Australia’s premiere industry event for the convenience channel, C&I Expo 2016, kicked off on 16th August. Organised by C&I Media, a division of The Intermedia Group in Australia, this year’s C&I Expo was held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre and FMCG Business* has the highlights.
For the first time, the Australasian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS) joined C&I to present two action packed days of trade shows, seminars and networking opportunities for the convenience and impulse retailers. The Expo also provided the opportunity to browse the latest products and services from more than 120 exhibitors free of charge.
The Convention Sessions featured leading industry figures who inspired and delighted. Speakers at the AACS Leadership Summit on Wednesday morning (which was sold out) included Scott Hartman, President of Rutter’s USA; Craig Urquhart, CEO of Nightowl convenience stores; and Leo Pucar, GM Consumer Sales, Caltex Australia. The overall theme of the expo was “Inspiring change” and retailers walked away with fresh ideas, a new perspective and a renewed enthusiasm for convenience.
Thursday morning’s C&I Retailers Breakfast included a fully catered cooked breakfast and four innovative and successful convenience retailers shared their success stories.
Convention Session presenters include Lou Jardin MD of Spar Australia; Oliver Sargent partner, Pricewaterhouse Coopers; Jeff Griffiths, MD of Endeavour Petroleum and Dr Gary Mortimer senior lecturer – advertising, marketing, and PR at QUT Business School.
Safa de Valois, Commercial Director and Publisher of C&I Retailing said: “Since C&I and AACS have come together this is now the industry’s main and biggest event, and with the opening of the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre at Darling Harbour, C&I 2017 will be even bigger and better!”
More than 500 people attended the AACS Leadership Summit and Gala Awards dinner. Both of these events were fully booked.
The C&I team provided live updates throughout the events on social media channels, including Facebook Live video streaming. Attendees also got involved by using the hashtag #ciexpo16.
*See FMCG Business magazine (September 2016) for full coverage of the event.
