Full Agenda | 2008 Retail Executive Summit

Tuesday, February 26, 2008 / Arrival Day
3:00 - 7:00 pm	Registration
6:00 - 7:00 pm	Opening Cocktail Reception
Evening	Sponsor Dinners
Wednesday, February 27, 2008 / First Day of Sessions
7:00 am - 7:00 pm	Registration
7:15 - 7:55 am	Networking Breakfast
7:55 - 8:00 am	Opening Comments
8:00 - 8:50 am	Opening Keynote The Geek Squad Saves the World Speaker: Robert Stephens, Founder and Chief Inspector, The Geek Squad Geek Squad founder and chief inspector Robert Stephens explains how he built a brand and achieved great customer satisfaction by taking $200 and combining it with a crazy idea and a love for all things technical. Learn how Stephens took the boring world of computer support and made it famous, ultimately leading to the Geek Squad's purchase by America's #1 consumer electronics retailer Best Buy.
8:55 - 9:45 am	General Session CEO Perspective: How in 7 Years We Built, I Stumbled Over, and My Colleagues Fixed a Near-Billion-Dollar Retailer Speaker: Patrick M. Byrne, Chairman & CEO, Overstock.com In a candid presentation, Overstock.com Chairman and CEO Patrick Byrne will explain how his near-billion-dollar company was built, became complicated during expansion, and had to be put back on track. He will focus on both technology - specifically how the IT systems were built on a shoestring and required a major overhaul, and on corporate culture - specifically how the sharpening of its customer focus became absolutely critical for future success.
9:45 - 10:15 am	Networking Coffee Break
10:15 - 11:20 am	General Session Wall Street's Perspective Moderator: Joe Skorupa, RIS Group Editor-in-Chief Speakers: Meredith Adler, Retail Equity Analyst and Team Leader, Lehman Equity Research, Lehman Brothers; Gregory Melich, Managing Director, Retail Analyst Hardlines / Discounters - North America, Morgan Stanley To Wall Street analysts it�s all about investments, corporate valuations and stock performance of publicly held companies. In today�s session we will hear from two of Wall Street�s top analysts as they address a range of questions facing the retail industry. What factors are critical for retailers to pay attention to? What trends are shaping the economy, consumers and retailing as a whole? Which retailers are getting it right, which ones aren�t, and why?
11:20 am	Break for Golf Outing
11:45 am	Bus Departs for Golf Course
12:30 pm	Shot Gun Start to Golf
6:30 - 7:30 pm	Cocktail Reception
Evening	Sponsor Dinners
Thursday, February 28, 2008 / Second Day of Sessions
7:30 am - 5:00 pm	Registration
7:30 - 8:30 am	Networking Breakfast
8:30 - 8:35 am	Day Two Opening Comments
8:35 - 9:20 am	Day Two Keynote Culture and Communication: Guiding Principles of Change Management Speaker: Mark Sull, Vice President of Brand Integration, Limited Brands Limited Brands has undertaken a complex multi-phase, customer-centric transformation. Throughout the process culture management has been a guiding principle of the company�s change management initiative. Now several years into the plan, much has been accomplished, much learned and there is still much to do. This change management story crosses all of Limited Brands, but in today�s keynote will focus on Bath & Body Works where the change has included a large-scale technology transformation. The challenges faced and insights learned by this multi-brand, multi-billion-dollar retail organization are revealing for retailers of all sizes.
9:20 - 9:40 am	Networking Coffee Break
9:40 - 10:15 am	General Session 2008 Economic and Consumer Trends: Cutting through the Confusion Speaker: Richard D. Hastings, CCE, Economic Advisor, The Federation of Credit and Financial Professionals All signs point to an economic slowdown. In this session find out what noted economist Richard Hastings is saying about the impact of economic volatility on retail performance and technology investment. In an era of economic uncertainty and changing consumer behaviors, opportunities open up for smart retailers, while formidable challenges appear for laggards. Hastings focuses on consumer spending habits and macro trends that have significance for 2008 and beyond.
10:20 - 11:00 am	General Session Lifecycle Price Management: Attracting the Consumer, Supporting the Brand Host / Moderator Rob Garf, Vice President, Retail Strategies Practice, AMR Research Executive Participant Brad Knight, Director of Pricing, O'Reilly Auto Parts As consumers are crunched for cash and have countless competitive choices in the market, retailer pricing strategies are at the heart of many organizations� brand proposition. Rob Garf, VP of Retail Strategies at AMR Research, will discuss the latest trends and best practices relative to lifecycle pricing strategies. He will then moderate a one-on-one discussion with Brad Knight, Director of Pricing at O�Reilly Auto Parts. The interactive portion of the session will dive deep into the auto part retailer�s pricing strategies, including how the pricing organization is aligned with product managers to support their category initiatives, and how they segment pricing rules and decisions by category segment. Brad will also discuss the significant benefits that have been derived from its markdown strategy.
11:00 - 11:20 am	Networking Coffee Break
11:20 - 12:10 pm	General Session Adapting to the Next-Generation Workforce Speaker: Kristen Blum, Sr. Vice President & CIO, Abercrombie & Fitch As a brand, Abercrombie & Fitch targets the younger generation in both its customer and its workforce. In this session, CIO Kristen Blum explains the Abercrombie mission to create a next-generation work environment that attracts and keeps its highly targeted workforce, in IT and in the overall organization. Far from simply extending the image of the brand, this approach is a key element for attracting talented and successful professionals.
12:10 - 1:45 pm	NETWORKING LUNCHEON WITH TOPIC TABLES
1:45 - 2:30 pm	General Session Striking Gold with Customer Analytics Speaker: Mike Hayes, Sr. Vice President of Marketing, The Bon-Ton Stores Inc. Most retailers do not have a well developed ability to accurately separate customers into key groupings by profit margin, frequency, market basket size, market basket preferences, shopping patterns, drop outs, and so forth. Data is often formatted for reports rather than analytics. In this session learn how Bon-Ton Stores is structuring its move from a data reporting environment to an analytic environment with a focus on changing its customer experience. You will learn about the cultural, as well as the technological context, strategies and pitfalls of the Bon-Ton experience.
5:00 - 6:00 pm	Cocktail Reception
Evening	Sponsor Dinners
Friday, February 29, 2008 / Closing Day
8:00 - 10:45 am	Registration
8:15 - 9:15 am	Breakfast with Keynote Speaker
*8:25 - 8:30 am	Day Three Opening Comments
*8:30 - 9:15 am	Breakfast Keynote CEO Perspective: Leadership Speaker: Marty Allen, Former CEO, Party America Former Party America CEO and author of the upcoming book "Retail Simplified" Marty Allen joins us to present his CEO Perspective on Leadership. Leadership means the ability of an individual to influence, motivate and enable others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of an organization. The ability to lead directly impacts the effectiveness of cost management, revenue generation, customer service and satisfaction, earnings, market value and more. Marty Allen has had repeated success leading organizations as diverse as Party America, California Closet Company (then a wholly-owned subsidiary of Williams-Sonoma) and Scholastic Video. In today's breakfast keynote, Allen will discuss the five fundamentals of dynamic and effective leadership as he sees them.
9:20 - 10:30 am	EXTENDED CLOSING KEYNOTE PANEL Store Systems Study: Findings, Analysis & Discussion Study Presenters 1. Greg Buzek, President, IHL Consulting 2. Joe Skorupa, Group Editor-in-chief, RIS News Executive Panel Discussion: Moderator Joe Skorupa, Group Editor-in-Chief, RIS News Executive Panel 1. Greg Buzek, President, IHL Consulting 2. Garth Duff-Gray, Sr. IT Director, Global Support & Deployment, The Office Depot 3. Dale Linebarger, Chief Information Officer, HQ Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) 4. Cy Young, Director of Store Systems, Burlington Coat Factory; Chair, ARTS Board of Directors Our extended closing keynote session will begin with expert analysis of highlights from the retail industry's annual Store Systems study from RIS News and research partner IHL Consulting. After the opening segment, which will feature IHL's Greg Buzek and RIS group editor-in-chief Joe Skorupa, three of the retail industry's leading technology executives will join Greg and Joe to provide their real-world insights in a discussion of the Study's findings and analysis.
10:30 - 10:35 am	Summit Closing Comments
10:35 am	2008 Retail Executive Summit Concludes