Members of the Association of Logos Bookstores gathered for their three-day annual meeting prior to the International Christian Retail Show (ICRS). Held in Orlando, Florida, the 41st Logos Annual Conference was a time of educational seminars, worship, meetings with authors and publishers, and learning from each other.

The opening banquet featured the presentation of store awards and the unveiling of the annual Logos Book Awards, as well as awards for Author, Vendor and Distributor of the Year. Certificates were on display for 29 Outstanding Road and In-house Reps nominated by the store managers. Many of these plaques and certificates are on display in vendor booths at ICRS.

Guest speakers included Curtis Riskey of CBA giving his yearly update; Michelle Amster with visual merchandising concepts and ideas; and IBID's Dave Walton addressing compliance with the upcoming credit card regulations.

The Logos manager-led seminars included the following topics: successes in working closely with local churches, financial benchmarks for greater profitability, using volunteers in the store, succession planning, selling excess inventory online, and favorite gift items and companies for occasions throughout the year.

Guest authors included Randy Frazee from Zondervan (HarperCollins Christian), Sharon Garlough Brown from InterVarsity Press and Cynthia Ruchti from Abingdon Press.

Christian Author Network (CAN) partnered again with Logos for several seminars: a Meet and Greet with a dozen CAN authors, a panel discussion on devotional resources and a discussion led by Twila Belk on "How to Help Customers ... Without Becoming a Counseling Center."

Authors Dandi Daley Mackall, Bryan Davis and Eddie Jones tackled the tough subject of engaging Young Adult readers and working in conjunction with bookstores to reach those readers.

The 5th Annual Rep-a-Round on Saturday night featured rapid-fire presentations by publisher reps who spotlighted over 150 new fall titles, allowing the buyers to hit the floor of ICRS well prepared.

Next year's Logos conference will be held June 23-26 in Cincinnati, prior to ICRS.

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