Speakers & Keynotes

Stephanie joined Shelby in January of 2014, but has spent 29 years in business to business trade media, and more than 26 years in the vertical supermarket channel working for such titles as Supermarket News, Grocery Headquarters and Food People.

Stephanie earned her Bachelor of Science in Journalism from Kennesaw State University in 1990, but primarily works on the business side of publishing involving marketing, advertising and industry relations.

In her current role at Shelby, Stephanie travels the country engaging with retailers, wholesalers and suppliers regarding editorial content and integrated trade communication strategies. She also creates and maintains alliances with our industry’s largest trade associations and holds a seat on the Board of Directors for the Women Grocers of America.

Prior to being appointed President and CEO, Mr. Ferrara served as NGA’s Executive Vice President and chief lobbyist, responsible for representing the Association and its members before Members of Congress, federal agencies, and the executive branch on a wide-variety of issues while also overseeing the NGA’s political and grassroots affairs, including the NGA Grocers PAC.  In addition, he had responsibility for NGA’s communications, marketing and membership departments.  Mr. Ferrara was also responsible for working closely with and maintaining an excellent relationship between NGA and its national and state trade association partners.

Having first joined NGA in November 2005, Mr. Ferrara brings a wealth of experience in the grocery industry having managed his family’s century-old supermarket in New Orleans before the store was ultimately destroyed in Hurricane Katrina.  Greg holds a BA in Political Science from Loyola University New Orleans and is a fellow of the prestigious Institute of Politics at Loyola University.  He is a graduate of the US Chamber of Commerce Institute for Organization Management (IOM) and is a graduate of the NGA Executive Leadership Program at Cornell University. He is an Eagle Scout and is an avid outdoorsman who enjoys camping and cooking.  He and his wife Nicole are the proud parents of two children, Matthew and Katelyn.

During his career John has served as President, Inmar Promotions network; CEO, IPG Shopper Sciences; and President, IPG Emerging Media Lab. He has held leadership positions with smaller independents and larger retailers like Home Depot, in roles ranging from CMO, store management, merchandising, advertising, marketing and e-commerce.

John’s experience spans many industries and areas of focus. He’s worked in operations; merchandising and marketing; new, traditional and digital media; and analytics and big data for some of the largest brands in the world, including Coke, P&G, Schwab, Publix, Walmart, Chrysler, Fiat, Sony, Bose, Google, AOL, and so many more. He has also helped launch and grow some of the world’s largest propriety brands at retail.

He is the co-author of the Google Book ZMOT: Zero Moment of Truth, and author of the recently-published Fire in the Zoo, a book about shopper influence, marketing mania, retailer chaos, advertising pitfalls, consumer confidence, converting customers and how screaming at people usually doesn’t work.

John is a champion of data-driven decision making, shopper-focused marketing and active listening.

John has BA, BS and MBA degrees from Tulane University in New Orleans, and serves on a number of retail industry boards, including Food Marketing Institute, National Grocers Association, Consumer Goods Forum, and Inmar. He and Marie, his wife of 25+ years, live in Atlanta, where they have three kids and too many pets.

An entrepreneur by nature and an executive in practice, Pete believes great companies are built one idea, one customer, and one employee at a time. When it comes to his business philosophy, Pete believes strongly that a unified platform is the future of retail technology, that retail platforms should be free of bulky technology stacks and messy integrations, and that retailers should strive to make a customer’s experience easy, seamless, and identical no matter where the transaction point may be. If you were to ask him, he’s “in the business of making his retail customers more competitive and their customers happier.”

Bill Alford is president and founder of ILH Group and has the designation of LPC (Loss Prevention Certified) and is a lifetime member of the Loss Prevention Foundation.

Bill has over 30 years experience in the supermarket industry. Much of his early career was spent creating and directing loss prevention programs for companies such as Bi-Lo, Harris Teeter and Kash n’ Karry Supermarkets. For the past 20 years, Bill and ILH Group have specialized in helping independent retailers enhance profits through reducing opportunities for losses and waste and improving operational processes.

As the president of ILH group, Bill served as the Loss Prevention Consultant to the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) and works with many other retail trade groups such as National Grocers Association (NGA) and the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers (CFIG).

Parks spent most of his career with SUPERVALU working in merchandising and his latest position as a Sales Director. He has extensive work experiences with both big and small Independent Retailers and Regional chains.

Tim is based out of Richmond, Virginia and is a Key Account Executive for FMS, responsible for business development in Eastern U.S. and Canada.

As a consultant for Zebra’s North America retail and hospitality organization, Tim identifies industry trends that may impact Zebra and our clients. Tim and his colleagues develop strategies that embrace and leverage change, and empower customers to creatively utilize leading edge technology and service solutions to enhance business critical systems, leading to distinct competitive advantages.

Tim’s vision and experience help retailers address issues ranging from inventory visibility and accuracy, to e-commerce fulfillment. He identifies emerging trends like IoT and analytics to assure both Zebra and its clients are prepared to take advantage of solutions that utilize these technologies.

Tim started his expansive career with IBM where he worked with some of the largest retailers across North America. He has held sales professional and sales leader positions with several of the world’s leading technology companies including Fujitsu, Ingenico, Symbol and Toshiba.

Tim earned a BA in English from Bridgewater State College.