April 20, 2001 ABA Forum in Berkeley, California On April 17, there was an ABA forum held in Berkeley, California, in conjunction with the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association (NCIBA). The forum was attended by 22 booksellers and moderated by ABA President Neal Coonerty, NCIBA Executive Director Hut Landon, BookSense.com Director Len Vlahos, and ABA Board member Lilla Weinberger. Not surprisingly, the main topic of conversation was the current lawsuit, which took up more than half the time allotted. Coonerty gave a detailed account of how the trial is proceeding and where the suit stands. He emphasized the fact that all of the advocacy efforts undertaken by booksellers-beginning with the NCIBA suit against Avon, continuing through the ABA suit against the publishers, and up to and including ABA's current efforts-have been successful in reforming the industry. Coonerty said that no matter how this current action is resolved, ABA is winning the larger war because the attention called to inequities in the industry have led to real reform. Coonerty observed that each piece of information introduced into evidence becomes part of the public record and that, consequently, booksellers could now become aware of terms of sale that have not necessarily been available to them before. Suzanne Corson, owner of Boadecia's Books in North Berkeley, said that the "stuff coming out at the trial is worse than I thought it would be," but that the forum's focus on the lawsuit was very interesting to her. George Kiskaddon, who co-owns Builders Booksource in Berkeley with his wife, Sally, remarked that, while his experience with the law has made him "pretty cynical" (he's been involved with NCIBA and the pursuit of e-fairness), he was pleased at Coonerty's reminding them that progress has been made and "bringing up the optimism everyone has been feeling the last few years." Kiskaddon said, "ABA, particularly in the last 10 years, has played a big part in leveling the playing field." Boadecia's Books specializes in feminist and lesbian and gay titles and Builders Booksource is a construction and design specialty store, and both Corson and Kiskaddon were pleased at ABA's increased efforts to recognize specialty stores. During the forum, Kiskaddon suggested that ABA appoint a staff person to be a liaison for specialty stores. Corson told BTW that she was especially pleased that Len Vlahos was there to discuss BookSense.com and that she got a chance to speak with him about the affiliate program. Both Corson and Kiskaddon agreed that it's always important for booksellers to get together, to share their frustrations, but also, as Kiskaddon noted, because book people are always interesting company. Topics: Forums, About ABA,