The SFIA announced that Dan O’Connor, president and CEO of RetailNet Group, will deliver the retail keynote at the inaugural SFIA Industry Leaders Summit on Sept. 26, 2013 at the Baltimore Four Seasons Hotel. O’Connor will be joined by Brian Jennings (NHL), Christine Brennan (USA Today), Ed Foster-Simeon (US Soccer Foundation), Dan Jablonic (Washington Capitals) & Caitlin Morris (Nike) as the newest speakers committed to participate in the inaugural Summit.
O’Connor, the former National Director of Consumer Products & Retail Consulting at Touche Ross & Co. (now known as Deloitte and Touche), will lead a discussion on how the retail landscape will evolve between 2014 and 2020. Using his company’s future-to-present approach, he will explain what drivers will lead to change and how to best prepare for the new scenarios many companies will face. With a special focus on North American marketplaces, O’Connor will delve into these drivers and discuss how consumer behavior will impact the retail landscape, how that landscape will evolve and what expected competitive responses will be.
In addition to O’Connor, the SFIA is honored to have Brian Jennings (Executive Vice President of Marketing, NHL) round out the professional sports executive panel, which will be moderated by VF Licensed Sports Group President Jim Pisani, and will examine the relationship between professional sports and the sports & fitness product industry. Topics related to increasing sports participation, our collaborative roles in promoting healthy lifestyles, partnerships in the merchandising process and labor issues will be addressed. The addition of Jennings to this panel ensures that the session will feature executives from the four major U.S. professional sports leagues (MLB Executive Vice President Tim Brosnan, NBA Executive Vice President Sal LaRocca, NFL Executive Vice President Eric Grubman), in addition to Lisa Baird, Chief Marketing Officer for the United States Olympic Committee.
Along with O’Connor and Jennings, several panelists for the Aspen Timeout session have been confirmed including Christine Brennan (USA Today Columnist), Ed Foster-Simeon (US Soccer Foundation President & CEO), Dan Jablonic (Washington Capitals) and Caitlin Morris (Nike, Sr. Director for North America, Access to Sport). The panel, which will be hosted by Aspen Institute Director of Sports & Society and ESPN Reporter Tom Farrey, will discuss the keys to getting more people involved in sports and reducing the barriers to participation.
“The mission for this Summit is to deliver a quality executive-level networking environment combined with a content-rich agenda for leaders from across the sports and fitness industry,” said Ron Rosenbaum, SFIA Sr. Vice President of Marketing & Business Development. “We’re fortunate to have a retail expert with Dan O’Connor’s credentials and panelists like Brian Jennings, Christine Brennan, Ed Foster-Simeon, Dan Jablonic and Caitlin Morris join our already dynamic roster of speakers to help us deliver on that vision.”
These speakers will join a Summit roster that already features Ted Leonsis (Founder, Chairman and CEO, Monumental Sports & Entertainment), Kevin Plank (Founder and CEO, Under Armour), Scott Baxter (President, VF Corp. Jeanswear Americas & Imagewear), Hugo Malan (President, Fitness, Sporting Goods & Toys, Sears Holdings)Rob DeMartini (CEO, New Balance), Jeffrey Rosensweig (Director of Global Perspectives, Emory University), Auret van Heerden (CEO, Fair Labor Association), Joe Pellegrini (Co-Head Consumer & Retailer Group, Robert W. Baird & Co.) and Robert Reiss (Host of The CEO Show, Author of The Transformative CEO and Forbes Columnist).
The Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) is the leading global trade association of manufacturers, retailers, and marketers in the sports and fitness product industry. SFIA’s membership represents 1,000+ premier brands who account for more than $150 billion in annual sales. As the #1 source for sport and fitness research, the SFIA serves as the voice of the sports and fitness industry in the media and on Capitol Hill.
