Page 7 - Informed 2018 Issue 2

retail is everywhere. This is what we’ve tried to weave into this programme. The chang- ing role of leisure and F&B as anchors is also noteworthy,’ Kistler said.
The Spanish Shopping Centre and Retail Parks Association (AECC) president Javier Hortelano de la Lastra, managing partner and director of Catella Asset Management Iberia, said that Spain also deserved its moment in the sun.
‘There are about 550 shopping centres
and retail parks in Spain today, represent- ing 1.5 million m2 of GLA, which is equal to around 350 m2 of space per thousand inhab- itants,’ de la Lastra said. ‘it’s one of the fastest growing economies in Europe, and that is being reflected in retail sales.’
Consolidating events
For the first time ever, ICSC combined
its annual European Conference with its European Outlet Conference, in a bid to ‘cross-pollinate’ the events.
‘Combining our annual European and Outlets conferences provides attendees the chance to explore shared issues, trends
and opportunities,’ said Kistler. ‘A larger scale event with more choice of sessions, more speakers and more ways to connect with colleagues will deliver a much
more valuable experience.’ He added: ‘We actually have double the number of speakers this year as we’re holding simul- taneous sessions to give retail specialists a broad range of tools to take on the future.’ The conference overhaul also introduced a pledge from ICSC to hold three consecutive annual European conferences in Barcelona, including this year. ‘This dynamic city is the right place to do that,’ Kistler said.
Key topics
As promised, the conference sought to stimulate with a pertinent programme of debates. These included ‘Crowdsourcing the Future’, chaired by event moderator Chris Grant, director of 14a Conversations. In real time, delegates opinions were harvested via
a combination of social media, the confer- ence app, and on-the-spot vox pops.
The global-local debate was effectively tackled by a prestigious panel featuring ICSC President & CEO Tom McGee and ICSC Chairman Kenneth Bernstein, Josip Kardun, ICSC European chair and Multi CEO, Union Investment’s head of investment man- agement Henrike Waldburg, and James Dophin, head of international cross-border retail & leisure at JLL.
One of the most popular sessions, however, was from a relative outsider – Kaave Pour, creative director of SPACE10, an agency which Ikea consults on creative matters. Sharing nearly 200 slides in 30 minutes, Pour challenged delegates to rethink their approach to everything, from brainstorm- ing techniques to harnessing digital tools to better understand customer desires. ‘Pour was great,’ said Kistler afterwards. ‘I think we can learn a lot from people beyond the sector or who work in parallel with what we do. We need to stop talking to ourselves and have the courage to step outside the box.’
In addition to the conference programme, retail study tours allowed attendees to explore the vibrant retail market of the Catalan capital, including sites such as Arenas de Barcelona, La Maquinista and Diagonal Mar. Commenting on the decision to also hold the next two annual conferences in Barcelona, Kistler said: ‘There’s been a real buzz here. People like being in Southern Europe and coming together in a dynamic city like Barcelona.
In 2019, we’ll be bringing RECon Europe, our retailer focused event, to Barcelona
as well. By this we can serve our members better. We can have a bigger budget, we can invite bigger keynotes, and that scale brings a real buzz. RECon Europe will add another six or seven hundred delegates into the mix, creating a significant step-change in the levels of energy.’
ICSC European Conference & Exhibition 2019 10-11 April
EXPERT VIEW
The most engaged Annual Conference on record
Dan Innes
If you’re looking for high spots in the Euro- pean retail property calendar during 2018, then look no further than Barcelona in April, when our industry’s leaders, movers and shakers gathered for the European Annual Conference. Bucking its recent promise to focus on quality over quantity, this year’s pro- gramme had both – with more pundits than ever before. Speakers from Union Invest- ment Management, Landsec, TH Real Estate, Mercato Metropolitano, Carmila and Gensler amongst others tackled the big questions such as ‘What next for the Retail Revolution?’, ‘Can Global Be Local? and ‘Communicating the Truth about our Industry’ – which included yours truly on a panel with ICSC, intu and CBRE Global Investors. For me the panel that stole the show was led by Unibail Rodamco Westfield’s Group CFO Jaap Tonckens seated alongside Klépierre’s Executive Board Chairman Jean-Marc Jestin, Hammerson CEO David Atkins and Patrick Kanters, Managing Director of Global Real Assets at APG.
The cross section of delegates from over 45 countries heard the latest on innovation and operations through to investment and mar- keting, with the crowd enthusiastically scrib- bling notes over the two days as well as sharing onto social media. This was the most engaging conference yet – driven by conference moder- ator Chris Grant, with some 1,143,000 reached using the #ICSCEurope hashtag – just one example of how the industry is successfully overlaying data and digital in this demanding world of bricks and mortar.
Dan Innes
Founder & MD, INNESCO. @DanInnes
ICSC INFORMED | NOVEMBER 2018 | 7