tekSESSIONS Lineup

Check out this line-up of rock star speakers and topics, guarenteed to blow the roof off the house with the hottest trends, technology and best practices that you can go back and implement right now!

• The CRM Evolution: Focusing on the Individual Not the Mass
  David Levitt, VP of IT, The Children’s Place
• IT’s Role in Taming the Social Media Beast
  Todd Michaud, VP of Information Technology, FOCUS Brands, Inc.
• Loss Prevention: Innovative Ways To Make A Real Impact
  Scott Sanford, Director, Investigations & Training, Barnes & Noble
• Preparing for the Store of the Future
  Mike Tippets, Vice President, Hughes Solutions Group
  
• The Secret Weapon: Managing Change For Innovation
  Dr. James Canton , CEO, Institute for Global Futures
• Get Mobile Now Without Starting Over
  Sandeep Bhanote, CEO, Global Bay
• Microsoft: The Next Move
  David Gruehn, Retail & Hospitality Industry Managing Director, Microsoft
• IT and Store Technology: What’s Hot and What’s Not
  John Pruban, President and CEO, tekservePOS
• The Never-Ending Story of PCI
  Drago Dzerve, Director, Channel Development, Global Security Solutions Group, VeriFone Systems
• Help Desk... Stop Cursing and Start Thanking
  Tom Myers, Director of Client Relationship Management / Help Desk Operations, tekservePOS
• Mobilizing the Store
  Greg Buzek, CEO, IHL
• Peer-To-Peer: Join the Discussion
  Moderated by Dana Harder, Marketing Director, tekservePOS

The CRM Evolution: Focusing on the Individual Not the Mass

David Levitt, VP of IT, The Children’s Place
It’s time for retailers to take customer relationship management (CRM) beyond simple loyalty programs and move into deep personalization that results in better assortments, a better customer experience and of course, improved sales and margin. Learn how The Children’s Place is leading the industry by infusing predictive analytics into it’s planning tools

IT’s Role in Taming the Social Media Beast
Todd Michaud, VP of Information Technology, FOCUS Brands, Inc.
Social Media is a marketing responsibility, right? Not anymore. IT has a new role and, in leading retailers, social media plays a part in that role. Hear from the CIO of Focus Brands on what that looks like and how to be successful while delivering true ROI. Learn how to work through the interface hell social media has become and create an information supply chain that will become the new BI.

Loss Prevention: Innovative Ways To Make A Real Impact
Scott Sanford, Director, Investigations & Training, Barnes & Noble
To complicate loss prevention even further, the online world has given hold to a new breed of thieve who is smarter, faster and technology savvy. Learn how Barnes & Noble is pioneering the way in which retailers can effectively deal with on-line fraud detection, investigation and prosecution and why, other leading retailers are looking to partner with them in their solution and make a real impact.

Future Proof Your IT Network
Tim Tang, Director Digital Media, Hughes Network Systems
Americans love to shop! And the shopping experience is changing rapidly. Indeed, the shopping experience of tomorrow will be a lot different from today’s. Join in a discussion of what is changing and how you can prepare for and support these changes.

The Secret Weapon: Managing Change For Innovation
Dr. James Canton , CEO, Institute for Global Futures
Change is constant, but the rate at which it is now coming at us is a new ballgame. Being a faster, smarter change manager will be a vital competency for the 21st Century Leader. Dr. James Canton, a nationwide leading speaker and author will provide his insight on the subject of “Change” and how leaders who understand change and use it differently than the competition, could become a secret weapon for building future growth and sustainability into their business.

Get Mobile Now Without Starting Over

Sandeep Bhanote, CEO, Global Bay
Every retailer wants to ‘get mobile’ cultivating a way to connect with the newgeneration of digitally savvy shoppers. The challenge is: what does ‘Get Mobile’ mean, how do you do it without replacing every legacy system in the enterprise? Join Mobile Bay’s CEO as he shares through real-world examples ways retailer can use mobile successfully right now without major upgrades across their stores.

Microsoft: The Next Move
David Gruehn, Retail & Hospitality Industry Managing Director, Microsoft
As the leader in the computing system operating space, rumors run rapid and leave us all wondering what is Microsoft’s position on the mobile explosion, the tablet space and overall, their plans for the future. Will Windows 8 solve all mobile and tablet problems? In this presentation, learn not only how Microsoft views the mobile space, but also how and when they’ll address these issues. More importantly, Microsoft will share their take on the technologies that will shape the store of the future.

IT and Store Technology: What’s Hot and What’s Not
John Pruban, President and CEO, tekservePOS
More technology, more OEMs and solutions providers, more frequent updates to products, more research needed, more…more…more. How does a retailer keep up with it all and determine what are just passing trends and what technology can really make an impact on store operations and customer experience? Join John Pruban, President, CEO of tekservePOS, as he guides you through the most important trends, technologies and solution updates from major players in the in-store IT technology space

The Never-Ending Story of PCI
Drago Dzerve, Director, Channel Development, Global Security Solutions Group, VeriFone Systems
What was once new is now part of every day life… how to stay PCI complaint and how to stay safe. And as customers become increasingly concerned about their privacy, retailers must now begin to look even beyond PCI to a larger group of data elements known as PII (Personally Identifiable Information). PII refers to any information that can be used to personally identify, contact or locate a single person and include data that has not been traditionally included in PCI such as date-of-birth, routing/transit numbers, DL and SS numbers. Hear from industry leader VeriFone on what the latest PCI updates are, how and when you’ll need to act to be sure your PCI Roadmap is headed in the right direction.

Help Desk... Stop Cursing and Start Thanking
Tom Myers, Director of Client Relationship Management / Help Desk Operations, tekservePOS

Does store operations love working with your help desk or most of the time feel frustrated? The truth is... most retailers are struggling with a rise in call volumes due to a tremendous amount of new technologies entering the store and the return of store growth. Add into this, the attrition and downsizing that has occurred at most retail help desks, we now have a recipe for loss off pro-activity, declining associate satisfaction and challenges in properly aligning resource with correct times of day, geographies and seasonalities. In other words, some very frustrated customers. Hear from Tom Myers, tekservePOS, as he discuses the latest observations of the retail help desk trends and, more importantly, how some forward-thinking retailers are the shifting the culture from cursing to thanking the help desk!

Mobilizing the Store

Greg Buzek, CEO, IHL
Along with overall economic and market data, this session will review the rapid rise of mobile devices at the store level and how this will transform the retail marketplace in the next 3 years.  As part of the presentation we will discuss the four opportunities for mobile, how the technology will revolutionize some segments, and how this all will affect POS companies.

Peer-To-Peer: Join the Discussion

Moderated by Dana Harder, Marketing Director, tekservePOS
In the only session of its kind and easily, the most poplar one each year, set time aside to take the general ‘what are you doing’ discussions to the specific. In this retail-only, small group setting, retailers can take the time to get down and dirty about how you and your peers are tackling various common retail challenges.