Already this year ECRM has seen its biggest Session in its 30-year history (its February Generic Rx Session), and has sold out some of its upcoming Sessions. Indeed, one could say that ECRM’s transition back to fully in-person Sessions for 2024 has been very well received.

In April of 2020, when the pandemic shut down the industry, ECRM shifted to virtual meetings — initially using Zoom, then in June 2020 launching its proprietary platform, ECRM Connect, and its Sessions remained virtual through the middle of last year. Because of this, many brands and buyers new to the industry may not be familiar with ECRM’s in-person experience, and the close engagement between suppliers and buyers of a specific category afforded by its variety of networking opportunities.

Now back to its first full year of in-person Sessions, the ECRM team has incorporated many new aspects to its experience to drive even more engagement among participants.

A Different Kind of Industry Gathering

For those not familiar with the company, ECRM’s Sessions offer a different experience than one would expect at a typical expo or conference — and this is the chief reason it refers to its gatherings as Sessions (with a capital “S”) instead of events. “We like to think of ourselves as an extension of a retailer or foodservice operator’s buying team,” says Sarah Davidson, senior vice president of sales for ECRM. “It’s not a treasure hunt like you would find at an expo; it’s extremely high-touch and very curated so that buyers are meeting with as many qualified brands as possible during their time with us.”

There are 78 Sessions in 2024, covering pretty much every major category of product you would find in a supermarket or drug store. Each is designed to ensure that the right buyers are connected with those brands that meet their category needs and objectives by providing tons of opportunities for quality facetime together.

This facetime is broken up into two parts: First, there are the highly curated, private, prescheduled face-to-face meetings between buyers and brands, during which there are no distractions or interruptions. Prior to a Session, ECRM’s team members learn each registered brand’s products and capabilities and then match them up with the buyers’ needs and objectives for the category, creating a schedule of meetings in which buyers and sellers are perfectly aligned. The number of meetings can range anywhere from 20 to more than 50, depending on the size of the category.

There are three types of meeting spaces brands can select when they register:

• Planning Sessions: These are 20-minute meetings held in private rooms at the hotel — either sleeping rooms with the beds removed or small ballrooms.
• Innovation pipeline. These are 10-minute meetings held in a ballroom. Each supplier gets a 10-foot by 10-foot pipe-and-drape space that they can set up however they like.
• Discovery Hub: These are also 10-minute meetings that are held in ballrooms, only instead of pipe and drape booths each brand gets a tabletop. This is for first-time participants and is an economical way for new brands to get the ECRM experience.

Suppliers can set up their meeting space however they like, from simply having their products sitting on the table to a setup that includes signage and displays, all of which are shipped to the hotel beforehand and waiting at their meeting space when they arrive. There are no freight companies to deal with; suppliers ship their packages directly to the hotel or resort, and ECRM’s freight team brings the packages directly to their meeting space.

“The goal is to provide a fully turnkey experience for both the buyers and sellers,” says Davidson. “We take all of the busywork off their plates so that they can focus 100 percent on their meetings and networking. Buyers and suppliers know in advance who they will be meeting with, and we give them tools and resources in the ECRM portal to help prepare for their meetings. Suppliers don’t need to purchase an elaborate booth or do any marketing beforehand to attract buyers, since we are bringing the buyers to them.”

One new initiative for ECRM this year is grouping several related categories (for example, the center store categories of snacks; candy; and sauces, spices and condiments) together at one location. This is much more efficient for buyers who cross several categories, plus it enables more opportunities for serendipitous connections during networking functions.

Two to Three Days of Pitching

The core of each Session — what all of the participants come for — is the face-to-face meetings between buyers and sellers, which take place in the meeting spaces assigned to each brand. During the meeting times (generally from 8 am or 9 am through 5 pm), buyers go from one brand’s meeting space to another for their pre scheduled appointments, during which the brands pitch their products. To ensure that every meeting begins and ends on time so that each participant gets their full time allotment, ECRM has client service representatives (CSRs) at each of the meeting spaces. The CSRs are the point of contact for suppliers and buyers in case they need anything. If for some reason a buyer is late or misses a meeting appointment, ECRM’s scheduling team will reschedule it for later that day or the next day.

Each registrant is provided with an iPad so they can access the ECRM Portal during the Session, which has their up-to-date schedule as well as information about the location, amenities, ECRM contacts and information related to the people they are meeting with. They can also use the portal to take notes on each of their meetings, assign follow-up time lines, and even rate each meeting.

“The key here is for each Session participant to get their full allotment of time for every meeting, and that no meetings are missed,” says Davidson. “We’ve all been to a trade show where we get lost in a conversation and have to miss or cut short a later meeting as a result. Our Sessions are designed to prevent this from happening. The CSRs let them know when a meeting is supposed to begin, and give them a heads up when they have to start wrapping it up.”

Networking and Education

In addition to the meetings, participants have ample opportunity to connect and build relationships throughout each Session. All meals are included in both buyer and seller registrations, and are held in ballrooms, with live entertainment at dinner. There are also occasional store tours, and offsite dinners at top local restaurants or venues. In addition, there are always those casual meetings that occur when participants bump into each other in the hospitality lounge or around the hotel.

“The overall goal is to keep the participants together at the Session location, so that they can engage with each other beyond the meetings, and we provide more of these opportunities now than ever before,” says Davidson. “We’ve had some suppliers land accounts from a buyer they shared a table with during dinner, for example.”

ECRM Sessions also offer several opportunities for education, primarily in the form of thought leadership presentations from industry experts or panel discussions featuring buyers. In addition, most Sessions now include roundtable discussions. These consist of several concurrent tables — each touching on a key industry topic — during which buyers and brands have casual, off-the-record moderated conversations about the challenges and opportunities around each topic. During the hour-long segment, each participant has the opportunity to sit through two rounds of discussions, each on a different topic.

The Fun Committee

Last year, as ECRM geared up for its 30th anniversary return to in-person Sessions, it established an internal task force it referred to as The Fun Committee. Composed of cross-functional team members from different divisions, the group sought to take ECRM’s historically high level of service to a new level, and insert memorable moments throughout each Session.

Some of the resulting initiatives are more overt, such as the two Second Line Parades in New Orleans in which registrants were invited to participate, culminating in an offsite reception at the House of Blues (one of which was a massive 30th anniversary party). Others are a little more subtle and personal.

“We’ll do small things like celebrating milestones of those participants who are coming to their 5th, 10th or 20th Session, or providing welcome tours for first-time attendees,” says Davidson. “But it’s also about enhancing the regular interactions with our customers that happen throughout the Session. We always have a ton of staff on site at our sessions, and so we want to ensure that an outstanding personal touch to everything we do is a part of the experience.”