ABA Rebrands Coffee Breaks as “ShopTalk”

As the needs of stores shift, the American Booksellers Association is sunsetting the Coffee Breaks that began at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and creating a new opportunity for stores to come together to talk about the bookselling business.

ABA ShopTalk sessions (formerly Coffee Breaks) will bring together booksellers and bookstore owners for professional networking opportunities during which attendees can get to know each other, share best practices, talk about their business, and crowdsource ideas and solutions to problems. All attendees should come prepared to engage in conversation during each session.

Taking recent feedback into consideration, ABA is altering the schedule for the spring by reducing the number of overall sessions and adding a session for ABC Children’s Group members. Also returning this month is part one of the New (and New-ish) Member Series: Intro to Benefits, the quarterly BIPOC Forum, and an opportunity to meet with Board members.

April ShopTalk Schedule and Other Networking Events

ShopTalk: April 6 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET: An open conversation for booksellers and bookstore owners to share best practices, talk about their business, and crowdsource ideas and solutions to problems. ABA will send the meeting link to the entire bookstore membership a few hours before each event.

New (and New-ish) Member Series: Intro to Benefits: April 12 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET: The first of a two-part quarterly series on member benefits, this session will offer a tutorial on navigating BookWeb.org to ensure a better understanding of where to find the information most vital for members. The presentation will look at education resources, networking and community, business affinity partnerships, marketing, advocacy, and much more. The end of the session will offer booksellers an open forum during which they can ask questions and talk with ABA staff. ​Register in advance for this session.

BIPOC Quarterly Forum: April 13 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. ET: BIPOC — Black, Indigenous, or People of Color — booksellers and bookstore owners are invited to join a call to share ideas for future sessions; needs for ABA services, programming, and general support; and questions with ABA CEO Allison Hill, ABA COO Joy Dallangera-Sanger, ABA Senior Membership Manager Daniel O’Brien, IndieCommerce Senior Manager Geetha Nathan, and Meetings and Planning Coordinator Maria Rodriguez. The ABA team will attend from 6:00 p.m. to 6:45 p.m., and the BIPOC Forum will continue until 7:30 p.m. ET. BIPOC allies and booksellers who do not identify as BIPOC should not plan to attend. Booksellers interested in attending should use the sign-up form at the bottom of the ABA Meetups page to join the BIPOC Meetups mailing list (if you've already signed up in 2021, you do not need to sign up again).

Board Office Hours: April 14 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET: Booksellers are invited to speak with the ABA Board about any topics they wish. ABA will send the meeting link to the entire bookstore membership a few hours before each event.

ShopTalk for ABC Group Members: April 20 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET: The American Booksellers Association invites bookstore members of the ABC Group to this open conversation to share best practices, talk about their business, and crowdsource ideas and solutions to problems. Register in advance for this session.

ShopTalk in the Evening: April 29 from 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET: An open conversation for booksellers and bookstore owners to share best practices, talk about their business, and crowdsource ideas and solutions to problems. ABA will send the meeting link to the entire bookstore membership a few hours before each event.