ABA Announces Presenters for 'Day of Education' at BEA

This week, ABA announced the presenters for its Thursday, June 2, "Day of Education" at BookExpo America 2005 (June 2 - 5), at New York City's Jacob Javits Convention Center. A stellar list of bookselling experts will lead a rich and thorough series of educational offerings with one goal in mind -- to help booksellers increase their bookstores' bottom line.

ABA's educational offerings, which are free to all owners and employees of member bookstores who have registered for BEA, are based on the results of the association's 2005 Education Survey, which was distributed to booksellers last fall.

Here's a look at Thursday's presenters:

• Chuck Robinson of Village Books in Bellingham, Washington, will present "The 2% Solution -- An Introduction to Profitability" from 9:30 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. This seminar -- offered around the country over the last year and very well-received by bookseller attendees -- will look at the drivers of bookstore profitability and examine how these can be worked on to move a bookseller's business to greater profitability. While moving from negative profitability to a plus two percent is a long journey, this seminar will help booksellers start mapping a new course.
  
  
• Cathy Langer of the Tattered Cover Book Store in Denver will present the special extended session "Increasing Margin: An Advanced Course in Growing Your Bottom Line" from 9:30 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. At this session, Langer will discuss how controlling margin does not have to be an overwhelming task and will show how affecting gross profit margin can lead to increased profitability. This seminar is intended for booksellers already familiar with principles of inventory management.
  
  
• Russ Lawrence of Chapter One Book Store in Hamilton, Montana, will present "Increasing Sales" from 9:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. and again from 11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. This nuts and bolts session will focus on strategies for increasing sales. Here, attendees will be exposed to ideas for bringing more customers into the store, including the use of co-op, websites, and e-mail.
  
  
• BookSense.com Director Len Vlahos will present the session "Cost of Goods Sold 101" from 9:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. and again from 11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. This session will demystify COGS and will help show why it's crucial to booksellers in terms of understanding the financial health of their bookstore. The session is designed for booksellers less experienced in dealing with inventory management issues and financial analysis and will detail how the "Retail Inventory Method" can be used for calculating COGS.
  
  
• Avin Mark Domnitz, ABA's CEO, will lead the session "It's in the Payroll" from 9:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. and again from 11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. The focus of this session is payroll control. Starting with an examination of what is included in the payroll line (total compensation) to providing practical, usable tools for budgeting, scheduling, and controlling payroll, this seminar will provide invaluable tools and information to booksellers, regardless of the size of their store.
  
  
• From 9:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. and from 11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m., Meg Smith, associate director of Book Sense Marketing, will present "Renegotiating a Lease." This session will use real-world examples to show how a savvy bookseller can create a plan for entering into a discussion about an existing lease. The material will include using ABACUS benchmarks to frame discussions with landlords and will cover such issues as paying by the square foot vs. paying a percent of sales, why a bookstore owner needs to begin a lease renegotiation well in advance of it becoming a necessity, and more.
  
  
• Gayle Shanks of Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona, will present "Buying, Selling, and Managing Gifts, Sidelines, and Other Non-Book Products 101" from 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. and from 3:15 p.m. - 4:15 p.m. At this session, attendees will hear about the merits of adding gift items to the product mix, as well as basic principles of buying, merchandising, and selling gift items.
  
  
• Mary McCarthy of Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops in Milwaukee and Lance Fensterman of Bound to Be Read in St. Paul, Minnesota, will present "Buying, Selling, and Managing Gifts, Sidelines, and Other Non-Book Products 201" from 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. and again from 3:15 p.m. - 4:15 p.m. Here, a panel of bookseller experts will address how to find a non-book buyer with the right sensibility, best merchandising practices, how to measure success, and more.
  
  
• Mark Nichols, director for Book Sense Marketing, will moderate the panel "Understanding Co-Op 201" from 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. and again from 3:15 p.m. - 4:15 p.m., which will feature Heather Duncan of the Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver and Tom Campbell of the Regulator Bookshop in Durham, North Carolina. The panel will discuss creating a marketing/advertising plan, how to use co-op efficiently, how to measure the success of your advertising and marketing activities, and tips on communicating with publisher co-op departments, among other topics.
  
  
• Dan Cullen, director of ABA's Information Department and editor-in-chief of the Book Sense Picks, will moderate the session "Outside Sales: Selling Outside the Store and Selling to Corporations" from 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. and again from 3:15 p.m. - 4:15 p.m., which will feature panelists Becky Anderson of Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville, Illinois; Nancy Olson of Quail Ridge Bookshop in Raleigh, North Carolina; and Jack Covert, president of 800-CEO-READ, a division of Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops in Milwaukee. This panel of experts will discuss corporate sales, school book fairs, house parties, and other sales opportunities out of the store.
  
  
• Kate Whouley, founder of the 16-year-old consulting service for those in the retail book business, Books in Common, and author of the Book Sense Top Ten Pick, Cottage for Sale -- Must Be Moved (Commonwealth Editions), will present the special extended session "Improving Ambience, Improving Sales" from 2:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Using five ABA member stores as real-life case studies, Whouley will help attendees see their bookstore from a fresh perspective and provide practical advice about how to make their store the place where their customers want to be -- and buy.

At press time, presenters had yet to be determined for "Understanding Co-Op 101," which will be held on Thursday from 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. and 3:15 p.m. - 4:15 p.m., and "The Bookstore as a Third Place: Making Your Store a Community Center Through Innovative Events," from 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. and again from 3:15 p.m. - 4:15 p.m. Watch for an announcement of the featured speakers at these sessions in an upcoming issue of BTW.

ABA's complete educational program at BEA and more is available at www.bookweb.org/aba/convention.