Global Forum 2013
Event website: https://www.etouches.com/GF2013
Start date: 3 November 2013
End date: 5 November 2013
Location: The Langham, Chicago, USA
I was exceptionally pleased to have been invited to attend the OPI Global Forum. The open and collaborative nature of the group talking about the industry and how we all grow and prosper was very pleasing. The forum also gave me some very valuable insights and ideas about how Officeworks can serve customers better and develop stronger partnerships with suppliers
Mark Ward, Managing Director, Officeworks
Download ProgrammeAbout the Global Forum
In May 2009 OPI launched the first CEO Forum for the business products industry. This was an international gathering for senior executive leaders and provided a rare opportunity to discuss the state of the office products industry and to examine together our universal challenges. This event was incredibly successful and the attendees derived great value from meeting with their peers and discussing openly the challenges we all face.
The program was world class. The time and investment was well worth it. I was able to network with many industry leaders that proved to be extremly valuable.
Mike Gentile, President/CEO, is.group
OPI will host the fourth Global CEO Forum in November 2013 in Chicago and we plan to again bring together an exceptional audience and an outstanding programme. We hope this forum will provide you with the opportunity to discuss the unique challenges of the office products industry's with the people who understand the uniqueness of our sector and who recognise the importance of working together as an industry.
Invitation-only
This is not a large conference but a small, invitation-only forum with invites sent strictly to CEO/Chairman-level executives at leading resellers, manufacturers and wholesalers of office products, including "non-traditional" retailers and vendors from the increasingly important EOS and consumer electronics categories.
Not just talking heads!
We will provide a number of speakers and moderators of an extremely high quality to stimulate thought and debate.
Networking
We understand that networking and free time is important, enabling you to spend quality time with fellow office products leaders from all over the world. There will be both structured groups to give you an opportunity to meet new people and discuss ideas as well as plenty of informal times for more private discussions. To ensure this can be accomplished in an appropriate environment, this will be a private meeting operating under Chatham House rules.
Guests
We have invited key leaders from all around the globe, including senior executives from leading office products companies in Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, India, Latin America and Australasia. Invites have been rationed to those companies that are truly among the market leaders.
We are always keen to hear your feedback. If you have any comments then do let me know. If you would like to be considered for an invitation please email me.
Steve Hilleard
CEO, OPI
Tel: + 44 20 7841 2940
Email: steve.hilleard@opi.net
Programme
The programme is aimed at CEOs in the office products market. The content will consist of industry experts and relevant contributions from outside the sector. With a professional moderator we will be aiming to bring a high level of interaction and debate.
This programme will be based on research with our intended audience and aims to reflect the critical issues faced by the industry and explore the trends that will shape its future.
If you would like to let us know any areas of interest that you would be interested in hearing more about, or you would like to join the speaker panel then please contact janet.bell@opi.net
Agenda
Please note that this is a draft agenda and is not finalised at this time.
Sunday 3rd November 2013
5.00pm Registration
7.00pm Welcome drinks & dinner
Monday 4th November 2013
7.45am Registration and coffee
8.20am Welcome
8.25am Opening remarks from the chair - Jeffrey Hayzlett, The Hayzlett Group
8.30am Attracting and retaining talent – what can we do to make the sector more attractive to innovative and dynamic (young) people?
Driving growth is directly influenced by having the best people. Jeffrey Hayzlett will examine the good the bad and the ugly of how to hire the right talent and keep them. We will take a first-hand look with behind the scenes footage from customers on their perception of working in the sector. Hayzlett will offer a fresh look to the hiring strategy with a third party perspective.
Jeffrey Hayzlett, The Hayzlett Group
9.00am Status report: Economic analysis
- High debt and sluggish growth: what does it mean, how should we respond?
- Examining the on-going Euro area crisis, and devising practical strategies to deal with the fall-out
- The US ‘fiscal cliff’: avoiding excessive fiscal consolidation, raising the debt ceiling, determining a credible medium-term fiscal consolidation plan
- Financial sector reform to decrease risk and vulnerability in the financial system
- China: market-orientated structural reforms and rebalancing the economy towards greater private consumption
9.30am PANEL: Analysts and investors – Current challenges, future prospects
- Forecasts and trends – growth and markets
- Update on the Max-Depot merger. What further M&A will we see?
- Investment challenges (what’s attractive, what’s not, and why?)
- Attracting and negotiating new investment
Panellists:
David Strasser, MD – Equity Research (Retail Sector), Janney Montgomery Scott
Ted Nark, Managing Director, KRG Capital
10.15am Morning break for refreshments & networking
10.45am Rising to the challenge of the multi-generational workforce
- Identifying the gaps and synergies in your organisations’ human capital
- Values vs. ethics vs. workplace priorities
- How can we attract young people to our industry? And how can we keep them?
- Embedding a common language within the organisation
- Providing training and communication to underpin better generational working relations
11.45am PANEL: The rise of the independents
- What do the independents/mega-independents offer that the power channel doesn’t, or can’t?
- Identifying what underpins the growth of the independents
- Maintaining a focus on customer service, responsiveness, sales team management and excellent customer relations
- Innovative marketing strategies for independent resellers
Panellists:
Luke Chapman, Managing Director, The Business Performance Group
Kevin Johnson, Chairman & CEO, Warehouse Direct
12.30pm Lunch
1.45pm Roundtable Session 1
- MPS
- Employee engagement
- Making data work for you (and your partners in the supply chain)
- Promoting yourself and your business using LinkedIn
- Achieving successful change management within your sales team. Moderator: Luke Chapman, Managing Director, The Business Performance Group
- Death of the Catalogue?
- Becoming change-agile: better product development and launch
- Mobile device management and BYOD strategies
Moderator: Tony Ellison, Founder, CEO & Chairman, Shoplet.com
2.45pm Afternoon break for refreshments & networking
3.15pm Roundtable Session 2
4.15pm PANEL: Exploring new opportunities for OP players
This session will examine and evaluate the opportunities for OP companies to move into new markets, for example jan/san, industrial safety, workwear, furniture, packaging, and MRO. What are the challenges that can be expected? What do we have that existing service providers don’t? And do the benefits outweigh the risks?
Panellists:
Ron Books, CEO, ECI Solutions
Cody Phipps, President & CEO, United Stationers
5.15pm Closing remarks from the chair
7.30pm Networking reception and dinner
Tuesday 5th November 2013
8.40am Opening remarks from the chair
8.45am Women in the OP sector
9.00am PANEL: Evolution of the channel
Featuring perspectives from independents, big box, wholesalers, manufacturers and web retailers, this session will examine how to remove cost from the supply chain, new models for co-operation, use and ownership of customer and market data and identifying opportunities for greater efficiency. Each speaker will deliver short presentation. Then delegates will break into roundtables (delegates can join a different table if they wish) for 30 min discussion. Then we’ll return to the panel for 30 min debate, encouraging maximum audience interaction.
11.00am Morning break for refreshments & networking
11.30am Mobile commerce and responding to the challenge of Amazon
- App vs. mobile enabled
- ioS vs. Android vs. Windows 8
- Security issues
- Setting new standards in customer service – what can we learn?
- Achieving top line growth in digital OP retailing – driving up traffic and improving website conversion rates
12.15pm The BIG INTERVIEW
12.45pm Closing remarks from the chair
1pm Lunch
2pm Close of Global Forum 2013
The Global Forum 2013 will be held in the brand new Langham Hotel in Chicago.
Opening in May this year, The Langham, Chicago is housed within one of the city's most famous downtown riverfront landmarks, the Mies van der Rohe building. Just steps from the Magnificent Mile and Millennium Park, this brand new hotel is the perfect venue for this exclusive event.
Rooms at The Langham, Chicago are available at the following rates:
Grand King - $310 per night + taxes
Junior Suite - $420 per night + taxes
One bedroom suite - $750 per night + taxes
To make a reservation please contact the hotel directly using the contact information below:
Ms Franziska Raum
Franziska.raum@langhamhotels.com
Telephone:++1- 312-923-7014
Please quote "OPI Global Forum" when making your reservation. The hotel wil require credit card details to guarantee your booking.
Testimonials
Congratulations and many thanks to you and your staff for the best OPI Conference yet.
The first Global Forum was interesting, informative and very helpful. Everything from the blue chip attendance to the well thought through topics for discussion and presentation as well as the impeccable service and venue made it a delight. I learned a lot, felt privileged to be invited and had a great time to boot.
Mark Baccash, President/CEO, Office 1 Superstore
While I will admit that I was a bit skeptical and wondering if this conference would be a good return on the time and investment, I must say that both from a networking and information sharing standpoint I am very pleased I attended. The group that gathered was all key industry players and the mix of industry specific and broad based business topics were relevant and well presented.
Wayne Beacham, Chairman/CEO, SP Richards
The OPI Global Forum continues year after year to be THE event to attend for industry knowledge and networking. The open discussion on a broad range of topics is extremely relevant, always includes the key players in the industry and is moderated with great speakers on substantive topics. It is a truly unique opportunity.
Andrew Morgan, CEO, Red Cheetah Software
The OPI global forum provided an outstanding opportunity to meet with the leaders of the industry. The formal presentations and breakouts were excellent with very timely content. And the interaction, both during questions and answer after the formal presentations and in the informal networking time, was the best part of the conference.
Mike Miles, former President/COO, Staples
I think the conference was terrific. I hope you continue to conduct this conference annually and I promise Office Depot support. I think it's very important that the industry get together in this type of neutral forum. It positions OPI as a true opinion leader in the industry.
Steve Odland, former Chairman/CEO, Office Depot
This event had an informative agenda with a great chance to network. I feel it was beneficial in attending.
Mike Pickles, Director, Really useful Products
I recently attended the OPI conference for CEO’s in Chicago and found it to be outstanding quality and value. The mix of suppliers, wholesalers and dealers; domestic and foreign; office products and other sectors made the presentations and networking opportunities to be first rate. I will undoubtedly return to future conferences using this format.
Jim Preston, former CEO, BPGI
I think the conference in Chicago was by far the best OPI conference I have ever been. You had a choice of excellent speakers talking about relevant issues. The subjects were also well-balanced for American and European attendees. The choice of the moderator was of course a lucky punch! This woman was really brilliant and an extremely fast thinker. Her interactive style has substantially enhanced the value of the various presentations. I also appreciated the size of the event which gave very good opportunities for networking. Furthermore, I was very pleased that the role of independent players in our industry has regained a relevant position. For some time it looked as if we were a dying species.
Peter Basci, former Chairman, EOSA
Kudos and thanks for the recent OPI Global Forum. I can't think of any day and a half program where I experienced more substance and relevance to operating a company on the OP space. The networking was invaluable and the programming was both forward looking, in a macro economic sense, and industry centric. You promised a senior level management focus and you delivered! I hope OPI found the event to be financially viable and will therefore consider a program of similar ilk in the future.
David Guernsey, President/CEO, Guernsey Office Products
I was very pleased to attend the OPI Forum in Chicago on May this year. I found it the most interesting and concrete event I have ever attended since 14 years ago when I joined the OP industry. The reasons are pretty clear to explain:
1 A properly limited number of Top level attendees showing a real high quality and competence.
2 A unique opportunity to pick up fresh ideas and share strategic visions about our Industry future worldwide with the market leaders.
3 I’ve been exposed to very high quality speakers dealing with some of the most interesting topics that will affect our business in the next 5 years (new technologies, new consumers, new legal requirements).
4 Timing and location of the event have been very well organised to exploit at the best time and energy dedicated by attendees to the event.
5 I seriously think I will attend again the event next year.
Francesco Villa, Vice General Manager, Gruppo Buffetti
I truly enjoyed the event and even with a busy schedule felt that the time spent was extremely valuable. You all did a great job organizing the event and I walked away with several great ideas and strategies. The networking time was also valuable.
Thanks again for having us. Barring any scheduling conflicts, we will participate in the future as well.
Ron Books, President/COO, ECi2
The speakers were all extremely interesting and the topics were very well presented. The Forum was a great opportunity for networking. Personally it was a great honour to be invited for such an outstanding event, all was extremely well organised and I am sure you all worked exceptionally hard to make it the success it was.
António Redondo, Executive Director, grupo Portucel Soporcel
I found the conference to be terrific. I learned a great deal. I met a number of people who will become friends and perhaps customers. I also had a chance to think about some scary futurist views, which I do not believe for a second.
Many thanks for organizing such a strong event. I can not even imagine how you do it.
Walter Johnsen, Chairman/CEO, Acme United Corporation
I talked to some of the participants after the Global Forum and we all agreed that this was first of all a fantastic idea to get together in such a smaller group of excecutives. It was one the best events ever taken place with OPI. Apart from the concrete and open presentations and discussions which have given a lot of new insights and know how to me, it was very valuable to talk to old friends and to meet new friends and build up new relationships. I am looking forward to join your next event.
Arno Alberty, former Executive Vice President, Pelikan Europe
I think this was easily one of the best OPI conferences I have attended. The participants were top decision makers, it was a truly international audience and the topics were all relevant.
Tom Schinkel, Managing Partner, Thomas Schinkel and Associates
The program was world class .The time and investement t was well worth it. I was able to network with many industry leaders that proved to be extremly valuable.
Mike Gentile, President/CEO, is.group
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29 June 2013 - 29 June 2013 Orlando
The fourth annual awards programme for North American manufacturers and dealers. Encouraging innovation and giving recognition to those individuals and companies that working to deliver real value for the dealer community.
Global Forum 2013
3 November 2013 - 5 November 2013 The Langham, Chicago, USA
An invitation-only forum for CEOs and senior executives from the business supplies and associated sectors.
