GMDC to Leverage Connect Platform at Health, Wellness Event

GMDC will again leverage its GMDC Connect platform, powered by Telepresence during its Health, Beauty, Wellness Conference to enhance the productivity of attendee meetings at the event, which will be held in San Antonio, Texas from Sept. 21 through Sept. 24.

GMDC will also be holding virtual SEC appointments that were introduced at the 2012 General Merchandise Conference in Orlando, Fla. this past June. The introduction of Telepresence at the GM Conference allowed members not attending in person to participate in top-to-top level meetings to discuss new products, merchandising concepts and future business plans.

“Telepresence is both effective, and also very efficient for us as a retailer,” said Bill Anderson, group VP at H-E-B. “GMDC Connect enables us to be more productive, to include more people, and take an immediate look into what suppliers and manufacturers have to offer.”

Peter Fahrenkopf, director of sales, Shurtech Brands LLC, who met with H-E-B during the GM conference, said that broadening the scope of the meetings and having the ability to include more executives for face-time with his customers was very beneficial. “This technology will extend our reach to incorporate virtual connections to company headquarters or even more remote locations, so that our brand and product story can be communicated directly by our team to our customers,” he said.

“We anticipate HBW12 to be the best yet,” said Dave McConnell, GMDC president and CEO. “For a second conference in a row, our members this year at Health Beauty Wellness Conference will experience all the success and enhancements that were offered at GM12. GMDC has also implemented improvements to our Telepresence capabilities through the positive feedback of our members to continue to increase our levels of engagement, bring a ‘feel real’ through the best quality of equipment, and deliver new levels of participation with executives across the country. This is simply a conference where the right buyers are connecting at the right time, in the right environment.”

GMDC (Global Market Development Center) is a trade association dedicated to serving general merchandise and health beauty wellness retailers, wholesalers and suppliers.