ACS

27 January 2012

ACS has unveiled its star performer at Summit’12 on 27 March: you! The conference will feature four breakout sessions tackling the key themes of the day: technology, community, sustainability and people. Each session will include time for delegates to brainstorm their own ideas based on presentations and panel debates.

ACS Chief Executive James Lowman said; “We want this to be the most interactive conference in the calendar. Once we’ve heard from the industry speakers and the consultants, we want to hear from the real experts – the retailers who are facing up to these issues every day. To facilitate the sessions we’ve got some extremely knowledgeable chairmen, and they are being helped by people with great stories to stimulate discussion. The best ideas from the breakout sessions will go back to the main conference for delegates to vote for the best ways to take their business to the next level.”

Speakers have been announced for two of the breakout sessions:

Technology: Chaired by legendary retailing guru Scott Annan, this session looks at the impact of technology on the future of the convenience sector. The first speaker is Susan Rose, partner in Zinc and previously with Dunnhunby and a founder of 5One. An expert in using consumer data to drive businesses’ relationships with consumers, Susan will be joined on a panel of practitioners who all use technology in their business: Adam Margolin of SPAR UK, Mike Igoe from Paypoint, and Peter MacNamara of Note Machine. After the panel have discussed issues ranging from social media to EPoS to management systems, it’s over to you to generate ideas for the main conference to consider.

Community: Oxford University’s Jonathan Reynolds, recognized as the pre-eminent academic working on retail in the UK today, will chair this session challenging retailers to make the step up from being part of the community to leading the community. Examining how to engage with local decision-makers and shape the environment where they trade will be researcher Tom Hastings, acclaimed police officer Carol Aldred, award-winning retailer Vince Moloney and campaigner Andrew Olley from Ely Traders Association. Once again, it’s up to delegates to set the agenda with their questions and ideas, to help form the blueprint for great community retailing.

Details of the sessions on People and Sustainability will be announced shortly.