NCIBA Fall Trade Show Preview

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This year's Northern California Independent Booksellers Association (NCIBA) Trade Show will be held from October 3 - 5 at the Oakland Convention Center/Oakland City Center Marriott, Oakland, California. Always in the forefront of positive changes in the bookselling universe, NCIBA has lined up top authors at all events and is focusing attention on the recent report regarding locally owned independents and the economic health of communities. Also, knowing the importance of the new electronic Book Sense Gift Card Program, NCIBA has accorded ABA expanded space for its booth on the trade show floor to demonstrate the cards.

Enthusiastic audiences are expected for trade show events featuring former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright (Madam Secretary: A Memoir, Miramax); a bookseller poker clinic led by author and poker player Jim McManus (Positively Fifth Street, FSG); and the screening at the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) Privacy Workshop of a short documentary, Reading Your Rights, on the landmark court decision in favor of the Tattered Cover Book Store in its fight to protect the privacy of its customers' purchase records.

According to Hut Landon, NCIBA executive director, this year's schedule is loaded with high points. "I'm very pleased personally with the line up of authors this year. Every event, from the breakfast speakers to the Moveable Feast, has a great list. We have one of the strongest education programs ever, and Jim McManus' poker clinic will add some fun," he told BTW. The exhibit hall will be open from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday; author autographings will begin at 10:00 a.m. both days and end at 3:30 p.m.

At the ABA/Book Sense booth, attendees can participate in a hands-on demonstration of the new electronic Book Sense Gift Card Program. Booksellers receiving a demo will automatically be entered into a raffle to win a free $50 gift card training session or a color inkjet printer. For a second chance at winning the training session or printer, booksellers should bring a recent photo of a Book Sense 76 display (with store name, address, phone number, and contact name printed on the back).

Educational programming will begin at 10:00 a.m. on Friday morning with the session "Economic Impact of Locally Owned Businesses." Oren Teicher, ABA COO, will moderate the discussion that will feature Steve Bercu, owner of BookPeople in Austin, Texas, and one of the driving forces behind Austin's Liveable City report. The recently published report confirmed that locally owned businesses contribute more to the community than do chain stores.

Landon told BTW that local leaders in city development and planning departments have been encouraged to attend the session and become educated about the issues of upgrading downtown areas by maintaining independent businesses. "This is the first time we're opening up a part of the show to outsiders…. We think it's very important for city officials to hear this perspective. This is critical to the viability of independent bookstores."

The popular roundtable "One Good Thing That Worked in My Store This Year," moderated by Jules Davis of Pendragon Books in Oakland, will be held next, followed by the annual author lunch. The luncheon will feature $18 box lunches, two speakers -- Elisabeth Robinson, author of The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters (Little, Brown) and Amy Stewart, author of The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of the Earthworms (Algonquin) -- and a demonstration of Worm Cam.

The afternoon sessions, including "Authors on In-Store Events," "The Art of Inventory Management," and "Strategies for Dealing with Landlords," will be held along with the ABFFE workshop on privacy. All 11 California members of Congress who have signed on as co-sponsors of the Freedom to Read Protection Act (H.R. 1157) have been invited to speak about the bill and the ways booksellers can help. Also featured at the ABFFE workshop will be author Christian Parenti (The Soft Cage: Surveillance in America From Slavery to the War on Terror, Basic Books) and the screening of the documentary film Reading Your Rights. (For a related story about the film, click here.)

On Saturday, Sara Paretsky (Blacklist, Putnam); Jonathan Raban (Waxwings, Pantheon); and Mark Kurlansky (1968: The Year That Rocked the World, Ballantine) will entertain and engage participants as they partake in a new buffet breakfast.
"Tea at Two" with Madeleine Albright will feature the former Secretary of State talking about her book and answering questions from an audience of 150 booksellers. Pre-registration is required, and there is a limit of four attendees per store location. Attendees will receive an autographed copy of Madam Secretary at the door in exchange for a $1 donation to ABFFE. From 3:00 - 4:00 p.m., Albright will sign copies of the book in the Autographing Area.

At 7:00 p.m. on Saturday in the Simmons Ballroom, 12 authors will attend the Second Annual Moveable Feast for Booksellers. The event will include 12 tables of 10, with open seating and authors changing tables about every half hour.

On Sunday, October 5, the Children's Author Breakfast features Tomie dePaola (Trouble in the Barker's Class, Putnam); Jon Agee (Z Goes Home, Hyperion); and Jim LaMarche (The Elves and the Shoemaker, Chronicle).

At 11:00 a.m. at the "Rep Pix" session, eight sales reps will give brief presentations highlighting anticipated hand-selling favorites from their fall lists.

The programming will end with the deliciously popular Cookbook Celebration beginning at 2:00 p.m. The celebration will be held this year on the show floor near the NCIBA booth. Samples of recipes from some of the fall's finest new cookbooks will be available.

Landon is looking forward to the show as an opportunity for a lot of people "to come to visit and be recharged. Despite tough times in the first half of the year, we are right where we were last year as far as exhibitors, and everyone seems to be upbeat coming into the show. The show is still being supported by publishers who are sending their top-name authors. This holiday season is important, and the show can help booksellers get energized and ready to go."

For more information about the show, contact NCIBA at (415) 561-7686 or [email protected]. --Nomi Schwartz