We’re back from the International Christian Retail Show in steamy Orlando, where there were positive signs, finally, for Christian booksellers. Christmas sales were up, to the surprise of many, and although store attrition continues it has slowed, and new stores are opening. Though the show itself is a third of the size it was at its peak, it will survive. The benefits might no longer be in buying and selling, but the importance of seeing and hearing and meeting in one place, at one time, have not diminished. Although technology has made buying and doing business more efficient, people are people, and face time is a human need. Book people will gather, to touch the books, shake hands with the authors, and talk to each other about the ideas between covers that they sell and love.