A Report on the July 2008 ABA Board Meeting

The American Booksellers Association's Board of Directors held its summer meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, from Sunday, July 27, through Tuesday, July 29. The meeting began with an orientation to introduce new Board members Dan Chartrand of Water Street Bookstore in Exeter, New Hampshire, and Ken White of SFSU Bookstore in San Francisco to the association's policies and procedures. The orientation was led by ABA President Gayle Shanks of Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona; Vice President Michael Tucker of Books Inc. in San Francisco; and ABA senior staff.

Over the course of the three days, the Board:

• Heard a report from ABA President Shanks about her activities on behalf of the association;
• Received a report from ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz on his activities since the last Board meeting;
• Received a report from ABA COO Oren Teicher on efforts to reach out to both the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA) and the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE), as well as other trade associations representing independent retailers, to find ways the groups can work together;
• Heard a report on the Booksellers Advisory Council meeting that took place immediately after BookExpo America in Los Angeles, where BAC members received an in-depth introduction to IndieBound and offered input on ABA's BEA education program;
• Received a report on the implementation of IndieBound from ABA Chief Marketing Officer Meg Smith;
• Had an in-depth discussion about publishers' plans to move to electronic catalogs and the decision to convene a task force in San Francisco in August to fine-tune recommendations to ensure that e-catalogs are independent bookstore friendly. Board members plan to discuss these recommendations with major publishers during a series of meetings in conjunction with the Board's mid-September meeting in New York;
• As part of ABA's efforts to facilitate IndieBound's successful integration with existing Shop Local efforts, met with three representatives from Local First Arizona, including the group's director, Kimber Lanning;
• Received a report from ABA COO Teicher on this past spring's BookExpo America and a preview from ABA Chief Program Officer Len Vlahos of plans for ABA's participation in the fall regional trade shows and for the Fourth Annual Winter Institute, to be held in Salt Lake City, Utah, from Thursday, January 29, through Sunday, February 1, 2009;
• Received a progress report from Vlahos on the ABA E-Commerce Solution's conversion to an open source content management system;
• Accepted a series of guidelines regarding ABA Nominating Committee procedures compiled by the committee's immediate-past chair, Beth Puffer of Bank Street Bookstore in New York City, including the following calendar for the 2008 - 2009 nomination process:

• Reviewed ABA's investment portfolio with William King of Merrill Lynch who reported that the overall downturn in the investment climate was impacting ABA's investments, but they continued to outperform other indexes;
• Reviewed a preliminary budget for 2008 - 2009 and acknowledged that, in view of the investment climate, association expenses need to be closely monitored. A final budget will be presented to the Board for approval at its September meeting;
• In response to a member communication, had a thoughtful discussion about publishers' policies that are tightening credit.

On Monday afternoon, Chief Marketing Officer Smith conducted an IndieBound information session for area booksellers at ABA President Gayle Shanks' Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe. Following the presentation, Board members, ABA staff, and participating booksellers socialized at a reception hosted by the store.

ABA Board members and staff with Star Wars friends at Changing Hands Bookstore.