Top Speakers at 2012 ABC Spring Educational Conference & Trade Show

Bob Negen of WhizBang!

The 4th annual All Baby & Child Spring Education Conference (ABC SEC) is taking place at the South Point Hotel Casino & Spa, Las Vegas, on April 25 - 27.

Conference speakers, panels and workshops are planned to provide conference attendees access to the latest topics and industry trends, government regulations that may directly affect them, information about where the profitable opportunities lie based on direct feedback from attendee’s peers, and discussion on what is working and what is not working in today’s marketplace.

The following industry experts are scheduled to appear at the conference:

Bob Negen
Bob is an expert on retail staff development, on-the-floor selling, store operations and developing a customer-focused, service-driven store culture. Bob delivers only proven, practical, down-to-earth ideas that really work. There’s no fluff, no high-falutin’ academic theories, no corporate mumbo-jumbo. His expertise comes from his real world experience as an independent store owner for twenty years.

Jon Schallert - "Destination Business" strategy

In 1999, Bob formed WhizBang! Training with his wife Susan Negen, an accomplished retailer in her own right. Bob now shares his hard-won knowledge so that other retail store owners can more quickly and easily turn their passion into profit.

Jon Schallert
Jon Schallert teaches businesses and communities how to reinvent themselves into “Consumer Destinations.” Jon speaks to thousands annually on his proprietary 14-step Destination Business strategy which he developed after more than twenty-six years of on-site consultations with small business owners.

Phil Wrzesinski
Phil Wrzesinski is president and owner of Toy House and Baby Too, a long-time retailer recently named one of “The 25 Best Independent Stores in America” in the book Retail Superstars by George Whalin.

Phil Wrzesinski - runs one of “The 25 Best Independent Stores in America”

Phil’s presentations have routinely been praised for their simple, yet effective lessons that retailers are using to grow their business and increase profits. Phil is also a juvenile products retailer and knows firsthand the struggles faced to reach new customers year after year.

Penny Redlin
Penny Redlin, President of Insights Discovered, has over a decade of marketing experience. She holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and has marketed for companies both large and small. Having spent several years marketing within the children’s products category and being a mother herself; she has a personal understanding of what moms are looking for and the professional experience required to a unique combination of insightful advice and marketing expertise. She is also a monthly “Business Sense” columnist for The Giggle Guide, www.thegiggleguide.com.

Scott Krueger & Neal S. Cohen
Scott Krueger has spent thirty years in the Juvenile Industry. In 2005, he and his partners launched Westwood Design, now one of the fastest growing furniture companies in the industry. Westwood’s focus is on engineering and design, and has brought innovation to the furniture business. Scott serves on the JPMA Board of Directors and on the JPMA Certification Committee and knows the challenges of dealing with the new CPSIA first hand.

Neal S. Cohen is the Small Business Ombudsman at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The Small Business Ombudsman develops plain language guidance specifically tailored to small businesses and small-batch manufacturers. He serves as an internal resource at the CPSC for the Commission and staff to learn about what is happening in individual industries regulated by the CPSC.

Colleen PrekstoColleen Preksto
Colleen Preksto is co-founder and General Manager of Caddo Marketing and Logistics, a San Antonio-based firm that specializes in serving the juvenile retail industry.

As a retail management consultant, her clients have included Target, NetSuite, NetRadio.com, and Custom Homebuilders. For the past four years, Colleen was Vice President, Operations, for BornFree, Inc., the groundbreaking BPA-free baby bottle company, recently sold to Summer Infant. Colleen has extensive experience in leading companies to build and improve their branding, identity, messaging, interactive presence, exhibition marketing, and socially enabled selling strategies.

Baby Carrier Industry Alliance (BCIA)
Baby Carriers: Practice Safe Sales - what retailers need to know about regulatory compliance and safety is scheduled as a panel discussion of retailers’ regulatory compliance responsibilities under CPSIA, what they should expect from manufacturers, and best practices in selling baby carriers. The panel, which includes representatives from ERGObaby, Baby K’tan, and Moby Wrap, as well as Neal Cohen, CPSC Small Business Ombudsman, will also discuss babywearing safety and the new Sling Carrier Safety Standard, ASTM F2907.

For a complete scheduled of conference topics, times and locations, go to http://www.allbabyandchildsec.com/schedule.asp