Canadian Independent Booksellers Association upcoming events

Holiday Success Starts Here: Tips from Penguin Random House Canada (26-Aug-2026)

Wed, 26 Aug 2026 19:00:00 GMT

Join the Penguin Random House Canada sales and operations teams as we gear up for your busiest and most important selling season of the year! Athmika Punja, Senior Director of Retail Sales and Operations, and Kelly Rankin, Senior Manager, Customer Operations, will walk you through the essential steps to ensure optimal stock positioning for the holiday sales period.

This event will help you and your store take the incremental steps now to both prepare for and anticipate the incoming challenges of the holiday selling season. You can look forward to:

Overall supply chain review, including information on shipping timeframes and PO tracking
An ordering calendar highlighting key moments that impact delivery times
Updates on Western Canada bookstores and the Reno, NV warehouse

There will be a Q&A session as a part of this event. Questions can be submitted in advance to Nicola, or during the event.

Event time is listed as ET.

Pre-AGM Coffee Break (14-Sep-2026)

Mon, 14 Sep 2026 17:00:00 GMT

This dedicated session will ensure Bookseller Members feel informed in advance of the 2026 AGM. Please bring your questions about pending votes (to be shared in the AGM Meeting Package approx. 1 week prior) so we can provide answers and/or gather more information on specific topics to share during the AGM, if appropriate.

This session is open to Bookseller Members (as CIBA’s voting members).

Time listed is ET.

Leveraging Analytics for Better E-Commerce (15-Sep-2026)

Tue, 15 Sep 2026 23:00:00 GMT

Whether you use Bookmanager or a third-party engine for your website, ensuring your bookstore’s website is optimized to collect analytics on traffic, customer behaviour, and the efficacy of “make or break” landing pages is a critical part of online marketing. Web and social metrics can show you how online customers are finding you, what they are doing once they’re on your website, and why they may be abandoning their carts.

In this session, Ariel Hudnall, Managing Director at Serif, will show booksellers how to connect their websites to Google Analytics, find the metrics that matter most, and how to use dashboards to make reviewing your data easier.

Presenter: Ariel Hudnall, Managing Director at Serif

Time is listed as ET.

Annual General Meeting (23-Sep-2026)

Wed, 23 Sep 2026 23:00:00 GMT

CIBA’s 2026 AGM, taking place on Wednesday, September 23 via Zoom. The meeting will begin at 4:00pm PT, 5:00pm MT, 6:00pm CT, 7:00pm ET, 8:00pm AT, and 8:30pm Newfoundland. It will be 1 hour in length.

During the meeting, CIBA's leadership will review the organization's strategy, operations, and finances for fiscal year 2025-26. They will also share a preview of upcoming strategic priorities, member votes will take place, and there will be a Q&A period.

The AGM is only open to CIBA Bookseller Members—registration is required. Multiple booksellers may attend from each member bookstore, but one individual should be designated in advance as the person to submit votes on behalf of the store.

Time listed is in ET.