NAIBA Fall Conference Features Education, Authors & Food

The New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA) will hold its Fall Conference from Saturday, September 20, through Monday, September 22, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. The conference, a "unique annual gathering to help booksellers market books," will feature a plethora of educational sessions, the annual Movable Feast Luncheon, the Children's Breakfast, the Awards Banquet, and Saturday's Early Bird Supper & Magic Show. American Booksellers Association education programming at this year's event includes "Connecting to Your Customers and Community With IndieBound," "Bookstore Self Audit: A Critical Look at Your Own Operations," and "ABA's E-Commerce Solution Users' Group."

Some of the changes at this year's conference include a new breakfast on Sunday morning, sponsored by Penguin Group "featuring some great children's writers -- T.A. Barron, Jay Asher, Loren Long, and Cameron Tuttle," Eileen Dengler, NAIBA executive director, told BTW via e-mail.

Also new, NAIBA is bringing its Book Buddies program to the conference on Saturday, September 20, from 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Book Buddies are a group of booksellers who visit bookstores during the year and provide ideas and answer questions from a bookstore that requested the visit, Dengler reported. "This year we'll have them available at the conference for drop-in [bookseller] visits -- kind of like Lucy in Peanuts: [the] 'Book Buddies Are In' will answer any question booksellers have."

Dengler stressed that "it goes without saying" that ABA's IndieBound session is a "must-attend for all booksellers. This is such an important business action item that everyone can utilize and personalize. I'd like to see the enthusiasm we felt during our smaller introductory meetings be shared with all the booksellers at the conference."

ABA's programming, sponsored by Ingram Book Group/Ingram Publisher Services, will be presented by ABA Chief Program Officer Len Vlahos; Senior Director, Publisher Initiatives Mark Nichols; and Education Coordinator Lisa Winn. ABA education sessions include:

Sunday, September 21

• Bookstore Self Audit: A Critical Look at Your Own Operations, 2:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
  Learn how to evaluate your store from the perspective of your customers. The focus will be on your business' ambiance, convenience, financial health, inventory selection, marketing, and customer services and how to use the audit to identify where to focus your resources to make your bookstore more customer-friendly.
  
  
• Connecting to Your Customers and Community With IndieBound, 4:15 p.m. - 5:45 p.m.
  There is a clear sentiment in favor of localism that is revolutionizing consumer behavior. People are renewing their ties to friends, neighbors, and institutions in their cities and towns, choosing Main Street over malls, and embracing localism and sustainability movements of all types. This presents an extraordinary opportunity for independent booksellers and other independent retailers. IndieBound taps into this growing movement, creating new and interesting ways for independent booksellers and other independent businesses to better communicate their core strengths -- independence, passion, community -- to their customers. Share what you have done in your store with IndieBound promotional material, ways that you have connected with other independent businesses in your community, and hear about creative ways your colleagues have used IndieBound.

Monday, September 22

• ABA's E-Commerce Solution Users Group, 11:00 a.m. - noon
  ABA's E-commerce Solution is undergoing a major overhaul, planned for a fall 2008 release. The site is migrating to the open-source platform Drupal, which will provide users with new and improved administrative tools, better performance and reliability, and a shorter path to new features and functionality. Participants in the users group will have an opportunity to meet with and provide feedback to ABA's e-commerce staff. Booksellers who are not currently E-Commerce participants are also invited to attend.

Among NAIBA's offerings on Sunday are "Sunrise With Susan - Gentle Yoga," with Susan Weis of breathe books in Baltimore, Maryland, who will lead attendees through gentle yoga and breathing exercises; the "NAIBA Morning Show," with John Mutter of Shelf Awareness interviewing Jonathon Welch of Talking Leaves Books in Buffalo, New York, and Erika Davis of Creekside Books & Caf, in Skaneateles, New York; the "Tween Literature: Too Much Too Soon" panel discussion regarding literature marketed to middle schoolers; and the Opening Reception.

Monday's programming kicks off with the Breakfast, which includes NAIBA's Annual Meeting and publisher Pick of the Lists, and then the exhibit floor is open from 9:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Features on the floor include a Children's Author/Illustrator Show & Tell, Author Autographing, and Discover New Authors Tables.

ABA will also have a booth on the NAIBA exhibit floor, where booksellers can meet with staff and learn about IndieBound and the association's many other services and products. Information will also be available about the Winter Institute 4 (Wi4), to be held in Salt Lake City, Utah, from Thursday, January 29, through Sunday, February 1.

Booksellers can enter a raffle for a free trip to Wi4 (airfare and up to a two-night hotel stay for one person) by dropping a business card off at the ABA booth on the show floor. They can also enter the raffle a second time by updating their store profile via BookWeb.org. One winner will be chosen at random at the end of October from all entries received at the nine regional shows and via profile updates.

Registration materials, including ticket information and a full schedule of events, are available on the NAIBA website. Questions about NAIBA programming should be addressed to [email protected].

Questions and requests for information about ABA's participation at NAIBA's trade show may be directed to ABA's Lisa Winn at [email protected]. --David Grogan