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Well hey, bibliophiles! It’s been a long time since our last Q&A blog, so it’s absolutely necessary that we get some questions for our fearless leader Vic Zoschak out of the way before discussing the latest RBMS Showcase in Milwaukee! 

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So Vic, not to be too general but… how are things going for you? How is life in Reno treating you?

Hey Ms P,

No complaints here…  as I’m sure I’ve previously mentioned, I’m now in a ’semi-retired’ mode, only in the office a couple/three hours a day [though generally still 6 days a week].  Not to say I don’t work [primarily on-line] from my big chair at home, I do, but definitely not putting in the 8-10 hour days I used to, say, 10 years ago.

And I’ve really come to love Reno, and appreciated what it has to offer [such as no income tax in the state], and we’re now living close to our kids & grandkids so that’s a plus as well [in fact, the Karate Kid just visited over this past weekend, took him to a great local steak place for dinner Friday night…  man, that kid can eat.  $$$$].  

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Have you found your Reno tribe? We know you moved to be closer to family, but how is the book lover community in Reno these days?

The ‘book community’ in Reno is much more subdued, not as many booksellers or shops, and there are no bookish entities like the Book Club of California.  So my main interaction with other bibliophiles is of an on-line nature [see above, re: ‘big chair’].

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So at the end of June you attended the RBMS Showcase in Milwaukee, Wisconsin! How many years does this make of you attending the showcase?

ABAA Showcases at the annual RBMS Pre-conference have been around quite a while now, and happy to say I had a hand in starting that initiative back when I was on the ABAA board, with one of my responsibilities was as the ABAA liaison to RBMS.   This particular showcase was well attended from the bookseller side, with ~ 45 exhibitors.  And the focus is not on “selling” per se, but rather meeting individuals from the librarian community, and during that time, building professional relationships.  Booksellers have 2 tables, where they can display samplings of their specialties & inventory.  For me, I brought one suitcase, mainly of ‘flat stuff’ that I could spread out on the tables, though one St Paul colleague kindly loaned me a 3 shelf bookcase, which allowed for some additional display opportunities.

From my perspective, in this instance, the librarian community was well represented by young, first time attendees.  Most of the “old-timers” that I know & work with were not in attendance…  maybe Milwaukee not a ‘gold star’ destination?  

I will share I did suffer one disappointment…  I stayed an extra day [Thursday of that week] thinking I’d catch a Brewer’s game…. guess which day they had off that week?  Yep, Thursday.  :/

Vic with some of these young, newbie librarians!

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If you would for those of us who have never been… what is life like at the showcase? Or perhaps, what does a typical day there look like for you?

The Showcase has an opening reception Tuesday evening [set-up earlier in the day], with a full day the Wednesday following.  The primary interaction between the two communities comes when the conference attendees are on break…  though, to the chagrin of the showcase exhibitors, it sometimes seems interest in our displayed material pales in comparison to the attendees’ attention devoted to the coffee & pastries.  Hard to compete with food & drink sometimes…  

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How did you find this showcase in particular? Did it differ in any way from previous showcases you’ve attended?

Again, speaking personally with just my impressions, I came away the thought that few of folks with whom I interacted had collection development responsibilities.  And while I had some interesting conversations with those new librarians just beginning their careers, doubtful I’ll still be an active bookseller by the time they have an acquisition budget.  C’est la vie.

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Level with us… how were your sales this time around? Were they on par with other RBMS Showcases you’ve done?

Following on with the above commentary, interest was less, with the only sales made were those to other booksellers in the room.

Our Tavistock Booth, with guest star Lindsey Rulon-Miller of Tempo Books in the adjacent stand!

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Last but not least… tell us your favorite part of your time there! A great dinner, and interesting panel discussion, an item you’ve never seen before?

Thinking back on the week, I have to say my favorite times were those interacting with my ABAA colleagues, some of whom I only get to see at events like this.

As to meals, I did have one great dinner at an Italian place across the street from the hotel…  their Chicken Piccata was to die for!

Regarding ’next time’, the word’s out that the 2027 RBMS Showcase will be right here in Reno NV.  Yay, I get to sleep on my own bed!

V.

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Thanks, V! Until next time.