Wi12: Registration Now Full, Waitlist Forming

Updated: Thursday, September 29

Winter Institute 12 (Wi12) registration reached capacity on Thursday morning, September 29; booksellers who are interested in attending can add their names to a waitlist here and to a hotel waitlist here.

Wi12 will be held at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis in Minneapolis, Minnesota, from Friday, January 27, through Monday, January 30, 2017.

Registration for the event, which is made possible by support from lead sponsor Ingram Content Group and from publishers large and small, is open to all ABA bookstore and provisional members and is limited to three booksellers per ABA member-company. The conference fee is $119 per registrant.

Booksellers at ABA member stores that did not have a Winter Institute scholarship winner in 2015 or 2016 are eligible to apply for a publisher-sponsored scholarship even if they are not registered for Wi12. Scholarships will cover the conference fee, up to four nights’ accommodations at the host hotel, and transportation expenses up to $400. Applications will be accepted until October 28, 2016. Booksellers at the fall regional trade shows can earn an extra chance at winning a scholarship by dropping off their business cards at the ABA booth on the show floor. Scholarship winners will be announced in November 2016.

Over the course of the institute’s three packed days of engaging educational programming, attendees will also take part in festive author receptions, bookseller-publisher networking opportunities, an ABA Town Hall meeting, the Consultation Station, the Galley Room, the Backlist Book Swap, and more.

Booksellers who are making their travel plans should bear in mind that several events will be taking place on Friday, January 27, prior to the Wi12 opening reception. Registration for these events, which require separate fees, opens November 1:

• Minneapolis Bookstore and Publisher Tours
• Leadership Workshop for Owners and Managers
• IndieCommerce Institute

Friday will also feature Introduction to Retail Bookselling, a one-day seminar for prospective booksellers, presented by Donna Paz Kaufman and Mark Kaufman of the Paz & Associates Bookstore Training Group. Registration for the workshop, which is open to ABA Provisional members and employees of Regular member stores, is underway. The workshop fee is $119 per person. Attendance at the Winter Institute is not required to register for the workshop, although workshop students are guaranteed a place at the Winter Institute if they wish to attend; the Wi12 conference fee will apply.

For up-to-the-minute program details and to register, visit the Winter Institute pages on BookWeb.org. Questions should be addressed to [email protected].