PNBA Trade Show Vibrant and Upbeat

This year's Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association (PNBA) trade show, held from Thursday, September 18, through Saturday, September 20, offered up terrific educational sessions and a vibrant trade show floor, according to attending booksellers who spoke to BTW.

This year, the educational events and banquets took place at the Doubletree Columbia River Hotel in Portland. The trade show and all exhibits were located at Portland's Metro Expo Center.

All in all, the show "went pretty well," said Thom Chambliss, executive director of PNBA, who estimated total attendance for the show to be around 1,100. "Vendors all indicated that they were very happy with the way it went. And all the educational seminars were packed. The atmosphere was pretty good. People had an upbeat attitude."

A poster display for the new Book Sense Gift Card Program.

ABA Board member Russ Lawrence of Chapter One Bookstore in Hamilton, Montana, echoed Chambliss's sentiments, and said people seemed to be in a good mood. "For one thing, it's not a secret, there is a great lineup of books for the fall," he said. "The breadth of the new titles coming out is marvelous. It gives us a lot of reasons to be optimistic."

Pat Rutledge of A Book for All Seasons in Leavenworth, Washington, said, "I always enjoy the shows and this one was as good as any. It's always valuable to me. I placed a lot of orders. It was really good for myself and the store -- it gets the creative juices flowing."

Those booksellers who spoke to BTW made special mention of the new Book Sense Gift Cards, which were demonstrated at the ABA/Book Sense booth. Bob Green of Bookpeople of Moscow in Moscow, Idaho, signed up for the gift card program at the booth. "The gift cards are an idea whose time has happened," he said. "It will be a big help."

(l. to r.) Luanne Kreutzer and ABA COO Oren Teicher at seminar on BookSense.com Co-op Reimbursement Program

Rutledge told BTW that she had been reluctant to join the gift card program for philosophical reasons, but said that ABA COO Oren Teicher gave a good presentation on the card's beneficial aspects. "He assuaged my fears, and I decided I would try it," she said.

Additionally, booksellers who participated in the ABA/Book Sense gift card demonstrations or who brought a photo of a recent Book Sense display had the chance to win a free gift card training session and a color inkjet printer. Hearthside Books in Juneau, Alaska, was the winner of the printer; and Bookpeople in Moscow, Idaho, and Liberty Books in Poulsbo, Washington each won a free gift card training session.

Thursday's educational sessions also garnered rave reviews from attendees. The day kicked off with the ABA educational programming "Technology as a Bookselling Tool," led by Jeff Wexler, ABA's information systems director. Incorporating live demonstrations, Wexler's presentation addressed the technological needs of today's bookseller, giving special focus to getting the most out of ABA's online resources. "I think the session opened a lot of eyes to a lot of things -- both new and those that have been available for a while, and for whatever reason [people] weren't aware," said Chapter One's Lawrence, who added that attendees were pleasantly surprised to see how much information was available on the BookWeb.org Web site.

Rutledge and Lawrence both gave high grades to the session "BookSense.com Co-op Reimbursement Program, Reduce Your Web Site Costs," led by ABA COO Oren Teicher, Book Sense marketing director. Teicher discussed how the co-op program allows booksellers with BookSense.com Web sites to earn newsletter co-op dollars from participating publishers for featuring titles, both online and in-store and helps publishers to promote their books. "I thought it was great," Rutledge said. "I've tried to do [co-op on my own] but it was too much work, so I'm definitely going to get on board. It's kind of a no-brainer…. The program received good feedback from booksellers already participating."

"What frequently is overlooked, [the co-op program] is also a great way to sell books, so you're winning several battles there," said Lawrence. "It's a powerful tool."

Rutledge said another highlight of the show was Thursday afternoon's "A Celebration of Authors," hosted by Lawrence, which highlighted 10 authors whose books have been chosen as great regional handsellers. "I get so much out of listening to authors speak about their work," she said.

"It's always edifying to see so many authors -- and no two are alike," Lawrence said. "It just shows you the range of literature out there."

For Rutledge, one of the most important aspects to any trade show is meeting and talking to other booksellers. "It's great to see other booksellers and find out what's going on," she said. "The networking is phenomenal and very uplifting. I can't say enough!" --David Grogan