IGA to Hold 2012 Rally at NGA Show

CHICAGO — IGA here will hold its 2012 annual global rally in conjunction with the annual convention of the National Grocers Association, IGA officials told SN Monday.

The joint event is scheduled Feb. 12-15 at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas.

IGA Chairman Mark Batenic said IGA and NGA officials are meeting here this week to work out some of the details. "We will have our awards dinner on a night when there are no NGA events planned," he said. "We will also allow our members to attend NGA workshops while having some workshops at the same time as NGA workshops for our members only."

The rally, which encompasses seminars and a dinner honoring IGA's retailers of the year, has been a freestanding event for the last decade after being held in conjunction with the annual Food Marketing Institute meeting for the prior 10 years or so, Batenic said.

"Combining our rally with the NGA meeting is another way to reach out and give our domestic and international members an opprtunity to learn more," he explained. "NGA is devoted to independent retailers and the wholesalers and distributors who serve them, and we think it's the right venue for us."

IGA held its annual rally at the end of March in Vancouver, British Columbia, he added, "and we had record attendance from around the world as well as from the U.S."