In his latest blog post, BEA show director Steve Rosato gave more details about consumer day on Thursday at BEA, including the fact that it will be offered to only a “limited” number of people. A maximum of one thousand consumers, wearing Power Readers badges, will be able to attend. They will be able to purchase tickets at local booksellers, the New York Public Library, and publishers.
Rosato said that he had expected some opposition to the decision to admit consumers, and was “shocked” at how it is being embraced. To those who are concerned that consumers will negatively impact the B2B portion of BEA, he noted that there will still be thousands of booksellers, librarians, retailers, and other industry people at the show.
To smooth the introduction of consumers to the show, Rosato said that BEA will communicate to these new attendees pre-show, on-site, and in PW Show Daily what to expect and how to enjoy BEA. Power Readers will not be able to peddle manuscripts. That constitutes soliciting and will result in the loss of their badge.
Although there will be no direct sales to consumers at this year’s BEA because of lack of time to set up retail partners and enforce tax collection laws, Rosato held out the possibility for 2013.
