This year’s NRF LP Conference was the last conference ever under the banner of the NRF. In the last year I have learned that there is a lot to planning and running a conference and many people don’t realize that the venues are selected and negotiated several years ahead of time.
5 years ago when NRF selected Los Angeles as the venue no one would have anticipated we would be in the economic shape we are in as a nation. The NRF team had to play the cards they were dealt and make the best of our troubled economy, contracting retail landscape and reduced budgets.
I have attended many of these conferences since I was a regional in the late 80’s. I believe the Boston NRF was my first show, does anyone remember what year that was?? I also think that my personal favorite NRF conference was the last one held in San Diego, which is a more costly destination in my opinion than LA and they had record attendance that year. My point here is we all were riding a really high wave with no visibility to what is now our reality.
My conference adventure began following dinner on Sunday evening near the Staples Center when I and other LP friends found ourselves caught in the middle of the disturbance that was covered widely in the news. The Police blocked the area off contained everyone and did a very professional job of managing the situation in my opinion. I joked with many that I came to LA and got caught in a riot, but truth be told it looked a lot worse in the media than it did live. For those who are with me on FB see the pics and video.
For the record- I do not hold LA- the NRF-The Lakers-The Magic, or LAPD responsible for this, although it was funny to joke about it.
I landed and arrived at my hotel where they were having a closing party for the Erotica Convention & an opening gathering for a Cannabis Convention. I head to dinner and get caught in the middle of a “mini riot”. You can’t make this stuff up!!
It was really pretty cool that Chief Bratton spoke the next morning after he was all over the press the evening before. His department performed well and he should be proud.
The LP show like any LP show had some great sessions and some not so great ones. I think that is the conference business. For the purposes of tonights blog let me highlight my favorites and focus on the positives.
LP leaders- Bill Titus Sears -Randy Meadows Kohl’s & Keith White Gap inc participated in a forum lead by Walter Palmer and discussed our industry and gave their candid advice and thoughts. This session was my all time favorite breakout of any conference..
ORC session with Nelson Harrah- and other Law Enforcement officials another favorite…
Dr Hollinger’s town Hall was also among my favorites.
In surveying folks as we spoke it was clear there were many good sessions.
The attendance in general was off, but that is to be expected with our current economic state and a West Coast venue only adds to that.`
I had many exhibitors initially express concern at this, but I think that by the conclusion of the show most felt things picked up a bit but traffic was down over LY .
The best part of this and other conferences is the networking and relationship building that occurs during the day and in the evenings. The senior leaders in our industry should be commended as they showed up, particpated and ensured that this last LP show will be memorable. I also saw many of them going out of their way to engage the exhibitors and new attendees.
I felt a real energy in the after hour conversations as colleagues got together to share stories, tell jokes, exchange ideas and just have some fun. It seemed like our industry truly needed a gathering to reconnect and get energized. It has been a tough year for all. I was surprised the networking was so strong as many of us were in different hotels but it appeared that the WESTIN became the spot.
Other Highlights:
USS Surveillance announces a new concept LP 4 LP with a new President to be named soon. It was shared with me but ( it was way after last call) so for now it is a secret (stay tuned). USS also announces to much fan fare their new concept that detects Eas jammers and booster bags as well as it functions as a traditional EAS tag. They also hosted a charity golf tournament which my new company was happy to support.
Fusion Center- This was a concept introduced several years ago and has turned out to be first rate
Expo Hall presentations- This is very hard to pull off correctly, but it seemed to work well for all
Secure Store- Great concept and was always my first stop when I attended as a retailer.
Mr Rhett Asher- I have seen Rhett function in several different environments and I believe he is at home and a natural in this world. I was able to watch him buzzing around engaging exhibitors and LP professionals alike- Good Job and hats off.
It also clearly takes a team to pull an event of this size off and the support of an entire community of professionals. To the NRF team congratulations on your event.
For those that follow & use Twitter with me- I have made the decision to end my Twitter experiment. I have worked at it for 4 months have 1000+ followers but I don’t get a lot of value from it. I will focus more time on my LinkedIN- My Blog and my friends.
