Countdown to BEA: Part 2

Here's the second of a two-part summary of education sessions, special events, and resources for ABA members at BookExpo America. Programming begins on Wednesday, May 28, at Hotel ABA, the Renaissance Hollywood, with "Welcome to Hollywood" Tours and an Author Reception at the famed Egyptian Theatre. All BEA registrants are invited to the Celebration of Bookselling, beginning at 4:45 p.m. on Thursday in the Renaissance Hollywood's Grand Ballroom. The trade show is at the Los Angeles Convention Center from Friday, May 30, to Sunday, June 1.

• ABA Member Lounge, Bag Check, Shipping Desk
• ABA's E-commerce Solution & Gift Card Users Group Meetings
• ABA Town Hall & Annual Membership Meetings
• Above The Treeline Publisher & Retailer Meetings
• Premiere of PBS Documentary Paperback Dreams
• Book Industry Foundation Benefit, Starring Lewis Black

ABA encourages Hotel ABA guests to take the L.A. Metro rail system on Friday morning, when programming moves from the Renaissance Hollywood to the Los Angeles Convention Center. Given Los Angeles' traffic, taking the train will be much quicker than a shuttle bus or taxi. Thanks to Frommer's Travel Guides and John Wiley & Sons, ABA member booksellers can pick up a free Metro Pass at the Hotel ABA Welcome Desk while supplies last. The Metro Pass will be good for 24 hours once it's activated and may be reloaded by booksellers to cover their entire time in L.A. (Instructions for using the Metro Pass will be available at the Welcome Desk.)

The Hollywood and Highland Red Line Metro stop is just one short block from the hotel, and directions to the convention center will be provided on the Metro Pass sleeve. Here also is a downloadable PDF of step-by-step instructions with photos, courtesy of Southern California booksellers.

The ABA Lounge, located in Room 515A of the L.A. Convention Center's West Building, will open at 9:00 a.m. on Friday and will close at 3:00 p.m. to allow all ABA members and staff to attend the association's Town Hall and Annual Membership meetings. On Saturday, the lounge will be open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; and on Sunday, June 1, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

ABA members can enjoy light refreshments, relax, check e-mail, meet colleagues, and learn about ABA products and services, including the important new initiative to be announced at this year's Celebration of Bookselling. The lounge will also feature 25 of independent booksellers' favorite authors autographing their newest titles. The latest addition is Judy Blume, who will be signing books to bring attention to the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression.

At the lounge's Booklog Internet Cafe, ABA member booksellers can check their e-mail accounts or browse the web. The cafe is provided courtesy of Booklog, a point-of-sale and inventory management solution for booksellers for more than 20 years.

Booksellers who wish to speak at ABA's Town Hall meeting will find a sign-up sheet prominently displayed in the ABA Lounge, beginning Friday morning.

Rather than carrying books and other materials back to the hotel or from booth to booth at the trade show, Hotel ABA guests will have the added convenience of storing materials at the Bag Check Room, sponsored by Harper Mass Market, from Friday, May 29, through Sunday, June 1.

The ABA Bag Check Room, across from the ABA Lounge, in Room 510 in the convention center's West Building, will be open from 9:00 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. on Friday, May 30, and Saturday, May 31. On Sunday, June 1, the hours of operation are 9:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., at which time all items must be picked up. Any items remaining after 4:30 will be donated or subject to disposal.

ABA members who participate in the association's Discount Shipping Program will be able to send packages from BEA at a discounted rate via a FedEx Shipping Center set up by PartnerShip, exclusively for them. Located in the same room as the ABA Bag Check sponsored by Harper Mass Market, the Shipping Center will be open on Saturday, May 31, from 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., and on Sunday, June 1, from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. (Read more.)

9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.

ABA's E-commerce Solution Users Group (Room 512 of the L.A. Convention Center's West Building)

ABA's E-commerce Solution (BookSense.com) is undergoing a major overhaul, planned for 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. (Non-participants are also welcome to attend.)

10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

ABA's Gift Card Program Users Group (Room 513 of the L.A. Convention Center's West Building)

An informal meeting to discuss, and to provide feedback to ABA staff about, changes, new card designs, and reports. Information and feedback shared at past users group meetings have been invaluable both to booksellers and ABA staff and have helped guide the program's development. (Non-participants are also welcome to attend.)

12:15 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.

ABA Author Luncheon (Concourse Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center)

ABA member booksellers will lunch with dozens of authors whose books are handselling favorites. This event is always a highlight of BookExpo America. Reservations are now closed.

3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

ABA Town Hall Meeting (Room 502A of the L.A. Convention Center's West Building)

The Town Hall Meeting is where ABA member booksellers are encouraged to express opinions and share ideas with Board members and staff in a less formal setting than at the ABA Membership Meeting, which immediately follows. Outgoing President Russ Lawrence of Chapter One Book Store in Hamilton, Montana, and incoming President Gayle Shanks of Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona, will host the meeting. A sign-up sheet for members who would like to speak at the Town Hall meeting will be prominently displayed in the ABA Lounge (Room 515A), beginning Friday morning. Members will be called on to speak in the order in which they have signed up; however, the Board will do its best to make sure all members with concerns have the opportunity to speak.)

4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

ABA Annual Membership Meeting (Room 502A of the L.A. Convention Center's West Building)

New and outgoing members of ABA's Board of Directors and senior staff will be at the association's Annual Membership Meeting. Among the items on this year's agenda are reports by ABA President Lawrence on the past year's activities and by CEO Avin Mark Domnitz on the association's major new initiative to be announced the evening before at the Celebration of Bookselling. Voting cards will be available immediately outside the meeting room.

9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

Above The Treeline -- Publisher Demo (Room 511ABC of the L.A. Convention Center's West Building)

If you've never seen Above The Treeline, or if you are using it every day, you'll still learn something new at this session, where Treeline staff will share the latest developments in this business intelligence tools for retailers and their key business partners. The latest version has some dramatic enhancements and opens up some interesting new perspectives on the retail market. Staff will show the new and expanded reporting and communication tools of this version, as well as overhauled versions of many of the time-tested Treeline favorites.

9:00a.m. - 10:00 a.m.

Above The Treeline -- Prospective Users (Room 512 of the L.A. Convention Center's West Building)

Retailers not currently using Above The Treeline are invited to expand their perspective with this leading provider of collaboration-based business intelligence tools in the book industry. Above The Treeline offers retailers the ability to share and analyze information online and make faster, smarter inventory decisions. Any business not on Above the Treeline yet is invited to come and see how joining the Above the Treeline community of stores can help them see the view from above.

10:30 a.m. - Noon

Above The Treeline -- Users Group (Room 512 of the L.A. Convention Center's West Building)

Current Treeline subscribers are encouraged to join this users group meeting to share tips and tricks with one another on how to best utilize the new Above the Treeline. Above the Treeline staff will monitor the session and share some TreeTips of their own.

1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Premiere of Paperback Dreams: A PBS Documentary on Cody's & Kepler's (Room 511A/B/C of the L.A. Convention Center's West Building)

Paperback Dreams, a new PBS documentary, chronicles the history and struggles of Cody's Books in Berkeley and Kepler's Books in Menlo Park, California, via interviews with Andy Ross, Clark Kepler, Joan Baez, Morgan Entrekin, Malcolm Margolin, Michael Powell, and others, as well as with archival film footage and photographs. Following the screening, director/producer Alex Beckstead will lead a Q&A discussion. The documentary is expected to air on PBS in fall 2008, and Beckstead is encouraging booksellers to create events surrounding the film's broadcast.

Bestselling author and Daily Show regular Lewis Black will headline the BEA Book Industry Foundation Benefit, beginning at 9:00 p.m. at the Orpheum Theater, near the convention center in downtown Los Angeles. Proceeds from Black's performance will benefit the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression and the Association of American Publishers' Get Caught Reading Campaign.

Black is the author of Me of Little Faith (coming from Riverhead Books in early June). Tickets for Black's performance cost $35 and are available via the BEA website, www.bookexpoamerica.com.

Tickets for all BEA special events, including Author Breakfasts & Lunches, are available via the BEA website's Special Events page.