Free BEA Badges: Member Authorization Required

A new initiative announced by the American Booksellers Association and BookExpo America last month entitles all regular ABA bookstore and provisional members to free admission to this year's trade show. The number of free badges a bookstore will receive is based on a store's sales volume as well as participation in the recently concluded Winter Institute.

Every regular ABA store and provisional member is entitled to at least one free admission to BEA, with additional badges available to stores in an ABA dues category of two or higher. ABA dues categories correspond to store sales volume. For example, stores doing between $250,000 and $500,000 per year in total book sales fall into dues category three. Stores doing between $500,000 and $750,000 fall into dues category four, etc.

Under the recently announced plan, a category two store will receive two free BEA admission badges; a category three store, three free admission badges; a category four store, four free admission badges; etc., thus enabling larger stores to bring additional staff. One additional free BEA badge is available to each member bookstore that was represented at the Winter Institute to allow booksellers to continue the educational experience begun in Salt Lake City at this year's ABA Day of Education at BEA.

In order to receive their free badges, stores must authorize ABA to share relevant information with BEA officials. However, all specific sales data provided to ABA for dues calculation purposes will be kept strictly confidential.

"We're delighted to be able to offer ABA member stores free admission to this year's industry trade show," said ABA COO Oren Teicher. "This initiative provides significant savings to our members at a time when every dollar counts." Every ABA member store will save at least $80, the cost of "early bird" admission for a three-day ABA member pass. A store in ABA dues category one that also participated in the Winter Institute is entitled to two free badges -- at least a $160 savings. And a store in ABA dues category four that was represented at the Winter Institute is entitled to five free badges -- a savings of at least $400.

To claim their badges, members must authorize ABA to provide BEA show officials with the number of badges that they're entitled to receive by completing a simple form now on BookWeb.org. ABA is encouraging all bookstore and provisional members to complete the authorization form, whether they have already made the decision to attend this year's BEA or not.

Registration for BEA is scheduled to open in early March, and all ABA members planning to attend must register for the trade show via the BEA website. ABA is simply providing BEA with information about the number of free badges for which a member store is eligible.

The 2009 trade show will be at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center from Thursday, May 28, through Sunday, May 31. Reservations for Hotel ABA 2009, which returns to the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge in Brooklyn, the popular home to ABA members during BEA 2007, are now open via the Marriott's dedicated reservation webpage, accessible via BookWeb.org.