p.m.)
Open to ABA members only. Register through BEA.
9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Marketing Plenary session
Room N426 A/B
Start the marketing morning off with the “father” of Guerrilla Marketing, Jay Conrad Levinson. Levinson is the author of the bestselling marketing series in history, “Guerrilla Marketing,” plus 24 other business books that have sold over 14 million copies and have been translated into 37 languages. In this special opening session, he will share some of the keys to maximizing a businesses’ success with low-cost, high-impact strategies. Many independent booksellers already understand the potential of Guerrilla Marketing—come learn more about it from the man who wrote the book. Levinson’s guerrilla concepts revolutionized small business marketing and have become so influential that his books are required reading in many MBA programs. And as a bonus, Jay will be joined by bestselling author Seth Godin. Godin's books Permission Marketing, Unleashing the Ideavirus and Purple Cow have been among the bestselling marketing books of the last decade. Seth and Jay collaborated on three of the Guerrilla Marketing books, and Godin's practical ideas on how to reinvent the way you market your store will be remembered long after the rest of the show is forgotten.
10:15 a.m. – 12:00 Noon
Marketing 101: Creating a Marketing Plan
Room 402 A
Product, price, place, and promotion ... is that really all there is to a complete marketing plan? Even if you think you know the basics, this session will provide you with useful, easy to implement strategies for stores of all sizes and specialties for creating a marketing plan. Remember, it takes a minimum of three exposures for a message to make even the slightest impact ... how many times have you reviewed your own plan? Speaker: Jeffrey J. Fox (How To Make Big Money In Your Own Small Business – Unexpected Rules Every Small Business Owner Needs To Know, Hyperion.) Moderated by Ivan Barkhorn, Strategic Planning Consultant to ABA.
10:15 a.m. – 12:00 Noon
Marketing 201: Supercharge Your Current Marketing Efforts
Room 402 B
With the increasing amount of advertising clutter in the world, how can your message get through to the right people, and what should that message be? How can booksellers dramatically increase sales without spending a ton of money? See why implementing a successful marketing plan requires research, communication, and feedback in order spend your promotional dollars more efficiently, increase sales, and drive book buyers to your store. In this session, bestselling marketing pro Seth Godin, author of the new book Free Prize Inside (Portfolio, May 2004) describes five easy and quick ways to dramatically increase your sales and set your store apart from the rest. Moderated by Michael Hoynes, former ABA Chief Marketing Officer.
10:30 a.m.. – 12:00Noon; reconvening at 1:45 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Large Store Roundtable
Room S106
The annual opportunity for owners and managers of large stores to get together and discuss common issues. To suggest topics and/or help in the planning of this meeting, contact Gayle Shanks, Changing Hands Bookstore:
6428 South McClintock Drive
Tempe, AZ 85283
Tel: (480) 730-1142
Fax: (480) 730-1196
E-mail: [email protected]
12:15 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
The Second Annual "What Are You Reading?" Lunch
Room N426 A/B/C
Join your fellow booksellers for a sit-down lunch and discuss books! At each meeting of the ABA Board, one lunch is set aside for Board members to talk about great books they’ve recently read. It’s always a highlight of the board meeting. This BEA lunch affords all booksellers in attendance the same opportunity. Find out what your colleagues are reading, and be ready to share favorite titles of your own!
Each of the following five sessions will be offered twice -- allowing booksellers to attend two sessions -- from 1:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. and then again at 3:15 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
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1:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
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3:15 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
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- Forming Business Alliances in Your Community
Room – 402 A
Booksellers and other independent businesses all across the country are working together and forming local business alliances designed to promote the ever-growing importance of locally owned independent businesses to the economic stability of their communities. Come hear representatives of BALLE (Business Alliance for Local Living Economies) as well as from several independent booksellers who have been in the forefront of creating such alliances in their towns and cities. Moderated by Oren J. Teicher, COO of the American Booksellers Association.
- Identify Competition & Self-Evaluation: A Method to Conduct the Analysis
Room – 402 B
Everybody is selling books, or so it seems. This session helps identify possible competitors in your trade area and suggests a method for determining if they are impacting your business. After identifying your competition, you need a method of analyzing your business to see how you (with objectivity) measure up. Why does any consumer buy their books at any place and at any time? What are the factors that enter into this basic decision that is at the core of all consumer conduct? How does your store measure up? Moderated by Avin Mark Domnitz, CEO of the American Booksellers Association.
- Succession Planning: Employee Buyouts
Room – 404 A
Are you a bookstore owner hoping to sell your store to your employees? Or are you a bookstore employee hoping to buy the store where you now work? Come hear some strategies for starting down this road. This session will feature real-life examples where this has successfully taken place. Moderated by ABA Strategic Planning Consultant, Ivan Barkhorn.
- Focused Small Store Issues
Room – 404 B/C
Good things come in small packages, or so they say, and in bookselling, "small" can be both good and vexing. Stores that are small in square footage and resources may have all the same problems as their bigger brethren, but finding time and information to better their businesses can be challenging. ABA small store members have set the agenda for this seminar, which will cover common issues of inventory management, stocking, and ordering, time management, and choosing a POS system, plus many more. Bring your questions. A prominent panel of bookseller moderators will lead the discussion.
- Inventory Management
Room – 404 D
In this entertaining, yet extremely informative session, you will learn to effectively measure and monitor your store’s inventory. You will be challenged to look at how you’re currently doing business, compare it to some proven industry best practices, and determine which practices you may need to adopt in order to maximize your success and improve your bottom line. How effective are you at keeping score of your inventory? The average independent bookstore’s largest asset (65% of their total investment) is currently on their shelves. How does your store measure up? Moderated by Bob Steele, professional speaker and business consultant.
1:45 p.m.- 3:00 p.m
College Store Idea Exchange & Roundtable
Room S105 B/C
College stores have a unique position in today's competitive marketplace. This session will focus on sharing proven strategies that can help make your store an even more valuable community resource, on and off the campus. Presentations and discussions will include the following: success with remainders; campus and community events and initiatives; inventory selection, marketing and merchandising tips. This session will be offered once, but we invite you to stay afterwards to continue networking with your college store colleagues. If you have ideas to suggest, contact Cindy Thompson ([email protected]) at the National Association of College Stores.
2:00 p.m. - 4:15 p.m.
An Afternoon of Educational Programming for Children's Booksellers
Room – TBD
Co-sponsored by the American Booksellers Association (ABA), Association of Booksellers for Children (ABC), and the Children's Book Council (CBC) Children's Booksellers and Publishers Committee. Featuring the Newbery Medal-winning Linda Sue Park (Clarion Books) and the return of the Children's Book Buzz Workshop, in which editors and marketing staff from a variety of publishing houses present exciting new titles in small roundtable sessions.
4:30 p.m.
BEA’s Editor & Bookseller Buzz Forum
Room S106 B
Editors will convene to share and reveal their perspectives, insights, and
reasons why they are excited about various forthcoming titles and authors. Without the hype of PR, sales, and marketing, this intimate exchange is designed to transfer the undiluted editorial “buzz” from where it truly begins, to where it is most often appreciated. Free. Open to all BEA attendees. NOT part of full-day ABA package.
| Friday, June 4, 2004 |
8:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
Children's Book and Author Breakfast
Grand Ballroom
Presented in cooperation with the Children's Booksellers and Publishers Committee of American Booksellers Association, Association of Booksellers for Children, and the Children's Book Council
Admission: $25. Open to all BEA attendees. Register through BEA for tickets
at www.BookExpoAmerica.com.
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
BookSense.com Users Group
Room – 402 A
BookSense.com users will learn about the latest features of BookSense.com, as well as planned enhancements to the product. There will also be a Q&A with the program's director, Len Vlahos. Non-BookSense.com stores are welcome to attend! Open to all BEA attendees. Moderated by BookSense.com Director Len Vlahos.
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 Noon
Book Sense Gift Card Users Group
Room – 402 B
Participants in the Book Sense Gift Card program are encouraged to attend this session for an in-depth review of the program and a discussion about future growth. Booksellers will be asked to share their experiences of managing this innovative program. Come prepared to talk about what worked and what didn’t. Learn from other booksellers about marketing ideas. And, hear the latest statistics on the future of the gift card market. A Givex representative will be in attendance. Bookstores who are not participating in the Book Sense Gift Card program are welcome to attend! Open to all BEA attendees. Moderated by ABA Marketing Director Jill Perlstein.
12:00 Noon – 1:30 p.m.
Book Sense 76 Luncheon
Grand Ballroom
Sponsored by The New Yorker magazine.
One of the highlights of BEA, this luncheon is your chance to meet dozens of authors whose books you’ve helped make past or present Book Sense 76 Picks! (RSVP to Mark Nichols at [email protected]. Limit two per bookstore. Please bring confirmation e-mail from Mark to the luncheon. Admission: Open to all bookstores with Book Sense. Free of charge by RSVP only.
3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Annual ABA Town Hall Meeting
Room – 404 A
This is the opportunity for ABA booksellers to voice their opinions and share their ideas with ABA Board members and staff in a less formal setting than at the ABA Annual Membership meeting which follows. Ask questions/make suggestions on such topics as Book Sense, sales tax issues, electronic gift cards, ABACUS, or anything else on your mind! Admission: Free of Charge. Open to all ABA members.
4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
ABA Annual Membership Meeting
Room – 404 B/C
ABA’s official annual meeting will update membership on the past year and look ahead to future association projects. Voting cards will be available outside the meeting room two hours prior to the meeting. The meeting agenda is as follows:
Call to Order, Report on the Election of Board Members and Officers, Report of the President, Report of the Chief Executive Officer, Old Business, and New Business. Admission: Free of Charge. Open to all ABA members.
5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
ABA’s Annual Celebration of Bookselling
Room – Grand Ballroom
Sponsored by Atlantic Monthly magazine.
An annual tradition where all are invited to snack, drink, and share in the suspense for the announcement of the 2004 Book Sense Book of the Year Awards. Finalists from five categories—Adult Fiction, Adult Nonfiction, Children’s Literature, Children’s Illustrated, and Paperback—will be there, will you? Gifts for the Book Sense Book of the Year finalists and winners are provided by Levenger. In addition, awards will be handed out to the winners of Publishers Weekly's Bookseller of the Year and Publishers Weekly's Rep of the Year. Don’t miss this chance to have some fun and to mingle among bibliophiles. Admission: Free of Charge. Open to all badged BEA attendees.
| Saturday, June 5, 2004 |
8:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
BEA Book and Author Breakfast
Grand Ballroom
Admission: $25. Open to all BEA attendees. Register through BEA for tickets
at www.BookExpoAmerica.com.
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 Noon
The 2% Solution
Room – 402 A/B
The 2003 ABACUS Study of independent bookshop operations showed that the average profitability of all 197 participants was -1.67%. This seminar looks at the drivers of profitability and examines how they can be worked on to move our businesses to profitability. The session suggests exactly how a bookseller can work on sales, gross margin, compensation, and occupancy expense. While moving from negative profitability to a positive 2% is a long journey, this seminar will help us to start drawing the roadmap. Moderated by Avin Mark Domnitz, CEO of the American Booksellers Association.
12:00 Noon – 2:00 p.m.
BEA Book & Author Luncheon
Grand Ballroom
Admission: $40. Open to all BEA attendees. Register through BEA for tickets
at www.BookExpoAmerica.com.
1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
ABFFE’s Amending the PATRIOT Act: The Fight Continues
Room – 404 A
In 2003, booksellers and librarians took a huge step forward in their fight to restore the protections for the privacy of bookstore and library records that were stripped away by the USA PATRIOT Act. Corrective legislation was introduced in both the U.S. House and Senate, but President George Bush has announced his opposition to any changes. Hear a panel of experts outline the next steps in the fight to amend the PATRIOT Act and find out how you can help. The program is sponsored by the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the Association of American Publishers, and the Freedom to Read Foundation.
3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Book Sense at Five Reading Room
Room – 404 B/C
End your day listening to outstanding writers sharing their work at the Book Sense at Five Reading Room. Four authors who have been selected from the Book Sense 76 will read from their books. Come be part of a wonderful ABA Convention tradition! Admission: Free of Charge. Open to all BEA attendees.
4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Audiobook Tea
Room S105 B/C
Sponsored by the Audio Publishers Association
Admission: $15. Open to all BEA attendees. Register through BEA for tickets
at www.BookExpoAmerica.com.
5:00 p.m.
Book Sense at Five Birthday Bash
Be sure to be on the Trade Show floor to celebrate the 5th birthday of Book Sense! Look for details at the show.
| Sunday, June 6, 2004 |
8:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
BEA Book and Author Breakfast
Grand Ballroom
Admission: $25. Open to all BEA attendees. Register through BEA for tickets
at www.BookExpoAmerica.com.
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ALL DAY! EVERY DAY! ABA/Book Sense Lounge Relax… the Book Sense Lounge – a special ABA members-only VIP lounge – is returning to Chicago – bigger and better than ever!! Open June 4 – June 7, the Book Sense Lounge will offer a continuous Book Sense at Five Birthday Party; a place to meet with ABA board members, staff, and fellow booksellers; log on to computers and plug in laptops; Book Sense Autographing; Live Book Sense Advanced Access; live demonstrations, such as the Book Sense Gift Card program, reporting to the Book Sense Bestseller List, BookSense.com, BookWeb.org – and all of its features; etc. The lounge is a comfortable, convenient place to kick back with other booksellers and enjoy some coffee and iced tea. Open all four days (Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday), but closed on Friday at 3:00 p.m. for ABA Town Meeting and Membership Meeting. Please Note: ABA will not have a booth on the floor this year; instead, all usual booth materials and information will be available in the Lounge. Admission: Free of Charge. Open to all ABA members. ABA Kiosk Book Sense at Ingram Store ABFFE
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