ICBA PRIMEtime Celebrates 10 Years

ICBA PRIMEtime redefined how business is done in the college industry. At ICBA 2014, February 3-6 in New Orleans, Louisiana, PRIMEtime will celebrate its 10th anniversary!

In 2005, after recognizing individually focused meetings as productive, profitable, and cost

effective for buyers and vendors, Independent College Bookstore Association introduced private one-to-one meetings to the college retail industry. PRIMEtime (Planned Retail Innovation and Marketing Exchange) is a series of pre-scheduled appointments between collegiate retail buyers and senior level vendor executives. These meetings provide valuable time for focused presentations and discussions of products and marketing opportunities, to set strategic directions, merchandising strategies, new lines, new items and promotional initiatives.

When buyers and vendors arrive at PRIMEtime, they find a markedly different atmosphere than at a typical tradeshow. PRIMEtime has a business-focused, upscale and exclusive feel. The proactive environment of PRIMEtime appointments helps breed creativity and innovation.

What our attendees have to say about PRIMEtime:
“ICBA PRIMEtime is the all-meeting event designed for buyer and vendor success. Over the past years, PRIMEtime has grown in popularity. Participant surveys indicate the all-meeting format is overwhelmingly preferred by both buyers and vendors.” —University of Missouri-Columbia

“Meeting vendors at ICBA PRIMEtime and seeing the new lines, colors and styles is a great way to begin the buying season! ICBA handles all the details and makes it very easy to attend. Their help with travel expenses enabled us to attend.” —Davidson College

“At PRIMEtime there was no wasted time! What a great way to see so much, so fast. The overview of what vendors have and what's new and different was an excellent education. By the time I was finished I had a pretty good mental image of what my selling floor will look like next fall.” —North Carolina Wesleyan College

“The best thing about PRIMEtime is the interaction between all involved. There is time to meet upper management vendors, as well as being introduced to companies, that in other tradeshow formats, you would probably just walk right by without giving a chance.” —University of Utah

Since the first PRIMEtime meetings in 2005, we have scheduled over 23,500 buyer-vendor

meetings. Owing to the success of PRIMEtime, ICBA has reimbursed member stores over $545,000 in registration and travel costs during this period. This has allowed more than 1,160 buyers and managers to attend at minimal expense and benefit from our annual Retail Conference which offers the strongest solution-oriented professional education in the industry.

At ICBA, we are committed to introducing new ways of doing business with a more personal and intimate approach that helps grow relationships and increase business for all who attend. The most important quest in business is to create and foster human connections. Creating high performance connections in today’s retail environment is critical to your success. PRIMEtime is an event that breeds innovation, interaction, discussion and efficiency.

We hope you will join us in New Orleans, February 3-6 for ICBA 2014. Registration for vendors will open in mid-June and for stores in late July.

For more information about ICBA PRIMEtime and the ICBA 2014 Retail Conference, please contact Marty Duncan, ICBA Program Manager at MartyDuncan@ICBAinc.com or 1-866-841-ICBA (4222).