A Report on the October 2009 ABA Board Meeting

The American Booksellers Association Board of Directors held its 2009 fall meeting in Tarrytown, New York, from Sunday, October 11, through Tuesday, October 13.

Over the course of the two and a half days of meetings, the Board:

• Heard a report from ABA President Michael Tucker, of Books Inc. in San Francisco, about his activities on behalf of the association since the last Board meeting in July, including meetings with the boards of the regional booksellers associations and working with ABA's Electronic Catalog Task Force to encourage booksellers and publishers to use the Edelweiss interactive catalog platform;

• Received a report from ABA CEO Oren Teicher on a wide range of activities relating to the Ends Policies, established by the Board. Highlights included staff efforts regarding digital content, publisher relations, bookseller education, and advocacy for healthcare reform and online sales tax equity;

• Reviewed and approved revisions to the Governance Policy Manual, as part of ABA's ongoing effort to closely monitor the association's practices and procedures;

• Heard an update on plans for the Fifth Annual Winter Institute from ABA COO Len Vlahos;

• Met with senior members of the Random House sales department to discuss, among other things, issues related to credit, and electronic catalogs;

• Heard a report from COO Vlahos and ABA IndieCommerce Director Ricky Leung on the status of the migration of ABA member IndieCommerce sites to the new Drupal platform, as well as efforts related to digital content and e-readers;

• Approved a short-term, as-is budget to allow ABA's new leadership to complete a reorganization plan that will be reflected in a new budget to be presented for approval at the February 2010 Board meeting;

• Received a report from ABA Director of Member Services Jill Perlstein on the winding down of the ABA Gift Card Program, announced to ABA members in September;

• Met with the association's investment advisor, William King, senior vice president, investments, for Merrill Lynch, as well as with Michael Petroff, vice president, institutional sales and portfolio manager for Heartland Advisors, one of the groups managing the association's endowment. King reported that a strong financial climate in August and September had resulted in a positive end to ABA's 2009 fiscal year. ABA CFO Eleanor Chang noted that the strong showing in the markets had reduced the association's projected budget deficit;

• Reviewed and accepted a report from the Governance Review Committee, which had requested input from ABA members over the course of the summer. The Board is preparing a response to the report, to be shared with ABA members later this fall;

• Reaffirmed that the 50-percent ABA member dues reduction, which was instituted at the beginning of this year to help members through tough economic times, applies to calendar year 2009 dues renewals only, including the vast majority of ABA members whose dues renew in December 2009;

• Shared observations and information learned from Board and senior staff members who participated at the fall regional trade shows;

• Met with Chris Palma, Google strategic partner development manager, who updated the Board on Google Editions.

In conjunction with the Board meeting, the ABA Audit Committee, which is charged with overseeing and managing ABA's financial dealings, met with the association's auditors Marks Paneth & Schron LLP, in New York City on Wednesday, October 14.