Visiting BEA - What We Learned

We went to BEA and spent Saturday there walking the aisles. Ernest Borgnine (es Effron Borgnino) and Jamie Lee Curtis were signing books while we were there -- we didn't wait in line! Nice to see Mr. Borgnine looking so chipper at 90. Ms. Curtis apparently doesn't age and could have walked right out of one of her Halloween movies, except for her hair color. :-)

Attendance was done at this show and that was apparent. Some said it was because the show was in LA and the book world revolves around NYC. Maybe. Our opinion is that BEA's relevance is waning. With the electronic/Internet dimension to book publishing and book sales, the trade show format and role was the subject of lots of discussion during, and after, the show. We'll be curious to see what happens next year.

We do plan to have our own booth next year, as a sub-booth of PMA (now re-labeld IBPA). Please stop by -- BEA might be doomed thereafter. For those of you familiar with exhibiting at trade shows, do stop by the PMA area next year and introduce yourself to Lisa Krebs. In our book, she's the goliath of trade show organization -- she manages multple AISLES of booths.