At MPBA & Beyond, ABA Offers Much This Trade Show Season

The Mountains and Plains Booksellers Association (MPBA) Fall Trade Show is being held from Thursday, September 16, through Sunday, September 19, at the Marriott Denver Tech Center in Denver, and ABA hopes booksellers will stop by the ABA booth on the trade show floor to learn about the Book Sense Gift Card Program and to share their thoughts on the direction of future ABA educational programming. In addition to its presence on the trade show floor, ABA is offering three educational sessions at the show on Friday, September 17:

• 10:00 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.: "Identify Competition & Self-Evaluation: A Method to Conduct the Analysis"
  
• 1:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.: "Book Sense Gift Card Users Group"
  
• 1:45 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.: "The 2% Solution"
  

These and other sessions are being offered at regional trade shows around the country this fall. Here is what booksellers had to say about ABA programming at this past weekend's shows.

"The 2% Solution," led by ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz, was held at both the MSIBA and SEBA trade shows this past weekend, and Phil Smith of Brace Books & More in Ponca City, Oklahoma, who attended the MSIBA show, told BTW, "I got a lot out of [the session]. It was very easy to understand -- you're looking at the whole picture rather than just one way to improve things."

Paul Cossman of Humpus Bumpus Books in Roswell, Georgia, attended "The 2% Solution" at the SEBA show, and said the seminar went "very well. I think that [Domnitz] is an extremely lucid speaker ... and explains things very clearly. I walked out with a lot of valuable information."

"It was helpful to hear [Domnitz] go through the processes," said Dinah Paul of A Likely Story in Alexandria, Virginia, who also attended the session at SEBA's trade show. "I found it very informative -- it was easy to take a lot of things away from it, [including] ways to improve sales. I am really pleased that ABA is focusing on educational programs, because one of our goals is walking away with industry best practices. As new bookstore owners, that's invaluable."

A two-part gift card/BookSense.com session was held at the MISBA show, while a Gift Card Users Group was held at both PNBA and SEBA, and a BookSense.com Users Group was held at PNBA.

Brace Books' Smith attended the two-part Book Sense session and said it was "interesting to see the feedback on the increase in sales of the gift cards that booksellers are seeing [as opposed to gift certificates]. There were some significant increases" reported at the session, he said.

The Gift Card Users Group, which was held at both the PNBA and SEBA shows, provided attendees an in-depth review of the gift card program and a discussion about future growth. A Likely Story's Paul attended the gift card session at the SEBA trade show, which was led by ABA Marketing Director Jill Perlstein.

"[Perlstein] took the time and walked us through the program," said Paul. "I was able to hear [attendees'] problems, concerns, and some really great suggestions from current gift card users on how to market the cards. We signed up for the program."

At PNBA, following the gift card session, there was a "BookSense.com Users Group," where attendees learned about the latest features of BookSense.com, as well as planned enhancements to the product.

"Successful Successions," which was moderated by ABA COO Oren Teicher, was held at the PNBA show. This panel featured a group of booksellers who had bought or sold stores in recent years. Among those sharing their experiences was Molly Cook, previous owner of Magnolia's Books & Second Story Books in Seattle, Washington. Key issues in valuing a bookstore and assorted strategies on how best to get a bookstore ready to be sold were discussed.

"I walked away with four or five nuggets of information that I was itching to tell my partner," said attendee Susan Welch, co-owner of Hullabaloo Books in Seattle, Washington. "I come from a business school background, and exit strategies are a good thing to know about … especially since the independent bookstore is just now getting back on its feet. [Teicher] said that now you can successfully sell your business, whereas five years ago, [an independent bookstore] often had to close down."

At PNBA, Teicher also moderated "Forming a Local Business Alliance." This panel looked at how booksellers and other independent businesses nationwide are working together to form local business alliances. Attendees heard from the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) and the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA), as well as from several independent booksellers who have been at the forefront of creating such alliances in their towns and cities, including Chuck Robinson of Village Books in Bellingham, Washington.

"I thought it was very useful," said Ruthanne Devlin of Bell, Book & Candle in Port Orchard, Washington, who said that she is very interested in forming a local business alliance in her community and wants to determine how she can help to improve the viability of her core downtown area. "I'm looking at the ways booksellers can be part of a community action group."

A panel on small store issues, which was held at the SEBA trade show, looked at how, in the world of bookselling, "small" can be both good and vexing. The session covered the common issues of inventory management, stocking, ordering, time management, choosing a POS system, plus much more. Domnitz and ABA Board member, Carla Jimenez of Inkwood Books in Tampa, Florida, moderated this session.

Ginny Kemp of Book & Bean in Brooklet, Georgia, said the session was "great," and the session prompted her store to sign up as an ABA and Book Sense member. "Had we not gone to that class, we never would have known about [the Book Sense marketing program]."

For details about ABA programming at upcoming shows, see the regional show previews at www.bookweb.org/read/286 or look for coverage in upcoming issues of Bookselling This Week.