OFFICIAL CALL FOR PRESENTERS: Category Leadership Conference

IIR Presents the 5th Annual

Category Leadership Conference

From category management to shopper engagement.

September 27-29, 2010 • Chicago, IL

OFFICIAL CALL FOR PRESENTERS
Submission Deadline: Wednesday, March 24, 2010
[Note: Papers are accepted on a rolling basis so early submissions are encouraged.]
From: Amanda Powers, Senior Conference Producer, IIR
Re: Category Leadership Conference 2010, Call for Presenters
Event Date & Location: September 27-29, 2010, Chicago, IL
Deadline: Wednesday, March 24, 2010
READ ON FOR SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS AND GUIDELINES.

Added Bonus: Each speaker will receive free admission to the conference (a $2000+ value) including admission to all conference sessions, networking events, lunches, exhibit hall, etc.

WHAT
The producers of the Shopper Insights in Action Conference present the Category Leadership Conference, an unbiased industry event that showcases next generation best practices for using data, insights and organizational prowess to optimize the shelves and improve total store sales.

Entering its fifth year, the event producers (IIR), are working vigilantly to once again raise the bar so that the content and experience are unparalleled.

The event will showcase the latest methods for reinventing category management and working with cross functional teams in sales, shopper insights and shopper marketing to drive growth and win at retail. Whether you are new to category management, a seasoned veteran, or a proactive strategist interested in being a better collaborator, this is THE event for you.

WHO
We are currently recruiting corporate retailers and manufacturers from a diverse range of industries to share new perspectives and case studies about the next generation of category management.

TOPIC AREAS
Content areas for 2010 include but are not limited to:
Navigating Brand Needs with Category Needs during Strained Times
The Role of Brands in Stores
Driving Retailer Growth & Profits by Understanding Customer Interactions with Categories
How Lifestyles and Lifestages Affect Buying Trends by Category
Using Shopper Information to Drive Better Decisions at Retail
Turning Plans into Success at the Store Level: Getting the Implementation Right
Building Category Plans Equipped to Evolve as Customers Needs & Preferences Change
Driving Incremental Volume in Categories to Improve Total Store Performance
Beyond the Numbers: Evolving Your Category Management Practices with Shopper Insights
Managing the Assortment Amidst the Private Brand Boom
Reinventing the Store Layout to Optimize Flow & Adjacency Opportunities
Redesigning the Aisles Around Shopper Occasions
Testing Category Changes Virtually
Aligning the Innovation Pipeline with the Value Proposition
Category Management Principles in Convenience Stores
Recalibrating the Assortment Mix Models to Align with Today's Consumers
ROI: Integrating Data to Ensure Optimal Return on Investment
Innovative Solutions Delivered on the Shelf
Identifying Your Competency Models to Ensure Effective & Efficient Category Management
Streamlining Category Management Analytics & Reporting
Next Generation Sales: Insights + Collaboration=Powerful Results
How a Grocery List Can Dictate Path to Purchase

We are also currently recruiting speakers for the Shopper Marketing Fusion Summit - The intersection of category management and in-store marketing
Reorganizing the Cross-Functional Teams for Transparency and Data Sharing
Creating a Process to Move from Insights to Deployment to Implementation
Building a Shopper-Centric Marketing Team
Integrating Social Media & Social Networking
Creating Cross-Channel Synergy for a Seamless End to End Shopping Experience

** Please feel free to submit additional topics of your choice. These are only a few themes and we are not limiting submissions to these topic themes alone.

Please see template below for standard abstract format:

Sample Session Summary

Maximizing the Balances Scorecard for Agents and Site Improvements
Tom Smith, VP, Customer Analytics, ABC Company
Tom offer a dramatically different approach to using balanced scorecards for enterprise-wide business improvements. He will show how he designed his agents scorecards, implemented them and how he communicated the findings to key stakeholders to create change. He will also share his ideas to “interactive” measures versus “linear” measures so that measurements align better with the user and customer experience.

KEY TAKEAWAYS
• A new balanced scorecards design system
• More effective measurement of an organization
• Transforming into business improvements

Brief Bio: Tom has spent more than 20 years within with various Fortune 100 companies focused on building the right metrics infrastructure. He has led the customer metrics group within ABC for the past 10 years where they have measured over 30 million in cost savings improvements. He is certified in XXXX.

Speaker contact details:
Tom Smith
VP, Customer Analytics
ABC Company
123 Main Street
Cleveland, OH 10111
P: 333.444.5566
Cell: 333.444.66.777

Please indicate which format you feel would be most appropriate for the proposed topic. Format options include:
Standard case study presentation (45 minutes long)
Panel (3-4 participants debate a selected topic for approximately 1 hour)
Lead an interactive audience discussion breaking the audience into teams (45 minutes long)
Experiential workshop (3.5 hours long)
Moderated discussion (45 minutes long - submissions should be prepared to service as moderator for a discussion group)

For Practitioners Only:
For consideration, please email apowers@iirusa.com with the following information by Wednesday, March 24, 2010:
Proposed speaker name(s), job title(s), and company name(s)
Contact information including address, telephone and email
Please indicate which of the topics you plan to address. If it is the latest tools and techniques, please indicate what is new about the. (Please indicate the topic area if it is an interactive session and the amount of time you will need).
Talk title
Summary of the presentation (3-5 sentences)
What the audience will gain from the presentation (please list 3 key takeaways)

What if I am not a corporate practitioner (from a client-side company) but still would like to participate?
80% of our content will be delivered by corporate practitioners. A limited number of sessions on the program are reserved for our event sponsors. If you are a consultant or solutions provider and wish to be a part of the program, please contact Jon Saxe at 646-895-7467 or via email at jsaxe@iirusa.com for information on how you can get involved.

Due to the high volume of response, we are unable to respond to each submission. All those selected to participate as speakers will be notified shortly after the deadline.

Thank you for your interest in The Category Leadership Conference. Check back for updates on the program at www.iirusa.com/category.

All the best,

Amanda Powers
Senior Conference Producer
Institute for International Research