Virtual Schedule

11:00 am – 12:15 pm

Opening Session and Keynote with Colette Carlson

The Connected Leader



Successful, effective leaders recognize the need to authentically connect on a human level, whether virtually or in-person, to create influence and impact. Connected leaders model courageous behaviors that create a culture of clarity, transparency, inclusion, and accountability, even in the most challenging times. In this engaging, uplifting, and research-based program, attendees will master their ability to communicate and connect on deeper levels, creating an environment where people thrive.

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm

Ready for Impact: Real Stories from the Digital-First Frontier

Lisa Montgomery, Verba VitalSource

Panelist: Aaron Ochoa, UC Davis Stores

Course materials delivery is being transformed as digital-first models scale rapidly. Digital-first programs are revolutionizing the course materials experience for students and changing the business model for campus stores. In this session, we take you inside digital-first programs through the lens of those they impact. You will hear from students, faculty, librarians, administrators and other key stakeholders as they share the human side of these changing delivery models. Get ready to collaborate with your campus store peers during this interactive session and strategize how you humanize your course materials business at your institution.

You’re Welcome: A CX Strategy (Previously recorded)

Following up from last year’s top-rated session, Jennifer Goetsch teaches how to turn your exceptional customer experience into your competitive advantage by finding unique surprise and delight moments.

Equip Your Store to Tell A Better Story

Presenter: Jeff Nelson, NACS
Do your supervisors and campus administrators really understand what you do, how you do it, and why? Are you equipped with the data and tools that can provide a detailed account of your current status? Come and see a new "measuring stick” your store can use to evaluate operations. No longer a theory, the NACS Foundation Industry Standards Project will introduce a new, practical tool that can help you better assess your store’s operations, advocate for resources, and tell your story more effectively.

1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Virtual Trade Show

2:30 pm – 3:30 pm

How to Quickly Adapt Your Store and E-commerce Site in a Changing Environment

Facilitator: Rick Curtis, MBS Textbook Exchange

Learn simple ways to update your website, processes and continue to build your vital e-commerce sales channel. Join a panel discussion about how to maximize the cornerstones of e-commerce success on your website: site maintenance, robust web traffic and online sales, easy ordering and fulfillment, and online store promotions. Take a closer look at how campus stores quickly adapted their e-commerce sites to thrive amid fast retail and educational industry changes.

TikTok: A World Exploding with Joy and Inspiration

Facilitator: Robb Faust, NACS

Find your store's voice and tap into endless discovery and trends on TikTok. This session includes previously recorded video clips and examples from Symonne Hornaday, a brand manager with TikTok for Business, and offers resources and links to build awareness, explore where your opportunities lie, and start creatively connecting with your customers.

Collegiate Licensing Panel

Facilitator: Shelly Schrimpf, Assistant Director of Campus Retail & Licensing, Lope Shops, Grand Canyon University, AZ

Panelists: Travis Cochran, Director, Brown Bookstore, Brown University, RI Michael Jastorff, Director, University Bookstore, Black Hills State University, SD Gregg Zarnstorff, Director of Trademarks and Brand Protection, NC State University



PANELISTS NEED YOUR INSIGHT - COMPLETE A QUICK SURVEY

4:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Connection Roundtables

Join stimulating breakout groups based on your topic of interest, meet colleagues, and make connections.

11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Perspectives on Affordability

Facilitator: Ashley Hilton, Weber State University

Panelists: Robert Butterfield, University of Wisconsin-Stout

Michael Schenk, Cengage

Ed Dillon, Nebraska Book Company

Ryan Petersen, Follett Higher Education 

Unpacking the massive topic of "affordability" in one hour may not be ideal; however, the panelists in this interactive session will be guided by provocative and exploratory questions to share their experiences, roles, and insights. Hear challenges, options, and opportunities as it relates to course materials affordability and how stores can be active participants in the strategic discussions happening on campus.

Getting Extraordinary Results from Ordinary People

Guest Presenter: Tom Shay, ProfitsPlus.org

With limited staff and tighter budgets, how do campus stores find (and keep) good employees? In this featured session, discover invaluable ways to build the team of your dreams. Join guest speaker Tom Shay, a fourth-generation retailer who has tested and proved these ideas in his business. Learn practical, actionable ways to help ordinary employees become extraordinary!

12:30 pm – 1:30 pm

The Affordability Paradox: Profit, Student Choice and Academic Outcomes

Presenters: Ed Dillon and Adam Krings, Nebraska Book Company

Panelist: Kurt Kaiser, Colorado State University

Explore how to navigate the affordability paradox affecting all institutions. Walk through a complex matrix of course material options and how they impact students' buying decisions, including factors such as store profit expectations, academic retention goals, learning outcomes, graduation and employability. Share experiences managing the difficult balance of affordability versus profit and consumer choice versus academic freedom.

New Expectations, Markets, and Models: The Reshaping of Higher Education

Guest Presenter: Richard P. Keeling, MD

Short-term thinking imagines a post-pandemic future, but longer term trends accelerated or empowered by the pandemic are on the horizon, if not already on the agenda, for presidents and leadership teams across higher education. Taken together, these trends have the potential to, and likely will, invert the usual power structure of institutions and how they make decisions..

• Expectations of flexibility: the pandemic opened the door to remote work, virtual and blended learning, and demands for flexibility from faculty, staff, and students. Being competitive in hiring and retaining faculty and staff — or in recruiting and keeping students — will mean redefining and stretching flexibility.
• New, Emerging, and Non-traditional Markets: without enough traditional age undergraduates to go around, who else will be looking for post-secondary education? And what will they want? Flexibility again: certificates and new credentials, new forms of being student-centered, sensitivity to the volatile specifics of shifting student interests and goals.
• Innovative Models: not just “brick” or “click” anymore. Outcome-based education may overturn usual academic delivery structures; competing providers with nimble service models may make it difficult for traditional institutions to keep up. 

1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Virtual Trade Show

2:00 pm – 3:30 pm

Vendor Mini Sessions

• From Adoptions to Selling: How Your Store Can Better Manage Course Materials to Save Time and Manpower

        Presenter: Cathy Slane, MBS

• Getting the Most from Your Course Materials Stock

        Presenter Michael Goodwin, Texas Book Company

Speedy Sprints (previously recorded)

LGBTQIA+ Products & Resources

Merchandise On Demand

Top Trade Show Trends

Spotlight on Faculty Watch

LEAN Process Management Quick Tips

What to Expect at TAC 2022

Leadership Tips & Resources

• LEAN Process Management
• Clay Ludlow, Cedarville University Bookstore
  
• Software Tools to Maximize Productivity
• Aaron Johnson, Vindy
  

4:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Inventory Management in Turbulent Times (previously recorded)

Connection Roundtables

Join stimulating breakout groups to discuss relevant topics, meet others in similar size stores, and make long-lasting connections.

11:00 am – 12:00 pm

NACS Federal & State Policies Update

Presenter: Richard Hershman, NACS

This session will provide a timely overview and discussion on public policy issues and proposals that directly impact college stores. Additionally, it will take a look at trends and forecasts for state policies which may affect course material access and delivery.

Buckle Up! The Rollercoaster Continues Its Wild Ride

Guest Speaker: Tracy Knofla, High Impact Training

The past two years have been described as a rollercoaster in the world of campus stores. There have been highs and lows and twists and turns. This session will help you raise your arms, give a good scream, and enjoy the ride. What does it take to get someone to raise their arms on a rollercoaster? Trust, bravery, a willingness to try, peer pressure, and likely, a bit of craziness. In this fast-paced and interactive session, we will explore what it will take to get you to raise your arms during the new normal of this rollercoaster ride. Grab your ticket, hop on board, and buckle up to feel the thrill of success that will follow!

12:30 pm – 1:30 pm

How to Run a Successful Tech Store

Presenter: Rick Crowe, UCLA Computer Store

Marketing through a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Lens

Presenter: Mandy Zawila, Hope College Bookstore

1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Virtual Trade Show

2:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Walking the Line: OER, IA, Digital and the Impact on College Stores

(previously recorded)

Course resources have seen monumental changes in the last decade; changes that formerly would have been seen once in a generation, now seem to come at a rate of one to two per year. Industry disruptions like the move toward digital, inclusive access (IA), open educational resources (OER) and the impacts of COVID-19 have not only forced us to change the way we do business, but they've threatened the very existence of the college store. Controversy abounds and the retailer is often put right in the middle of the debate. Is the college store in danger of extinction? Are the issues we face insurmountable? Is it hopeless for us to make a difference on issues that are not of our making? The answer to these questions is NO! With extensive experience working in the OER space and as a textbook affordability advocate, join Bob Butterfield, Director of Instructional Resources at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, for a breakdown of some of the biggest obstacles facing college stores today and hear strategies that have been effective in his more than ten years as a leader in providing course resources.

Virtual Learning Lab: Visual Merchandising

Facilitator: Robb Faust, NACS

Products, fixtures, displays - oh my! Even in the virtual space, this session will use creative tools to bring attendees together for image reviews, quick reaction polls, group discussions, and fun activities to give you ideas and best practices for creating appealing displays.

Virtual Learning Lab: Sticky Note Collaboration

Facilitator: Jeff Nelson and Jennifer Sader, NACS

In an unique learning space, attendees will work together to achieve tasks and participate in meaningful discussions. Using virtual sticky notes, you will be able to add your best practices and experiences to larger virtual spaces, collaborate with what's shared by others, and reflect on key CAMEX takeaways.

3:30 pm – 4:45 pm

Closing Session and Keynote with Brant Menswar

Building Bridges: The Fastest Path to High Performance

The world has changed. The difficulty of the last year has increased the need to perform at the highest level…NOW! High performing organizations share 3 powerful traits: a united purpose, focused collaboration, and enduring resiliency. The challenge is we attempt to achieve these things by addressing behaviors rather than the real driver of performance…our non-negotiable values. The truth is we perform at our best when we care about the work and feel like we can make a meaningful contribution.

In this highly-interactive session, Brant will use data collected from a brief online pre-session assessment that reveals the five non-negotiable values of every CAMEX participant. The data is brought together to create a collective "Values Map" for our community. Learn how to build bridges between personal and organizational values through a specific framework for action. You will experience laugh-out-loud moments, introspective opportunities and a clear path to better self-awareness, unique contribution, stronger adaptability and extraordinary performance.

4:45 pm

VIRTUAL EVENT ENDS