From The Editor | January 23, 2012

Inside Inspire 2012: Show Preview

monocello

by Mike Monocello, chief editor

In anticipation of RSPA (Retail Solutions Provider's Association) Inspire held next week in Costa Rica, I asked RSPA President & CEO Joe Finizio to give attendees a sneak peek at what to expect from the event. "Each year we try to make our executive level education session at Inspire better than the last," says Finizio. "This year, our education session ties into some of the initial work being done by the RSPA Business and Entrepreneurship Committee and will focus on business metrics." He goes on to explain that the marketplace has changed significantly in recent years due to new technologies which are providing and driving new business models. "This year's education at Inspire will address those new business metrics, provide comparisons to other successful companies, and give the attendees informational resources to better manage their respective business through this transition."

Additionally, the RSPA's board of directors will meet onsite. "The RSPA Board of Directors has a lot of strategic issues to address at our winter meeting," he explains. "For those unfamiliar with how we conduct our board meetings: typically the morning is spent on business and operational updates from the past six months with the afternoon session reserved for strategic planning. At the upcoming meeting, the updates are being provided prior to the meeting so that more time can be spent on strategic discussions. The objective of those discussions are to identify critical areas of need for our members and the industry then ensure that RSPA has an action plan in place to address those needs. Some of the topics at the upcoming meeting will be:

  • How to best address business opportunities with mobility
  • How to best understand and address mobile payments and the associated business opportunity
  • Understanding and addressing the impact of consumer tablets
  • How to best bring the value of RSPA Industry Certification to the marketplace
  • How best to bring traditional Retail technologies to other markets
  • How to best address business all opportunities in the entire Retail Enterprise
  • Identifying new technologies and business opportunities.
  • Ongoing plans to mitigate in negative impact of Payment Card Data Breaches

Business Solutions plans on covering Inspire throughout the week of Jan. 30. To catch all the news, visit BSMinfo.com/POS or follow Chief Editor Mike Monocello on Twitter at @BSMinfo.