The beaches of Hilton Head Island were hit with a wave of loss prevention professionals as the annual back-to-back-to-back asset protection leadership meetings took place at the Westin Resort in Port Royal Plantation to support the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), LP Magazine (LPM), and the Loss Prevention Foundation (LPF). High expectations were equaled by the energy and enthusiasm of the attendees over the annual multi-day event that boasted the strongest attendance to date.
With great weather and great attitudes, loss prevention leadership and solution providers from across the industry were on hand to provide their advice, ideas, expertise, and feedback as the three organizations evaluated 2019 performance, celebrated strategic partnerships, and reviewed new and exciting prospects moving forward into 2020.
EDITOR’S NOTE: A recap of RILA’s Asset Protection Leaders Council meeting will be available soon. An article about a tour of Hilton Head Island and nearby historic Bluffton, SC, provided for family and guests of attendees can be found here.
LP Magazine
The LPM vendor advisory board (the VAB represents the magazine’s major advertisers) meeting was held Thursday morning, followed by the editorial board meeting Thursday afternoon. During these meetings, the magazine team discussed the various improvements and accomplishments over the past year, including the ongoing growth of both the print and digital offerings as well as some of the opportunities that readers can look forward to in the coming year.
An essential aspect of these meetings is to actively request input on previous content, potential topics for the upcoming year, and how to improve the reach to bring the LP community the quality product that they have come to expect. Both board members and guests are asked to provide their thoughts and ideas on content, topics, delivery, and other important contributions to further enhance the information and quality provided to readers.
This was followed by a tremendous agenda of keynote speakers that were on hand to discuss some of today’s most compelling trends and topics:
- An uplifting presentation with Tony D’Onofrio, CEO of TD Insights, on “The Disruptive Future of Retail.” D’Onofrio discussed the positive future of retail and how the loss prevention and asset protection industry will impact that future. Change is inevitable, but it’s how the industry responds to that change that will drive the next generation of retail and determine what lies ahead for the profession.
- A thought-provoking and perspective-bending conversation with John Clark, principal and founder of Cannabis Compliance Company on “Retail’s New Frontier in Cannabis.” Cannabis-based products are making their way into mainstream society and retail stores. How it impacts the industry in the coming years and how retail will respond to the unique challenges is yet to be determined.
- A call for action and unity with our law enforcement partners and community growth and change with David Lake, founder at Center on Shadow Economics, on “The Shadow Economy of Retail Crime.” Retail success is essential to local economies and the foundation of community achievement. Working together with local authorities, retailers need to increase awareness of the true impact of retail crime, encourage education among law enforcement partners, and urge legislative action and change.
- Mobilization of the National Retail Shoplifting Prevention Coalition with Mike Lamb, LPC, vice president of asset protection with The Kroger Company and Rhett Asher, vice president of strategy with ThinkLP. The coalition founded by LP industry leaders is seeking to make a significant impact on promoting shoplifting education to first-time offenders throughout the communities served by major retailers.
- There was also a fun and uplifting conversation with motivational speaker Dr. Dale Henry following dinner. Dr. Henry is what motivational speakers aspire to become, and he made a tremendous impression on all in attendance.
The Loss Prevention Foundation
The LP Foundation took center stage on Friday morning. Following a board-only session to begin the day, guests were invited to attend the rest of the meeting where presenters reviewed committee reports and specific discussion points regarding the progress of the LPF, the continuing growth of the certification programs, and exciting updates on the latest offerings from LPF.
The LPC and LPQ certifications continue to show an upward trend in course participation and certified members with companies across the country showing a strong and growing commitment to the certification process. However, the certification programs are also considered to be living documents that require continuing updates and review to ensure the content remains most relevant to the loss prevention community. As part of the high-quality expectations established by the LPF, three new chapters on grocery, restaurants/food service, and convenience stores have been added to the LPCertified coursework.
There was also discussion on the two latest industry-specific programs on addressing disruptive behaviors and organized retail crime developed with exceptional input from leading subject-matter experts across the industry.
If you have any questions or comments regarding the Loss Prevention Foundation or the LPC and LPQ courses, please visit losspreventionfoundation.org.
Feedback from Attendees
Comments from many in attendance—both longtime industry veterans and first-time attendees—praised the topics presented in the year’s meetings. “I loved the diverse presentations this year,” said one executive who has attended previous meetings. “The speakers provided a different perspective on retail that makes us think about our jobs in a different light.”
“This was my first magazine meeting, and I was very impressed with the engagement and the quality of speakers at the event,” said Nadine Lajeune, format leader, retail asset and profit protection for Sears H0ldings. “The disruptive future of retail presentation was eye opening and the shadow economy presentation was thought provoking and inspired me to continue to improve my company’s relationship with local law enforcement. I appreciated the insights and it was great to meet many of the industry leaders.”
Kris Vece, LPQ, vice president of client relations for Protos Security, said, “This year’s combined LP Magazine editorial board and LP Foundation meetings were the best yet. Being on the vendor advisory board since its inception, I have had the pleasure of seeing how much this event has grown. The content that the magazine produces each year just keeps getting better. If you want to know who is the who’s who of LP, you had better not miss next year’s event.”
This year’s event was made possible by the generous support from the following sponsors: ADT Commercial, Appriss Retail, BSI/Prosegur, CAP Index, Checkpoint, CIS Security, EPIC, Evention, InstaKey, Intel, LP Foundation, Protos/Security Resources, RILA, Sensormatic, Vector Security, Zebra/Profitect, and Zellman.