Next 2012 | Meet the Challenge Registration

Join us to learn best practices in Christian retail from those who are successfully doing it.

Next 2012 provides a unique setting to bring retailers, presenters and suppliers together. Special peer-to-peer sessions will address e-books, marketing trends, strategic store management, building community around the store, and more during this two-day hands on event. Keynote addresses will provide visionary insights and round-robin tables will facilitate quick meetings between retailers and sales reps to view new lines and titles.

Bob Negen of Whiz!Bang Training, a renowned retail expert and trainer who led the higly successful Retail Academy at International Christian Retail Show 2011, will give the keynote address.

“Next 2012 is not a trade show with typical exhibits, but the next step to help Christian-store retailers and their suppliers connect and prepare for business and ministry success,” said Curtis Riskey, CBA Executive Director.

CBA hosts Next 2012: Meet the Challenge in cooperation with AmericasMart Atlanta in the Atlanta gift mart January 12-13, 2012. Next 2012 is the industry’s insider event for a maximum of 300 Christian-store retailers to successfully meet retailing challenges in the current business climate.

Admittance fee is $50 for CBA Retailer Members and $199 for CBA Retailer Non-Members* (*membership for one-year to CBA is included)

Please note space is limited to 300 retailer registrations and four attendees per store.

Event is located in Building One, Floor Two, East Hall of AmericasMart.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Bob Negen

Bob Negen founded the Mackinaw Kite Co., a small chain of specialty toy and kite stores, in 1981 when he was only 23 years old. He had just graduated from college, didn’t want to get a “real job” and loved flying kites.

Among many noteworthy accomplishments, Bob helped create a yo-yo craze that generated over 2 million dollars in yo-yo and yo-yo accessory sales.

In 1999 he and his wife Susan founded WhizBang! Training to help independent retailers thrive in today’s super-competitive market. Bob says, “kites, yo-yos, books, or gifts, it’s all about giving your customers the kind of experience that makes your business memorable and parlaying that first experience into a highly profitable long-term relationship.”

Bob and Susan are recognized as leading retail experts, are authors of the bestseller Marketing Your Retail Store In The Internet Age and are creators of the acclaimed Retail Mastery System.

WORKSHOPS

Electronic Marketing and Social Media Demystified
Speaker: Bob Negen, Whiz Bang! Training

In this workshop, retailers will learn how to harness the power of the Internet, e-mail technology, and the new social media to grow their businesses. This is a marketing workshop (not a technology workshop) designed to provide practical, to-thepoint tips and techniques to make technology an important, effective part of the marketing mix. Attendees will learn how to become the “obvious expert” to all their customers; use e-mail marketing to dramatically increase customer loyalty; keep people on their store’s Web site site longer, visiting more pages, and spending more money; build a customer database to pull customers back into their store again and again; use Facebook to build relationships that turn into cash; choose when to tweet or not to tweet; and learn why electronic marketing and social media is the ticket to increased sales and higher profits.
Ideas That Work: Drive Business Growth With Social-Media Marketing

Panelists: Gunnar Simonsen, Social Media Architect and former General Manager of Christian Supply Centers, Inc.; and Dave Almack, national director and publisher, CLC USA

Learn techniques and tactics that have driven traffic and sales to Christian stores and ministries. Hear about what works and what doesn’t, how to integrate social media into overall store marketing and mission, and the “dos and don’ts” of this new communication media.

Linked By Passion: How to Create Community In Your Store

Panelists: Sue Smith and Debbie Butgereit, Baker Book House

Independent retailing is becoming more about in-store experiences, activities, relationships, and being a gathering place for like-minded people. How do you make your store the social space where your customers can connect with you and others? How do you create relevancy not just in the products you carry but also by what happens in the store? Learn from these retailers how their stores serve local needs and are community gathering places.

Before You Buy: 2012 Trends For Profitable Gift Merchandising

Panelists: Emily Fielitz of Elynn, also merchandiser at P. Graham Dunn retail stores; and Albert Maslia, managing director of AmericasMart

Are you looking for help in re-strategizing your store? Do you want to boost department impact to attract more gift buyers? This workshop will present hot products, themes, and color trends to help you better compete with general-market competition; understand what your customers are thinking, feeling, and wanting; and maximize gift-department sales. This session is also very helpful for your gift mart buying process.

Selling E-Books: How Are Christian E-Book Retailers Doing?

Panelists: Chuck Wallington, Christian Supply, Inc.; and Lee Andrews, The Potter’s House Parable Christian Store

In this practical discussion, hear early reports from retailers who began selling eBooks through the 2011 Christmas season. What are the challenges? What marketing techniques increased sales? What are the operational impacts on the store, frontliners, and customers? Are retailers keeping customers instead of sending them elsewhere for digital content? Is selling eBooks worth it? This session will help you understand how to manage the new and dramatic technology shifts in content delivery.

Join the Club: Engage Readers and Build Loyalty With Reading Groups

Panelists: Nora St. Laurent, The Book Club Network; and Kira Brant, Kira’s Cottage

Book clubs and reading groups are powerful ways for your customers to engage with your store and the community you serve. How do busy retailers organize and operate book clubs to generate store traffic and customer engagement yet still “mind the store”? Retailers in this session are creating community among readers, which translates into sales, traffic, and positive customer relationships.

Lifestyle Merchandising: Creating Powerful Emotional Connections

Panelists: Lorraine Valk, Parable Christian Store of St. Joseph; and Emily Fielitz, Elynn, also merchandiser at P. Graham Dunn retail stores

The “feel” of your store says a lot about you and about your customers. To make sure you both understand each other, learn how these retailers create ambiance, emotional connections, and heart-level appeal to attract customers and encourage them to purchase. This isn’t about product display, but rather a way to tell meaningful stories to which your customers will respond.

Ministry Merchandising: Making A Difference With Products That Matter

Panelists: Cherie Gregory, The Potter’s House Parable Christian Store; Cindy Fischer, Wooddale Bookstore; and Paul Kuntz, Arrowhead Parable Christian Store

Increasingly, consumers are making buying decisions because of what a business stands for and supports. Fair trade and cause marketing are becoming evangelistic tools as indigenous people in developing or war-torn countries struggle to survive. Many missionary groups are working to boost economic development in host countries by creating businesses that sell into the U.S. but at the same time offer fair wages, good working conditions, and hope to people in repressed countries. How can a retailer tell this story effectively, connect with customers, and make it work economically?

Best Practices: Secrets That Supercharge Gift Merchandising and Profitablity

Panelists: Jeff Bruenning, merchandising manager for The Parable Group; and Vicki Geist, Cedar Springs Christian Store

Gift and specialty products don’t have the same business process as books, music, and most other product categories. Forecasting is driven by intuition, merchandising by what’s new and different, and sales by “if you build it they will come” strategies. Successful gift retailers, though, are adding science to the art to optimize the gift category and improve return on inventory investment. What are the secrets? Learn proven techniques retailers use to decide gift-department expansion and replenishment, and to optimize buying and selling.

Powerhouse Events That Boost Traffic, Sales, and Loyalty

Panelists: Suzanne Kuhn, SuzyQ and Book Cellar Bible Outlet; and Lorraine Valk, Parable Christian Store of St. Joseph

Events are a great tool to help build community and fans in and around the store, but there’s more to it than merely sending an e-mail invitation. Retailers on this panel give you insider tips on how to create a happening in your store that not only brings in customers but also helps them engage in ways that makes shopping memorable and fun for them…and profitable for you.

Which Way is Up? Navigating the Mart to Maximize Your Time and Buying

Panelists: Michael Hupp, executive director of merchandise, Cokesbury; and Paul Kuntz, Arrowhead Parable Christian Store

AmericasMart Atlanta sprawls across five buildings—some 20 stories high—and 7.7 million square feet. If you’re new to the Mart, you’ll appreciate these insider tips and strategies from gift mart veterans that will make your time productive and efficient; help you meet your strategic and buying goals; and show you which floors, buildings, and special areas have the best options for products that help differentiate your gift department in your community.

How to Develop a Whiz Bang! Staff

Speaker: Bob Negen, Whiz Bang! Training

A top-notch staff is an independent retailer’s biggest competitive edge. A great staff doesn’t happen by accident; it’s created by recruiting the right people, training them effectively, disciplining them fairly, and motivating them constantly. This workshop will teach attendees: the tricks to finding the best, most-qualified candidates; how to develop interview questions that separate potential superstars from the ordinary; the three reasons people don’t do what they’re supposed to—and how to solve the problem; what to do when someone “holds you hostage;” how to build a great employee manual that’s the foundation of your training program; the most important— and most frequently forgotten—step in the training process; the secret to consistently great training every for employee, every time you hire; why a great training program is the key to top-drawer customer service and big sales increases; the five secrets of successful coaching; and more.

SCHEDULE

Please check back as the schedule will be updated as information becomes available.

Event is located in Building One, Floor Two, East Hall of AmericasMart.

HOUSING

Reservations for housing will be coordinated through onPeak. Shuttles will be available from the hotels and AmericasMart.

Click here for reservations.

Click here for housing form.