A week after its unmitigated disaster in Canada (see the earlier MobyLives report), leading to the cancelling of its BookExpo Canada convention, Reed Exhibitions has announced some dramatic moves — or really, non-moves — in an attempt to avert similar disaster with its BookExpo America convention. According to a Jim Milliot report in Publishers Weekly, Reed has announced it is cancelling plans to stage the BEA in Washington DC next year, and to stage it in Las Vegas the year after that, and will keep the show in New York City through at least 2012. Plus, rather than its typical Thursday through Sunday show, starting next year Reed will now limit the convention to Tuesday through Thursday, in an effort to lessen the expnse for publishers. “By keeping the show in New York, BEA executives hope to lower the costs for the major publishers as well as boost media interest in the event,” reports Milliot. BEA show manager Lance Fensterman tells him publishers “have been calling for ways for BEA to become more relevant and less expensive.” It may be too little too late for this year, anyway: rumors persist that the biggest publishers will significantly reduce their floor presence (Macmillan, FSG, St. Martin’s and Picador have already announced exactly that), while numerous smaller presses are pulling out or reducing their presence, too.