–NVNR 2023 Attendee
Attending the New Voices New Rooms conference can be overwhelming, especially if you are attending as the sole representative of your bookstore. The 2024 NVNR program has as many as four concurrent education tracks, multiple bus tours, and programming that goes from before breakfast to late-night receptions. The exhibit hall has been expanded to hold over 100 vendors, with rep picks and “genre buzz” discussions in the morning.
The best way to make the most of NVNR for your store is to come prepared with both an overall PURPOSE as well as a few specific GOALS.
Your purpose is your main motivation for coming to NVNR. Is it to become more profitable? Increase your inventory mix? Make more connections with publishers or bookseller colleagues? Enhance your events program?
Your goals are the specific things you can do to achieve your purpose: If your goal is to increase profitability, you may decide to attend workshops on financial management or come with cash flow questions for your colleagues at the Owners Retreat. You may look for vendors on the exhibit floor with higher discounts and more potential for markups.
If you stay focused on your purpose for attending the conference and are diligent in pursuing your goals, then what you bring back from NVNR will be an important step forward toward the success of your store.
Thinking ahead:
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Revisit your strategy plan for the year and decide your purpose and your goals.
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Become familiar with the NVNR Full Program schedule: it will continue to be refined through spring and early summer, so be sure to read your NVNR newsletters and updates.
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If bringing staff, decide how you will split up to take advantage of education, tours, exhibit floor, and receptions. Share the load by giving each person their own goals.
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Reach out to NVNR or your regional association for advice. If you have a goal you aren’t sure how to achieve, the NVNR staff or your association staff can point you in the right direction, make introductions, or make suggestions about people or resources that can help.
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After you register, join the NVNR Discord community to meet other booksellers attending the show. The odds are some of them have the same goals you do. Share information and strategies and make plans to meet up in person.