Over fifty grocery business operations and technology professionals involved in supermarket fresh item management attended the 7th annual ReFresh Conference, held at the TradeWinds Sandpiper Conference Center, St. Petersburg Beach, Florida from Tuesday January 29th through Friday February 1st, 2008.
Keynote speaker was Professor Tom Gruen of the University of Colorado on Fresh Item Out Of Stocks. Tom was co-researcher and co-author of the 2002 Grocery Manufacturers of America Retail Out-Of-Stocks Study: A Worldwide Examination of Causes, Rates, and Consumer Responses. This study was featured in the May, 2004 Harvard Business Review. This presentation was based on his new study, “A Comprehensive Guide to Retail Out-of-Stock Reduction,” which was recently published. Tom has presented internationally on Grocery Out-Of-Stocks and focused his material on Fresh Item Out-Of-Stocks for the ReFresh2008 Conference. The material presented was very relevant to the focus of the group and represented an excellent start to the event.
Sessions generally alternated ADC and guest speakers:
Attendees met for a pool-side reception on Tuesday evening. The Florida weather was generally perfect for the event, but the temperature became a little chilly on the Tuesday evening, hence the coats:
Wednesday afternoon's networking events included a fishing trip and golf outing:
The iToken auction was held on Thursday evening following a sumptuous fresh-food dinner. The dinner and auction were enjoyed by all with Jan Dragotta doing a great job as auctioneer. The auction was followed by musical entertainment from the ADC company band, featuring Stan Boschert, Sales Exec., on harmonica and vocals, Joel Bronson, Help Desk Analyst on congas and keyboards with Steve Loveridge, President, on guitar and vocals. Supplementing the ADC players were alumni Howard Gendrau on drums and vocals, Lane Longley on guitar and vocals, Rick Wagner on bass and vocals with Maurice Moore on sound-board. The dance competition was closely contested and won by Penny and Jeffrey Adams of KVAT. Thanks to all and to Steve Liljedahl for taking these pictures:
Some comments from conference evaluation forms by ReFresh2008 attendees:

"Since this was my first conference with ADC, I didn't quite know what to expect, but I learned a lot. I think the Florida venue was optimal, the duration was great and the food was amazing".

"I liked the way you get I.T. people here with an operations person speaker who actually uses the product. The application demonstrations on equipment with the vendors present is a great draw for operations people. Meeting other users will be beneficial going forward with Fresh Item Management".

"Once again - wonderful conference! The hotel is nice and reasonably priced, food was good. I had two pages of questions...all of them were answered. Thank you!"

"This was my second ReFresh conference, the first being in 2006. After attending my first conference I did not see how ADC could improve on the plethora of information presented, however I was very pleased to find that the amount of information presented had grown with critical information relating to the grocery industry."

"Keep trying to get more executives to attend: this is essential executive information".

"This was my first ReFresh conference, I thought it was great".

"I really liked the panel discussions - these should be continued".

"Guest speakers were great. Very informative!"

"Holding the event at a Florida resort enables networking which has been one of the most beneficial aspects of this conference".

"In talking with the vendors we use at the conference, I was made aware of product capabilities that I wasn't aware of before".

"I thought the coordination of the event was very well done".

"Keep the format! The event duration with activities included is perfect. I also enjoyed the iTokens, the auction was a blast! Keep up the great work!"

"I can’t say enough about the conference. The speakers were superb, the item content was very thorough and the interaction between users and vendors was fantastic. I believe a wealth of information was exchanged during the conference. Congratulations on a job well done!"