Introduction
The Leading Edge Books Conference 2016 will be held over two days, 27-28 May 2016 in the QT hotel in Canberra with a joint Trade Exhibition, with the Australian Bookseller Association, to follow on 29 May 2016.
Starting with a morning tea on Friday, 27 May, the LEB Conference will be a mix of member sessions, small business focus discussions and publisher/author
presentations, including our Surprise Guest. In a time of continuous change in the Book industry, with a number of recent government
announcements – from removing the GST threshold on offshore retail purchases from July 2017 to the news of potentially lifting parallel importation
restrictions on books - and the news of Amazon-owned Book Depository setting up local supply of Australian titles, the Conference will also provide us with a
forum for discussion of topics and issues of concerns to publishers, booksellers and the industry as a whole.
Most importantly, the Conference, as always, will give us the opportunity to catch up with friends, to network, exchange ideas and rekindle our enthusiasm
and passion for all things books!
The Leading Edge Awards dinner - a highlight of LEB conferences - will be held on Saturday, 28 May at the iconic National Museum of Australia, just a short walk from the QT along the shores of Lake Burley-Griffin. We look forward to a night celebrating the work and achievements of Leading Edge independent booksellers and the announcement of the Bookseller of the Year Awards for Metro and Regional, Publisher of the Year Award, and the Awards for Best Business Ideas and 1 st Time Delegate.
Draft Agenda – click here
Program Snapshot
Leading Edge Books conference provide booksellers and publishers with a superb opportunity for networking, forward planning, picking up some great ideas and rekindling your enthusiasm!
As usual, the LEB Conference will be a mixture of:
- Member Forums – opportunity to review Leading Edge Books services and program
- Training sessions, including introduction of new LEB initiatives and services
- Best Business Practice sessions giving you the chance to learn from each other
- Supplier and author presentations
- Booksellers and publishers panel discussion
- Nielsen BookScan presentation on indies performance and market share
- Social events – including Friday night Welcome Cocktail Party and Saturday night Awards Dinner
We are pleased to announce the following sessions and guest authors have been confirmed, with plenty more to come:
- Key note speaker: Martin Lindstrom, Small Data: The Tiny Clues That Uncover the Huge Trends (Hachette)
- Friday lunch time speaker: Liane Moriarty (Pan Macmillan)
- HarperCollins session : Richard Fidler (HarperCollins) and tbc
- Friday night Welcome Cocktail Party, sponsored by Text Publishing
- Saturday breakfast : David Hunt (Black Inc)
- Hachette session with Maxine Beneba Clarke, Rajith Savanadasa, Steven Amsterdam and Inga Simpson
- New Australian talent session with Mark Smith (Text) and Kate Mildenhall (Black Inc)
- Awards dinner speaker: Herman Koch (Text)
- And of course – a Surprise Guest speaker - who will it be in 2016?
For early arrivals, we’re working on putting together an optional Thursday afternoon event.
And being in Canberra, we hope to involve a Government representative in the program giving you the opportunity to share your success stories and raise your issues and concerns directly with a policy maker.
Sponsors:
We thank our Sponsors for their support and contributions:
Conference satchels
– provided by Penguin Random House
Friday night Welcome Cocktail Party –
Text Publishing
Pre-dinner drinks (Awards dinner) – sponsored by
CircleSoft
Best Business Idea
– sponsored by
Hachette
Bookstore of the Year
– sponsored by Nielsen BookData
Bookstore of the Year Finalists
– sponsored by
Ingram International
1st Time Delegate
– sponsored by
Allen & Unwin
Trade Show packaging
– provided by
Simon & Schuster
Corporate Sponsors –
Lonely Planet; Bloomsbury and Pantera Press, Books+Publishing
Thursday, 26th May
Pre-Conference event
For early arrivals meet from 6.00 in QT's Lucky's Bar for a casual drink.
No need to register for this event - just turn up and say hello!
Friday, 27th May – LEB Day 1
Registrations for LEB delegates will open at 10am .
Collect your Penguin Random House Leading Edge Conference satchel when you register and have morning tea, catch up with old friends, and make some
new ones.
All members and suppliers will be welcome to our opening session, starting at 11am.
Sit down for lunch in the Capitol Bar & Grill.
LEB Welcome Cocktail Drinks, 6-7.30pm
Join us at the Welcome Cocktail Party: From Little Things Big Things Grow, celebrating 22 years of Text Publishing with guest authors tbc.
Free evening
Enjoy the free evening. Choose from the myriad of restaurants nearby for dinner. Catch up with other members or have the night off to relax.
Saturday, 28th May – LEB Day 2
Enjoy a hot breakfast and a seated buffet lunch today in our private dining space and enjoy the presentations from our guest authors David Hunt and Consentino.
A full day of Conference sessions culminating with our Surprise Guest.
Awards Dinner
Catch the shuttle bus or enjoy the walk to our Awards dinner at National Museum of Australia (NMA) on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin where members and suppliers come together and enjoy a night of guest speakers, great food and wine, followed by our awards presentation, where we’ll take the opportunity to recognise the achievements of booksellers and publishers.
Sunday, 29th May – LEB/ABA Trade Exhibition
ABA’s conference starts on Sunday, 29th May. To see the ABA Conference program please visit http://www.abaconference.org.au/program
LEB & ABA Joint Trade Exhibition commences at 1pm (tbc).
This will be a 4-hour trade exhibition showcasing the product and services of publishers, key non-book and stationery suppliers and technology providers.
