| Wednesday, April 15, 2009 / Arrival Day |
| 3:00 - 6:30 pm |
Registration Open |
5:00 - 6:30 pm
|
Welcome Cocktail Reception / Exhibit Hall
|
| 9:00 - 11:00 pm |
Retail Insider's Party - Caesar's Palace (more info)
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| Thursday, April 16, 2009 / Opening Day |
| 7:45 am - 4:00 pm |
Registration Open |
7:45 - 8:30 am
|
Networking Breakfast / Networking Center
RIS News Editorial Advisory Board Breakfast (private) |
| 8:35 - 9:25 am |
OPENING KEYNOTE
Leadership Keynote: Managing Costs and Driving Superior Execution
Speaker: Donald Hendricks, Vice President and CIO, The Gymboree Corporation
To successfully cope with today's new economic realities merchants will have to sharpen their focus on what matters most and commit their organizations to a short but highly strategic priority list. The key will be in choosing which priorities to focus on and then managing them with impeccable execution. The stakes are high. Execution equals efficiency, and efficiency equals cost savings. Our keynote speaker will discuss top-of-mind challenges and solutions to help you lay the IT groundwork for survival today and growth tomorrow. |
| 9:30 - 10:20 am |
CONCURRENT SESSIONS SET #1
TRACK #1: "STORE AND OPERATIONS INNOVATION"
How to Deliver a Successful Execution Strategy
Speaker: Kevin Carleton, Director of Retail Automation, Hannaford Bros.
In the current economic climate or in any economic climate, it's the successful execution of strategic initiatives that is key. Hannaford Bros. Supermarkets has improved its store-level execution of special projects and promotions from the 65% effectiveness to the 95%+ effectiveness level. In this session, learn how that was done through the implementation of a Task Management solution, coupled with Web Content Management and a role-based Portal. You will also learn how the company streamlined and calibrated its Corporate-to-Retail communication process so corporate messaging is easily interpreted at the store level resulting in better follow through, and how a new Key Performance Indicator application is being used to automatically issue tasks based on missed thresholds of performance.
TRACK #2: "MERCHANDISING & CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE"
Enabling the Customer to become Her Own Merchandiser
Speaker: Mercedes De Luca, Global Customer Experience and Chief Information Officer, myShape.com
In the world of women's apparel, size, fit and customer preferences aren't standard. Whether in a brick-and-mortar apparel department or store, or online, there is a lot of wasted time, effort and space for women trying to find the correct clothing styles that fit and flatter their unique shapes and meet their personal preferences. MyShape.com has turned online shopping on its head by enabling each woman to become her own merchandiser, creating a personal shop within the site that displays only the garments that satisfy her personal set of criteria. Learn how myShape.com's approach improves conversion rates and gets as close as possible to a one-on-one customer engagement.
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| 10:20 - 11:30 am |
Networking Coffee Break/ Exhibit Hall |
| 11:30 am - 12:20 pm |
GENERAL SESSION
Marketing Across Multiple New Media Channels
Speaker: Nicholas Nathanson, Senior Vice President, Direct, Quiksilver
The art of marketing to consumers has changed dramatically with the growth of new media channels. In this session, you will hear from Quiksilver senior vice president Nicholas Nathanson who will discuss how the world's leading outdoor sports lifestyle company uses those new media channels to achieve its marketing objectives with consumers. Come and learn how Quiksilver has incorporated social networking into its marketing plans, what benefits it has gained and how it measures the success of those initiatives. |
| 12:20 - 1:50 pm |
Networking Luncheon with Topic Tables / Networking Center |
| 1:50 - 3:45 pm |
"MASTERS WORKSHOPS" (3 concurrent "deep dive" workshops)
The Masters Workshops: Our three Masters Workshops that follow will be topic-specific, solution-oriented workshops led by industry experts. The workshops are designed to provide senior-level technology and business team members with breakthrough insights and analysis of their business IT needs. The workshop format is designed to help participants build a network of peers facing similar challenges who will share their solutions.
Workshop #1: Store & Operations Innovation
Using Store Systems to Increase Sales and Productivity
Leader: Ken Brame, Former CIO, Autozone
Workshop #2: Cross-Channel Retailing
Cross-Channel Retailing - How it Affects Your IT Portfolio
Leader: Brian Kilcourse, Managing Partner, RSR Research
Workshop #3: Merchandising & Customer Experience
Orchestrating Advanced Merchandising Planning
Leader: Frank Zarrello, VP Director of Planning and Allocation, Big M Inc. |
| 3:45 - 4:15 pm |
Networking Break/ Networking Center |
| 4:15 - 5:00 pm |
GENERAL SESSION
Masters Workshop Take-a-Ways
HOST: Joe Skorupa, Group Editor-in-Chief, RIS News
SPEAKERS:
- Ken Brame / STORE & OPERATIONS INNOVATION
- Brian Kilcourse/ CROSS-CHANNEL RETAILING
- Frank Zarrello / MERCHANDISING
RIS Group Editor-in-Chief Joe Skorupa is joined by our Masters Workshop leaders to reveal and discuss the highlights and findings from the three Masters Workshops.
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| 6:00 - 7:00 pm |
Cocktail Reception / Networking Center
|
| Evening |
Sponsor Dinners |
| Friday, April 17, 2009 / Closing Day |
| 7:45 am - 12:00 am |
Registration Open |
| 7:45 - 8:30 am |
Networking Breakfast with Topic Tables / Exhibit Hall |
| 8:30 - 8:40 am |
Retail Technology Leadership Awards Presentation |
| 8:45 - 9:30 am |
KEYNOTE SESSION
RIS News / Gartner Retail Tech Trends Study: Highlights and Discussion
Speaker: Jeff Roster, Vice President, Gartner
Speaker: Joe Skorupa, Group-Editor-in-Chief, RIS
This keynote Super Session will begin with the debut of the most widely regarded IT benchmark study in the industry, which has been tracking trends in retail IT for the past 19 years. Study highlights will be presented by Jeff Roster from Gartner, one of the leading retail technology analysts in the country. Jeff will then be joined by RIS News Group Editor-in-Chief Joe Skorupa for a dynamic discussion of the Study highlights covering challenges, obstacles and solutions faced by retailers in today's highly competitive and fast-changing retail environment.
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| 9:35 - 10:30 am |
Networking Coffee Break / Exhibit Hall |
| 10:30 - 11:10 am |
GENERAL SESSION
Transformation through Innovation: Start Planning for Rebound Now
Speaker: Keith Morrow, Sr. Vice President & CIO, Blockbuster Inc.
In a big downturn it's easy to wave the white flag and focus on cost cutting, but then you risk hitting the ground flat footed instead of running when the economy rebounds. Now is the time to focus on real opportunities to position your company to jump ahead of the competition. That's the strategy set by Blockbuster Sr. Vice President and CIO Keith Morrow, who was recently inducted into the CIO Hall of Fame by CIO magazine and is described by that publication as a 'retail innovator.' In this session learn how Morrow is using innovation to transform the company today and position it for renewed growth tomorrow. From device integration to video-on-demand service to a new experiential store format called Rock the Block Morrow will offer key takeaways that will help your company's rebound start right now. |
| 11:15 am - 11:55 am |
CLOSING KEYNOTE
Retail's New Relationship with IT
Speaker: Mike Griswold, Research Director / Retail, AMR Research
The current economic environment is changing the role of IT and how it must support the business of retail. In this 's closing keynote, Mike Griswold will share actionable insights from AMR's research including key, emerging IT priorities for retailers in 2009. He will also share three specific project checkpoints you can use to manage your project portfolios, along with a discussion of the "must do" IT projects and business process changes that will allow IT to remain at the core of retail's future business growth. |
| 11:55 am - 12:00 pm |
2009 RTC Closing Comments |