ABA Education at PNBA & Heartland Shows Features ABACUS & IndieCommerce One-on-Ones

The American Booksellers Association will continue its fall regional show programming with an education session on the ABACUS-15 Survey at the upcoming Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Trade Show and the Heartland Fall Forum, the trade show of Midwest Independent Booksellers Association and the Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association. In addition, IndieCommerce users and non-users will have the opportunity to meet one-on-one with a member of the IndieCommerce staff.

Booksellers are also encouraged to stop by ABA’s booth to learn more about the new Indie Next List e-newsletter for their customers and this year’s Indies First and Indies Introduce initiatives. ABA members who leave a business card at the booth will have an extra chance to win a scholarship to attend the 2017 Winter Institute or ABC Children’s Institute.

ABA CEO Oren Teicher, Senior Program Officer Joy Dallanegra-Sanger, and IndieCommerce Manager Geetha Nathan will be at both the PNBA and Heartland shows. They will be joined at PNBA by ABA Member Relationship Manager Nathan Halter; at Heartland, by Member Relationship Manager Catherine Cusick.

Below is the schedule of ABA programming at PNBA and the Heartland shows.

Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Trade Show
September 30–October 2, 2016, at Hotel Murano, 1320 Broadway Plaza, Tacoma, Washington

• ABA will be located at Tables 21 and 22 on the trade show floor.
   
• On Friday, September 30, from 4:00 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., ABA will present the education session “Understanding and Acting on Your ABACUS-15 Report.” Booksellers nationwide, in markets of all sizes, have found ABACUS, the only financial benchmarking tool for the independent bookselling industry, to be an essential element for strategic and business planning, access to capital, negotiations with landlords, and much more. At this session, ABA CEO Oren Teicher and ABA Board Vice President Robert Sindelar, managing partner at Washington’s Third Place Books, will share details about ABACUS participation and will review top-line financial data from this year’s report to demonstrate how booksellers can use the information to improve their business’ performance. Booksellers are encouraged to come with questions.
   

• On Friday, September 30, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and on Saturday, October 1, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., IndieCommerce Manager Geetha Nathan will be available to meet with IndieCommerce users and non-users for one-on-one sessions in the Economic Development Boardroom (balcony level of the Exhibit Hall Rotunda). These sessions are an opportunity for non-users to find out whether ABA’s e-commerce platform is right for them; for IndieCommerce stores, the sessions are a chance to discuss and find solutions to their most pressing questions. Interested booksellers are encouraged to sign up in advance, but walk-ins are welcome.

Complete trade show details are available on the PNBA website.

Heartland Fall Forum
October 5–7, 2016, at The Depot Renaissance, 225 Third Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota

• ABA will be located at Table 205 on the trade show floor.
   
• On Thursday, October 6, from 10:15 a.m.to 11:15 a.m., ABA will present the education session “Understanding and Acting on Your ABACUS-15 Report.” Booksellers nationwide, in markets of all sizes, have found ABACUS, the only financial benchmarking tool for the independent bookselling industry, to be an essential element for strategic and business planning, access to capital, negotiations with landlords, and much more. At this session, ABA CEO Oren Teicher and ABA Board Member Kris Kleindienst, co-owner of Left Bank Books in St. Louis, will share information about ABACUS participation and will review top-line financial data from this year’s report to demonstrate how booksellers can use the information to improve their business’ performance. Booksellers are encouraged to come with questions.
   
• On Thursday afternoon, October 6, and Friday morning, October 7, IndieCommerce Manager Geetha Nathan will be available to meet with IndieCommerce users and non-users in one-on-one sessions at Table 506 on the trade show floor. These sessions are an opportunity for non-users to find out whether ABA’s e-commerce platform is right for them; for IndieCommerce stores, the sessions are a chance to discuss and find solutions to their most pressing questions. Interested booksellers are encouraged to sign up in advance, but walk-ins are welcome.

Complete trade show details are available on the Heartland Fall Forum website.