Winter Institute Features Roster of Outstanding Independent Booksellers

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version

A roster of notable independent booksellers, as well as American Booksellers Association staff and representatives from some of Book Sense's Publisher Partners, will moderate and present more than 22 education sessions at the inaugural Winter Institute in January.

Open to all ABA member booksellers -- owners and staff -- and free of charge, the Institute's comprehensive program, which will be held on Thursday, January 26, and Friday, January 27, 2006, at the Long Beach Hilton in Long Beach, California, includes ABA's education sessions from this past June's BookExpo America, as well as several new sessions developed in response to bookseller input. New sessions include "Creating a 'Buy Local' Campaign/Forming an Independent Business Alliance," "Using Your Website to Effectively Promote Your Store and Generate Sales," "Communicating With Your Customers to Grow Your Sales," and "Rep Picks."

Sessions and their moderators and presenters include:

Budgeting & Monitoring

ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz

College Store Roundtable

Moderated by ABA Board member Suzanne Staubach of UConn Co-op in Storrs, Connecticut, and Paul Takushi of the University of California, Davis

ABACUS Overview

ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz and ABA Director of Special Projects David Walker

The 2% Solution

Chuck Robinson of Village Books in Bellingham, Washington

Reducing Occupancy Expense

ABA Board member Cathy Langer of Tattered Cover Book Store in Denver

E-mail Newsletters

Moderated by Ruth Liebmann, director of Independent Bookselling for Random House, with panelists ABA Board member Linda Ramsdell of Galaxy Bookshop in Hardwick, Vermont; Bob Sommer of Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona; and Margie Scott Tucker of Books Inc. in San Francisco

Creating a Buy Local Campaign

Moderated by ABA COO Oren Teicher, with panelists Betsy Burton of The King's English in Salt Lake City; ABA Board member Carla Jimenez of Inkwood Books in Tampa, Florida; and Dee Robinson of Village Books in Bellingham, Washington

Website Marketing

Moderated by Len Vlahos, director of BookSense.com, with panelists including ABA Board member Michael Tucker of Books Inc. in San Francisco and others to be announced

Increasing Margin

Moderated by Carole Horne of Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with panelists Neal Coonerty of Bookshop Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz, California, and Catherine Weller of Sam Weller's Zion Bookstore in Salt Lake City

It's in the Payroll

ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz

Outside Sales

Moderated by Debra Lewis, manager of Business-to-Business Trade Sales for Penguin Group (USA), with panelists Peggy Bieber of Little Professor Book Center in Aberdeen, South Dakota; Jack Covert of 1-800-CEO-READ; and Joel Cahn of Mrs. Nelson's Book & Toy in La Verne, California

Cost of Goods Sold 101

Len Vlahos, director of BookSense.com

The Bookstore as the Third Place

Moderated by ABA COO Oren Teicher, with panelists ABA President Mitchell Kaplan of Books & Books in Miami; ABA Board member Collette Morgan of Wild Rumpus in Minneapolis; and Phillip Rafshoon of Outwrite Books in Atlanta

Increasing Sales

ABA Vice President Russ Lawrence of Chapter One Book Store in Hamilton, Montana

Getting the Most Out of ABA

ABA Staff

Co-op 101

Len Vlahos, director of BookSense.com

Co-op 201

Moderated by Mark Nichols, director of Book Sense Marketing, with panelist Lisa Baudoin of Main Street Books in Pella, Iowa, and others to be announced

Selling Non-Book Product 101

ABA Board member Gayle Shanks of Changing Hands Book Store in Tempe, Arizona

Selling Non-Book Product 201

Moderated by Lance Fensterman of R.J. Julia at Elm Street in New Canaan, Connecticut, with panelists Allison Hill of Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena, California, and Valerie Koehler of Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston

Still to be determined are panelists for the "Independent Retailing Lunch" and presenters for the sessions "Communicating With Your Customer" and "Increasing Efficiency."

Watch for an announcement of the publishers participating in the "Reps Picks" session in an upcoming edition of Bookselling This Week.

For more information, to register for the Winter Institute, and to book a room at the Long Beach Hilton, visit www.bookweb.org/education/institute/.

Rooms at special reduced rates at the Hilton are officially sold out for Wednesday night, January 25. However, rooms are still available at a rate of $112 per night for Thursday, January 26, and Friday, the 27th, on a first-come, first-served basis.

Categories: