 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Shopping Centers Today -> December 2003
 PRINT THIS STORY: |
  CHANGE TEXT SIZE: |
|
LEADERS TO STUDY KEY TRENDS AT LEADING EDGE
BY DEBRA HAZEL
New Urbanism, new retail frontiers and shopping center design will be among the topics attendees will be discussing next month at ICSC’s second annual Leading Edge Conference.
The meeting, to be held Jan. 20-22, 2004, at the Ritz-Carlton at Bachelor Gulch, Colo., will give high-level professionals from around the world the chance to debate issues from inside and outside the industry and to predict trends in retail development.
“We get caught up in our day-to-day business dealing with the rearview mirror,” said Michael P. Kercheval, ICSC’s president and CEO. “We need to look forward.”
Selfridges Retail CEO Peter Williams will discuss how his London-based department store company achieved a rare turnaround by reinventing itself. New York Jets President Jay Cross will offer his views on the difficulties of development — in his case, a sports stadium complex in New York City. Cross will also update attendees on New York City’s efforts to attract the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.
The conference will feature a conversation with Jon Jerde, the architect behind such innovative projects as Horton Plaza, San Diego; and Universal CityWalk, Universal City, Calif.
As an update of the first conference’s session on the definition of “cool,” the “2004 Cool Report” will look at a wide variety of trends influencing the industry. Panelists will include Tinker Hatfield, senior director of advanced product design for Nike.
Other panels include a discussion of New Urbanism, featuring Rick J. Caruso, president and CEO of Caruso Affiliated Holdings, which built The Grove mixed-use center in Los Angeles; Tom Carter, principal at Trademark Property Co., a Fort Worth, Texas, retail development firm; Sheila Dixon, president of the Baltimore City Council; and Dick O’Connell, senior vice president of women’s retailer Talbots. The panel will be moderated by Roy Higgs, CEO and managing partner of Development Design Group, Baltimore.
“New Retailing Frontiers” will be explored by Adam Aaron, chairman and CEO of Vail Resorts, Avon, Colo.; Maxine Clark, chief executive “bear” of the Build-A-Bear chain; Cynthia Cohen, president of Miami-based consultancy Marketplace 2000; and Sheldon Klapper, president of the Center for Airport Management, Portland, Ore.; Paul Jacob, chairman of RTKL Associates, Los Angeles, will moderate the session.
“Entertainment in the 21st Century” will be defined by Ray Brown, senior vice president of Economics Research Associates, a Los Angeles consulting firm; Ronald Harwood, principal and creative director of Illuminating Concepts, a Farmington Hills, Mich., lighting design firm; Tony Kirton, vice president of brand development firm SHR Perceptual Management, Scottsdale, Ariz.; and Ian Watt, managing director of South African development firm Old Mutual Properties. Keith Thompson, president of Phoenix Theaters, Knoxville, Tenn., will moderate.
There will be some entertainment for the conferees too. The opening session will feature Atlantic Monthly national correspondent James Fallows discussing “How the Media Undermines Democracy.”
“This [program] represents the highest echelon, not just in development, but in city planning, architecture,” said Henry Beer, president of Boulder, Colo.-based design firm Comm-Arts and this year’s program chairman. Last year’s Leading Edge Conference drew more than 120 senior professionals in January, prompting the repeat this year.
 | Current Issue January 2009 |