As our abbreviated edition of BTW arrives in your inbox today, more than 500 ABA member booksellers and almost 30 international guests from a dozen countries are well into their second day at Winter Institute 2014 [5] in Seattle. Here, in photos, are a few highlights of the first day and a half, in addition to Tuesday’s full- and half-day bookstore tours and the opening reception at The Elliott Bay Book Company [6], sponsored by Shelf Awareness.

The Winter Institute is made possible by the generous support of Ingram Content Group, the event’s lead sponsor, with additional support from publishers large and small [7].

In a special edition tomorrow, Friday, January 24, we’ll be reporting on the opening plenary featuring Dan Heath, co-author with his brother, Chip, of the bestselling business book Decisive (Crown Business); the Thursday breakfast conversation with members of the Seattle7Writers collective — Deb Caletti, Carol Cassella, Tara Conklin, Elizabeth George, Jennie Shortridge, and Garth Stein; and Friday’s interview of Ray Oldenburg, the father of the “third place” movement, by Ron Sher, owner of Third Place Books [8] in Lake Forest Park and Ravenna, Washington, during the Small Press Breakfast.

In the coming weeks, watch for BTW’s in-depth reporting on Wi9’s education sessions and other events.