ABA Revamps Day of Education Schedule for BEA

The American Booksellers Association has reorganized its schedule for the Day of Education on Thursday, May 29, at this year's BookExpo America. Changes to the program, which encompasses 15 education sessions and breakfast and lunch keynote addresses, were made in response to bookseller input.

"Based on feedback that we received from the bookseller volunteers on the association's Education Task Force, we've rearranged the schedule to minimize conflicts between subjects that complement one another, giving attendees the opportunity to build an even more meaningful curriculum," explained ABA Chief Program Officer Len Vlahos.

Free and open exclusively to the owners and staff of ABA member bookstores and to provisional members, the Day of Education will be held at the 2008 Hotel ABA, the Renaissance Hollywood. Registration for the program is via the BEA website, www.bookexpoamerica.com, and the BEA registration booklet, mailing in April.

ABA members who wish to participate in the association's Thursday programming, including the breakfast and lunch events, must check off the appropriate boxes on the BEA registration form (these options appear on the website following the "Registration Choices" page).

Watch for Day of Education updates, including college store programming, this year's presenters, and detailed session descriptions, in upcoming editions of BTW.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

8:30 a.m. - 9:15 a.m.

Breakfast and Keynote (TBD)

9:30 - 10:45 a.m.

Booksellers at the Tipping Point: Leveraging Localism and Independence to Promote Your Store -- The concepts of localism, independence, and sustainability are gaining traction with consumers. In this session you'll hear how the retail market has evolved to allow these phenomena to take root and grow, and you'll learn how to leverage and exploit these powerful tools to more effectively market and promote your store.

Buying, Merchandising, and Selling Graphic Novels, 101 -- Graphic Novels and Manga are here to stay. A panel of experts will discuss how you can get the most out of your graphic novels section.

Building and Rewarding Customer Loyalty -- Books are sold everywhere, so how do you keep customers coming back to your store? This session will explore what customers really want, and how you can foster loyalty by responding to consumer needs. An in-depth discussion of the pros and cons of implementing and marketing a customer loyalty program will be featured.

9:30 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

Budgeting & Monitoring Workshop -- This program examines how bookstores, like other businesses, are best operated within a system of financial controls that allow the owner/manager to predict performance and then measure outcomes against those predictions. Special attention is paid to the control of cash flow and the information needed to obtain an operating line of credit. Through the use of a series of Excel worksheets (available to ABA members on BookWeb), booksellers will be shown how to integrate such a system into their store operations. Special attention will be paid to issues relating to small- and medium-sized stores. This session is open to all ABA bookstore members and is recommended for Bookseller School registrants.

11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

Green Retailing -- Booksellers have known about the importance of being environmentally conscious since at least 1962, when Rachel Carson published Silent Spring. But we also operate in an industry that uses metric ton upon metric ton of paper, and barrel after barrel of gasoline to transport goods from the warehouse to the store -- not to mention air conditioning, lighting, and all of the other modern conveniences we take for granted. This session will present a panel of experts from bookselling and beyond who will discuss how we can all be smarter, cleaner, more efficient retailers, and how we can save money by going green!

Print on Demand: Part Two -- At the Winter Institute, attendees heard how booksellers could become print-on-demand publishers with very little financial risk. This new business opportunity will be explored further through a continuation of the case study presented at the Winter Institute. (Attendance at the Winter Institute session is not a prerequisite.)

Give It Away to Get It Back: Using "Thought Leadership" Marketing to Build Your Children's Business -- In today's challenging bookselling climate, it is critical to find and keep your edge over your competition. Covering the basics, providing solid retail service, and putting dollars into traditional marketing strategies is no longer enough. But what if we told you that there is a cost-effective tool available to you that costs very little and will reap huge returns? In this workshop, learn why you and your children's staff are your own best advertising, and how to leverage your collective expertise as a powerful marketing tool to build your children's business exponentially. This workshop will explore the definition of "Thought Leadership" in relation to current trends in New Economy Marketing and why it should be central to any children's marketing plan. We will also discuss the benefits that can come from actively giving away knowledge as a marketing technique, as well as outlining the key elements for crafting a strategic and successful Thought Leadership plan for your children's department regardless of size or staffing level.

12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.

Lunch Keynote (TBD)

2:00 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.

Renegotiating Your Lease -- This presentation uses real-world examples to show how a savvy bookseller can create a plan for entering into a discussion about an existing lease. The material includes using ABACUS benchmarks to frame discussions with your landlord and covers issues such as paying by the square foot vs. paying a percentage of sales, why you need to begin a lease renegotiation well in advance of it becoming a necessity, and more.

Buying, Managing, and Selling Non-Book Items, 101 -- They are often ghettoized in bookstores, but the judicious use of gift and other non-book items can help propel a store into the black. At this session, attendees will hear about the merits of adding gift items to the product mix, and will see concrete examples of buying, merchandising, and selling gift items.

Creating Killer Events -- With books sold in more and more outlets each year, independent booksellers are finding new and innovative ways to distinguish themselves from the competition. One of the most effective tools to set yourself apart is offering a schedule of compelling events. In this session, you'll review an event prep checklist and hear experienced booksellers describe what makes a killer event. This session focuses on events for small- and medium-sized stores.

Managing Blockbuster Events: The Logistics of Events for 500 or More -- How do you prepare for an event likely to draw 500, 1,000, or 5,000 people? Hear a panel of bookseller experts discuss best practices for large-scale events, including planning, insurance, security, line management, and more.

3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Loss Control: How to Stop Profits From Running Out the Front (and Back) Door -- Ever wonder why your inventory and payables don't match the numbers spit out by your computer? Does your gross profit margin seem lower than it should? Every bookstore incurs some losses due to customer theft, employee theft, and accounting errors. In this session, you will learn best practices to identify and control loss to help keep your bookstore profitable.

Independent Retailing in 2008: A Report on the Shop Local Movement -- A panel of booksellers who have been actively involved in a local business alliance in their communities will report on current trends in the Shop Local movement. Hear how you can grow your store's visibility and sales by leveraging your most precious commodity: Your independence!

RFID: What You Need to Know -- This session will demystify Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and show how item-level tagging -- putting tags on each book -- has the potential to revolutionize the book industry supply chain at the warehouse and retail level. Learn about one European bookseller that has introduced RFID at every level of its operations and why it's been such a success. This is a chance to understand this technology before it comes to the U.S.!

Introduction to Co-op Advertising -- The ABACUS study shows that profitable booksellers spend much less on advertising than unprofitable booksellers. This does not necessarily mean profitable bookstores advertise less, but it does mean they claim more co-op. In this session, you'll learn what co-op is, the difference between "pool" and "exempt" co-op, where to find each publisher's co-op terms and policies, how to claim co-op, and more. This session is aimed at booksellers that have little or no experience with co-op.

Learn more about ABA programming at BEA.