Task Force Offers Input on Digital Issues

Eight booksellers and a publisher stepped back from the exigencies of today to focus on the impact of emerging technologies and social trends as part of the American Booksellers Association's Digital Task Force (DTF). The participants joined members of the association's staff on Thursday, July 12, at ABA headquarters in Tarrytown, New York.

"The mission of the Digital Task Force is to identify new technologies -- and new uses of existing technologies -- that affect independent booksellers," said Len Vlahos, ABA education director and director of BookSense.com, who led the meeting. "Our goal is to share important information about new technologies with members, to create relevant educational programs, and to help ABA staff identify which emerging trends and technologies are most likely to provide booksellers with tangible and profitable opportunities."

The evening before the meeting, task force members met for a working dinner with Dan Albohn, manager of business development, Sony eReader. Albohn provided an update on aspects of Sony's strategy for the eReader and talked with members of the task force about the current direction of the digital print market.

At the Thursday meeting, Vlahos and other ABA staff briefed the DTF on a number of related topics regarding digitization, including print on demand, digital rights management, the retail sale of digital content -- both audio and print -- digital content readers, and relevant social networking sites. Included in the discussion was a report by Eric Wilska of The Book Loft in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, on The Troy Book Makers , a print-on-demand business he operates in partnership with Susan Novotny of The Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza, in Albany, New York. The meeting also included an update on digital rights management from Madeline MacIntosh, senior vice president and publisher, Random House Audio Group, as well as a virtual tour through some of the new book-related destinations in Second Life, the growing online virtual society.

"The meeting was both positive and productive," noted Vlahos. " We on staff feel fortunate to have had access to the book industry brain power assembled at the meeting. In the end, ABA has a much better understanding of how best to prioritize our efforts and allocate our resources."

Attending the Digital Task Force Meeting were:

• Becky Anderson (Anderson's Bookshops in Naperville, Illinois)
• Tom Campbell (The Regulator Bookshop in Durham, North Carolina)
• Dan Cullen (ABA Director of Information)
• Avin Mark Domnitz (ABA CEO)
• Kelly Justice (The Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia)
• Russ Lawrence (ABA President, Chapter One Book Store in Hamilton, Montana)
• Ricky Leung (Technical Lead, BookSense.com)
• Madeline MacIntosh (Senior Vice President and Publisher, Random House Audio Group)
• Jessica Stockton (McNally Robinson in New York City)
• Neil Strandberg (Tattered Cover Book Store in Denver)
• Oren Teicher (ABA COO)
• Len Vlahos (ABA Director of BookSense.com and of Education)
• Dave Weich (Powells.com in Portland, Oregon)
• Jeff Wexler (ABA IT Director)
• Eric Wilska (The Book Loft in Great Barrington, Massachusetts)