Apr 20, 2015

By: Carol Abel, Vice President of Education, Food Marketing Institute
Keynote Lineup

Selecting conference speakers is a lot like building a team, and for an event as substantial as FMI Connect we definitely needed to build an all-star lineup. Historically, our conference speakers are comprised of the most prominent, strategic and influential minds across business sectors. As proof, one FMI Connect 2014 keynote speaker has recently announced her campaign for Presidency, which sets the bar pretty high for future keynote speakers. Nonetheless, we’re sure this year will live up to the challenge.

FMI Connect addresses the overwhelming change taking place in the food retail industry, and we needed a speaker who can not only empathize, but also offer insight from “the other side.” Carey Lohrenz is the woman for the job. As the U.S. Navy’s first female F-14 fighter pilot, Lohrenz continually honed her skills and adapted while identifying and acting on emerging opportunities. Lohrenz speaks to the myriad of factors and challenges within a changing industry, and sheds light on the resilience necessary to succeed in such an environment.

The food retail industry is known for promoting from within. In fact, many of our industry CEO’s started as store baggers or cashiers long ago. FMI Connect offers education and experiences that are beneficial to every stage of one’s career, from our FMI Future Leaders program to FMI Connect Business Exchange Meetings (CBX). Our steering committee wanted to amplify this benefit with a keynote that emphasizes the importance of internal strength to withstand external challenges. With that in mind, CBS Sportscaster Greg Gumbel will moderate a panel of winning coaches on their experiences and suggest how to best build, motivate and maintain strong teams. As the panel of three NCAA basketball coaches, John Calipari of Kentucky, Tom Izzo of Michigan State, and Rick Pitino of Louisville, presents learnings from the views of coach, player and onlooker, FMI Connect attendees can evaluate their current role within their team, and learn to apply the lessons to increase their team’s strength and growth.

No keynote team would be complete without an anchor. This year, FMI is proud to present the findings from 2015 U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends, our highly anticipated annual report which examines the behaviors and trends impacting today’s food retail environment. FMI President and CEO Leslie G. Sarasin will share a high-level examination of research, with a particular focus on the cultural concerns impacting family eating patterns and influencing supermarket business practices. The research will arm retailers with knowledge that they can use in their National Family Meals Month campaign, encouraging shoppers to have one more family meal at home each week. Deeper understanding of household composition, work force, technological advances and food culture gained through the research is woven throughout the education and exhibits, providing a research-based strength and utility to FMI Connect.

I’m confident that the team of keynote speakers we recruited for FMI Connect 2015 will deliver an impressive performance and inspire the crowd of food retailers in Chicago on June 8-11.  Register your team for FMI Connect today.