This summer, the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance launches its first annual Owners Retreat. The two-day event, sponsored by Baker & Taylor, will take place July 28-29 at the Hilton North Raleigh/Midtown in Raleigh, N.C., and will be limited to 20 bookstore owners. The retreat includes attendance at SIBA’s July 29 Summer Booksellers Revival at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh.
Dr. John Sherlock, from Western Carolina University’s Human Resources Program, will be the retreat’s keynote speaker on July 28. Sherlock, who presented at the Winter Institute in February, will speak on the topic of “Human Resource Management.”
Margaret Lane, author of Strength Finder, will be the featured speaker at breakfast on July 29, prior to the Summer Booksellers Revival. She’ll discuss strength-based leadership.
The retreat will also give store owners a more focused setting to brainstorm ideas and to discuss the challenges they each face as small business owners and independent booksellers. Topics that will be covered include finances, employee relations and business growth.
Registration for the retreat is $50, which also covers hotel and meals.
The Summer Booksellers Revival, which is free to SIBA members, is a networking opportunity for booksellers and another chance for them to exchange ideas in an informal setting. Topics to be discussed at the event include “Hosting Authors in Schools: How to Create a Program That's Successful for Authors, Publishers, Schools and Booksellers” and “Best Practices for Great Events, from the Proposal, Through the Event, to the Follow-up.” Bridgette Lacy, author of Sunday Dinner, will be the featured speaker during lunch.
Wanda Jewell, SIBA’s executive director, said she borrowed the idea for the retreat from Eileen Dengler, her counterpart at the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association. NAIBA held its first Owners Refresh & Recharge Retreat March 22 in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
“She’s just doing a lot of great educational programs this year,” Jewell said. “The Owners Retreat struck me as a great idea. I thought this was an additional opportunity for booksellers to come together for education.”
Jewell said she paired the retreat with the Summer Booksellers Revival out of convenience this year, but hopes it will be a separate event in the future.
“It was starting to feel like the calendar was too full, so we integrated it this year,” she said. “Ideally, I’d like the retreat to be on a coast.”
It’s a busy year for Jewell personally, as well as for SIBA, which was another reason she decided to schedule the two events together.
“This is a big year,” she said. “It’s SIBA’s 40th [anniversary], my 25th, I’m turning 60 and I’m also welcoming a grandchild into the world. The whole month of June has been taken off the calendar so I can be here for that baby.”
Booksellers can register for the Owners Retreat here. Those interested in attending only the Summer Booksellers Revival should email Sarah Goddin at Sarah@quailridgebooks.com.
