A message from Geni Hulsey, president of the Church Bookstore Network:

It is that time of year again—when church bookstore managers and workers from across the country come together for fellowship, education and spiritual renewal.

This year, after a winter of ice, snow and various other weather nastiness for many of us, it is going to be really good to spend a few days in sunny Orlando, Florida—the city for this year’s get-together for church and other bookstores, this year called Retailing ReBoot 2011. We will meet April 26-28 at the lovely Florida Hotel and Conference Center.

Retailing ReBoot will be a unique, redesigned event that will address the issues you are dealing with today and that will impact how you do ministry and business tomorrow. It is something you will not want to miss. There will be wonderful times of education, sharing and fellowship. There will also be an exhibit floor with vendors where you can visit, learn and place orders.

Some of the special moments that we always enjoy when we come together are the times of joint praise & worship along with the personal times of prayer and meditation. This year will be no exception as we pray with and for each other.

Every year after our event, I get thank-you e-mails and notes telling me how much this time together with other church bookstore professionals has meant to the writer. And always there is the comment, “I will see you next year. This is the one event I don’t want to miss.”

So put the date on your calendar, make your airline reservations, buy some sunscreen and plan to meet with us in Orlando. Be sure to watch for more details in the Christian Retailing Update e-newsletter and at the Web site www.christianretailing.com.

Now, confession time ... for several years now I have chosen a notebook each year that I use to collect miscellaneous names, phone numbers, notes from conversations and other scribblings that are important. It brings together what before was written on individual sticky notes that decorated the edges of my computer and any other vacant spot I could find in my office.

Then a secretary in our building showed me her collection of notebooks and how she could refer back to them and I decided that was a far better method. Sadly, on one of my recent flights I got my current notebook out to review some notes and left it behind when I disembarked. The airline was not much interested in my lost notebook.

That is why you may not have received a return call from me or something I was going to send. I decided it was better to confess my mistake rather than have you think I ignored or forgot you. If you are one of those people, please feel free to e-mail me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

They say confession is good for the soul—and I feel better already. The item that is at the top of my replacement notebook is “plans for Retailing ReBoot.” Now let me see: airline tickets, hotel reservations, oh,yes—and “the notebook.”