Winter Institute 2014 Very Close to Capacity

Hotel waiting list now forming

Winter Institute 2014 registration is now very near its limit of 500 booksellers, and the American Booksellers Association is encouraging any member who wants to attend the January 21 – 24 event in Seattle to register as soon as possible.

Registration for the Winter Institute does not guarantee a hotel room at the host hotel, the Westin Seattle, and the ABA block is currently sold out. After registering for the Winter Institute, booksellers are encouraged to add their names to the hotel waiting list by e-mailing ABA Meetings & Planning Officer Jill Perlstein.

In addition, the four tours of Seattle-area bookstores — two half-day and two full-day tours on January 21, prior to the institute’s opening reception — have proven to be especially popular. Tour 1, a full-day tour, is currently sold out, and the other three tours are also nearing their limits. Interested booksellers should sign up for a tour when they register.

The Winter Institute, which is made possible by the generous support of Ingram Content Group, is open exclusively to Regular and Provisional ABA members and invited guests. Registration is filled on a first-come, first-served basis, and there is a maximum of three registrants per member business. The 2014 conference fee is $79.99 per person and is nonrefundable. There is an additional nonrefundable charge for the full- and half-day bookstore tours.

If store owners and managers have not yet decided which additional staff members they wish to bring, they can register online now and leave the additional name fields blank to secure their spaces.

Thanks to the Winter Institute’s sponsors, 50 scholarships will be awarded to booksellers this year. Scholarship winners will be selected from all ABA bookstore members, including Winter Institute registrants and non-registrants. Booksellers who drop off a business card at the ABA booth at any of the regional trade shows will earn an extra entry in the scholarship awards process. Booksellers at stores that have won a scholarship in the past three years are not eligible. Scholarships will cover the conference fee, up to four nights plus tax at the Westin Seattle at the special ABA rate, and transportation costs up to $400. Winners will be announced in mid-November.

For full details and to register, visit the Winter Institute 2014 event page on BookWeb.org.