MPBA Fall Show to Have Mountains of Great Programming

The 2005 Mountains and Plains Booksellers Association (MBPA) Fall Trade Show will be held from Thursday, September 22, through Sunday, September 25, in Denver, Colorado, at the Marriott Denver Tech Center.

"We have tons of wonderful authors coming" said MPBA's executive director, Lisa Knudsen, "and in addition to the two more formal breakfasts with authors, we have fun events planned like 'Tea & Scones with Philippa Gregory'; the 'Brown Bag Lunch with Regional Authors'; and 'How to Drink Coffee Like a Poet' with Gary Mex Glazner. I'm hoping to participate in that one myself, because the group gets to create a poem in the afternoon workshop and then perform it that evening at the Author Reception."

This is the first year that the event will include members of the former Mid-South Independent Booksellers Association -- those from Texas and Oklahoma. According to MPBA President Kathy Westover of The Bookworm in Edwards, Colorado, this year's show includes some Texas authors and about 25 new stores."

Westover has very high hopes for this year's show. "This is my fourth, and final, year as president, and I am truly blown away by all the great stuff we have. It's going to be a dynamite show," she said.

Expanded education programming for the show will include four sessions sponsored by the American Booksellers Association: "The New ABACUS," "Basic Budgeting," "It's in the Payroll!," and "Increasing Sales." All of these sessions will be presented by ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz.

"The [education] seminars developed by ABA have become an important component of the regional meetings," Knudsen said, "and Avin Domnitz will be presenting four during the trade show. Also, by popular demand, there will be sessions on Co-op 101, Customer Service, and the 13-digit ISBN."

The trade show floor will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday and 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Sunday.

ABA will have a booth on the trade show floor, where the focus will be on education and information. Booksellers are encouraged to stop by the booth to meet with ABA staff, including Domnitz; Kristen Gilligan, associate director of programming and constituent groups liaison; and Linda Sinisi, Book Sense marketing manager.

Visitors to the booth can drop off their business cards for a chance to win airfare and hotel accommodations for ABA's Winter Institute or an inkjet printer. (ABA is encouraging booksellers to contact ABA staff members prior to the show if they have questions, suggestions, or comments.)

Special events at the MPBA trade show will include several author receptions, the presentation of the Gordon Saull Bookseller of the Year and Sales Rep of the Year awards, and two author breakfasts -- one for literacy, with former Arizona Governor Bruce Babbitt, and one featuring children's authors and illustrators.

Of MPBA's trade show lineup, Westover, said, "This is the first time we have had to schedule concurrent sessions, because we have so much to include. [The content] of all our sessions work so well together -- all deal with how to make booksellers aware of the future of reading. Every single session involves some discussion of where our world is going and how we adapt to the changes. The ABA education sessions are great -- they all build on 'The 2% Solution' [session] that has been so popular," she said.

On Thursday, September 22, programming will begin with "The New ABACUS." ABA's Domnitz will lead participants through the third-year survey's detailed, comparative analysis of the primary factors affecting bookstore profitability. The presentation will explore what factors really drive sales and profits, as well as offer guidance on how booksellers can use the ABACUS data to improve store performance. The session is geared toward all booksellers, not just those with in-depth knowledge of financial management.

Following the ABACUS session, Domnitz will offer "Basic Budgeting," for those who would like to learn or review the fundamentals -- this is a "Level 101" workshop for booksellers.

Also on Thursday morning is "The Art & Science of Customer Service for Bookstore Staff," presented by Linda Milleman, longtime manager at the Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver.

Following the morning sessions on Thursday will be the "Brown Bag Lunch with Regional Authors" -- Pulitzer Prize winner Gail Caldwell (A Strong West Wind, Random House); Walter Kirn (Mission to America, Doubleday); and Benjamin Alire Saenze, past winner of the American Book Award for Poetry (In Perfect Light, Rayo/HarperCollins).

Thursday afternoon programming will offer "Strategies for Success for Independent Businesses -- Parts One and Two." Part One will feature Donna Fenn (Alpha Dogs: How Your Small Business Can Become a Leader of the Pack, CollinsBusiness). Fenn is a contributing editor to Inc. magazine and participated in the BEA panel "Independent Retailing in the U.S. Today." (To read a recent BTW interview with Fenn, go to news.bookweb.org/read/3678.)

Part Two of "Strategies for Success" will be moderated by Tony Weller of Sam Weller's Zion Bookstore in Salt Lake City. Weller will be joined by Fenn; Cindy Dach, marketing director for Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona; and Mike Finn, manager of BookPeople in Austin, Texas. The day will be capped off with a "Social Hour" in the Great Divide bar.

Friday's programming kicks off with "Tea and Scones (coffee too...) with Philippa Gregory" (The Virgin's Lover, Simon & Schuster).

Following the Tea will be "It's in the Payroll!" led by Domnitz. Starting from an examination of what is included in the payroll line (total compensation) this session will present practical, usable tools for budgeting, scheduling, and controlling payroll. To move toward profitability, the answer is most often: "It's in the Payroll ... It's in the payroll." Also Friday morning will be "The Future of Reading -- Establishing the Lifelong Reader," moderated by Neil Strandberg, MPBA Board, and "Graphic Novels & Manga -- Everything You Need to Know to Get Started."

From 12:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Get the "Pick of the Lists" -- Publisher's reps take 15 minutes each to discuss the highlights of the fall lists -- invaluable, particularly for stores who do not get individual visits from reps.

Afternoon sessions include "Increasing Sales," led by Domnitz, which will feature many ideas about how to bring more customers into the store and ways to sell more to customers once they're through the door. These include improving traffic flow, best merchandising practices, loyalty programs, and the value of increasing sales outside of the store.

Other Friday afternoon sessions include "How to Drink Coffee Like a Poet" at the "Poetry Coffee House," a guided session on creativity led by poet Gary Mex Glazner, (How to Make a Living as a Poet, Soft Skull Press); and "How to Work the Show -- Tips & Tactics for First-Timers," led by Andy Nettle of Arches Books, Moab, Utah. The MPBA General Meeting will be held from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

From 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. there will be an "Author Reception" with food, drink, and 20-plus authors signing their new fall titles.

On Saturday, start the day with the "Author Breakfast for Literacy," featuring Bruce Babbitt, former Governor of Arizona and Secretary of the Interior under Bill Clinton (Cities in the Wilderness: A New Vision of Land Use in America, Island Press); J.R. Moehringer, (The Tender Bar: A Memoir, Hyperion); Robert Hicks, (A Widow of the South, Warner Books); and Micaela Gilchrist, (The Good Journey, The Fiercer Heart: A Novel of Love and Obsession, Simon & Schuster).

In the evening, there will be a second "Author Reception," highlighted by food, drink; authors signing their new fall titles; and the presentation of the Gordon Saull Bookseller of the Year and Sales Rep of the Year Awards.

Sunday morning begins with the "Children's Author & Illustrator Breakfast" with Christopher Canyon, (Take Me Home, Country Roads, Dawn) and Claudia Mills (Ziggy's Blue-Ribbon Day, illustrated by R.W. Alley, FSG).

Said Knudsen, "The three-and-a-half days of the trade show are just crammed with activities -- there really will be something for everyone and we are looking forward particularly to welcoming our new bookseller members from Oklahoma and Texas!"

For registration information, including ticket information, a full schedule with times and locations, and updates to this information, go to the MPBA website, www.mountainsplains.org or send an e-mail to [email protected] --Nomi Schwartz