Chris Blasinsky:
Sure, no pressure, no pressure. This year we’re pretty excited, right? Last year we were able to pull off the NACS Show live, which was pretty fantastic in Chicago. One of the things that was different in Chicago was we didn’t have the international attendance thanks to this thing called a pandemic that we normally would have. So this year we’re really looking forward to bringing those international attendees back to our Show.

Jeff McQuilkin:
Yeah, absolutely. We’re very excited about that. We were super proud of what we did in Chicago last year. It wasn’t the biggest NACS Show we’ve ever done, but in my opinion, in many ways it was one of the best we’ve ever done. And I’ve heard that from many of our retail member attendees and our supplier member exhibitors. Our theme is ‘full speed ahead’ and that’s what we are doing. We’re not just back to normal. In fact, we are gonna be going bigger and better, I think, than ever before, or at least within the last several years, I think it’s just gonna be a fantastic event and much needed by the industry. And we can’t wait to get started with it.

Chris Blasinsky:
Vegas is always a good draw for us. Everybody loves Vegas, everybody wants to come to Vegas.

Jeff McQuilkin:
It is of the three cities we rotate between and Vegas usually gets the highest attendance.

Chris Blasinsky:
We start pretty early on in the year with opening up registration for exhibitors to get their booths and everything. The Hunter Club members who are heavily invested in our industry actually get boost selection pretty close after the previous NACS Show. So those booths were picked…

Jeff McQuilkin:
Year we work with them in December. The trade show process really is like a 14 or 15 month process. We’ve already have started working on the floor plan for Atlanta in October 2023. So when we get back from the Show this year in October, we’ll take a little bit of a break and then we will start gearing up right away to work with our Hunter Club members in December, and then all of our valued regular supplier members at the turn of the year.

Chris Blasinsky:
There’s some folks who might say, oh, the NACS Show that looks fun, maybe I should get a booth, but if you’re thinking that’s gonna happen right now, 2023 might be your better bet.

Jeff McQuilkin:
We’ve been pretty much sold out since early June and we’re really fortunate to be able to do that, to have this demand. And we’re proud of that, but unfortunately, the downside is that if you’re kind of late to the game, we’ll do our best to accommodate you if we can, but probably gonna end up on a wait list. So the key to getting in the NACS Show is to start early.

Chris Blasinsky:
One of the things we start four or five years ago is the New Exhibitor Area. People come to the NACS Show because they wanna see the new products, they wanna see what’s cool, what’s new, what’s exciting, something that can delight customers. And oftentimes it’s those new, smaller companies or new to the industry companies and they hand up on a wait list. So we started the New Exhibitor Area and what do we have ,about 200 exhibitors?

Jeff McQuilkin:
Little bit less, 170 companies, and as a brand new company, they haven’t exhibited with us, they haven’t earned what we call points to be able to get in and have the priority to get in. So we save a certain amount of booths for them and it’s turned out to be one of the most popular areas of the exhibit floor.

Chris Blasinsky:
You can really spend a lot of quality time in there.

Jeff McQuilkin:
You can. And if you’re thinking about coming to the NACS Show, the first hour of the first two days of the expo, which would be Sunday and Monday, the 2nd and 3rd of October, is dedicated only to the New Exhibitor Area. You would go in directly from outside the convention center and you’ll see the entrance there by the shuttle bus drop off. You can go there starting as early as 10:30 and that’s the only game in town from 10:30 to 1:30, and then at 11:30 we open the whole Show floor up. So it’s great for these first time exhibitors because they get a dedicated audience and it’s great for the attendees too because they get to budget that extra time to spend with these guys in there with these new products and services.

Chris Blasinsky:
So staying on new products, I’ve been at NACS now for 17 years and one of my first NACS Shows we were in the infancy of the Cool New Products Preview Room where it was just some nice looking cabinetry and some products on top of it and if you blinked you would’ve missed it now. The Cool New Products Preview Room … you gotta go in.

Jeff McQuilkin:
That’s another one of the favorite destinations at the Show. This year it will be in the lobby and the main concourse at the convention center between our two main exhibit halls. There will be hundreds of products on display there. This area is not staffed by any exhibitor like you would see on the Show floor, it’s simply the product with some information and a QR code you can scan with your phone and it works like a two-way lead system. You will get information about the product, the product manufacturer will know that you were interested in their product as well. It’s a great way to see the absolute best and brightest and newest in a short amount of time.

Chris Blasinsky:
Usually we have over 300 or so different products.

Jeff McQuilkin:
High two hundreds at least. Everything from candy and gum to artificial intelligence, every product category that you would see on the Show floor is represented in some way within the Cool New Products Preview Room.

Chris Blasinsky:
And then every day, based on those scans, we will list the top 10 Cool New Products based on the scans from the attendees in the room. So it’s really cool to see that move throughout the day.

Jeff McQuilkin:
That’s always fun to watch. So between those two, between the New Exhibitor Area and the Cool New Products Preview Room, you will be caught up on what’s new and exciting in our industry.

Chris Blasinsky:
Being out and filming for Ideas 2 Go, which we will show during a general session, you see the things that we see at the Show and it’s neat to see everything come full circle. One of the big technologies that we see a lot these days is the self-checkout. Sticking on trends a little bit, as you see the exhibitors roll in, what do you think some of the hot stuff is gonna be?

Jeff McQuilkin:
Speaking of self-checkout, that’s gonna be one, cashierless technology. There’s a very big brand name retailer that will be at the Show displaying their just walkout technology. We’re really excited.

Chris Blasinsky:
I wonder that could be?

Jeff McQuilkin:
We’re excited to have them at the Show.

Chris Blasinsky:
Rhymes with ‘gramazon.’

Jeff McQuilkin:
Little mom and pop shop. Artificial intelligence is big in general and we’ll still see innovations in point of sale software, loyalty and reward software, inventory optimization software, all that in the technology area. If you want to talk about the in-store merchandise section, which is our largest product section of the Show floor by far, things that jump to mind are healthy snacks, especially plant-based snack offerings and healthy offerings, no surprise packaged beverages are still super hot, all kinds of innovation happening there with spiked seltzers, canned cocktails, energy drinks, still very popular. CBD products will be back at the Show, it’s all hemp-based and they won’t be allowed to be sampled, but they’ll be well represented there.
On the foodservice side, there will pizza and subs and chicken. You’re gonna see the trend with healthy and plant-based offerings and foodservice, and there will be a couple of name brand chains that are in the foodservice section this year for the first time or for at least the first time in a long time. And then fuel equipment, you’re gonna see products and services that are reflecting the emergence of EVs.

Chris Blasinsky:
I love walking through the car wash area. I love seeing everything spin and twirling. I mean, just wanna run through it.

Jeff McQuilkin:
That they can ship an entire car wash to get it set up in two or three days and have it running and then break it down in a day and ship it home.

Chris Blasinsky:
You’re primarily expo but we do have a pretty robust education offering and you and I have been working together a bit on this: We’re doing the NACS Food Safety Conference and we’re really excited about this because it is speaking to an audience that is underserved in our industry because we’ve never had a convenience retail specific event that focuses on foodservice and safe food handling before. It’s going to be October 1st from 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM, so before the expo opens, but during the education sessions. Some of the cool things about this are the speakers. We have Lone Jespersen, who’s helping build out the industrywide food safety culture model that we hope to release sometime next year. She’s gonna preview that. We have Dr. Ben Chapman, who’s going to speak on what we learned from COVID and how we can prepare for the next whatever it is, hopefully not another pandemic. And then we have Shawn Stevens, who’s a food industry and food safety attorney who is going to lead an afternoon of amazing discussion around things like recalls and how to make sure that your vendor partnerships are up to snuff. And then we’re gonna finish out the conference with a panel discussion with Jay Ellingson from Kwik Trip out of Wisconsin, Jeremy Zenlea from EG Group and Nancy Wilson from Wawa. So we’re really excited about that. And the reason that I brought this up is because you’ve noticed that over the years that the food safety element has been building up on our trade show floor, because these companies are recognizing that foodservice in our industry is growing at a fast pace and food safety, the two are the two are in tandem, you cannot do one without the other.

Jeff McQuilkin:
Absolutely. The c-store industry has unique challenges that it warrants its own food safety conference that address their specific needs rather than just the general broad topic of food safety. We’re super grateful to Ecolab for sponsoring the conference this year as will five or six other food service vendors with products and services that can help you meet your challenges.

Chris Blasinsky:
And on top of all the merchandise and all the fun stuff that we see at the Show, there’s also a very robust category management certification workshop that we’re having as well also on Saturday, October 1st. That speaks to the growth of new products, new packaging, and making sure that those types of products are front and center in front of customers, what the hot new trends are. That’s another pre-conference workshop that we’re having.

Jeff McQuilkin:
And it’s an important part of the total offer of why it’s important to come to the NACS Show, you’re gonna get caught up on education, on new products, on new services, on trends. You’re going to have networking opportunities, meet old friends, meet new colleagues and associates. So it’s all part of the package that we offer for four days in Las Vegas.

Chris Blasinsky:
I’m proud of the fact that this is a very fun event for sure. We internally even get surprised by the celebrities that we’ll see at different booths and all the excitement that they generate. But also we’re proud of the fact that this is a business event and our members are super serious about coming and seeing what’s new, making those connections and networking and bringing their teams out so that they can divide and conquer the trade show floor based on their jobs and their expertise and bring it all back and prepare and strategize for the next year of where this industry’s heading, what the trends are, what they need to be on the lookout for and make investments in moving forward. It’s four days, but it is a heavy four days and you better wear some seriously good walking shoes.

Jeff McQuilkin:
You’ll definitely get your steps in. And you’re right. I think we do a good balance of some social, some fun, but a lot of good business opportunities and good education opportunities as well to make it really worthwhile your time and effort to make the trip to Vegas.

Chris Blasinsky:
I’m looking forward to it October 1st through 4th at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas. To find more and to register, go to nacsshow.com. Everything you need is there, whether you’re trying to register as a retailer attendee or a supplier member. I will say we never talk about the numbers, we never give out registration that’s something we have to rectify after the event, but things are looking pretty good right now.

Jeff McQuilkin:
We’ll just say we’re very pleased so far.

Chris Blasinsky:
We hope to keep that momentum going and we’re looking forward to seeing everybody in Las Vegas for the NACS Show.

Outro:
Convenience Matters is brought to you by NACS and produced in partnership with Human Factor. For more information, visit convenience.org.

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