Hello, #RICE community! What if we told you that two of the most familiar faces in the retail industry will be coming to our 2023 event in Chicago? That’s right, dynamic duo Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga of Omni Talk will be one of our key media and livestreaming partners this year!
Anne and Chris will chat with some of the top retail and brand leaders on our speaking faculty live to provide everyone onsite and at home with footage from the #RICE23 floor. Given their extensive retail knowledge, candid expert interviews and loyal following, we knew they would add some incredible value to the event experience.
Chris and Anne always provide thoughtful content and commentary on the latest retail news, tech trends and analysis on what’s really happening in the industry. Combined, they have about 40 years of experience in retail and marketing, and their paths initially crossed at Target, where Chris was the Vice President of Target’s Store of the Future project and Anne was the project’s Director of Marketing and Program Operations.
Their work has been read by nearly four million people on Forbes and other industry business outlets, including the Robin Report, Retail Dive, Retail TouchPoints, CNBC, Bloomberg, Chain Store Age, RetailWire, Total Retail, Winsight Grocery Business, etc. In addition, their podcasts and videos, which are amplified across iTunes, Spotify, SoundCloud, and YouTube, rank them consistently as one of the most listened to retail outlets within the industry. Hardcore retail junkies – from retailers to tech execs, CPG operators, and even consumers – love and rely on their hot takes. And that includes us!
You also may know that Anne and Chris are no strangers to the stage. They have keynoted and moderated discussions at numerous retail conferences, such as Shoptalk, NRF, NACS and FMI, and they are also the Co-CEOs of Third Haus, a retail technology lab in Minneapolis that just opened in 2019, through which they hope to extend their reach even further.
Be sure to keep an eye out for Chris and Anne onsite at the show and follow Omni Talk Retail on LinkedIn to catch their “footage from the #RICE23 floor” video content! And, as a reminder, if you’re interested in getting an exclusive Chicago-themed #RICE23 t-shirt from our keynote speaker, Johnny Cupcakes, be sure to reserve your All-Access Pass by April 28. Get all the details and watch the unveiling of the t-shirt design, featuring Anne and Chris, here!