Wi12 Offers Full Schedule of Parties and Receptions

Booksellers and publishers attending Winter Institute 12 (Wi12) in Minneapolis this month will have plenty of opportunities to socialize with colleagues at a range of parties and receptions planned throughout their stay.

On Friday, January 27, Winter Institute scholarship recipients will have the chance to thank their publisher sponsors at the Meet & Greet for Scholarship Winners, prior to the Wi12 Welcome Reception. The Meet & Greet will take place at Open Book, home to The Loft Literary Center, Milkweed Editions, and Minnesota Center for Book Arts, from 4:30 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. in the auditorium on the store’s upper level. Open Book is located at 1011 S. Washington Avenue. Shuttle bus service between the Hyatt Regency and Open Book will start at 4:15 p.m. and run every 15 to 20 minutes until 7:30 p.m. Open Book will also be the last stop on the day’s Bookstore/Publisher Tours.

From 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Friday, Open Book will host the American Booksellers Association’s Winter Institute Welcome Reception, which is once again co-sponsored by Shelf Awareness. At the bookstore/publishing house/literary center, all Wi12 attendees are invited to enjoy cocktails, snacks, and the company of colleagues from around the world as the institute kicks off in earnest.

Shuttle buses will carry booksellers back to the Hyatt Regency for the second annual Winter Institute Backlist Book Swap Party, which begins at 8:00 p.m. and runs until 10:00 p.m. in the Hyatt Exhibit Hall. All Wi12 attendees are invited to bring a copy of a favorite book to share with friends and colleagues, and then leave with someone else’s favorite. Book Swap titles should be at least five years old and still be in print; suggested topics include regional titles, books with strong female characters, and books set in winter, but titles on all topics are welcome.

For this year’s Book Swap, participants should plan to leave a store bookmark with contact information in their swap book so they can find out who picked it. Booksellers are also invited to bring 50 or so extra bookmarks for colleagues from other stores to pick up at the party. This year’s event, which is sponsored by HarperCollins and Harlequin, also features the return of the Backlist Book Swap photo booth; booksellers inclined to the limelight should be ready for their close-up! (All Winter Institute registrants who are planning to participate in the Book Swap are asked to let ABA know what title they are planning to bring by completing the Book Swap form available here.)

Following the Book Swap, young booksellers and publishing professionals are invited to gather at the Young Professionals Afterparty from 10:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. in the Hyatt’s Regency Room. The inaugural Young Professionals Afterparty aims to provide young professionals in the bookselling and publishing industries a chance to mingle and make new friends as well as connect with old ones. The event is sponsored by Lit Hub and the National Book Foundation, with assistance from all nine regional booksellers associations: GLIBA, MIBA, MPIBA, NAIBA, NCIBA, NEIBA, PNBA, SCIBA, and SIBA.

On Saturday, January 28, Ingram, Wi12’s lead sponsor, invites booksellers to unwind at the end of a full day of educational programming at the Ingram Drinks & Hors d’Oeuvres Open Reception.  The reception will take place from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in the Hyatt’s Nicollet Ballroom Promenade.

Also on Saturday, Wi12 attendees can enjoy drinks and desserts at the annual Scholastic Meet & Treat Afterparty, which, as always, will feature a well-stocked ice cream sundae bar. Scholastic authors and illustrators will be on hand to sign books at the party, which will be held from 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. in the Hyatt’s Northstar Ballroom.

On Sunday, January 29, the always-popular Author Reception, sponsored by ABA’s publisher sponsors, will be held in the Nicollet Grand Ballroom from 5:15 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. Many of the more than 100 authors and illustrators taking part in the institute will be on hand to autograph new and forthcoming titles and chat with booksellers. Hors d’oeuvres and refreshments will be served.

At the institute’s close, on Monday, January 30, booksellers are invited to attend the Small and University Presses Author Closing Reception, in the Hyatt’s Northstar Ballroom from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. This final event of Winter Institute 12 is also one last chance to connect with fellow booksellers over another round of drinks and hors d’oeuvres. Booksellers will also have the chance to meet more than a dozen authors who will be signing books published by Wi12’s small and university press sponsors.