PW: Bezos to Speak at BEA

Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos has been added to the roster of speakers who will take part in BookExpo America's two-day education program. Bezos will speak at 4 p.m. on June 1 in the Grand Ballroom of the McCormick Place Convention Center. Bezos will discuss how he developed Amazon.com by using books as his model; he will also talk about his views of retailing, marketing and what must be done to accommodate today's consumers. A brief question-and-answer period will follow his speech.

CBA Talks Continue

Meanwhile, executives at Reed Exhibition Cos. have confirmed reports that the company is in negotiations with the Canadian Booksellers Association to acquire the association's annual trade show. Executives added that while Reed has gone so far as to conduct due diligence, no final agreement has been reached. CBA's executive director, Sheryl McKean, told PW she hoped a deal could be reached in time so that Reed would take over control of the 2000 show, which is set for June 16-19.

Reed Exhibition, which owns BEA, is a subsidiary of Reed Elsevier, parent company of PW. If a deal with CBA is reached, the Canadian convention would be run from Reed Exhibition's Canadian office.