IBM Retail User Group
2010 Speakers

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"Revitalize the Customer Experience"

Monday - April 26, 2010
8:10 am - 8:30 am

"IBM Executive Perspectives"

Steve will share with you, our view of the revolution taking place in Retail.  How that is driving our Global retail strategy and how we are setting our priorities.

Steve Ladwig was named general manager, Retail Store Solutions in January, 2006. He is responsible for leading IBM's activities in all facets of implementing technology products and solutions in store environments. His worldwide responsibilities include strategy, development, manufacturing, marketing and sales for IBM's portfolio of total store offerings.

Previous to this position, he was general manager for Global Retail Industry responsible for definition, marketing, selling and servicing of "on demand" business solutions to IBM's worldwide customers in the retail industry.

Prior to this, Mr. Ladwig was president and CEO of The Ladwig Companies, Inc., where he provided high-level consulting services to technology companies and investors, including business development and funding strategies. He also founded Ladwig Farms, LLC, which delivered high quality organic food products under the trademark “Best of Health!”.

Before starting those companies, Mr. Ladwig was president, CEO, and director of Retek, Inc. Prior to joining Retek, Steve was senior vice president of Imation and served as the company's president of Data Storage and Information Management.

Previously, Mr. Ladwig held positions of increasing responsibility at IBM in areas including software and server development, planning, marketing and programming. He served as general manager of Network Computing and Software for Global Small and Medium Business, where he was responsible for General Business worldwide strategy development, sales and service for network computing and software. Prior to that, Mr. Ladwig was vice president of development for IBM’s AS/400 division, leading the worldwide product development, support services and applications for AS/400.

A graduate of Minnesota State University, Mankato , Mr. Ladwig first joined IBM in 1979.

Monday - April 26, 2010
8:30 am - 9:00 am

"Redefining Customer Service"

Now more than ever, the focus is on delivering superlative customer service, in every aspect.  Giant Eagle will share with the IRUG attendees how we are re-inventing our corporate culture with innovative technology and creating environmentally pleasing environments to revitalize our customer service and grow our loyal customer base.

Monday - April 26, 2010
9:00 am - 9:30 am

"Technology Trends for Retail 2010"

Jeff Roster will present a summary of the most recent retail research and trends for Retail 2010. He will examine adoption patterns for business intelligence, CRM and in store technologies. Jeff’s background coupled with Gartner’s research makes him the ideal person to put the trends into perspective for retailers and vendors who work with retailers.

Mr. Roster communicates global IT trends in the retail and wholesale industries, analyzes end-user requirements, and consults on strategies with IT vendor clients. Mr. Roster also conducts primary research interviews with vendors and end users, performs secondary research, and writes market research reports. Mr. Roster has led consulting projects and developed syndicated research focusing on the retail industry in the following areas: information technology initiatives, outsourcing services, enterprise applications, and Internet/Extranet solutions. He is frequently quoted in RIS News, Consumer Goods Technology, Executive Technology, Chain Store Age, Supermarket News, Progressive Grocer, Chain Drug Review, VARBusiness, Information Week, Inter@ctive Week, Darwin Magazine, E-Commerce Times, Computerworld, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Sun-Times , Philadelphia Inquirer, The Dallas Morning News and the Washington Post.

He has also been selected as one of The 25 Most Influential People in Retail by Retail Info Systems News (RIS) magazine for 2001 and the Executive Technology Power 50 list for 2003. In 2010 he received the Retail Connections "Exceptional Achievement" Award.

Before joining Gartner, Jeff worked in logistics and process improvement for Mervyn’s.

Mr. Roster received a master’s degree in business administration from St. Mary’s College and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Chico State University.

Tuesday - April 27, 2010
8:00 am - 8:30 am

"Best Practices for Tackling Tax Compliance"

Michaels Stores will present the best practices for tackling tax compliance challenges facing retail tax departments – focusing on the benefits of tax automation with IBM store technology. Learn how your company can utilize tax expertise in conjunction with technology to operate more efficiently leading to lower operational costs, improved profitability, and optimized bottom-line performance.

Brenda Cassas is a tax veteran with more than 20 years tax experience in addition to extensive experience as a former State of Texas tax auditor. Brenda joined the Michaels Stores team 11 years ago. She currently manages the tax return preparation for 44 states and 9 Canadian provinces for multiple companies.

In addition, Brenda manages the automated Vertex system for use tax accruals, state and local sales and use tax audits ( U.S. and Canada), business licenses, and resale/exemption certificates for all companies. Brenda’s team assigns taxability codes to all items sold in the Michaels stores and maintains the automated Vertex system for taxability and tax rates. A significant portion of Brenda’s responsibilities includes tax planning for Michaels Stores company initiatives.

Prior to Michaels, Brenda spent 10 years as a sales and use tax auditor with the State of Texas. Her responsibilities included auditing fortune 100 companies utilizing computer assisted audit techniques and managing teams of auditors.

Tuesday - April 27, 2010
8:30 am - 9:00 am

"Technology Advances in Fresh Item Management"

Migros , a leading Swiss retail super store chain with a steadily growing international presence, will present their technology advances in fresh item management.

With 25-plus years in retail industry, Jörg Schüpbach is head of maintenance and support of gmPOSsystems at Migros for 5 years. In this role he is Program and Roll-out Manager and responsible for the standardization and integration of the retail scales into Migros‘s POS system. This includes also the roll-out of 14.000 POS / EFT systems throughout 10 Migros Cooperatives all over Switzerland. He also led the centralization both of the retail support over all Migros Cooperatives and the supplier contract management. I.e. he accomplished the contracts with IBM, Mettler, Bizerba and ITRIS on ITIL standard. Prior to working at Migros, Jörg held different managing positions such as Project manager, Development Manager Retail Switzerland, Account Manager and Managing Director at ICL Fujitsu Retail.

Wednesday - April 28, 2010
9:30 am - 10:00 am

"Surviving in Challenging Times"

How is your organization surviving the challenging economic environment?  Join us in this stimulating, interactive session to see in real-time how your peers are navigating the sometimes treacherous retail waters.  In this session, you, the audience will be the presenter.  (Don’t worry… you won’t have to speak or anything).  Don’t miss the fun, excitement and insight you’ll gain in this session.

Lou Sterzenbach is the Director of Applications for Pier 1 Imports in Fort Worth Texas. Lou and his management team are responsible for all applications development and support at Pier 1.

Lou brings over 22 years of retail experience in project management, software design and development. Prior to joining Pier 1, Lou spent 17 years at Limited Brands in project management. Lou has a genuine passion for retail and technology.

Lou holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Information Services from The DeVry Institute of Technology.

Wednesday - April 28, 2010
10:00 am - 10:30 am

"The Store of the Future with ACE and ARTS at the Heart"

This Synopsis will discuss some of the factors influencing BJ’s decision to move forward with ACE POS Implementation of ACE version 7.0, 4690 OS Classic and IBM’s Check version of the IBM self Checkout software.

The presentation will also discuss the major customization work required to move from GSA and SKU level item file to a full UPC level environment without SKUs as well as support a Membership driven business.

The presentation will also discuss how BJ’s is building out a common data mode, based on the ARTS data model, that can be used across multiple applications including: Feeds to labor scheduling, Asset Protection, Flash reporting, and Cash management reporting.

Lastly we will discuss how building out a common data layer, and a centralized operational repository using the ARTS data model to build out the integration layer touch points will create a foundation for the customer profile to support mobile initiatives and RFID. These are key as most retailers can not afford to enter the current application trends with their entire application portfolio out of the starting blocks. We will review why BJ’s chose to o develop a strategy to expand our successes and maintain our core customer using the ARTS Data Model, and other industry standard tools. This method will set us up BJ’s and other retailers to succeed with new technologies including end to end encryption.

Perry Kramer – VP Sales Operations, Corporate, and Distributed Solutions at BJ’s Wholesale Club, Inc. In this roll he leads teams responsible for managing and delivering BJ’s technology and application solutions. Included in these responsibilities are strategy, budgeting, forecasting, capacity and resource planning, contract negotiations, vendor relationships, and delivery of technology, business process, and application solutions. Additionally, Perry is the current co-chairman of the ARTS board of Directors. He has led the successful implementation of several POS systems, ERP systems, and IT sourcing initiatives. During his 25 years of experience in retail information technology, has held director level Positions at Ames Department Stores, Hills Department Stores and Boscov’s Department Stores. During his tenure in retail Perry has managed all areas of the retail environment and also brings a deep understanding of the planning required to survive the challenging budget times that remain ahead for all of us.

Wednesday - April 28, 2010
11:15 am - 11:30 am

"The Future of Consumer Culture"

The consumer culture of 2015 will require a different retail environment to attract loyalty. We will discuss the factors driving this evolving consumer culture and how a retailer should evolve their corporate culture to stay ahead of the curve. The rate of change in consumer behavior is still increasing even with the difficult economy. What people are cutting back spending on and what they are increasing spending on has caught many retailers by surprise. Technology is still a leading factor in this evolution and the projects that are now being developed in the corporate research centers will cause even more change over the next decade. We will look at what technologies will change the most and what retailers should do now to take advantage of them.

Daniel Hopping is a global technology futurist, author, inventor, consultant and speaker. He has worked with hundreds of retail companies and has been involved with dozen of retail “store of the future” projects in almost every segment of Retail. His company, Next Retail Group, works with retailers to keep them abreast of the latest technologies and how their utilization of technology affects the enterprise’s competitiveness. The consumer is now changing faster than retailers can change their systems, making planning for change a critical function.