The Category Management Association announces its 2010 Category Management Conference, set to take place Oct. 26-28, 2010 at the Georgia International Convention Center (GICC) in Atlanta.
Supporting the event’s theme of “Strategy at Retail,” a variety of sessions and workshops will be available to attendees, which are focused on the latest in trends and best practices.
The agenda includes:
Plenary Sessions:
- Channel Blurring in Today’s Retail Environment
- Best Practices Survey Results: ROI of Category Management Departments
- Collaborating in an Imperfect World: Understanding the Competitive Impact of
Category Captain Arrangements:
- The History of Category Management
- Global Implementation of Certifications
Speakers and session facilitators include:
- Manny Zayas, Director of Category Management North America, PepsiCo
- Dr. Upender Subramanian, Asst. Professor of Marketing, University of Texas at Dallas
- Bob Keahiloa Wong, Director, Del Monte Foods Category Leadership
- Dr Robert Blattberg, Professor Emeritus of Marketing, Kellogg School of Management
- Gordon Wade, Retail Performance Group and Co-founder of The Partnering Group
- Ray Goodman, consultant to the original Loblaw’s initiative
- Win Weber, Chairman & CEO, Winston Weber & Associates, Inc.
- Paul Digweed, IBM Global Business Services Australia
- Dan Strunk, DePaul University, Chairman – Certifications Board, Category Management Association
- Bob Samples, Director of Category Planning and Sales Support, Hormel, Chairman-Certifications Steering Committee
- Luis Herrera, Foodservice Commercial Director HEB Mexico, Chairman Latin America Advisory Board
- Dr. Brian Harris, Chairman and Founder, The Partnering Group
- Craig Hodnett, Director Category Management, Georgia-Pacific
- Tom Burkemper, Director Shopper Insights & Space Management, Anheuser-Busch
- Curtis Gropman, Vice President, Category Management – North America, Coca-Cola
- Mike Thomas, Sr. Director Category Management – National Accounts, The Kellogg Company
- Marc Donati, Sr. VP Channel Development, Constellation Wines
- Tom Bennett, Director Category Management, Colgate-Palmolive
- Brad Anderson, Director Best Practices: Distribution & Space Planning, Nestle Purina Petcare
- Sue Nicholls, President, Michelle Patterson, Director of Training and Development, and Dan Desmarais, trainer for CMKG
- Keith Bejcek, Category Analysis Manager, Brookshire Grocery Company
- Stephanie Postma, Regional Team Leader, Category Management, Hormel Fresh Foods
- Jim Wells, Director, Consumer Insights, CSM Americas Inc/Caravan Ingredients
- Jim Ryan, Director of Business Development, Coco-Cola Enterprises
- R.V. Bala Iyer, Vice President Training, Reliancedigital Retail Limited, India
- Al McLain, CEO, RetailWire.com
Roundtable sessions for best practice discussions will be held covering topic choices of: Insights & Analytics, Shopper Marketing, Space Management, Retail Challenges, Organizational Development and ROI of Category Management Departments.
“One of the most valuable aspects of attending this event is the opportunity to communicate with trading partners, solution providers and peers in a collaborative environment. These types of engaging discussions are the ones that ultimately provide major CPG companies and retailers with actionable ideas for growth,” said Blaine Ross, executive vice president of global sales and marketing for the Category Management Association’s Certification Evaluation Board.
The Category Management Conference is an industry-wide event that is open to all Category Management professionals. CMA Membership is not a requirement to attend. To register for the conference visit the CMA conference Web site www.cpgcatnet.org/page/2010AtlantaConference/ or for information, email [email protected], or call (210) 587-7203.