The action on the floor at the 2006 Southern Independent Bookseller
Alliance trade show, held at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention
Center in Orlando, Fla., was not as hot as the subtropical weather
outside, but it was warm enough to satisfy most of the publishers and
booksellers who were there.
Some of the obligatory pre-show griping gnawed at SIBA's new policy of
allowing only blue badges--core bookseller members--on the trade show
floor for the opening hours Saturday morning. Taking orders, however,
does not leave much time for griping, and several publishers reported
mornings that were, if not record-breaking for order-taking, at least
better than others in recent memory. The rest of the weekend, in terms
of orders being placed, seemed to flatten out to usual levels.
SIBA veterans, when asked about attendance during the show, would look
about the exhibit hall, peering over heads if they could, and usually
say attendance was down. SIBA's Wanda Jewell said her "best guesses" on
attendance came to about 700 booksellers from 300 or so bookstores,
with attendance of just more than 1,500 overall, which makes the 2006
show comparable in size to the 2005 show. Of course, it's not the size
of the show that's important; it's what you can do with it. Both
booksellers and exhibitors seemed to have pared their SIBA-bound staff
both this year and last. Personally give me a hall half-full of buyers
over a hall overflowing with gawkers any day.
Some of the larger publishers said the show was slow for them, but that
they had come to expect that. Others complained about the absence of
some of SIBA's bigger bookstore members, though others were present and
accounted for. One wondered if the time had come to ditch the
traditional trade show format and substitute something that would give
publishers and booksellers more face time to go over big fall titles and
to see what each other are looking forward to in the upcoming season.
Keep in mind that SIBA, back when it was SEBA, was founded to educate
and empower independent booksellers in the Southeast. By all
appearances, they've succeeded: what self-respecting publisher doesn't
have a Southeast rep who visits Lemuria, That Bookstore in Blytheville,
Square Books, Park Road Books, Goering's? What publisher doesn't want
to send their Southern authors to Alabama Booksmith, Joseph-Beth, the
Fountain Bookstore or any of a dozen (or more) others in the
region? As the SIBA stores grow stronger and draw more
individual attention from publishers, they make certain aspects of the
SIBA trade show less necessary.
By midday Sunday, when the siren song of packing tape called out to
homesick book folk, most exhibitors said they were satisfied with the
show--not thrilled, but not disappointed, either. Most
booksellers had high praise for the show, noting the added programming.
Since the show itself proved so uncontroversial, I will use my
remaining space to rag on the venue. Apparently, there is some power in
Orlando that does not want visitors to go from place to place in the
most direct route possible. Maybe the hoteliers, architects and
developers intend this as a metaphor for the life process.
This power seems to have been hard at work at the Gaylord Palms, which
somehow managed to sign for, then lose, an entire skidload of Random
House's galleys and signs. Maybe the skid was gobbled by the live
alligators in the Key West Atrium.
The Gaylord Palms, like its sister facility Opryland or a Las Vegas
casino, is a hotel organized around a single theme. In this case,
it's Sunny Florida. Sunny Florida may or may not bear a direct relation
to Real Florida; visitors don't have to know, since there's really no
need ever to leave the glass-enclosed environs of the hotel. In fact,
the $10 you have to pay every time you exit the parking lot is an
active disinclination to leave.--Ed Southern, v-p of sales &
marketing, John F. Blair, Publisher
