About ABA

More than 20 people attended an ABA Booksellers Forum, held in conjunction with the Great Lakes Booksellers Association (GLBA) on Tuesday, March 30, at Emmis Books in Cincinnati, Ohio. The forum -- the second to be held in the Great Lakes region this season (the first was on January 15 in Chicago) -- was conducted by ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz and COO Oren Teicher, with ABA President Ann Christophersen of Women & Children First in Chicago and Board member Karl Pohrt of Shaman Drum in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The American Booksellers Association is inviting booksellers to attend a forum to be held in conjunction with the New England Booksellers Association (NEBA) in Amherst, Massachusetts, on April 22. The second ABA/NEBA forum of the season will be held at the National Yiddish Book Center on the grounds of Hampshire College, from approximately 3:15 p.m. - 5:30 p.m., at the conclusion of NEBA meetings.

Due to a recent rate change by the Visa and MasterCard associations, Bank of America Merchant Services has increased its rates for credit card transactions by 0.11 percent, effective April 1.

The rate for ABA members participating in the ABA/Bank of America credit card program has risen to 2.07 percent from 1.96 percent. All bookstores participating in the program should have received notice of this increase from Bank of America.

ABA will be holding a Booksellers Forum in conjunction with the Great Lakes Booksellers Association (GLBA), on Tuesday, March 30, at Emmis Books in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Independent booksellers planning to attend BookExpo America (June 3 - 6 in Chicago) are encouraged to attend ABA's All-Day Education Program, a full day of panels and seminars designed specifically for them. The program is set for Thursday, June 3, from 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. at the McCormick Place Convention Center and is free to all ABA member bookstores and their employees who register for BEA. (Booksellers must indicate on the BEA registration form that they are ABA members, and they must register for the all-day program.

Members of the Mountains & Plains Booksellers Association (MPBA) attending the regional's Spring Meeting at the Denver Marriott Tech Center on Friday, March 19, and Saturday, March 20, also had the opportunity to take part in an ABA Booksellers Forum and to meet with ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz to learn how easy it is to report financial data to the 2004 ABACUS study.

On Thursday, March 18, ABA held a Booksellers Forum in Seattle in conjunction with the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association (PNBA) Spring Show, which ran from March 18 - 20, at the Hilton Hotel/Seattle Airport. Among the topics discussed at the forum were efforts to amend the USA Patriot Act, changes to the Book Sense 76, and bestseller reporting through Nielsen BookScan. ABA's CEO Avin Mark Domnitz and COO Oren Teicher moderated the forum with the help of ABA Board member Russ Lawrence of Chapter One Bookstore in Hamilton, Montana.

In mid-February, ABA began collecting 2003 financial data from member booksellers for the second year of the new ABACUS study.

The American Booksellers Association is extending an invitation to booksellers in the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA) region, as well as to booksellers in Connecticut, for a Booksellers Forum to be held at ABA's offices in Tarrytown, New York, on Wednesday, April 14. The gathering, held in conjunction with NAIBA, will be hosted by ABA Board member John Bennett of Wyckoff, New Jersey's Bennett Books, ABA's CEO Avin Mark Domnitz and COO Oren Teicher, as well as other association staff.

The American Booksellers Association continued its 2004 Booksellers Forum tour on Tuesday, March 16, with a program in conjunction with the Mid-South Independent Booksellers Association (MSIBA), at Brystone Children's Books in Fort Worth, Texas. The forum, conducted by ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz and COO Oren Teicher, gave booksellers the chance to ask questions and to discuss key issues, including the USA Patriot Act, Book Sense Gift Cards, the 2004 ABACUS study, and more.

Contrary to the adage about the old dog and new tricks, even seasoned, longtime booksellers can learn something that improves their businesses. Take Eric Wilska, owner of The Bookloft in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, and president of the New England Booksellers Asscociation: After purchasing business insurance from a private carrier for the past 30 years, he recently switched to ABA's LIBRIS, because, Wilska explained, "I saved a third of the cost for comparable coverage."

ABA hopes to see booksellers at open forums held in conjunction with the Mid-South Independent Booksellers Association (MSIBA), the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association (PNBA), and the Mountains & Plains Booksellers Association (MPBA) next week. Additional ABA programming at each includes demonstrations of the Book Sense Gift Card Program and one-to-one ABACUS tutorials with ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz.

On Wednesday, March 10, approximately 40 booksellers attended an ABA Booksellers Forum, held in conjunction with the New England Booksellers Association (NEBA) at the Massachusetts' Brookline Booksmith. ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz and COO Oren Teicher conducted the forum, and among the key topics were the Book Sense Gift Card program, changes to the Book Sense 76, store security, and efforts to amend Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act.

The American Booksellers Association continued its 2004 Booksellers Forum schedule on Saturday, March 6, in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, where ABA staff met with upper Midwest booksellers. The ABA Booksellers Forum, co-sponsored by the Upper Midwest Booksellers Association (UMBA), was held at the Comfort Inn-Airport.

ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz, COO Oren Teicher, and ABA Board member Karl Pohrt of Shaman Drum in Ann Arbor, Michigan, will be conducting an ABA Booksellers Forum, in conjunction with the Great Lakes Booksellers Association (GLBA) on Tuesday, March 30, at Emmis Books in Cincinnati, Ohio. The second forum in the Great Lakes region this season (the first was on January 15 in Chicago) offers booksellers the opportunity to ask questions, express opinions, and hear about ABA's activities and plans for the future.