BEA & ABA Announce 2009 Trade Show Innovations

New features include free attendance and coordinated education for booksellers

BookExpo America and the American Booksellers Association have announced a significant program of joint initiatives that reflect their desire to bring booksellers and other industry professionals who attend BEA closer together. The action is intended to help ease the economic challenges facing booksellers who wish to attend the 2009 trade show; to invigorate the convention; and to give booksellers and other industry professionals who attend BEA more networking opportunities. Chief among the new initiatives, BEA will offer limited free convention attendance to ABA bookstore members. Additionally, ABA will bring its annual Day of Education, which is closely associated with its highly regarded Winter Institute, back to the convention facility in 2009, and BEA will offer a concurrent retailer education track to encourage "cross over" attendance. For the past two years, ABA has been conducting its education panels and forums off site. BEA will take place at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City from Thursday, May 28, through Sunday, May 31, 2009.

"BEA and ABA are well aware of the financial realities of many of the bookseller attendees this year, and in light of the recent disappointing retail season, we are committed to making attendance at BEA simpler and easier for booksellers," said Lance Fensterman, vice president and BEA show manager, in a statement. "We are all about community and connectivity at BEA this year. The booksellers are what drive our show, and we're excited to offer free attendance to so many of them -- allowing for that communication and connectivity throughout the Day of Education and the convention."

ABA Chief Operating Officer Oren Teicher said, "ABA is very pleased to have taken these steps in conjunction with our colleagues at Reed to help as many booksellers as possible attend BookExpo America. We have long believed that BEA offers booksellers extraordinary value, as it combines an industry-wide introduction to upcoming titles, outstanding educational programming, and an unparalleled opportunity to meet with and learn from fellow booksellers and others in the industry."

ABA's Day of Education will take place on Thursday, May 28, the day before the exhibit floor opens. Bringing all ABA constituents back to the convention facility for the Day of Education opens the opportunity for BEA to hold its popular Editor & Bookseller Buzz Forum in its traditional time slot on Thursday afternoon at 4:15 p.m. and the Opening Night Keynote on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.

BEA and ABA are working together to schedule Thursday's sessions to maximize attendance and to avoid obvious conflicts. As part of the new plan, ABA's annual Celebration of Bookselling, previously a ballroom event, will be marked by a series of nightly celebrations at Hotel ABA, the Brooklyn Marriott. Other ABA functions, including the Indie Next List Lunch (successor to the popular Book Sense Lunch), scheduled for Friday, May 29, and the newly revamped Indies Choice Book Awards, at a time to be determined, will be held at the Javits Center, where ABA will once again create a lounge for the exclusive use of its members.

Special social events will take place at Hotel ABA, a popular gathering place during past conventions for booksellers, publishers, and other industry professionals. These events will be jointly sponsored by ABA, BEA, and participating publishers.

Hotel ABA will return to its location at the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge, 333 Adams Street, Brooklyn, New York. BEA and ABA are working to cover the cost of providing ABA bookstore members with NYC MetroCards in order to travel between Brooklyn and the Javits Center for the four days of the convention. Reservations for Hotel ABA are now being accepted via the Marriott's dedicated reservation webpage for ABA members. Hotel ABA is open exclusively to ABA bookstore and provisional members. (See related story.)

Details regarding free BEA admission for ABA bookstore members, to be outlined in the coming weeks, include one additional free BEA pass to every store registered for ABA's Winter Institute. BEA will continue as a sponsor of ABA's Winter Institute.

"All our decisions about our show are based on how they affect socializing," said Fensterman. "From this standpoint, this is the biggest announcement we will be making this year since it is an agreement that fundamentally recognizes the social nature of our relationship with ABA. After all is said and done, our relationship with ABA, as well as all the relationships that each of us have with our industry peers, are enhanced by how well we mix and mingle. Our goal at BEA is to create a community where this is possible and to focus on our connectivity and inter-dependence; on what we have in common, as opposed to what sets us apart."