Chicago Site of Second ABA Spring Forum in Great Lakes Region

On Thursday, March 27, the American Booksellers Association will hold its second Booksellers Forum in the Great Lakes Region this spring. The forum and other ABA programming will be held in conjunction with the Great Lakes Booksellers Association (GLBA) Spring Meeting at the Transitions Learning Center in Chicago. In early February, approximately 30 booksellers attended an ABA Booksellers Forum at Weber's Inn in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (For a report on the February forum, click here.)

From 11:00 a.m. - 11:45 a.m., ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz will meet with booksellers who have already submitted their financial data to the ABACUS survey and those who bring their financial information to the meeting, to preview data gathered since ABA reintroduced the study last year. A proven financial research tool, ABACUS provides independent booksellers with a wide range of bookselling-specific financial breakdowns and analyses. (Instructions and an online form for submitting data are available at www.bookweb.org/read/5786. Questions about ABACUS should be addressed to Domnitz at [email protected].)

Following the ABACUS session, ABA will conduct a Bookseller Forum from noon - 2:00 p.m. The forum is open to all ABA and GLBA members, who will have a chance to ask questions, express opinions, and hear from their bookseller colleagues. ABA President Ann Christophersen of Women & Children First in Chicago, Domnitz, and ABA COO Oren Teicher will provide an update on ABA business. Lunch will be served.

Later in the afternoon, from 2:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m., the ABA seminar "Succession Planning/How to Value Your Business" will be facilitated by Ivan Barkhorn, a consultant to ABA on strategic matters and formerly a partner at McKinsey & Company. Among the questions to be addressed at this session are: How much is my business worth now? How can I make it worth more? What are my alternatives if I want to exit the business? When should I begin working on my exit strategy? Who should I be selling to if I choose to sell? How do I negotiate successfully? How do I minimize the government's share of the proceeds?

On Friday, March 28, from 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m., ABA will host a reception for Chicago area booksellers with the ABA Board of Directors at Women & Children First (5233 North Clark Street, Chicago). The ABA Board will be meeting in Chicago from March 28 - 30.

To RSVP or for more information, contact Kristen Gilligan at ABA [(800) 637-0037, ext. 1286 or [email protected]] or GLBA [(616) 847-2460 or [email protected]].

Thursday, March 27

ABACUS Sneak Preview from 11:00 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.
Booksellers Forum from 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. (Lunch included)
Succession Planning Seminar/How to Value Your Business from 2:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Transitions Bookplace Learning Center
1750 North Kingsbury
Chicago, Illinois
(312) 254-0042

Friday, March 28

Bookseller Reception from 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.

Women & Children First
5233 North Clark Street
Chicago, Illinois
(773) 769-9299

REMINDER! On Friday, March 14, ABA will be holding Booksellers Forums in conjunction with the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Spring Show in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and in conjunction with the Mountains & Plains Booksellers Association Spring Meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico. For more on these two forums, click here.