NACDA and CCSA to host combined industry summit
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Photos courtesy of NACDA[/caption]
The convenience-gas industry has been advocating togetherness, and two associations are taking a major step toward establishing this unity.
The National Convenience Stores Distributors Association (NACDA) and the Canadian Convenience Stores Association (CCSA) are combining their industry events into one in an attempt to better serve all industry stakeholders.
In previous years, the CCSA’s State of the Industry event brought out retailers and suppliers, while NACDA’s Industry Summit connected distributors and suppliers. October’s inaugural National Convenience Industry Summit (NCIS) aims to consolidate efforts and put retailers, distributors and suppliers together in the same room for the betterment of the industry.
“The 2013 NCIS represents the greatest event in the world of convenience stores, rounding up the three pillars of the industry in the same place at the same time,” says Raymond Bouchard, NACDA chair and NCIS co-chair.
“Everyone involved in the industry can’t miss this opportunity to meet their peers and learn the most updated information from the field. You can’t find a better place to reach this level of quality networking.”
The integrated NCIS is designed to give retailers the chance not only to receive benchmarking data and learn about trends, but also meet face to face with distributors and manufacturers during the Industry Business Exchange (IBX) to discuss any questions or concerns.
This increased communication should also benefit distributors, who will receive retailer feedback in IBX sessions, and also have access to senior management from c-gas suppliers. Suppliers will be able to interact with both retailers and distributors in one place instead of two, streamlining their efforts and offering a host of new networking possibilities.
Moreover, each party will be able to learn more about the issues affecting the other two, a change which will play a key part in generating valuable discussion and better working relations in the future.
Much like previous years, the NCIS will feature presentations from speakers shedding light on what’s happening in the industry and what all participants can do to encourage further development. The Awards of Excellence and Convenience Innovation Awards will be back to recognize both supplier and individual accomplishments. Day one of the NCIS will feature the CCSA SOI presentation, which examines the cost of regulation.
CCSA Chair Brian Morrissey is sure this collaborative event will be the sparkplug the industry needs to consolidate its efforts and move forward together.
“I believe bringing together NACDA’s Industry Business Summit and the CCSA’s State of the Industry event will be a win-win for anyone involved in the convenience-gas channel,” he says. “The event will also set the stage for the coming together of these two organizations through the affiliation we’re working on. No matter where you are in Canada, if you’re involved in the c-gas channel, you can’t miss the new NCIS event.”
The NCIS takes place October 22-24 at Montréal’s Marriott Château Champlain Hotel. For more information, visit ccsasummit.ca or nacdasummit.ca.