NVNR Exhibitor Orientation and Recap

The New Voices New Rooms Exhibitors Orientation for 2026 started on a bittersweet note when retiring NAIBA Executive Director Eileen Dengler opened by commenting that NVNR 2026 would be her 43rd conference, and her last. The orientation emphasized the importance of building relationships between booksellers and the publishers and exhibitors, underscoring that booksellers were at the conference to make connections and do business.

Members of the NAIBA and SIBA board encouraged exhibitors to showcase a diverse range of frontlist and backlist titles, keeping in mind that NVNR drew booksellers from a large geographic area, and that both regional associations had high numbers of new bookstores in their membership.

The NVNR staff also did a walkthrough the conference attendee app, and discussed how it could be used to connect with booksellers and schedule one-on-one meetings.

Takeaways and action items:

• Have handouts as well as digital links. Booksellers like to take notes!
• Include new bookstores and first-time attendees in dinner invites.
• Use the conference app to schedule appointments and send invites to booksellers.
• Submit your booth signings, and your exhibitor listings.