LPRC - Episode 30 – The History of IMPACT ft. Fred Becker (Bloomingdale’s) & Dave Magersupp (Verizon)

Episode Date: August 29, 2019

For this week’s episode, we have two special guests! Fred Becker (Bloomingdale’s) and Dave Magersupp (Verizon) discuss the history of LPRC IMPACT, what to expect at this year’s event, the sig...nificance of IMPACT on the industry, and more, with co-hosts Dr. Read Hayes (LPRC)and Tom Meehan (CONTROLTEK).  The post Episode 30 – The History of IMPACT ft. Fred Becker (Bloomingdale’s) & Dave Magersupp (Verizon) appeared first on Loss Prevention Research Council.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Hi everyone, welcome to Crime Science. In this podcast, we aim to explore the science of crime and the practical application of this science for loss prevention and asset protection practitioners, as well as other professionals. Co-host Dr. Reid Hayes of the Loss Prevention Research Council and Tom Meehan of ControlTech discuss a wide range of topics with industry experts, thought leaders, solution providers, and many more. On this episode, we have Fred Becker of Bloomingdale's and Dave Madrasup of Verizon Wireless discussing the history of LPRC impact, what to expect at this year's event, the significance of impact in the industry, and much more. We would like to thank Bosch for making this episode possible. Use Bosch Camera's onboard intelligent video analytics to quickly locate important recorded incidents or events. Bosch's forensic search saves you time and money by searching through hours or days of video within minutes to find and collect video evidence. Learn more about intelligent video analytics from Bosch in Zones 1 through 4 of LPRC's Zones of Influence by visiting Bosch online at boschsecurity.com. Welcome back, everybody, to another episode of LPRC and UF's Crime Science Podcast.
Starting point is 00:01:06 science podcast. I'm joined today as always by my very able co-host Tom Behan, longtime practitioner and control tech executive. Today we're honored to be joined by two longtime LPRC participants and planners and executors. One, I'd like to introduce Fred Becker. He is a very executive at Bloomingdale's in the asset protection department and then also we're joined by his cohort Dave Magersup as well from Verizon and I want to welcome both those gentlemen today because they both are key members of the impact planning team and their band gets back together every year and we're going to talk a little bit about the history and tradition of the impact conference and its roots and then a little bit about how the LPRC
Starting point is 00:02:01 impact planning works and makes it all happen and continues to make it better and better and better every year and then what's coming up and how the world you might get involved in something like LPRC impact so welcome Tom and I want to see if we can welcome Fred and Dave today to science all right so what I'd like to do is let's kind of peel over and talk a little bit about the I think probably unfortunately I'll probably have to start with myself because I have a little more of that experience than you guys do but our earliest event was in 1995 brains 95 We ran one in 96 and 97. And Brainstorm was, to a certain extent, what you see today.
Starting point is 00:02:50 But the real idea was to get LP, there were a couple of AP out there, but LP vice presidents or directors together, and they would each ask to bring their key subordinate with them. And then we also invited solution partners to come in. The first time that the use of solution partner or was used to our extent or the solution provider actually in that day, up until then, it was pretty much vendor for anybody that manufactured or sold or provided solutions to the LPAP practitioners. And myself and our tiny team thought, wait a minute, you know, I'm not sure that vendors is adequate and certainly not very descriptive and maybe even create some barriers for some.
Starting point is 00:03:35 So let's go ahead with solution provider or partner. And, I mean, we had an amazing attendance. There were a lot more retail there, but I think we were on the order of 80 chains. Walt Disney World hosted, at no charge, Brainstorm 95.7, and then really the first three, maybe four impacts we did that started in the early 2000s. So just a quick rundown of brainstorm leading to impact conference. So what I thought I'd do is maybe go over to you, Tom, and I know we've got some questions we wanted to ask Fred and Dave today about impact. Yeah, thanks, Reed.
Starting point is 00:04:16 Thanks, Fred and Dave, for joining. This is really out to either of you guys. This is really out to either of you guys. So Dave, if you want to take it first, and then Fred, give a little bit of history of your involvement with the LPRC and impact. And because there's two guests, I mean, Dave, if you want to start and then Fred answer after, that'd be great. Sure. So good afternoon, everybody. So I believe this is my fifth or sixth impact I've been to over the years. I started out as a regional loss prevention manager with Verizon and before that Circuit City
Starting point is 00:04:55 and had my first interaction with impact through Circuit. Not heavily involved out of the gate initially, but had the opportunity to become more involved over time and really saw extreme value in the partnership that impact develops between retailers and solutions providers and the academic world, the research scientists that are looking at our industry and helping us make it better and more effective. And I was really intrigued by that. And as I moved over to Verizon and became part of the team here, I wanted to take on a much larger role within that space. And that was the opportunity that landed for me in becoming part of the planning committee for the impact conference. Great. Thanks, Dave. How about you, Fred, to give the listeners a little bit of your
Starting point is 00:05:48 involvement and where it started for the LPRC and impact? Sure. I'd say I've been probably, it's probably been about 12 years or so that I've been involved with the LPRC. So in a role, previous role where we were doing a lot of mix from a shortage perspective, we were doing a lot of surveys and analysis on technology. And then we kind of learned a little bit more about the LPRC and how we could leverage the LPRC as well as work with other retailers to come up with bigger solutions.
Starting point is 00:06:29 I mean, pooling resources and adding more data to try and, you know, utilize our service providers to come up with the best solutions just made sense. So as we got more and more involved, we started to get more folks from our organization at the time involved, learned a lot from the LPRC and just started participating and realized the value that it brings to the organizations that are involved. So, you know, right from the beginning, you know, we bought in and we saw the value. So we started with initial – I started with initial learnings and how to leverage what we're doing with projects that were in tandem with the LPRC. And then, you know, as time evolved, being more and more part of of impact planning committee and all the different working groups great thank you and again because there's two guests
Starting point is 00:07:33 normally we have one guest the format's a little bit different today but I think these most of my questions are really relevant to both of you and probably because you have similar but different backgrounds it would make sense if you both answered but one of the questions that I often get asked and I think is a big question that comes up is how does impact differ from other industry conferences out there so Fred or Dave whichever whoever wants to take that just first I would think the listeners would really love to hear we have a lot of listeners that are new members or not even members yet. And often the question comes up of, well, what's different? I'm already participating in all these other conferences. So this is Dave. I guess I can
Starting point is 00:08:15 go first, Fred, if you don't mind. But coming off a conference that I actually put on up here in Atlanta and being part of the Impact Conference, I feel the two are very similar in the fact that they both provide a true learning experience when you when you come there and experience the event itself. I've been to many other events around the country and won't name them by name but in a lot of ways they they feel very fluffy and very, if you will, a dog and pony show. And that, to me, is not what I'm looking to spend my money on when I want to invest in an event for my team.
Starting point is 00:08:54 And I truly love the way when we come to impact, we walk away with actionable data, actionable steps to take within our own organizations. We learn from other organizations that are there, best practices that they are using and have had success with, and the solutions providers typically bring the best of the best to this show and allow us access to the latest and greatest technology out there that we can all leverage and take advantage of. So it's always a win-win. We never walk away feeling like we spent money that shouldn't have been spent.
Starting point is 00:09:36 And it's a fun experience and a great learning experience. Yeah, I think I'll echo that. You know, there's value in different conferences that are out there, certainly. I don't know that, you know, every conference is for everyone, though. And I think that's the, one of the value, values of the impact conference is that there's something for everyone. And it's a totally different approach because we're not someone relating experiences, which is what you find in some of the conferences out there.
Starting point is 00:10:12 And there's nothing wrong with that, right? There's some great conferences out there. But I think when you take the science of it, when you look at it from a perspective of multiple retailers partnering with solution providers in tackling problems, right, working on, you know, all the working groups, working through the projects and trying to find solutions, and then impact is, you know, a big portion of impact is the culmination of all that work throughout the year and uh learning um from that and you're hearing from a solution provider side by side with a
Starting point is 00:10:54 retailer um or you're learning about something new to the industry it's you know when you take it from a science perspective data um i i think it provides a lot more learning than you would get elsewhere. So I think that's one of the reasons why it is the fastest growing conference in the industry. And every year, year in, year out, it just gets bigger and better. And I think this question leads into that kind of. So, Fred, I think you had mentioned you'd been involved for several years, more than 10. How does the LPRC or more importantly, impact, how's it changed over the years? What's different in the last few years from when it started?
Starting point is 00:11:36 And, you know, I don't know when your first impact was, but what do you think of the evolution and what's the message that you'd send to the listener? Sure. Well, you know, my personally, you know, I started learning more about LPRC and then participating. And then I was a co-leader on the video analytics working group and then started participating in the impact planning conference. And then I started participating in the Impact Planning Conference. So I certainly have lots of opinions on how it's evolved over the years, and it's all been very positive. So I'd say about 10 years ago, it was this much smaller group, but was a much bigger group than five years before that. And I think just watching the evolution over time, going from the LPRC working on 20 projects a year to 80 projects a year over the years, 80 projects a year over the years and then going from I think my first conference was about 70 or so attendees to 400 so year in year out it's just getting bigger and better every year with more participation from retailers
Starting point is 00:12:57 and service providers more everybody working on additional projects, more funding, and then thereby at impact, there's a lot more to learn. So, you know, you get out of the LPRC what you put into it. And with everybody putting in so much effort, I think as an industry, we're getting a ton out of it. So again, you know, it's just that growth year in, year out. Every year I go and I learn something. And I have the advantage of hoping from an impact planning perspective. But what I look forward to the most every year is impact because of the things to learn. And the other piece of that is there's something for everyone, whether you're the pyramid head or you're a district person or a corporate person in an organization,
Starting point is 00:13:56 there's something there to learn from. You know, let me ask you guys a little bit about how you put the content out. We know it's all about the experience, but mostly about the take-home here to our members, the LPAP community get better and better at what they do, but do that with the evidence-based practice. So, our research, we call it SP SDP again, science practice is put out. Maybe if I could ask you putting that content, what does make a difference there and how is it different than some of the traditional models that we do like, do enjoy and do get a lot out of, but it's how is it different at MPAC? Sure, I'll go first. Well, I think, I think, you know, we set very clear
Starting point is 00:14:59 forms around all the different types of content that go into it, and like I mentioned before, there's got to be something for everyone, right? So it can't be, you know, everyone should go and learn something. There's got to be takeaways. The worst thing you do is go to a conference and you really didn't grow. You didn't walk away with more knowledge. So that's a piece of it, something for everyone. The other is it has to be relevant, right? So it's got to be relevant to the topics of today, right? So, you know, you always, you know,
Starting point is 00:15:28 today the agenda reflects some of the big things that are happening today between a cyber, there's cyber security, there's active shooter, there's violence, violent apprehensions. There's all these things that everyone talks about. And, you know, from a content perspective, we try to weave those into the agenda. And then, you know, we're there to talk about the progress of the project.
Starting point is 00:15:57 So what are we working on as a group or the working groups? What are they working on and what are the findings? Or the working groups, what are they working on and what are the findings? And then it's got to be tailored to the audience from a retail perspective. So, you know, we have solution providers and we have retailers. You know, it's you have to walk away with something that you can place in your day-to-day professional life. I totally agree with Fred. I think I've found my experience with impact has been the whole relevancy piece has been so much more unique, if you will, than it has been at other conferences I've been to. I think we are definitely keeping a good pulse on the heartbeat of what's going
Starting point is 00:16:45 on in the loss prevention industry and what we can do to help address security and safety for our employees and our customers much more so than many others have. I also think the difference is the way we take projects that have been, you know, basically in development throughout the year, and we report out on those through the learning labs that are done at the conference. And I have the privilege of being on one of those learning lab presentations this year, and it's been fun watching the project develop throughout the year and now be able to report out to our peers in the industry on what we've done
Starting point is 00:17:25 and how it might be able to positively impact their own world through the work that we've done with you guys at the LPRC and the folks here at Verizon throughout the year. So much different way of delivery than I've seen at most other conferences. Sounds good. I appreciate that, Dave. And as you can see with science practice, we're trying to put it out in new and interesting ways, more engaging ways, because at the end of the day,
Starting point is 00:17:52 the participants have to go back and really put the pieces to work to make a difference with theft, fraud, and violence. Tom, let me go to you. Let me turn on you for a second because you've been to impacts. You've been involved in impacts as a as a practitioner now as a solution partner you know what have you noticed at impact impact what's different what's useful you know how do you get your your content there and how do you engage now with her with practitioners your partners trying to fight theft fraud and
Starting point is 00:18:23 violence yeah so I definitely different setting from the social provider side now with your practitioners, your partners, trying to fight theft, fraud, and violence? Yeah, so it's definitely different sitting from the social provider side and the aspect that obviously when you're going there, you're looking to really develop solutions and gather. But I would say that impact in general is about collaboration and education. And one of the things that I think where it really differs from the concert, a traditional conference is that everybody is bought in and everybody is participating to help solve problems. So it's much more of a learning environment and a collaborative learning route, regardless of whether you're a solution provider, someone with law enforcement, someone from academia or a retailer. The idea is just getting people together to solve some common problems that aren't easily solved. So that's kind of my first piece of it.
Starting point is 00:19:12 And then taking the science to practice approach and really either from a retail or a social provider side, and I can really wear both hats. You know, when you think of the learning labs, if you're a retailer, you're going in and you're hearing what's, you know, best demonstrated practices that are working and they're science backed in environments that are similar to yours. And if you're in a solution provider, you're getting a sneak peek into some of the challenges and problems and listening to it in a much different format to help develop better solutions. And I often say that the learning labs are one of the things that makes it different.
Starting point is 00:19:48 It is not a typical breakout session. And even the posters when you walk the floor are about actually science-backed research projects for things that occurred. It isn't what I think is a great way to solve a problem. It's not what Dave or Fred thinks. It's what all of us think together. And we actually tested that, whether it be in a lab store or a lot of times in a full
Starting point is 00:20:13 rollout. So I can say that, obviously, I'm biased and it's my favorite conference for a whole bunch of different reasons. But even through the years, I think when everybody that goes uh as long as you put something into it you leave learning something you leave uh learning something and you also generally are going to leave having a new contact or a new point of view um and it's just a resource i mean i often even even as a solution writer when I leave impact I have a whole different viewpoint of what's going on in the industry or even some of the common
Starting point is 00:20:50 plague problems with ORC what are people trying you know a robbery thing what are people trying what is working what's not working and it really helps because stuff and I really appreciate that, Tom. It really is designed, going back to, I know Fred was touching on this, that the integration of all the parties that need to be there are there, and they're working together throughout the year in the working groups at LPRC, and then getting together at some of the summits, and then finally at the end of the year, getting together for impact. we grew from 50 a year to 100 a year to 200 and so on. We'll be over 400 this year, presumably, executives getting together.
Starting point is 00:21:32 But working elbow to elbow, I remember LPRC being founded in 2000, and it wasn't really until about 2004 or 2005 when the VPs of Laws, Finishing, and Asset Protection did on the Board of Advisors to, wait a minute, let's bring solutions, excuse me, partners in as full-time members, full-on members. Let's work elbow to elbow with them. It's not a selling environment. It's a relationship and problem-solving environment and community. And that's really what IMPACT is.
Starting point is 00:22:00 IMPACT isn't a conference. It's a place to solve problems and to look over all the research evidence that's going on to date. We're working on over 60 projects now. We'll probably showcase at least 25, 30 projects, the results, the implications, how do you use them in your different environments. And, you know, I mean, clearly Rite Aid, Walgreens, CBS environments are different than Blooming's, Nordstrom, and Macy's, which are obviously totally different than advanced auto parts and so on and on. So that's what we're
Starting point is 00:22:30 trying to do. Let me go back over to Fred. You're the leader. You're the leader of the LPC impact planning team. You've been that for a while. What's the planning team do? What are you all trying to do, and how do you do that? Sure. So the planning team comprises, just like you would see at Impact, you have the LPRC team, some solution providers, and then retailers. So what it is is everyone just throwing their experiences in what we think is important for our industries into a pot and let's figure out what's important, right?
Starting point is 00:23:15 So the impact planning committee perspective, we're focused on what the content is, that's a big part of it, right? What projects are we going to present? What's going to benefit the most folks? What is the most interesting? What's relevant to today, as we discussed before? So that content piece is really important.
Starting point is 00:23:40 And we have full participation from the group. So the LPRC team is putting everything together and they're doing the interviews and crunching the data, working on the presentations, but we're also the retailers involved from a presentation perspective and the solution providers. And then in fact, planning committee, we wanna make sure it hits the audience the right way.
Starting point is 00:24:04 So, it's not a, it's objective, there's learning, it's interesting, it's fun, it's interactive. So, one of the parts I didn't mention before is that, you know, we want to make sure it's interactive. It's not just somebody up on a stage talking to you. There are sessions like that, right? So, we have some great speakers, but a lot of the learning labs and other sessions are interactive learnings and discussions. Like you said, how do we fix this? And then there's the logistical operational pieces of the conference. So, you know, how do we make it fun and how do we move people through and have the best
Starting point is 00:24:43 experiences? How do we do something different? So every year we want to change. It can't be the same thing every year. Otherwise, you know, it gets stale. So the content's got to be updated. It's got to be fresh. We've got to have some different ideas, maybe have some customer panels or some offender panels. Or, you know, we talk about something we haven't in the past, a new technology so every year we try to you know keep it different so the
Starting point is 00:25:08 impact planning committee really goes through all those pieces and organize it and you know we break up into subcommittees and focus on you know what is what are the events going to be and how do we execute those the logistics and operational pieces content so it's a pretty complex perspective, but there's a really good team there putting it all together. That's excellent. And Dave, let me, if I could go over to you,
Starting point is 00:25:35 I mean, some behind the scenes, what are you all doing on the impact planning team? What are some of the processes you use? I know obviously regular conference calls WebEx's business and things like that what are you all doing how do you do it what's the result yeah so pretty intense interactions between the the group of us that are on the planning committee we meet every other week for an hour to just to talk about updates what we've got going on on the content, the
Starting point is 00:26:08 sponsorship committee, which I'm a part of, the overall logistics and planning of the event itself between the LPRC team and us retailers and solutions partners out there in the field. We've come up with a good game plan on what we believe the audience or the participant is going to want to hear from the event and taking our theme, Science to Practice, and really trying to capitalize on that and make sure that the theme runs throughout the event and that the takeaways that we gain from the event are ones that these organizations can take back to the folks in the field that weren't
Starting point is 00:26:52 able to attend and put those into practice. So it's a lot of effort. Like Fred said, there's a ton of logistics that go into making these things happen. And it's a pretty talented team that I'm, you know, very honored to be a part of that does this every other week. And as we get closer to it, we'll be getting together face-to-face and meeting in Gainesville to come up with our game plan on day of and day before type of logistics and things like that. So a lot of work, but a lot of fun work, and I really enjoy it.
Starting point is 00:27:33 Thanks. I want to thank you all and how great you are as a planning team. It's amazing. I know you all get better and better and better each year and have a blast while you're doing it. It's a pretty nice tight team. It has a good time as well as being highly productive.
Starting point is 00:27:51 And we all know that when it comes to using theft, fraud, and violence, we've got to get it right. We're going to use rigorous research. We're going to collaborate with all parties. We're going to vet things. We're going to do it right. Tom, you touched on the testing and how critical that can be in real-world environments as well as now some of the really cool simulations. And I want to give everybody out there a heads up
Starting point is 00:28:15 what's coming up. We start on that Monday, September 30th this year. You're going to see the impact planning team, by and large, have come in on Sunday. We mobilize all kinds of student groups. We've got faculty coming over. The LPRC team, the interns that we've got will be moving and grooving throughout that week. You'll see Monday throughout the day we'll have events going on. The LP Foundation is having a learning day on On that Monday October 1st I'm sorry the the 30th of September. We're going to have a golf outing that we have every year at iron work Country Club also on the September that Monday the Board of Advisors for the LPRC will be having a breakout in
Starting point is 00:29:03 Throughout that time period. We have a VIP strategy at reception for number ones that will be taking place. We're going to do some exclusive tours of the brand new LPRC Innovate, the next retail center, the ideation space, the mixed reality space, the simulation space, and so on. We go to the main reception over at the main research lab. See probably 250, 350 executives having a blast with all kind of good music drinks inside the new lab and outside. So it's a good time.
Starting point is 00:29:41 We go all day Tuesday. A ton of content with the learning lab breakouts. We have poster sessions with all kinds of research projects. Stage, we've got neat things on cyber. We've got neat things, active sailing. We've got those things happening that evening. We've got the ever-popular cool event, social event up in the swamp with the best barbecue. Live southern rock music, and
Starting point is 00:30:07 good times are had by all. And that happens on Wednesday, culminating with offender interviews. We've also got shopper interviews around fear of crime. We want to understand better how we get and keep good customers, even at nighttime, parking lot and inside. But anyway, it should be an amazing amazing at 2019 LPRC in fact we love the everybody involved Fred mentioned a little while ago whether you're the vice president or senior
Starting point is 00:30:34 director or director or senior manager or manager and so on district AP regional we've got something for you and the different learning lab breakouts the posters and stage and all the tours and things going on around campus. So I want to, on behalf of UF, on behalf of the LCRC producer, Kevin Tran, I want to thank you, Tom Meehan. He's done a super job of co-hosting and planning with us on crime science. co-hosting and planning with us on Crime Science. And then, of course, I want to thank you, Fred Becker and Dave Magersup, for all your insights and all you do.
Starting point is 00:31:14 And thank you, listeners out there for Crime Science. Have a good week. Thank you. Thanks for listening to the Crime Science Podcast, presented by the Loss Prevention Research Council and sponsored by Bosch Security. If you enjoyed today's episode, you can find more Crime science episodes and valuable information at lpresearch.org. The content provided in the Crime Science Podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for legal, financial, or other advice. Views expressed by guests of the Crime Science Podcast are those of the authors and do not reflect the opinions or positions of the
Starting point is 00:31:41 LPS Prevention Research Council.

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