Daunt, Norton and Rentzenbrink to feature at BA Conference

James Daunt, Graham Norton and Cathy Rentzenbrink are among those appearing at the annual Bookseller’s Association Conference and Gardners Trade Show, which will take place on 18th and 19th September.

The combined event will open with an "author breakfast" chaired by Rentzenbrink and sponsored by Bloomsbury, followed by a welcome from newly appointed BA president Hazel Broadfoot. 

Meryl Halls, m.d. of the BA, will provide an update on the body’s activity, followed by keynote speeches from Waterstones’ m.d. Daunt and author and broadcaster Graham Norton.

The BA will host two skills labs sessions, sponsored by Bookshop.org, which will offer development training for booksellers, with session themes to be announced shortly. The afternoon will see publishers present their key autumn and spring titles to booksellers, while the day closes with the Booksellers Awards and a drinks reception. A closing night dinner will be held for BA members only, sponsored by Pan Macmillan.

A panel from Nielsen will present the findings of research, commissioned by the BA, looking at how books fared in the late-noughties recession and consumer attitudes to books in the current economic climate.

The Gardners trade show will open with a speech from Nigel Wyman, sales and marketing director, followed by guest speakers Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, Raynor Winn and Andrey Kurkov, and then lunch sponsored by Usborne Publishing.

During the afternoon there will also be signing sessions from the authors. More than 50 publishers will be showcasing their new titles at their event, while Gardners will be launching its "12 Weeks of Christmas" promotion. This will be followed by a BA afternoon tea and "New Voices" session, sponsored by HarperCollins, presenting three debut authors, along with an Independent Alliance conference dinner for all delegates. 

The event will also have an app that delegates can access. The app, sponsored by Edelweiss, will provide attendees with additional details, the programme, schedule and speaker information.

Halls said: “We are delighted to welcome booksellers and publishers back to the BA Conference and Gardners Trade Show this September. This year’s programme offers a range of networking and learning opportunities, with bestselling author Graham Norton delivering the author keynote, and James Daunt sharing his unique global bookselling insights. Our popular skills labs will also be returning, offering booksellers tailored training opportunities to help propel and equip their bookshops for the current retail landscape After several challenging years, we hope this year’s event offers booksellers the chance to come together to share stories, offer insights and reconnect as a community.”

Wyman added: “The Trade Show is one of our favourite events in the calendar, we can’t wait to get together with both our existing and new customers once again. We have built a stellar line up of guest authors, and over 50 exhibitors on board, including some non-book suppliers. The Gardlink team will be on-hand for all of your stock control and epos needs. We are delighted to be working with the BA on this event once more, we firmly believe the partnership between Gardners and The BA gives booksellers a value-packed few days.”

As in previous years, Gardners will sponsor booksellers to attend the annual event for free. 

The show will be held at Jurys Inn Hinckley Island, Hinckley, Leicestershire. Booksellers interested in attending can register now.