The Christian Booksellers Association convention, now known as the International Christian Retailers Show, has been an industry tradition for more than 60 years. The show has declined in exhibitors, space, and attendance from its peak in the late 1990s (1999 brought some 15,000 attendees), and the ranks of Christian retailers have thinned substantially in recent years, but the convention remains an important event for these stores. Retailers no longer come to the show to place orders, but those who spoke with RBL this week emphasized the continuing importance of face time with publishers, previewing new books, and camaraderie with their fellows as reasons to gather each summer. So much interaction has become electronic, but human beings still need to see each other in person to maintain the relationships that are so important in the book business. Though book trade shows and meetings continue to morph into new forms, that will never change.
—Lynn Garrett
