Top 5 Reasons to Attend RetailTechCon
As we anxious await the green grass and warmer temperatures that are on the horizon, another spring tradition is fast approaching: RetailTechCon. The 9th annual event is overflowing with top-tier educational content and networking opportunities and is shaping up to be to the best retail conference of the year.
Registration is currently open for the March 25-27 event to be held at the Hyatt Regency in Orlando, Florida and retailers from across the country are marking their calendars. The agenda is packed full of educational sessions as well as a host of peer-to-peer networking breaks designed to foster stress-free idea exchange.
Here are the top five reasons that make RetailTechCon the can't-miss event of 2015:
Registration is currently open for the March 25-27 event to be held at the Hyatt Regency in Orlando, Florida and retailers from across the country are marking their calendars. The agenda is packed full of educational sessions as well as a host of peer-to-peer networking breaks designed to foster stress-free idea exchange.
Here are the top five reasons that make RetailTechCon the can't-miss event of 2015:
- Opening keynote. Doug Stephens, renowned retail futurist will set the tone for the event when he delivers the opening keynote: "Inspired Retailing: Collaborate, Connect, Innovate." Stephens' intellectual work and thinking have influenced many of the world’s best-known retailers, agencies and brands including Target, Home Depot, Disney, Crayola, WestJet, Citibank, Razorfish and Air Miles. Prior to founding Retail Prophet, Stephens spent 20 years in the retail industry. He is the author of the ground breaking book “The Retail Revival: Re-Imagining Business for the New Age of Consumerism.” He is also the consumer technology contributor on the television series App Central TV, as well as the retail contributor for CBC Radio Canada. Doug also co-hosts the web TV series, “The Future In Store.”
- Numerous networking opportunities. RetailTechCon provides the potent one-two punch of top-tier educational sessions and peer-to-peer networking opportunities. The agenda is chock full of networking breaks and special events that help facilitate a community atmosphere. Whether it is the golf tournament on the opening day, topic table meals, or a quick chat over coffee attendees have ample opportunity to build meaningful connections with their peers. The crown jewel of the networking opportunities at the event is the "Collaborate, Connect, Innovate: Structured Networking" event. The session gives attendees an opportunity to discuss technology trends, challenges and best practices through a series of timed meetings that specifically pair conference participants for short one-on-one meetings.
- Garner's latest research. One of the most anticipated and influential retail studies of the year will be debuted at the event. Jeff Roster, vice president, Gartner along with RIS News' editorial director Joe Skorupa will highlight the key findings of the "25th Annual RIS/Gartner Retail Technology Study” and provide invaluable insight into the results. Key findings will focus on spend trends for IT projects dedicated to improving such areas as omnichannel, mobile, social media, store systems, POS, e-commerce, analytics, supply chain and merchandising. The opportunity to hear the analysis straight from the men who conducted the research adds a level of understanding to the data available nowhere else.
- Retail's coolest concepts. Innovate or die. That is the mantra of retailers on the cutting edge. The only way to stay ahead of the curve is to blaze your own trail and let the competition follow you. The "Coolest Innovative Concepts" is a panel discussion featuring executives from retailers setting the pace for innovation. Panelists will explain how their concepts work and how they relate to shoppers in new and more relevant ways. Those in attendance will get a behind the scenes look at retail's hippest concepts and will leave inspired to push the innovation envelope within their organization.
- EMV: what you need to know. EMV is coming. Whether retailers are ready or not the October 1, 2015 deadline for implementation is fast approaching. As retailers gear up for the implantation of the technology rumors and half-truths about the liability shift are swirling. In the "Mythbusting the EMV Moment: What You Need to Know" session IHL Group president Greg Buzek will set the record straight and separate the truth from the buzz. In addition, he will explore the tricky landscape retailers are navigating as they manage new mobile, online and store payment systems in the age of massive data breaches and sophisticated cyber attacks.