Attendees at Food Marketing Institute’s Future Connect conference here only had two choices of what to have for lunch on Wednesday, but 98 choices about what to discuss.
For the first time, FMI created “idea tables” around the luncheon room at the Anatole Hilton in Dallas, with tables specially designated for topics in categories ranging from “people issues” to “merchandising and marketing.”
To facilitate discussion, FMI designated 98 different group leaders to sit at each specially designated table to drive the conversations on such topics as training store-level associates, shrink reduction strategies, and leveraging social media to grow sales.
A stroll around the room found many of the attendees sticking to the topics of their designated tables.
In addition to people issues and marketing, other categories of topics included store operations/activities; growth strategies and industry collaboration; independents/wholesalers; and potpourri.