The first time you do anything can be a bit scary: starting a new job, getting on a bike, flying in an airplane, trying a new recipe or getting up in front of a crowd all come to mind. The inaugural Coastal Connections Conference certainly was no exception. Going into the conference, I couldn’t help but wonder if we had made the right decision by launching an event specifically for this dynamic segment of the retail industry.
Any reservation I had went right out the window as soon as Cathy Donovan Wagner of RETAILMavens took the stage at Margaritaville Resort Orlando on the afternoon of Jan. 22. I looked at the crowd of retailers as she was speaking and saw nodding faces, relating looks and note taking everywhere I looked.
I’ve been to many conferences over the years where the audience is afraid to share or ask questions. That was not the case at the Coastal Connections Conference. The crowd, containing retailers from 13 states and the Virgin Islands, was not bashful. During a session called Creating Coastal Connections, panelists and the audience openly shared suggestions on employee training and customer loyalty programs.
Speaking of trying new things, we also developed a unique session model with vendors who were exhibiting during the last day’s The Boardwalk event. We designed an entire session, called The Boardwalk Chat, around the exhibitors sharing trends and product offerings one-on-one with Seaside Retailer Publisher Karen Carr. Attendees provided feedback that the session was extremely helpful to them when it came time to do their buying the next day at The Boardwalk.
