Featured Guess
It’s my pleasure to introduce to you my friend Mr. Charles Chatmon , he is the Executive Director for the Los Angeles Black Book Expo and Co-Host for Mixed Matters on North Bay Media Review.
EBM. So Mr. Chatmon, you're a busy man these days. What can you tell us about this year's expo?
This year, we’re going through a number of changes. For starters, we’ve moved from Exposition Park to the Sheraton Gateway LAX Hotel. Then, we have two dynamic keynote speakers; Areva Martin who is an attorney and author of The Everyday Advocate, and Dr. Richard Williams who is the author of They Stole It But You Must Return It. We plan to have more workshops, panel discussions and lots of things going on.
EBM. This is your fourth year as the head of LABBX. Do you love the direction it's going in?
I do, because when I took over, not too many people knew about the expo but I’m glad our committee has put in the effort to let everyone know we’re here and we’re growing – which is a good thing.
EBM. What can you point to as your major successes?
We’ve connected and brought in interesting authors such as Bruce George, Dr. William Wright, Bernadette Stanis, Barbara Wright Sykes, L.A. Banks, just to name a few. We’ve expanded our children’s program and spoken word programs while making sure our exhibitors are treated like the special guests they are. We were also featured in the L.A. Times, which helped as far as publicity and partnering up with Barnes and Noble at the Grove to hold two events there; a relationship panel and a discussion with new authors. When the last Book Expo America was in L.A., we held a reception for the out of town participants in attendance.
EBM. What challenges have you faced?
Marketing has been our toughest challenge so far. Although we’ve established an online presence on various social networking sites, there’s still a large segment of the population who haven’t heard about us, so we’re still working towards getting the word out. Finding sponsors is another challenge. Because of the economy, we haven’t found one to support the expo as of yet. I’m confident in the future as we continue to produce this event, we’ll have one or two who can do just that.
EBM. The expo has always focused on the grassroots, the community. What have you done so far in maintaining that?
I’m proud to say that ever since I’ve took over four years ago, we haven’t abandoned that part of the LABBX mission. In 2008 we had authors donate books for the Michael Baisden Book and Toy Drive at the Baldwin Hills-Crenshaw Plaza, presently we’ve held a writers workshop in Hyde Park, planning a Spelling Bee for our young people and after the expo, there are more ideas we’re working on.
EBM. Who's showing up this year?
In no particular order joining Ms. Martin and Mr. Williams, we plan to have GregAlan Williams, Lauren Lake, Dale Madison, Gary Phillips, Russel Blake, Tony Gaskins, Jr., K’wan, and Kuwana Haulsey to name a few. We’ll have a full list of featured guests on our website, www.labbx.com very soon.
EBM. Are there going to be any contests, fun things for the public?
Yeah, we’ll have the winning entry of our Page 1 to Act 1 contest where participants send in their entries which will be acted out on stage by Tann Lyne Productions, one of our partners. We also have a poetry contest by Im Feeling Fab, a silent auction, several performances on stage. Workshops, panel discussions and readings from authors will take place during the day.
EBM. I understand there's going to be an after party later in the evening with live music? Who's performing for you guys?
As of now although the schedule can change, we have two talented performers joining us. Teyonie Page is an up and coming artist, and Rita Edmond, a local jazz artist who has come out with her newest album Sketches of a Dream. We plan to have more musicians join us and for anyone who’s interested, they can go to the After Party section of our blog which can be found on our webpage.
EBM. How can we get to the expo? Is there a cost involved?
You can take Metro to the LAX Sheraton Gateway or you can drive to 6101 West Century Blvd and park in the lot on 98th Street. It does cost to park, but the Expo is free for everyone.
EBM. What are your plans after the expo? Are you planning to write any more books?
I plan to rest up, enjoy the moment and work on publishing more books so I can get them ready for next year’s event.
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