Prague, 9th February 2015: Retail Summit 2015 defended the reputation of the largest gathering of retailers and their suppliers on the market and in the 21 year reached a record level of participation –a total of 1072 participants came to Clarion Congress hotel during the two conference days and gala evening. Representative research responded by 25% participants has confirmed that the organizers were very well prepared for this mass of visitors - the average mark granted for the organisation (1.23) is the best in history. The greatest identified benefit of the action was a high traffic and the value that the summit brings for networking, informal personal contacts and exchange of views among the market players: "it's the biggest discussion platform we have, that is very much needed for the cultivation of the market and the development of its relations."
The record attendance at the 21st Retail Summit was a proof that after 20 years of this expert meeting there are still more managers that put the traditional term (the first Tuesday and Wednesday in the month of February) as a fixed program into their diary. A certain positive role was played by the fact expressed in the words of one of the respondents: "you can already feel the positive changes in the market and the prevailing cautious optimism.“
The best evaluated parts of the Summit program were 2 morning blocks of the first day. Introductory panel discussion moderated by Martin Veselovský has offered a new composition (the highest praise by participants was given to Marta Nováková, František Piškanin and Jan Žák) and open discussion about current retail trade issues.
Two best evaluated guest speakers have confirmed the interest of the participants in sharing the vision (Libor Malý and his refreshing and motivating speech about the need of change in the course of business) and in macroeconomic context (Vladimir Dlouhy and his professional and positively led presentation on the prospects of the Czech economy).
Some of the discussion sections have been evaluated at best, particularly those with a strategic focus (strategy, innovation, profit). In a number of specialized workshops the first place with an average mark of 1.45 was taken by the panel Strategy - not new, but sometimes the overgrown path moderated by Martin Tesař, Deloitte ("Inspiring, dynamic moderation, a high discussion level and an excellent selection of panellists who mutually disagreed with the views and attitudes to strategy, and thereby provoked an interesting debate.")
Second place and an average mark of 1.59 belongs to Karel Týra from Nielsen who has prepared a section of the Innovation as a path to profitable growth ("Skilled peaceful moderation, no presentations, expressive and honest discussion, the panellists brought stimuli for reflection").
The third position with the average mark of 1.69 was occupied by Ways to profit moderated by Tomas Krásný („The natural progression and continuity of contributions, super atmosphere, information and valuable speeches of Hornbach and Kofola ")
It can be concluded that the program of the second day that takes place in smaller and more intimate halls and focuses on specialized topics is always better rated in overall: "sections bring much more specific experience and opinions from successful managers, a mix of small and large players from a variety of disciplines, aimed at different segments."
The organizers of the Summit are aware that a record number of participants are a big commitment for the programme preparation of the next year of Retail Summit, which will take place on February 2-3, 2016. Therefore they dare to ask all who care about the existence and success of the meeting to share proposals and suggestions regarding selection of its topics and speakers. And they thank for encouraging words they received, for example, the message from a respondent of the poll: "Good luck! I wish you to have enough forces in the preparation of the coming years.“
About Retail Summit 2015
When: 3Feb 3-4, 2015
Where: Congress Hotel Clarion, Prague
www.retail21.cz
Contact for more information: Barbora Krásná, Blue Events
barbora.krasna@blueevents.eu
Media contact: Aneta Zímová, Blue Events
aneta.zimova@blueevents.eu