Dear Michael, That’s great that you are sharing it. It seems the need is with bookstores everywhere. Praveen Madan, the bookstore owner who got this started, and I are talking to an editor at Buchreport in Germany later this week.
BTW, I had a typo in Sono’s last name in my original message. I missed the last letter. Her name is Hashisaki. Peggy > On Oct 31, 2021, at 11:01 PM, Michael M Pannwitz via OSList > <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Dear Peggy, > > will send this to my publisher and to some of the tiny bookstores in my > neighborhood and to a local newspaper that covers neighborhoods in detail. > What a grand undertaking! > cheers > mmp > Am 31.10.2021 um 23:31 schrieb Peggy Holman via OSList: > > On October 18 and 19, for three hours a day, I co-hosted an online Open > > Space on Reimagining Bookstores <https://reimaginingbookstores.org> to > > explore what it looks like when bookstores are centers of community life. > > > > We had expected about 200 participants. When our registration pass 300 > > people, I was concerned that we’d spend too much time getting the > > agenda set and the number of topics would be overwhelming for the time > > and space we had. My tech host partner, Nancy White and I reached out > > to Ben Roberts to rethink our approach. Nancy came up with the strategy > > we used: after opening the space, we split into three cohorts to create > > the agenda and hold the sessions. Ultimately, more than 600 people > > registered and I’d guess about 350 people showed up over the two days. > > > > We used Google docs and Zoom with a landing page that provided links to > > Zoom, the agenda and session notes for the three cohorts so people could > > view all their options. Even with a tech-challenged culture, people were > > able to navigate it all. > > > > We had a stellar team, with tech hosts Nancy, Ben, and Jyo Maan and as > > process hosts, I enticed two friends to join me: Michelle Ferrier and > > Sono Hashisak. Below is an article about the gathering. The writer > > called it "one of the most invigorating gatherings on independent > > bookselling in a generation.” > > > > If you want to know more, just ask. > > > > Peggy > > > > > >> https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/87766-reimagining-bookstores.html > >> <https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/87766-reimagining-bookstores.html> > >> > >> > >> Reimagining Bookstores > >> > >> By Alex Green | > >> Oct 29, 2021 > >> Reimagining Bookstore organizer Praveen Madan (l.), with author and > >> consultant Peggy Holman. > >> > >> Earlier this month, Praveen Madan, CEO of Kepler’s Books in Menlo > >> Park, Calif., delivered a dire series of observations to the attendees > >> of Reimagining Bookstores, an online gathering of nearly 600 > >> booksellers and publishing professionals. Independent bookstores face > >> multiple crises that threaten their existence, Madan said, ranging > >> from declining literacy to unsustainably low employee wages that he > >> characterized as “institutional poverty.” > >> > >> Then, before sending attendees into one of the most invigorating > >> gatherings on independent bookselling in a generation, he offered warm > >> encouragement: “Let’s have some fun. Let’s have some energizing > >> conversation. Let’s go create some change.” > >> > >> Madan’s balancing act of pragmatism and optimism is what led him to > >> purchase and revitalize Kepler’s, the nearly 70-year-old indie > >> bookselling institution, in 2012. In the past nine years, he has > >> transformed the store through creative partnerships—Kepler’s took over > >> fulfillment for the community library when it closed at the outset of > >> the pandemic—and by committing to implementing a living wage for > >> employees. > >> > >> Those successes led Paul Wright, a board member of Berrett-Koehler > >> Publishers, a Kepler’s Bay Area neighbor, to suggest last year that > >> Madan convene booksellers to try to apply the same revitalization to > >> its entire segment of the publishing industry. > >> > >> Madan wasn’t convinced. “In the beginning I was like, I don’t know,” > >> he said. > >> > >> But instead of giving up, Wright took Madan’s reticence as a challenge > >> to create a core group of potential participants, to persuade him to > >> move from uncertainty to a firm yes. He started by introducing Madan > >> to author and consultant Peggy Holman, whose work goes back to the > >> earliest days of the internet and centers on “open space technology” > >> (OST), a philosophy of creating intentional, nonhierarchical > >> gatherings to address complex issues. > >> > >> Holman then introduced Madan to a squad of fellow OST adherents. > >> Together, they said they were willing to help him organize everything > >> he would need for participants to frame goals and generate ideas. > >> Holman assured him that if he was prepared to start envisioning a new > >> landscape of American bookselling, they could create and manage a > >> simple framework for channeling the experience of hundreds of > >> booksellers into the beginnings of a movement for change. > >> > >> The team’s enthusiasm persuaded Madan, who began sending out > >> invitations to Reimagining Bookstores in mid-September, and by the > >> first day of the gathering on October 18, the list had grown to nearly > >> 600. Throughout the conference, participants split into groups, > >> devising their own session topics geared toward creating new ways to > >> combat endemic issues that have long hindered stability and growth in > >> indie bookselling. > >> > >> In retrospect, Madan said, his initial reluctance mirrors a problem > >> among indie booksellers. They are hesitant to ask for assistance. > >> Speaking to the attendees on the second day of the conference, he > >> said, “Bookstore owners and leaders can get better at asking for help, > >> and they’re going to have to get better at asking for help in the > >> future we are imagining here.” > >> > >> Madan acknowledged that what he is proposing is difficult. To succeed, > >> he believes indie booksellers need to completely reorient public > >> perception of what they offer, framing it as a social good that > >> warrants an array of supports from individual customers, industry > >> partners, and government leaders. At the same time, he is very > >> skeptical that any of those stakeholders can be trusted to lead the > >> effort to make the changes bookstores need. > >> > >> In a stark assessment, Madan told Reimagining Bookstores attendees > >> that booksellers alone will have to take the steps to guide Americans > >> toward embracing the importance of their place in their communities. > >> “We really have to stop expecting that someone is going to come to our > >> rescue,” he said. “There are many versions of this fantasy: publishers > >> that are going to come rescue us, God is going to come rescue us, the > >> American Booksellers Association is going to come rescue us.” > >> > >> Madan and his fellow organizers are also convinced that sustainable > >> answers will only emerge if a diverse group of booksellers are at the > >> forefront of sharing the ideas that lead to action. Time and again in > >> the conference sessions, conversations appeared to affirm this > >> sensibility. Participation and leadership by BIPOC and LGBTQ > >> booksellers was notable, especially in a predominantly white industry. > >> > >> At Reimagining Bookstores, conversations generated radical ideas with > >> potential, including a proposal for the creation of an independent > >> bookstore fund to act as a lender in lieu of banks, which often deny > >> booksellers—especially BIPOC booksellers—access to capital. And nearly > >> two dozen industry professionals attended a session on creating an > >> ongoing organizing committee to keep the discussion moving forward. > >> > >> For Madan, the key to success will be in resisting the creation of yet > >> another single-solution mindset or a monolithic organization. “It’s > >> not so much, to me, what//we are going to do as how, and the how is > >> determined by the principles,” he said during the conference. “I think > >> the reason the principles are so important is because we’re bringing a > >> radically different set of them than what had been applied to this > >> issue before.” > >> > >> Evan Karp, the only bookseller aside from Madan in the group’s > >> organizing committee, said that the OST members’ enthusiasm for > >> facilitating the event is a positive sign in and of itself—one that > >> points to the potential for booksellers to create the radical change > >> they need by drawing on broad communal support. What shape the effort > >> will take from here is still an open question, but Madan plans to > >> follow up with participants in the coming weeks, encouraging them to > >> resist the pull to go back to business as usual. (Four new sessions > >> have been scheduled for November so far, and four other leaders are > >> looking for expressions of interest in their topics before scheduling > >> meetings.) > >> > >> For Wright, whose enthusiasm sparked the idea to begin Reimagining > >> Bookstores, the gathering was an affirmation that an ongoing effort is > >> needed to ensure the long-term viability of independent bookselling. > >> “I felt over the last two days the sense that community bookstores are > >> one of the pillars this country stands on,” he said. “And whether > >> their situation is dire—or as dire as we fear—I see them as > >> institutions that must be protected for the sake of our larger society.” > >> > >> Reimagining Bookstore organizer Praveen Madan (l.), with author and > >> consultant Peggy Holman. > >> > > > > > > > > > > ________________________________ > > Peggy Holman > > Co-founder > > Journalism That Matters > > 15347 SE 49th Place > > Bellevue, WA 98006 > > 206-948-0432 > > www.journalismthatmatters.org <http://www.journalismthatmatters.org> > > www.peggyholman.com > > Twitter: @peggyholman > > JTM Twitter: @JTMStream > > > > Enjoy the award winning Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into > > Opportunity <http://www.engagingemergence.com> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > OSList mailing list > > To post send emails to [email protected] > > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > > To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: > > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org > > Past archives can be viewed here: > > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] > > > > -- > Michael M Pannwitz > Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany > +49 30 7728000 [email protected] > _______________________________________________ > OSList mailing list > To post send emails to [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org > Past archives can be viewed here: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
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