My Friday at LDSBA

To read about my first day at the Latter-day Saint Booksellers Association Convention, click here.

I was really excited to get back to the convention on Friday. I'd had such a great time on Thursday, and I couldn't wait to go meet more amazing booth vendors.

This is the booth belonging to Johnson Brothers. They specialize in ties, but they also carry tie tacks and other items along those lines. As you look at the right side of the display, those ties are in the fashion line. The ties on the left are the LDS line. Their LDS ties are designed with subtle patterns that are suitable to wear to work, and yet if you look closely, you'll see a Captain Moroni, or temple spires, or other similar themes.

Yes, I pretty much squealed when I saw this in the back of the Johnson Brothers' booth. This is a white shirt for a baby, but it's also a onesie, so it will stay tucked in. I wish I'd had one of these when I was dressing my little boys for church ... it would have made things so much easier.  Check out the Johnson Brothers website here.

This is the ShirleyJ booth, manned by my good friend Georgia Carpenter. ShirleyJ creates amazing food products that will revolutionize how you cook and make your life easier. One product, Whisk Bliss, mixes up to make a creamy base for all your soups and sauces while containing less sodium than your canned cream soups, and it's less expensive. Check out their website here - their product line is amazing.

This is the RLegacy Entertainment booth. This exciting new company has produced records by William Joseph, Katherine Nelson, Daniel Beck, and distributes for Janice Kapp Perry, the Nashville Tribute Band, Ryan Shupe and the Rubber Band, and many more.

I spoke with Gaylen Rust, president of the company, and he shared some of the company's goals with me. They are looking forward to becoming a one-stop shopping place for quality LDS music, not only through their productions, but through YourLDSRadio, which they also own. I had the chance to listen to one of their CDs by William Joseph yesterday, and it was absolutely beautiful. Visit the RLegacy website here.

This is the Archive Publishers booth. They reprint books that are no longer available, some of the great LDS classics that should never have faded into the background. They also publish new books, including those by author Kelly Gneiting (pictured above, right). Kelly is a champion sumo wrestler (hence why he's wearing his bathrobe) and he holds the world record for being the heaviest man ever to finish a marathon. In addition to the LDS books Kelly has authored, he will soon be releasing his story. I had a great talk with both these gentlemen and I'm very impressed by their product line. You can learn more about Archive Publishers here.

This fun booth belonged to Finch Family Games. They make handouts, file folder games, handouts, clip art - just about anything you can imagine. Check them out here.

There you have it - my Friday at LDSBA!  I wish I'd been able to meet all the vendors, but there were over 70 of them, and it would have been impossible. I'd like to thank all those who took the time to speak with me and share a bit about their products, and I encourage you all to visit the links, learn about the products, and look for them when you visit your bookstore. 

I'd also like to thank the folks who run the LDSBA for being so committed to what they do. They bring vendors and manufacturers together and give them a place to discuss the needs of the LDS market so that we, as consumers, can always find the products we want. It's a great organization, and I'm so glad I got to give you all this behind-the-scenes look so you can look forward to another great year of LDS products in your stores.