Day two of the RILA Asset Protection Conference began with a breakfast presentation sponsored by Women in Retail Asset Protection (WRAP). Moderated by Jessica Pierce with DICK’S Sporting Goods, the panel consisted of Doreen Jokerst, chief of police with the University of Chicago Police Department; Maggie Conboy, senior chief deputy district attorney with the Office of Denver District Attorney; and Janeen Diguiseppi with the Federal Bureau of Investigations. Panelists shared their views on a number of relevant topics, including tips for personal and professional development.
Opening remarks from RILA President and Chief Operating Officer Brian Dodge were next on the agenda. Dodge discussed many of the accomplishments that have taken place in retail over the past year along with the role that the Retail Industry Leaders Association has played in helping to move the asset protection industry forward through education, research, benchmarking and innovation.
The day’s first general session followed opening remarks, featuring Frank Hamlin, chief marketing officer with Gamestop, discussing approaches on navigating retail challenges at GameStop and retail in general. This included fighting denial through directness, fighting apathy through action, fight misalignment through mission, and fighting nervousness through nerve.
“The price of clarity is the risk of insult,” he said, focusing on the importance of galvanizing the team around finding solutions and having the courage to change.
This session was followed by a presentation with Michelle Stuart with JAG Investigations, who offered some shocking insights as part of her presentation of “Do You Know What I Know About You?” Stuart discussed “actionable intelligence,” which she defined as information that can be followed up so that a strategic plan can be undertaken to use that information. Do you have any clue what vulnerabilities you can be exposed to when you download certain apps to your mobile phone? As she demonstrated, even a simple flashlight app can open doors—and surprising vulnerabilities that can’t be easily closed.
Late morning and early afternoon breakout sessions were sandwiched around lunch in the Expo Hall, which highlights one of the most difficult aspects of the conference experience—choosing which sessions to attend. The speakers, primarily composed of subject-matter experts from across the asset protection industry, do a fabulous job preparing for and presenting information on issues critical to the industry, covering a broad range of current and important topics.
While attendees may have different interests and agendas for the conference, there are always difficult choices that must be made during each round of sessions, forcing participants to make tough decisions on which presentation they will appear at. While obviously a nice problem to have, these choices are always among the most difficult to make each year. All those involved should be commended for their fine efforts as there were many compelling topics, strong presentations, and robust discussions.
Throughout the day, EyeOnLP was on the scene, talking to industry leaders and key attendees about what they saw and heard during their day at the show. Check out the recap video.
The afternoon general session featured a presentation on “New Asset Protection Use Cases in the Era of Friction-free Checkout” with Jon Nordmark of Iterate Studio. “We live in a rapidly changing, digitally networked world,” he says. These changes are inevitable, and there’s no going back. AI has made the opportunity for self-checkout a reality, changing retail at an incrementally rapid pace.”
This was followed by the (R)Tech Asset Protection Innovation Awards Ceremony. This year’s awards went to:
First Place: Ocucon
Second Place: Signatrix
Third Place: Detective Analytcis
Retailers’ Choice: Detective Analytcis
“This year’s award winners once again embody the spirit of innovation that is alive and well in the retail industry,” said Lisa LaBruno, senior vice president of retail operations at RILA.
Congratulations to the winners and all of the award finalists for their outstanding contributions.
The final general session of the day was graced with insights from new-to-the-role asset protection leaders Jennie Anderson, VP of LP with Autozone; Eddie Foley, VP of LP with Tractor Supply; and Pamela Velose, VP of AP with Belk. This trio of top talent offered their stories on the trek to their new positions, the leaders and mentors that inspired them, the teams that supported them, the lessons learned along the way, the challenges they’ve faced since assuming their new roles, and the opportunities they see moving forward.
Following a long but productive day, attendees then met in the exhibition hall to relax, meet with fellow practitioners, and speak with the various service providers.
Wednesday wraps up another successful and productive event before attendees leave the conference energized and ready to share what they’ve learned with their companies and asset protection departments.
Thanks again to all attendees, our vendor partners, and especially the team at RILA for making this event a huge success and a tremendous learning experience!
Editor’s Note: In case you missed it, here’s LPM’s exclusive recap of day one at RILA AP 2019.