ABA, Leading Edge to share conference weekend, trade exhibition again in 2014

Tuesday, 8 October 2013 Books+Publishing

The Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) and Leading Edge Books will hold their 2014 conferences over the same weekend at the Langham Hotel in Melbourne next May, with a joint trade exhibition to be held on Sunday 18 May.

The Leading Edge Books Conference, which will be extended to one-and-a-half days next year, will be held on Friday 16 May and Saturday 17 May, kicking off with a lunch on the Friday and including the annual awards dinner on the Saturday evening. The ABA Conference will commence on Sunday 18 May with a keynote address, followed by the joint trade exhibition, the Gala Dinner on Sunday evening, and further conference sessions on Monday 19 May.

The partnership between the two organisations was established earlier this year, with the organisations’ annual conferences held over the same weekend at the Hilton Adelaide in June.

ABA CEO Joel Becker said in a statement this week that the ABA is ‘very pleased to be building on the success of the 2013 conferences and joint trade exhibition by continuing to partner with Leading Edge in 2014’. ‘After extensive consultations with our membership and other key stakeholders we have moved the conference forward to mid-May,’ said Becker. ‘This will allow our member bookshops to better plan their purchasing and marketing campaigns for the second half of 2014.’

Becker said that next year’s ABA Conference with have ‘even more focus on the day-to-day operational needs of bookshops, future proofing our businesses, as well as ensuring that strategies are in place to compete in a globalised market, while continuing to co-operate and collaborate with fellow Australian booksellers’.

Leading Edge Books general manager George Papadopoulos said the organisation’s decision to partner with the ABA in 2013 ‘was resoundingly affirmed by the positive feedback and participation from our retailers and suppliers’ at last year’s conference. ‘We are excited to be once again working in partnership with the ABA to deliver a tandem conference and joint trade exhibition next year,’ said Papadopoulos. ‘A key objective for Conference 2014 will be to create an event that gives Australian independent booksellers the opportunity to be inspired by each other as we seek out best practice.’

To read about the 2013 ABA and Leading Edge conferences, click here and here.

Category: Local news