FALLS CHURCH, Va. -- Food Distributors International here said last week the site for its Midyear Executive Conference in September has been shifted to the Las Vegas area.
-- which will be highlighted by the unveiling of FDI's complete report on retail coverage -- had been scheduled for the Hilton Head Hyatt in Hilton Head, S.C.
"However, on a recent on-site visit, we found the hotel property that we used four years ago had deteriorated and the promised improvements had not been made," Bob Gatty, FDI's vice president, communications and marketing, told SN last week.
"We were constrained by our contract to select another Hyatt property, and of the two that were suitable -- in Henderson and San Antonio -- the Henderson site was deemed to be better."
He said the association has some concerns that making the change so close to the conference might hurt attendance, "but a lot of members have wanted to have a conference in the Las Vegas area, and although this location is outside the city, it's supposed to be terrific."
Along with the retail coverage report, the meeting will include the presentation of Foodservice 2010, a report for members of the International Food Distributors Association; a Center Store report by the National Grocers Association; business sessions with Robert Lutz, former president and vice chairman of the Chrysler Corp. and Dr. Richard Schroth, a strategist on application of emerging technologies; an industry exchange on e-commerce, and a point/counterpoint discussion of the national elections by Tony Snow and Bill Press.
