Attention all retail and brand executives, we’ve got dedicated content only for you!
For RICE this June, we’ve curated distinct programming for retailers and brand executives to engage in interactive and solutions-oriented workshops with peers. If you attended the event last year, you know that we offered a half day of workshops that were 50 minutes each. Due to the overwhelming demand from our attendees, we’ve expanded the programming!
Based on the post-event survey results and several follow-up conversations with executives, we’ve decided to offer a full day of 90-minute workshops on Tuesday, June 13. We take feedback very seriously and, as a result, have refined the formats of these workshops to make them even more tactical and valuable for attendees.
Workshops are scheduled from 9:00am to 4:00pm and are divided into four tracks on the following topics: CX, Marketing & Advertising, Culture & Innovation and Store Design & Experience. In the agenda, you’ll see we have four concurrent workshops (one for each track) during each of the three time slots throughout the day. (Note: Add-On fees for the workshops are $149 for All-Access pass holders and $349 for Expo pass holders. Workshops are available to brand and retail executives only.)
Check out the confirmed workshops and speakers to date for each of our tracks!
CX
9:00am-10:30am – To be announced soon!
11:00am-12:30pm – Maximizing Your Online Presence Through Multichannel Marketplace Strategies
This workshop will be led by Jordi Vermeer, VP of Revenue at ChannelEngine and will explore the latest omnichannel strategies and tactics for improving customer experience through online marketplaces. Understanding the impact on your business of having your products present across multiple marketplace platforms and regions, you’ll walk away with key tips to operationalize your omnichannel presence.
2:30pm-4:00pm – How to Become the Experience Maker At Your Organization
This workshop will be the perfect follow-up to Dan Gingiss’s keynote session, “Why A Remarkable Customer Experience Is Your Best Competitive Advantage,” which takes place 1:30pm-2:15pm. Attendees will learn how to employ Dan’s proprietary WISER methodology for creating remarkable experiences at their own organization, and leave empowered to become The Experience Maker wherever they work.
Marketing & Advertising
9:00am-10:30am – To be announced soon!
11:00am-12:30pm – The Future of Retail Marketing + Advertising with Gen AI
Dive into the future of retail marketing and advertising through the lens of generative AI technology. This workshop, led by Olivia Reid and Heather Wells Peterson of Journey, will explore how consumers and brands currently approach AI, dissect its powerful implications, and identify opportunities for attendees to reframe their approach to ideation, creation and collaboration with artificial intelligence. You’ll examine the evolving and accessible tools at your fingertips, and investigate new avenues for content marketing, personalization, dynamic optimization, globalization, and scale. Attendees will leave with a toolkit that enables the necessary foundation to jumpstart their very own AI tech stack for marketing and advertising.
2:30pm-4:00pm – New Ecommerce Frameworks to Activate Digital Growth
China has become a key market to watch for ecommerce innovation. Companies like Alibaba, WhatsApp and TikTok are single-handedly transforming the way consumers discover, browse and buy from brands. Now, brand and retail executives will have the chance to take a page from their playbooks. During this interactive workshop, you’ll learn a series of ecommerce frameworks, including the “Golden Triangle Framework,” to help you establish a framework for ecommerce growth.
Sharon Gai, author of the book, Ecommerce Reimagined: What We Can Learn in Retail and Ecommerce from China, will drive this actionable session and provide you with a variety of exercises to apply to your brand strategy.
Culture & Innovation
9:00am-10:30am – Actualizing Equity in the Organization
Organizational equity is defined as the relative distribution of power and resources among key internal organizational stakeholders, including directors, executives, managers and employees. During this workshop led by Kimberly Minor, CEO at the Bumbershoot Group and founder of the Women of Color Retail Alliance, you’ll gain hard and soft skills training that will help you build a foundation for equity as soon as you get back to the office.
11:00am-12:30pm – A Scalable Framework for Innovation
We know that retailers who can innovate and adapt quickly are the ones that win, but are retail teams equipped and empowered to do so? There are many reasons why innovative ideas fail to make it off the ground and this workshop, led by Andrew Smith and Gareth Jude of ThinkUncommon, will help you understand these reasons, spot them within your organization, and find an effective way to embrace innovation across your organization. Leave the show not only with the inspiration, but the ability to action it!
2:30pm-4:00pm – An Outcomes-Based Approach to Business Transformation
In his book, Rapid Transformation: An Outcome-Based Approach, CEO Ali Davachi outlines how organizations can overcome common obstacles to create meaningful transformation that’s both powerful and profitable. With this workshop, Ali will walk through his methodology for rapid, transformational decision-making, and give attendees the unique opportunity to work on their own organizational challenges and come out with real solutions. All attendees will walk away with worksheets to share their outcomes with colleagues, and a free copy of the book!
Store Design & Experience
9:00am-10:30am – Intentional Design: Using the Four P’s of Digital-Physical Convergence
Through playful collaboration and thought-provoking exercises, this workshop seeks to explore and question how to merge physical and digital retail spheres to enhance the retail experience, increase engagement and foster a stronger brand connection. During this workshop led by Mardi Najafi of Figure3 and Jean-Paul Morresi of the Autside Agency, participants will be divided into teams to encourage the cross-pollination of ideas. Each team will have the chance to ideate and develop a retail experience that blends the driving principles of physical and digital retailing to create a mutually supportive and engaging experience.
Join this workshop to learn how you can harness the power of the four P’s to create intentional designs.
11:00am-12:30pm – Exploring Sensory Merchandising Experiences Together
What does your brand look, smell, sound, taste and feel like? This exercise helps you gain a better understanding and create a sensory merchandising schedule and journey for your store.
During this interactive workshop, join ZenGenius Visual Merchandising expert Joe Baer and his team as they share some of the industry’s best Sensory Merchandising experiences. This session will focus around exploring and engaging the senses while creating a calendar to identify key moments for sensory engagement throughout the year. Attendees will also dig into several key deliverables that will help them design a sensory journey for their customers.
2:30pm-4:00pm – Using Data to Drive Store Innovation
All elements of a store, from the layout to signage, merchandising and even technology, should be tailored based on shoppers’ natural journey through the store. If you want to create more engaging and customer-focused store experiences, this workshop, led by Melissa Gonzalez and Nicole Pokorny Foster of MG2, will outline how you can transform store-level data and behavioral insights to make better store experience and technology decisions.
As you can see, there is so much valuable content to experience with your peers! Group pricing is available to get even more value by attending with your team. Be sure to register now while Early Bird Pricing is still in effect and don’t forget to add on the workshops during the registration process. We look forward to seeing you all in Chicago starting on Tuesday, June 13.