Winter Institute Filling Up

Registration for the American Booksellers Association's Fourth Annual Winter Institute, a free two-day education symposium exclusively for ABA bookstore and provisional members, is now almost booked to capacity. Event registration is capped at 500 participants.

Wi4, sponsored by Ingram Book Company and Ingram Publisher Services, will be held from Thursday, January 29, to Sunday, February 1, 2009, at the Salt Lake Marriott Downtown. ABA's two full days of education will be on Friday, January 30, and Saturday, January 31, with an opening reception in the evening on Thursday, January 29, and roundtable discussions at Bookseller Cafes planned for Sunday, February 1.

On Thursday, January 29, ABA will also join forces with the American Independent Business Alliance to host the Pre-Winter Institute Conference on Local First/Shop Local Initiatives. Space for the local first conference is also filling up quickly.

Booksellers interested in participating in Wi4 and/or the Local First Conference are urged to register now, before space is gone. Registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Booksellers registering after Wi4's 500 spaces are filled will be placed on a waiting list in the order in which registrations are received.

Event registration and a complete schedule are on BookWeb.org. The institute provides great learning and networking opportunities for novice and veteran booksellers alike, and ABA encourages managers and owners to bring staff members.

ABA has negotiated a special room rate of $122 per night at the Salt Lake Marriott Downtown for Wednesday, January 28, through Sunday, February 1, exclusively for Wi4 registrants. The special rate is available until Monday, January 5, or until the group block is sold out, whichever comes first. All hotel reservations must be made through the hotel (a link to the hotel's special Wi4 reservations web page is here and on BookWeb.org.

Questions about the Winter Institute should be addressed to [email protected]. The event registration deadline is Friday, November 21.