ABA Unveils 2009 BEA 'Day of Education'

Today the American Booksellers Association provides a first look at programming for its seventh annual Day of Education, to be held on Thursday, May 28, at BookExpo America. This year, the Day of Education, sponsored by Ingram Book Group/Ingram Publisher Services, returns to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center as part of a series of innovations designed to invigorate the convention and to give booksellers and other industry professionals more networking opportunities.

The ABA program continues and builds upon the curriculum begun at the Winter Institute this past January with educational sessions and panels on topics ranging from marketing via social media to budgeting and monitoring sales and expenses, from best practices for handselling to remainder buying, and more. The schedule also includes programming for children's booksellers developed by the Association of Booksellers for Children and opportunities to visit NYC indie bookstores.

Registration for the Day of Education is open to ABA members via the BookExpo America website, www.bookexpoamerica.com, or the BEA registration booklet.

Additional ABA programming, to be held at the convention center on Friday and Saturday, May 29 - 30, includes Users Group Meetings for the ABA E-Commerce Solution and Gift Card programs, IndieBound, and Above the Treeline; the ABA Town Hall and Annual Membership meetings; and informational sessions to be announced. Watch for details in upcoming editions of Bookselling This Week.

The winners of the inaugural Indies Choice Book Awards will be honored at the Celebration of Bookselling Luncheon also on Friday, May 30. (See related story.)

This year, all ABA regular bookstore and provisional members are eligible for free admission to the 2009 trade show, with the number of free badges based on a store's sales volume and participation in the Winter Institute. To take advantage of the free badge offer, members must authorize ABA to share relevant information with BEA show officials.

The 2009 Hotel ABA, exclusively for ABA bookstore and provisional members, is once again the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge in Brooklyn, New York. Myriad opportunities to network with bookseller colleagues and a series of special social events sponsored by ABA, BEA, and participating publishers are highlights of Hotel ABA, which offers a very affordable rate of $183 per night.

ABA Day of Education Schedule at BEA 2009 (As of 3/27/09)
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, New York, NY

Thursday, May 28, 2009

9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.

The Tie That Binds: A Conversation Between Authors & Indie Booksellers (Special Events Hall)

10:45 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

Large-Store Roundtable (Room 1E09)
Aimed at owners and managers of large stores.
A veteran bookseller will moderate this roundtable discussion for owners and managers of large stores. Space is limited and on a first-come, first-served basis. Those interested in attending should send an e-mail to ABA's marketing coordinator, Sarah Rettger, ([email protected]) with "Large-Store Roundtable" in the subject line.

Viral Marketing in our Viral Culture (Room 1E10)
Aimed at all attendees.
Why do some stories spread wildly and other stories die out in mere days? What ideas should you keep in mind as you create content, online and off, in our viral culture? Come hear Bill Wasik, senior editor of Harper's Magazine, inventor of the flash mob, and author of And Then There's This (Viking), discuss how online content can cause a ripple that turns into a tsunami.

Book Club Brainstorming (Room 1E11)
Aimed at events coordinators, book club coordinators, and frontline booksellers who already have book clubs in place at their stores.
Book clubs are the perfect tool for increasing your sales as well as for reaching out to your community. This session will highlight very successful book club programs. Attendees will examine which aspects of these programs make them such huge successes and will learn ways to implement these strategies in their own stores. Booksellers will join together in guided brainstorming exercises to discover interesting ways of setting up, maintaining, and marketing book clubs to customers.

ABA E-Commerce Solution: The New System (Room 1E12)
Aimed at owners, managers, webmasters, and frontline booksellers from stores not currently using the product.
The ABA E-Commerce Solution (the program formerly known as BookSense.com) has been transformed. Specifically, the product has migrated to an open-source content management system called Drupal. This new and improved program provides booksellers with more intuitive and robust administrative tools, allows for much greater control over the look and feel of their websites, and allows ABA staff to roll out new features more quickly. Come see a demo of this new product and have questions answered by ABA's E-Commerce staff.

ABC/ABA Education Session (Room 1E13)
Aimed at booksellers of all levels who are interested in selling children's books.
The Association of Booksellers for Children will provide educational content focused on merchandising, marketing, and selling children's books. Details to be announced.

1:15 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.

Using Multimedia to Market Your Store (Room 1E10)
Aimed at all booksellers.
What asset helps most to distinguish your store from the competition? It's you! Learn how to tell the story of your store (store history, staff and owner's bios, your place in the community) in a way that will capture the imagination of your customers. This session will instruct booksellers on how to use sight and sound (video, photos, podcasts) to make their stores interesting, exciting, and a place consumers will want to visit over and over again. Hear from a professional filmmaker and see concrete examples from booksellers who have already taken the multimedia plunge.

Bookstore as the Third Place: Making Your Store a Community Center Through Innovative Events (Room 1E11)
Aimed at marketing staff, owners, and managers.
In turbulent economic times, there is no more important mission for a bookstore than to serve as a gathering place for members of the community to exchange in the free flow of ideas. Author signings and readings are often the impetus for such gatherings, but events in your store can be about much more than books. Join this panel of experts as they discuss creating events to position the bookstore as a center for community and political action.

Going Digital: An Industry Discussion on Selling E-Content (Room 1E12)
Aimed at all attendees.
A panel of e-content thought-leaders will discuss trends in digital content, including e-books, audio books, and more, and their impact on independent bookstores.

2:45 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Small & Mid-Size Store Roundtable (Room 1E09)
Aimed at owners and managers of small to mid-sized stores.
A veteran bookseller will moderate this roundtable discussion for owners and managers of small to mid-sized stores. Space is limited and on a first-come, first-served basis. Those interested in attending should send an e-mail to ABA's marketing coordinator, Sarah Rettger, ([email protected]), with "Small-Store Roundtable" in the subject line.

Handselling: Customer Service with Results (Room 1E10)
Aimed at all booksellers.
Handselling is the key customer service strategy differentiating independent bookstores from all other competitors. In this session you will learn how to use or improve this strategy to grow your reputation, energize your staff, and increase your sales.

Independents Week: Creating a Community-Wide Local First Celebration At Any Time of the Year (Room 1E11)
Aimed at owners, marketing staff, and events coordinators.
We all know how vital it is to create a community that understands and practices Local First. In this session you will hear examples of existing Independents Week activities, get practical tips on creating an event that fits your size community, and brainstorm with your colleagues to host the best Indie Week--whether it is July, December, or somewhere in between.

Social Media and the Independent Bookseller (Room 1E12)
Aimed at booksellers of all levels who are interested in social media.
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs and other social networking sites have fundamentally changed the way people approach not only their private lives but, also, their business transactions. Social media networks are not the wave of the future--they are the wave of now, and in today's world you are no longer building relationships with 'customers,' but with 'friends.' Come hear a discussion on these topics, and leave with a greater understanding of where this paradigm shift is taking small business.

Questions about any of the ABA's events or programs should be addressed to Sarah Rettger at (800) 637-0037, ext. 6645 or [email protected].

ABA Day of Education
Thursday, May 28
Preliminary Schedule
BEA 2009