FMI ABC Frequently Asked Questions

FMI ABC will be held virtually, Monday Oct. 18 – Friday, Oct. 22, 2021, and will have a theme this year, Collaborating for Supply Chain Equilibrium, to reflect conversations you’ll be having toward solving the industry's biggest pain points, such as labor, transportation and logistics, business policies and procedures and elevated consumer demand pressures. 

The scheduler opens on Sept. 21, 2021, at 12:00pm ET.

Registration rates vary by FMI member status:

Retailer/Wholesaler: $500

Retailer/Wholesaler 3+: $400 each

Product Supplier: Included with suite purchase.

Associate Member: Included with suite purchase.

Registered Retailer/Wholesalers have two options: 

• Easily provide ABC registration to an extra participant from your company. Use your $175 credit towards an additional registration fee for a supply chain officer or other colleague. We can arrange for multiple credits to be combined towards one or more new registrations.
• FMI will transfer your registration to the online event and refund the $175 dollar difference for the new registration rate.

We will reach out to you directly via phone and email to further explain the options and to assist with processing changes. You can direct questions or requests to the registration team at register@fmi.org. If we are unable to reach you by Friday, September 24, 2021, we will automatically switch your registration to the online event and process your refund.

We have cancelled your reservation on your behalf and the hotel will refund any deposits made.

Yes, on the first two days of the event, we’ll host 30-minute discussions on the supply chain challenges and ways trading partners can collaborate in solving those challenges.

FMI is utilizing the Bespeake® Event Platform, provided by our long-term technology partner, Matrix Group International (the same company FMI uses for the appointment Scheduler and registration) to deliver a stable and secure system that ensures robust functionality and ease of use.

All participants will need to be registered for the event, afterwhich FMI will provide a login link to the ABC - Bespeake® platform.

Use the forgot password link on the login page. Enter your email address and you will be sent a link to reset your password. We encourage you to save your login information in a safe place for easy access during the event.

Like the FMI Scheduler, if you’re registered and can access the web, you can participate in ABC.

Genera technology requirements:

• PC, Mac, tablet or smartphone
• Internet connection
• Modern web browser. ABC will support the latest versions of Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge. Please note that there is limited support for IE11; please upgrade your web browser.
• An external or integrated web cam if you wish to share your video during your private meetings
• An external or integrated microphone if you wish to have audio during your private meetings

To be successful we strongly encourage using a PC or Mac with a keyboard, camera, microphone, and strong internet connection. If you plan to participate from a tablet or smartphone, certain features will not be enabled, including screen sharing and chat. Additionally, based on your specific device, your view may be different compared to participants using a PC or Mac.

Yes. There are multiple layers of security protecting the private meeting, including:

• AES-256 encryption for the private meetings,
• Only attendees who have an FMI login and are registered for ABC will be allowed into the meeting,
• Only participants from companies confirmed to the specific B2B meetings will be allowed into the v-Collaboration Suite,
• Participants will only see the B2B meetings to which their companies have been confirmed,
• Participants will not have the ability to simply copy the URL of the private meeting and share with others, and
• The B2B meetings are being powered by a proprietary web meeting platform developed by FMI’s long-time vendor, Matrix Group International.

These private meetings will not be powered by Zoom.

There will be live support before and during ABC via phone and live chat. You will be provided with this information prior to the meeting. The phone number and live chat options will also be available on the website.

Once you are in an private meeting room, the easy to operate controls will allow you the ability to:

• Share or turn off your video camera
• Mute and unmute your audio
• Share your screen to present your document or slideshow
• Chat with all attendees or just a specific individual in the meeting

Yes, FMI will provide live training sessions with all attendees prior to the meeting. During these training sessions, attendees will be able to log in to the virtual event platform, watch a video, enter a private meeting, and access the private meeting room controls.