Wednesday, April 21, 2010

What you need to know about BEA, if you didn't know it already

It has been a remarkably busy week in the wake the unprecedented travel problems that people had to endure.  That has led to a huge run up in interest for BEA.  I am surprised at the amount of questions from people who are not familiar with the changes at BEA for 2010. I take ownership in that we need to communicate this information better.  If you are reading this and any of these points are news - please forward this post onto anyone who can benefit.  

Here are the most critical points as people gear up and adjust for what will be a fantastic BEA.

  • BEA is a 3 day Event - Tuesday May 25th will be loaded with activity that includes:
    • The CIROBE Remainders Pavilion, Exhibitor Meeting Rooms AND the International Rights Center are all up and fully functioning from 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
    • The BEA Big Ideas & Global Market Forum (Spain) Programs are running
    • The ABA Programming, The IDPF Digital Book 2010 & the LJ/SLJ Day of Dialogue are all happening at Javits.
  • BEA has 2 Full Exhibit Days May Wednesday 26th 9am - 6pm & Thursday May 27th 9am - 5pm
  • The ABA/BEA Plenary Session (CEO Panel), Barbara Streisand and the Editors Buzz Panel are Tuesday May 25th
  • The YA Buzz Panel is Wednesday May 26th.
  • BEA's new BEA Search It/Find It tool will make it VERY easy to find everything at BEA. 
  • There are still plenty of hotel rooms at great rates.  BEA Hotel & Travel Links
  • I just priced a round trip fare from Heathrow to JFK on Kayak.com from May 22-28 - $498.00 direct on AA.
  • There are still tables available in the IRC and there are a limited number of booths available.

11 comments:

  1. So on the tuesday, the main exhibition halls are only open for set up, and not for meetings. Right?

    Thanks!

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  2. Tuesday - the IRC is open and the Exhibitor Meeting rooms - the main exhibits will not be open. I hope that helps

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  3. to meet the authors you have to have passes? or can you just go to the center, buy a ticket to get in and be able to meet them and walk around?

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  4. My colleague and I, two secondary school librarians, are attending for the first time. We are taking Amtrak to Penn Station. Will we be able to take the BEA shuttle from Penn Station to the Javits Convention Center?

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  5. So, say someone who just likes to read---not a librarian, not an author, not a bookseller---is attending the BEA fr the first time. What are a couple of things you would recommend as a few not to be missed events?

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  6. To answer all the above questions:
    Buy your passes in advance - it is more expensive at a walk up.
    Penn Station is only 3-4 blocks from Javits - it is less than a 10 minute walk.
    If you are attending for the 1st time - go through the schedule of events and highlight what you do not want to miss, and build your days around those events, you will find plenty to do in between

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  7. This article isn't even close to everything I need to know about the BEA! What the heck is CIROBE? What's IPDF? What's LJ/SLJ?
    What does Barbara Streisand have to do with selling books?
    Most importantly, when is the pitch slam?

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  8. On the other hand, I find these articles and comments really helpful---thanks! And a careful look at the BEA website explains a lot of the questions I have about what to expect. I am really looking forward to BEA.

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  9. how does the speed dating work. it states it is for booksellers only. how does the children's author register for this event.

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  10. I want to print out an autographing schedule, in Excel, as I have in the past. The schedule should show time, author, location, book title, book description. How do I do this? It used to be easy.

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  11. You mean Barbra Streisand? We fans like when her name is spelled correctly. :)

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