Jun 18, 2009
New Future Connect Educational Portal Provides Valuable Industry Resources



ARLINGTON, VA — June 18, 2009 — The much anticipated Future Connect conference, developed by the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) has set a new date, October 12-14, 2009, at the Hyatt Regency in Dallas, TX. (The program was postponed from May 2009.)

     Speakers participating in the groundbreaking program include:


  • Pat Summitt, head coach of the University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team.

  • Knight Kiplinger, editor-in-chief of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine, Kiplinger.com and the Kiplinger Letter.

  • Bob Whitman, chairman and chief executive officer of FranklinCovey.

  • And industry leaders such as John Compton from PepsiCo Americas Foods, Kraft Foods’ Brian Driscoll, Procter & Gamble Company’s Beverly Grant, Janel Haugarth from SUPERVALU, Hy-Vee’s Ric Jurgens, Don Knauss from The Clorox Company, Kroger’s Don McGeorge and K-VA-T’s Steve Smith.

  • Jeff Howe, editor of Wired Magazine and author of Crowdsourcing: Why the Power of the Crowd is Driving the Future of Business, is the new speaker for the closing session.

     

Future Connect is designed to help companies address the need for management development with the fast-approaching retirement of the baby boomer generation.

Attendees will register for one of three tracks — operations, executive or senior executive — to follow during the course of the conference. An interactive format will mix strategically focused general sessions with university-style case studies and work groups that will explore personal skills, management skills and profit-building skills.


Future Connect Registrations Good For New October Date
New registrations are welcome. For more information, please visit http://www.compusystems.com/servlet/ar?evt_uid=680.

Attendee registrations from the previously scheduled May date were automatically registered to attend in October. Those attendees do not need to confirm their registration. FMI requests attendees update their profile and specify which conference track they plan to follow.

FMI Educational Portal Offers Webinars and Resources

FMI’s Future Connect Continuing Education portal provides additional information about upcoming webinars, continuing education, idea exchanges and networking forums. Visit http://www.fmi.org/events/futureconnect/2009/education//.


FMI will offer a series of complimentary pre-conference webinars this summer. The first webinar, Call to Action: Rethinking Shopper Behavior in the New Transformational Economy, is scheduled for Tuesday, June 23 at 12:30 p.m. ET. IRI’s Thom Blischok will demonstrate how to translate knowledge of shopper behavioral changes into strategies and actions that drive growth and profitability. Click here to register: http://us.infores.com/NewsEvents/EventsWebinars/WebinarRegistration/tabid/239/Default.aspx.

     
Store Manager Awards Will Be Announced at Future Connect

The grand prize winners of the FMI 10th annual Store Manager Awards competition will be announced at Future Connect on October 13, 2009.

One grand prize winner will be chosen from each of three categories by size of the company: Category A (1-49 stores); Category B (50-199 stores); and Category C (200 or more stores).   The list of finalists includes:

Category A:


  • Bob Gillick, store director at a ShopRite Supermarket in Yonkers, NY.

  • Emily Hoff, store manager at the Valley View IGA Plus store in Sidney, MT.

  • Blake Meek, store manager at a Lawrence Bros. IGA Supermarket in Roswell, NM.


     
Category B:

  • Cheryl Blanchard, store manager at a Price Chopper Supermarket in Delhi, NY.

  • Paul DiBari, store manager at a Brookshire’s store in Athens, TX.

  • Henry Falcon, store manager at the Sweetbay Supermarket in Plant City, FL.

Category C:


  • Jeff Barricks, store manager at a Safeway store in Corvallis, OR.

  • Denny Hartogh, store director at a Hy-Vee store in Dubuque, IA.

  • Randy Sentachi, store manager of a Lucky Supermarket in San Francisco, CA.

Finalists were selected based on stories submitted from their supervisors or store associates. The entries were judged on originality and creativity and the person’s impact on sales growth, customer satisfaction and community service.

All nine finalists will receive two complimentary registrations for the Future Connect conference, three nights of hotel accommodations in Dallas and a crystal award. The three grand prize winners will each receive a $1,000 check.