ICR, Richard Jaffe, Shoptalk Host Retail Summer School at Columbia Business School

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ICR, Richard Jaffe and Shoptalk announced they will be partnering to host the 9^th Annual Retail Summer School at Columbia Business School. The event will take place on Wednesday August 2^nd, and is designed to educate and inform professionals and investors in the retail industry about the important issues and ideas that are impacting results and providing opportunities.

The event was created by former equity research analyst Richard Jaffe in 2008, and past speakers have included professors whose ideas on retail had been recently published, innovators in the areas of technology, IT and logistics, leaders of new, cutting edge retail concepts, and professionals who were experts in various aspects of retailing.

This year, the format of the event includes presentations, panel discussions, fireside chats and Q+A. This year’s preliminary agenda, “Retail Disruption and the Opportunities that Arise,” is as follows:

8:30am –	Registration & Check-In
9:00am –	Strategies for Dealing with Retail Disruption; Offense and Defense
	•	Dave Bassuk, Alexa Driansky, Matt Shapiro, Alix Partners www.alixpartners.com/
10:00am –	Bringing 21^st Century Innovations to Modern Brands, Retailers and Iconic Venues
	•	Mike Blandina, Westfield Retail Solutions www.westfieldretailsolutions.com/
10:40am –	Break
10:50am –	Two Views of Retail Investing
	•	John Howard, Irving Place Capital www.irvingplacecapital.com/
	•	Ben Sun, Primary Venture Partners www.primary.vc/
11:50am –	Lunch
12:10pm –	Growing and Supporting the Future Innovators and Disruptors of Retailers
	•	Pano Anthos, XRC labs www.xrclabs.com/
12:50pm –	The Personalized, Electronic Fashion Mall
	•	Jennie Baik, Orchard Mile https://orchardmile.com/
1:20pm –	Building Brands and Companies in the 21^st Century
	•	JB Osborne, Red Antler https://www.redantler.com/
2:00pm –	Break
2:10pm –	A Laboratory for the Future of Retailing
	•	Sharat Alankar, Walmart's Store N^o8, storeno8.com/
3:00pm –	Outlook on Retail; A “no holds barred” look at our current situation and look at what the future of retail might be built upon
	•	Mark Cohen, Adjunct Professor and Director of Retail Studies, Columbia Business School
	•	Kinshuk Jerath, Associate Professor of Business, Columbia Business School
4:00pm –	Conference concludes

About ICR

Established in 1998, ICR partners with companies to optimize transactions and execute strategic communications programs that achieve business goals, build credibility and enhance long-term enterprise value. The firm’s highly differentiated service model, which pairs capital markets veterans with senior communications professionals, brings deep sector knowledge and relationships to more than 500 clients in approximately 20 industries. Today, ICR is one of the largest and most experienced independent communications and advisory firms in North America maintaining offices in New York, Norwalk, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, Hong Kong and Beijing.

Learn more at www.icrinc.com. Follow us on Twitter at @ICRPR.