Conference programme covers wide range of channel topics. Speakers from multiple research houses and consultancies delivering wide range of content sessions

ANTONY, PARIS, FRANCE, February 9, 2016 /EINPresswire.com/ -- DISTREE Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) has confirmed the full line-up of workshops and summit sessions at this year’s regional channel event, which takes place from February 24-27th in Monaco. The line-up features a number of organisations speaking at DISTREE EMEA (www.distree-emea.com) for the first time including BVOH, Early Metrics, European Hardware Association (EHA), Futurecandy, Rude Baguette and Zyme. All delegates attending DISTREE EMEA have the opportunity to register for sessions, which are then included in their personalised agenda.

Alexandra Sinson, Event Director for DISTREE EMEA 2016, commented: “As an independent event, we are committed to bringing in a wide variety of speakers from multiple analyst firms, research houses and consultancies. This allows delegates to stay up to speed on the latest channel trends, explore new business areas and benefit from accessing multiple perspectives on key topics.”

Event Partner GfK will hold a series of workshops, a lunch briefing and deliver a keynote presentation during DISTREE EMEA 2016, providing valuable insight on consumer technology market trends across EMEA. The full line-up of workshops and summits taking place at DISTREE EMEA 2016 is listed below:

BVOH: European Online Marketplaces - Hosted by Oliver Prothmann, President at BVOH. The German Federal Association of Online Trade is a recognised expert on the European online marketplace landscape. Get an in-depth understanding of how important marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay and others now are for consumer technology channels and how vendors, distributors and retailers should engage with the online giants running these trading platforms.

Consumer Tech Retail Around the World - Globetrotting consultant and retail analyst Ryan Mackey returns for his perennially popular ‘Retail Around the World’ session. A great opportunity for vendors, distributors and retailers to get up to speed on the latest retail concepts and models revolutionising consumer technology sales around the world. Get inspired and get new ideas for your business in 2016.

CONTEXT: Channel Sales & Pricing - Hosted by Howard Davies, CONTEXT. Dig deep into European channel data trends in this workshop session. CONTEXT collects both sales and pricing data at every point in the supply chain and provides fact-based detail of total end user consumption; complete margin visibility; and real channel sales figures for both its B2B and retail clients. Hear the latest market trends and updates from CONTEXT executives.

DISTREE Exhibitor Briefing - Hosted by the DISTREE team. This kick-off session for exhibitors features a series of concise presentations by DISTREE’s team of regional experts. Each presentation will bring exhibitors up to speed on conditions in each region, channel trends, key market players and provide them with valuable background information ahead of their one-on-one meetings at DISTREE EMEA. The DISTREE team of experts will also be able to answer specific questions related to their area of regional expertise.

Early Metrics: Identifying Top Start-Ups - Hosted by Sébastien Paillet, Founder, Early Metrics. Early Metrics specialises in rating start-ups and innovative SMEs. Its in-depth business analysis processes give it a unique perspective on what marks out a winning start-up. For distributors and retailers, identifying successful products early and engaging with high potential companies is key to their success. This session will help channel partners understand how to identify and analyse new brands and hot products early in their development cycle.

EHA: European Consumer Survey Results - What do Europe's consumers really think about new tech hitting the market? Hear the findings from the European Hardware Association’s (EHA) latest consumer survey covering nine countries. This session will look at consumer purchasing intentions for 2016 and focus on four of the focus categories at this year’s DISTREE EMEA: drones and connected toys; wearables; smart home products, and audio. EHA will also present the latest ‘Best Practice’ tips for product launches in Europe.

Futurecandy: The New Rules for Consumer Interaction - Following on from his keynote speech, Nick Sohnemann, Founder at innovation consultancy Futurecandy, will expand his vision on what the future holds for the channel and also answer questions from attendees. When multichannel models, IoT and personalisation collide, we will all need to identify new ways to create, maintain and sustain consumer and customer relationships.

GfK: Cross Channel Management – A Question of Relevance - Hosted by Ines Haaga, GfK. How to address the customers with the right channel mix? Which product mix is needed channel by channel? How to create a seamless customer experience across channels? This workshop is key for understanding and managing the channel landscape. Offering the customer choice is a key element in developed markets. GfK will illustrate recent channel and category trends enabling you to optimise your channel performance in B2B, B2C and e-tail channels.

GfK: Future of Distribution & Supply Chain Management - Hosted by Isabell Strohofer, GfK. How is distribution able to improve its importance within the supply chain? How is the channel landscape shifting due to e-tail and online services? Are vendors still using the supply chain or switching to direct sales models? This workshop is key for understanding the distribution and channel landscape of this decade and provides you with all the relevant information for improving your business model and ROI in 2016 and beyond.

GfK Lunch: Market or Hype? Megatrends 2016 - Hosted by Carolin Weinmann, GfK. 'Smart' is no longer enough for selling. Relevancy is key for any success in developed markets. GfK is evaluating the relevant trends for markets, channels and technology. You will get in depth insights about opportunities for increasing your ROI in 2016.

Quadmark: New Channel Structures - Hosted by Michael White, General Manager at Quadmark. Consistently rated as one of the top speakers at DISTREE Events, Michael White from Quadmark will once again identify some of the fundamental changes impacting channel structures for consumer technology in EMEA. This session will cover a wide range of topical issues and explore how vendors, distributors and retailers will need to adapt in 2016 to changing market models.

Regent: Insight into M&A Activities of the IT Sector in Europe - Moderated by Pradip Somaia, Partner at M&A advisory specialists Regent Partners LLP. Somaia will share with delegates a detailed insight into the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activities of technology Industries covering numbers of transactions done, valuation trends and hot sectors. Somaia will also give an overview of how to develop a successful M&A strategy. Vendors, distributors and retailers looking to either sell or acquire business units will find this session invaluable.

Rude Baguette: The New Rules for Building Brands - Hosted by Liam Boogar, Editor at Rude Baguette. Liam Boogar will host an extended workshop session focused on the future of the start-up landscape in Europe, the rise of smart products and what it means for traditional channel and retail models. Liam is a thought leader on the European start-up ecosystem, being interviewed in online, TV, and radio all over the world.

Russia 2016: Challenging Year Ahead - Hosted by Igor Snytko, Executive Director, Ocean Solutions. While all experts predict that 2016 will be another challenging year for ICT market players in Russia, there are always opportunities. It is necessary to plan resources appropriately to sustain economic viability, invest in innovative operating models and carefully work on value propositions that keep up to date with customers’ aspirations. Regional expert Igor Snytko will explain the situation for 2016 and provide advice on how vendors can adapt their market approach in Russia & CIS to maximise sales, while minimising exposure to risk. A 'must attend' session for vendors, distributors and retailers operating in the Russia & CIS markets.

Smart Channels Summit hosted by CONTEXT - The Smart Channels Summit will bring together vendors, distributors and retailers to discuss how the consumer technology channel in Europe is evolving to deliver smart technologies, IoT solutions and services to consumers and create demand.

Where Next for Wearables in 2016? - Hosted by Laurent Eymard, Co-Founder & CEO, RED DOPLHIN. Demand for wearables continues to grow. Wearables expert Laurent Eymard from Red Dolphin will lead this in-depth session looking at wearables trends and predictions for EMEA channels. The session will also feature live demonstrations of some of the latest wearables products, designed to help distributors and retailers to identify which wearables categories hold the most potential. This session also includes a dedicated wearables presentation from Jan Wassmann, Global Product Manager for Wearables at GfK.

Zyme: How to Optimise your Channel in 2016 with ‘Channel Data Management’ - Hosted by Nick Andrews, Zyme. Consumer technology companies annually hand over billions of dollars of goods and services to global distributors and retailers. Using these channels is essential to their business models, but the sales and inventory data that flows through these channels has historically been difficult to manage. As partner networks become even more integral to the growth and profitability of these companies, the pressures to reduce costs and drive efficiencies in this area increases. This workshop will explore how Channel Data Management (CDM) can help companies gain control of their channel data, and will include a case study example from B&O Play, a Zyme customer who is implementing CDM and working towards the real ROI benefits that complete channel data accuracy and visibility provides.

DISTREE EMEA gathers senior executives from vendors, distributors, retailers and e-tailers in one place at one time, creating a wide range of business benefits for all attendees. In addition to the workshop programme, each delegate has the opportunity to pre-schedule a series of one-on-one meetings at the event tailored to their precise business needs.

Sinson continued: “The combination of one-on-one meetings, workshops and presentations at DISTREE EMEA is designed to ensure that delegates get real value from their participation at the event. We believe that this year’s line-up of workshops and summits will provide valuable business intelligence and also help delegates evolve their businesses to ensure continued market success in 2016 and beyond.”

About DISTREE Events

DISTREE Events specialises in the planning, organisation, staging and management of ICT & CE channel events. DISTREE Events is a Paris−based company owned by Infopro Digital. The team at DISTREE Events has successfully organised such events for more than a decade, gathering more than 10,000 senior executives from 160 countries during that time. DISTREE Events spans the entire EMEA region, Asia-Pacific and Latin America with employees based in Paris, Dubai, Moscow, London, Singapore and Sao Paulo. For more information, visit www.distree.com or follow us on Twitter @DISTREE_Events

Liam McSherry
DISTREE Events
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