ASSOCIATION TAKES 10 MORE 'STEPS TO SUCCESS'

MARY ANN FARLEY

ENCINO, Calif. -- The Video Software Dealers Association here has decided to stick with a good idea. The theme for the 20th Annual Convention, Jan. 7 to 9 in Las Vegas, will be "10 Steps to Success," a program that proved extremely popular at the previous convention last July.

The convention will be at the Venetian Hotel/Sands Exposition Center, and the seminars -- created by business research consultants Arthur Andersen, Chicago -- will focus on helping retailers compete and better manage their departments.

According to Carrie Dietrich, VSDA's vice president of marketing and public relations, July's conference program was "just so successful" that the VSDA has decided to flesh out the theme even more at this year's event.

"Last year, we had our best attendance since 1994," she stated, noting that the show drew over 11,000 attendees, up 11%. "People coming to the show now are more business minded, so our topics are more relevant. The seminars are targeted to those with a business mindset who come for the educational portion."

Dietrich said the seminars were developed out of information gleaned from the VSDA's "Benchmarking and Best Practices" study, released earlier this year, conducted by Anderson.

"The study focused on the key differences between successful and unsuccessful retailers," Dietrich said. "We learned that there are certain practices that seem to be beneficial to those who succeed." The study's results, she said, helped shape the seminars, which will feature in-depth topics on operations and management, panel discussions, workshops and chat rooms. The entire event will be jump-started by a keynote address delivered by Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com founder and chief executive officer.

Asked if there were any concerns about attendance since the previous show was held just six months ago, Dietrich said she senses the same level of enthusiasm among members, and doesn't expect much change. If anything, she believes the coinciding Consumer Electronics Show might actually encourage attendance.

"Both shows happening at once will be an added benefit to a lot of members who attend both VSDA and CES," she said. "We did a survey of members to see how this time of year would work, and many said it's better. Las Vegas isn't as hot as in July, and it's a slower time of year for dealers to get away from the store. Also, even though this show is just six months after the last, it does fall into a different calendar year taxwise."

What panels will be of interest to supermarkets?

Mark Fisher, VSDA's director of membership and former director of video for Quincy, Mass.-based Stop & Shop, said a few seminars will be particularly pertinent to grocers, such as Video Games 2001 and the DVD SuperSession.

"The four-hour revenue-sharing workshop should be of particular interest," Fisher said, "as more retailers are moving in that direction, including supermarkets. It will explain how to get into revenue sharing and how to manage profits with a revenue-sharing program. This panel will be appropriate for supermarket buyers and independent buyers alike."

Kirk Mueldener, director of video operations at Hy-Vee Food Stores, West Des Moines, Iowa, who attended July's show, said he plans to attend this year as well. "I've only missed [the convention] once or twice," he said. "You have to be there to stay on top of the pricing programs and to give your feedback to the studios. About 70% of them are usually receptive to my comments."

Mueldener won't be attending any panels, as he believes them "too specialty store oriented. The way [supermarkets] merchandise is pretty unique, and I don't feel the VSDA addresses that."

Fisher believes, however, that the traditional seminars cover a broad range of topics that should be of interest to anyone dealing with home video product, including grocers.

"We'll be covering loss prevention, customer service, how to motivate employees -- topics like these," he said. "If you merchandise that differently, at the very least you'd want to know what others are doing in other forms of retailing."

Another seminar that will be repeated from July will be "Education First! Day" -- the day before the convention's official start on Saturday, Jan. 6, which has been expanded to a whole day of panels that will include "Making the Most of the Convention" and "How to Negotiate a Lease."