Monday: Dave Condiff, publisher of Christian Retailing, The Church Bookstore and Inspirational Gift Trends magazines, and I spent the day finalizing the arrangements for the event. The excitement built as boxes for the vendors arrived, classrooms were prepared and airport runs were planned.

Three wonderful ladies from Southeast Christian—Patty Long, Cheryl Kilgore and Leah Wilhoite—helped me put together 30 gift baskets for our VIPs. They were amazing! My thanks for all of their help and some great laughs while we were doing it.

A special thanks, too, to Scripture Candy for all of the wonderful candies they gave us to put into the baskets—I could have started a candy store with them. And, I have to admit, I ate a turtle or two.

Tuesday: I was exhausted but totally blessed by all of the happenings of the day. Heidi Macias and Julie Swecker did a wonderful job with our New Managers class for prospective stores. Rick Jones from Bellevue Christian Bookstore at Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tenn., became an official cab driver for the event. I am not sure how many runs he made to the airport, but everyone arrived safely and it was such fun seeing old friends as they came to register.

Andy Butcher, editor of this newsletter as well as the trade magazines, hosted a great focus group in which we discussed the magazines and how they could better serve stores and suppliers. In the evening, the regional directors of the Church Bookstore Network and other bookstore managers gathered to discuss ways to involve more church bookstores and ways we can better assist new stores.

Wednesday: Today was so exciting ... there were tours of the church—an incredible facility—a time of prayer for the industry and each other, a great luncheon with a discussion of e-books (thank you, Joe Questel from Symtio, for great information) and their effect on the industry, and classes-lots of classes. The hardest part was choosing which ones to attend. I heard great things about them all.

Our special guest at dinner was chairman-elect of the board of CBA, George Thomsen. He has served the Church Bookstore Network as a regional director and is manager of the bookstore at Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, Calif. George talked with us about how our industry needs to unify and become stronger.

While some carry ministry-centered items like greeting cards and products that can be given to others for evangelism and encouragement, many have, to date, been more conservative and focused only on books and Bibles.

But "they are realizing that book sales are down and people are finding other places to buy them," said Geni Hulsey, president of the Church Bookstore Network. "They know they have to make that up somewhere, and they are looking for high-quality gifts that are ministry tools."

Tim Belanger, a volunteer at the bookstore managed by his wife, Connie, at Faith Lutheran Church in Troy, Mich., said that while they had been primarily focused on books, it had recently been decided to "open it up to merchandise and apparel. Books are great, but with them you only have a certain segment of the congregation that will come in."

Sue Carter, manager of Seeds Bookstore at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Ill., said that the store's emphasis from its beginnings had always been books and Bibles, but "it is kind of a new day. One of the main purposes (for coming) was to look at the art and the T-shirts, to bring that back to my leadership team."

Annette Atwood, president of Show Offs Art, noted high interest from church accounts. Gifts "are what is going to keep them afloat, really," she said. "I had some stores say they weren't allowed to carry gifts so they placed orders to decorate offices in the church" to show how gift products could offer ministry value.

"We have had a lot of church bookstores order from us," said Angela Riess, vice president of operations for Glory Haus.

Dottie Poythress, manager of The Bookmark at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta, Ga., said she had found "some new things I would not have seen if I had not been here" in Louisville. There was "a great spirit, a real sense of enthusiasm and excitement," at the event, she added.

Susan Chipman, manager of Next Step Resources at Granger Community Church in Granger, Ind., who presented one of the workshops, said: "I loved the 'fresh' new product from vendors like Show Offs Art and Glory Haus. I learned that there is a lot of interest in all things social media. I received a ton of feedback and questions from my session on Facebook/Twitter/Amazon."

Oliver Huff, manager of Ebenezer Gift Shop at historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta—where the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was pastor—attended The Gathering to look for products to add to the commemorative and Civil Rights-related resources the store currently carried. "We do want to expand the book offering," he said. Visitors wanted materials by or about King, "but also want to have options to get other things while they are there."

Cathy Shupe, who oversees Solid Rock Church′s Fireside Café & Bookstore in Monroe, Ohio, said that the event had been "phenomenal. I have learned a lot and got a wealth of information. The people have been wonderful."

Husband Dan Shupe, who also works in the bookstore and café, added: "I have been impressed with how people are interested in ministry first. Sales is a piece of that, but ministry is what it is all about. I have also appreciated learning how to use technology to open up interest in your store and let people know what is going on."

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The awards were presented by The Church Bookstore Publisher Dave Condiff to:

Large store: Rockpile Bookstore, Rock Ministries, San Diego, Jayson Payne, manager.

Mid-sized store: Passages-The Gateway Bookstore, Gateway Church, Southlake, Texas, Bobby Williams, manager.

Small store: Next Step Resources, Granger Community Church, Granger, Ind., Susan Chipman, manager.

The Church Bookstore Vendor of the Year award, for "outstanding service in the development of Christian retail in the local church," went to Thomas Nelson.

Zondervan's Larry Avery, senior account executive, was named Salesman of the Year.

To see our Best Practice profile of the Rockpile operation, go to http://www.thechurchbookstore.com/a.php?ArticleID=14252.

Effective meetings are a great way to set the direction for a group; ineffective meetings can cause confusion and lead to poor productivity. Some meetings positively influence team morale; others cause team members to question why they support the organization.

To successfully organize the meetings you are responsible for, take the following steps:

Prepare in advance: Determine beforehand the information you will be sharing. This will help you decide whether you need to have a 30-minute brainstorming session, a 15-minute Q-and-A period or a brief stand-up meeting just to make an announcement.

When preparing, visualize any questions that may arise, and incorporate their answers into your presentation. The presentation should be arranged to disseminate information as quickly and concisely as possible.

Visual aids such as PowerPoint or colorful overheads command the attention of the audience. Visual aids also help the attendees take notes and remember the information.

Write out an agenda: Outline the key points to be discussed, and determine who needs to discuss them. Make sure each point on the agenda is described briefly. On your master copy, place a time limit on each of the discussion points.

Mention that there will be a Q-and-A time at the end of the meeting. Also, you may want to consider creating a FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) section in the presentation.

Author signings can be wonderful events, but they are certainly not the easiest ones to plan. I always involve my sales representatives in the planning of how many books should be brought in for a signing. Most publishers have a division in their company that handles author relations, and they can be very helpful in making your event a success.

The sales representative can usually provide you with a deal on the books because they are for a book-signing event. Details can vary from publisher to publisher, but they should provide an extra discount and special terms. Also, they may provide point-of-purchase (P.O.P.) materials such as posters, bag stuffers, stickers or other merchandising product.

One way to keep the cash flowing is to have a well-publicized event. Give the author prominent positioning in the store, advertise and have a large display of the book in the store before the event. The more people who come to the event, the more likely it is you'll make up the money you put into it. And be sure to keep the books on hand for several weeks after the signing for residual sales.

Use the proper procedure for returning books after an author signing, and keep accurate records. Create a file with all the information on each of the signings you do so you can keep an eye out for any patterns. Having these details readily available will enable you to make better decisions about your next book signing.

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The random sample of 1,002 U.S. adults found two out of three adults (67%) claiming to have a "personal relationship" with Jesus that was currently active and that influenced their life.

Some segments were more likely than others to claim such a connection. For instance, women (72%) were more likely than men (62%) to do so. People who described themselves as mostly conservative on social and political matters were far more likely than those who saw themselves as liberal on such issues to connect with Jesus (79% compared to 48%).

And, among the "most instructive findings," the younger a person was, the less likely they were to claim to have an active and influential bond with Jesus. While 72% of adults 65 or older and 70% of Boomers (aged 46 to 64) had such a relationship, 65% of Busters (27 to 45) and only 52% of Mosaics (18 to 26) did as well.

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