B&N Chairman Len Riggio to be BookExpo’s First-Ever Grand Opening Keynote Speaker

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Len RiggioOn Thursday, May 3, BookExpo announced plans for the event’s first-ever grand opening keynote, which will feature Barnes & Noble, Inc. Chairman Len Riggio.

The keynote will take place on Wednesday, May 30, at 9:15 a.m. on the Midtown Stage, sponsored by Ingram, and will complement BookExpo’s May 31 leadership roundtable featuring CEOs from Macmillan, Penguin Random House, and Simon & Schuster.

As the chairman of the nation’s largest retail bookseller, Riggio will discuss his unique perspective on the bookselling industry and will focus his talk on the importance of brick-and-mortar stores, serving the modern reader, how bookstores best serve their communities, and the overall changing landscape of book retail today. He will be introduced at BookExpo by American Booksellers Association CEO Oren Teicher.

“We are transforming BookExpo to be the place where the business of bookselling gets done in North America. With that vision in mind, Len Riggio offers a powerful perspective that will be very valuable for the entire industry,” said BookExpo Senior Vice President Ed Several. “Mr. Riggio will offer insights and key learnings that will shed light on the state of the industry and how we can all make it better.”

In recent months, the BookExpo team has met with indie booksellers, publishers, distributors, and librarians to learn more about what they are looking for at the show. As a result, BookExpo has undergone a reimagination to become the place where the business of bookselling gets done in North America.

Booksellers can register for free badges to BookExpo by providing their ABA member ID number during the registration process. More information about ABA’s programming at BookExpo can be found on BookWeb.org.

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