Pre-Convention Reception
Whether you’re coming to San Antonio early to participate in the golf tournament or board meeting, or just to get a head-start on networking, please join us at our opening reception at the La Cantera for refreshments and hors d’ouvres.

NASFM Golf Tournament and Hole-in-One
Engage in a little friendly competition on the La Cantera’s beautiful and challenging 18-hole Resort Course. The Resort Course is home to the PGA Tour’s Valero Texas Open and was ranked 14th by Conde Nast Traveler in the magazine’s 100 Top Golf Resorts. Winning teams, closest to the pin, and hole-in-one prizes will be presented during Thursday evening’s Member Networking Reception and Dinner.

Member Networking Reception and Dinner
Whether you participated in the golf tournament or not, kick off your convention experience with this celebratory reception and dinner to be held on the grounds of the Westin La Cantera. Golf tournament winners will be announced, and retiring board and committee chairs recognized.

Continental Breakfast

NASFM Annual Meeting

Powerpoint presentation:
NASFM Annual Meeting 2004
Available to NASFM Members Only

Keynote Address: The Realities of New Customer Expectations
John Brandt, CEO, The MPI Group
Manufacturing companies are increasingly finding it necessary to adapt to the realities of new markets and new customer expectations. John Brandt is an expert on competition and performance. His company helps clients identify value gaps in their relationships with customers and then focus their strategic planning efforts on bridging those gaps. The annual IndustryWeek/MPI Census of Manufacturers is the world’s largest benchmarking study of metrics, management practices, and financial results for the U.S. manufacturing sector. This summer, Brandt completed the first-ever large-scale study of Chinese manufacturers, with metrics and measurements directly comparable to U.S. manufacturers. Members will receive a pre-report release of the findings.

Brandt lectures frequently in the U.S. and Canada on such topics as innovation, economic development, leadership and risk, and the best practices driving world-class organizations. He writes an award-winning column for IndustryWeek, a publication for which he once served as president, publisher, and editorial director, and has won more than 20 awards for reporting, writing, and editing.

Powerpoint presentation:
The Realities of New Customer Expectations
Available to NASFM Members Only

Refreshment Break

1. Innovative Ways to Market Your Company
Share ideas on how to reach your customers, including cost-effective methods of promoting your company, new approaches used in the industry, following through on leads, and thinking outside the box. Moderated by Glenn Craft, vice president of sales and marketing, Stylmark Inc.; and Jerry Gelsomino, principal, Prospect

2. Importing and International Sourcing
Importing and International Sourcing. In these days of rising materials costs and profit margin pressure, how do you decide whether a project warrants outsourcing? Discussion will include what types of projects to outsource effectively and volume and cost considerations. Moderated by Robert Reeve Frackelton, vice president, Reeve Store Equipment Co.

3. Innovative Ways to Disperse Value to Clients in a Competitive Environment
How are store fixture manufacturers managing “scope creep”? How do you communicate the value of increasing the services and responsibilities you provide to customers when all too often they seem to be concerned only with price? Moderated by Robert Rosean, president, Alu Inc.

4. The Role of NASFM in the Store Fixture Industry
Maximize the value of your company’s NASFM membership. Participate in this member-suggested open forum to let NASFM know what you want from seminars, publications, and surveys. Moderated by Klein Merriman, executive director, NASFM

Retail Panel: How to Get and Keep Our Business
Moderated by RoxAnna Sway, Editor, DDI
Panelists: Martha A. Guarino, Director, Fixtures & Construction, Gap Inc. Global Procurement;
Jim Paddock, Senior Director, CompUSA;
Tim Stevenson, Operational Vice President, Procurement and Pre-Construction, Federated Department Stores
Want to know what your customers are thinking? Here’s your chance to talk to prominent retail panelists about their expectations as a customer, their processes for selecting, awarding, and working with fixture manufacturers, and areas where your company can add value to the process.

Powerpoint presentation:
How to Get and Keep Our Business
Available to NASFM Members Only

Special Session: Industry Hot Topic
How to Cope with Increasing Material Costs with No Pricing Power
Following a survey of NASFM members, the topic for this session has been chosen to reflect current member concerns. Industry materials costs statistics from two NASFM surveys, various companies' responses to the
increases, and future developments will be discussed.
Facilitated by Klein Merriman, executive director, NASFM; and Paul Pinkus, national director of the store fixture manufacturing/point-of-purchase industries practice, American Express Business & Tax Services

An Evening at the Buckhorn Saloon and Museum
This year, NASFM’s big event takes place at one of downtown San Antonio’s favorite venues with its vast collection of western Americana. Everything from the band and entertainment to the reception and dinner will embody the “Texas experience.” Shuttle buses will leave the La Cantera for the Buckhorn beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Continental Breakfast

NASFM/DDI Retail Interiors Forecast 2005
Presented by Larry Greenberger, Publisher, DDI
Greenberger will provide a brief overview of the annual NASFM/DDI Retail Interiors Forecast. Copies of the report, featuring forecasts for 2005 retail purchasing plans for store fixtures and other interior elements, will be distributed to all attendees.

Powerpoint presentation:
Results of the 2005 Retail Interiors Forecast
Available to NASFM Members Only

General Session: Retail Outlook
Al Meyers, vice president of business development, Retail Forward Inc.
Al Meyers will provide a big-picture overview designed to help store fixture executives craft strategies for the coming years. Meyers will not only focus on retail trends, but take a strategic look at directions in retail construction and international retail. Emphasis will be placed on retailers who are growing and developing, together with new stores and new store formats.

Meyers was until recently director of Senn-Delaney/Arthur Andersen’s retail strategy practice. His experience also includes 18 years with the retail think-tank division of Price Waterhouse, Management Horizons, working with retailers and consumer goods suppliers on strategic planning and marketing strategy. For retail clients, Meyers developed strategies and implementation plans for improving market positioning, customer focus, competitive appeals, and merchandising economics—planning projects that typically involved consumer, geographic, industry, financial, and product research and analysis. Consultations with goods and services suppliers typically included marketing, brand strategies, developing retail distribution strategies, selling new channels, introducing new products, and advising clients on effective implementation of retail marketing programs.

Meyers is a frequent speaker on retail issues and is a regular contributor on retailing issues for publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The Dallas Morning News, Furniture Today, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Dallas Business Journal, and Advertising Age.

Publications
Twenty Trends for 2010: Retailing in an Age of Uncertainty
Growth Mining: The New Imperative for Retailers

Powerpoint presentation:
Retail Outlook

1. Innovative Ways to Market Your Company
Share ideas on how to reach your customers, including cost-effective methods of promoting your company, new approaches used in the industry, following through on leads, and thinking outside the box. Moderated by Glenn Craft, vice president of sales and marketing, Stylmark Inc.; and Jerry Gelsomino, principal, Prospect

2. Importing and International Sourcing
Importing and International Sourcing. In these days of rising materials costs and profit margin pressure, how do you decide whether a project warrants outsourcing? Discussion will include what types of projects to outsource effectively and volume and cost considerations. Moderated by Robert Reeve Frackelton, vice president, Reeve Store Equipment Co.

3. Innovative Ways to Disperse Value to Clients in a Competitive Environment
How are store fixture manufacturers managing “scope creep”? How do you communicate the value of increasing the services and responsibilities you provide to customers when all too often they seem to be concerned only with price? Moderated by Robert Rosean, president, Alu Inc.

4. The Role of NASFM in the Store Fixture Industry
Maximize the value of your company’s NASFM membership. Participate in this member-suggested open forum to let NASFM know what you want from seminars, publications, and surveys. Moderated by Klein Merriman, executive director, NASFM