GLBA & NCIBA Trade Shows Next Week

Next week, the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association (NCIBA) and the Great Lakes Booksellers Association (GLBA) will be holding their 2006 Fall Trade shows. American Booksellers Association staff will be attending both shows to present educational programming, to gather member input regarding ABA's next Strategic Plan, and more. ABA COO Oren Teicher and Associate Director of Book Sense Marketing Meg Smith will be present at the NCIBA show, and Len Vlahos, director of BookSense.com and of ABA's education program, and Dan Cullen, ABA information director and Book Sense Picks editor-in-chief, will attend GLBA.

The NCIBA trade show, which will be held on Friday, October 6, through Sunday, October 8, at the Oakland Convention Center and Oakland City Center Marriott in Oakland, will feature the ABA education sessions: "Shop Local: Forming Business Alliances in Your Community"; "Making Magazines Profitable"; and "Above the Treeline: An Introduction."

The GLBA trade show, which will be held on Friday, October 6, through Sunday, October 8, at the at the Hyatt Regency Dearborn, in Dearborn, Michigan, will offer ABA's education sessions: "Creating Killer Events"; "Introduction to Above the Treeline"; and "Know Your Customers: Increase Sales."

Paz & Associates is conducting a prospective booksellers workshop from October 3 through 9 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in conjunction with the GLBA show. ABA's Vlahos and Cullen will be speaking to the group, and ABA is sponsoring a "graduation" reception on Friday, October 6, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:15 p.m.

At its booth on the trade show floor at both shows, ABA will provide demonstrations of Above The Treeline, Constant Contact, and BookSense.com. Booksellers will also have the opportunity to meet with ABA staff and to learn about the association's other products and services. Information will be available about the Winter Institute, to be held in Portland, Oregon, on February 1 - 2, 2007, the Book Sense marketing program, and much more.

ABA is asking all member booksellers at this year's shows to participate in the formulation of the association's next Five-Year Strategic Plan by filling out a strategic planning survey. Surveys will be available in the ABA booth.

ABA member booksellers who stop by the booth and drop off a business card will be eligible to win prizes. In a random drawing, ABA will award a color inkjet printer. The printer winner will then be entered into a grand prize drawing with the eight printer winners from the other fall trade shows. The grand prize winner will be awarded airfare to, and up to a three-night hotel stay at, the association's 2007 Winter Institute.

In addition, ABA members will also have a chance to win up to a four-night stay at Hotel ABA in Brooklyn for BookExpo America 2007 in New York City, compliments of BEA. Booksellers can enter the drawing for the BEA prize at the ABA booth.