Speakers

 

Bob Johnson Summit Opening and Closing

Mr. Johnson brings over 25 years of executive management experience, primarily in the technology industry, to The Pinnacle Corporation.  Mr. Johnson founded Pinnacle in 1990 and has served as its President since its inception.  Pinnacle, a leading POS and technology provider for the convenience store industry, employs more than 100 people and has deployed its technology to more than 200 clients, representing more than 10,000 convenience stores in the United States.  Prior to founding Pinnacle, Mr. Johnson served as Vice President and General Manager of Convenience Systems for Norand Corporation. Mr. Johnson is a frequent speaker at convenience store industry events and association meetings, and has written articles for numerous trade publications.  Mr. Johnson served as a member of the National Association of Convenience Stores Supplier Board of Directors for seven years, serving as its Chairman from 1994 to 1998.  Mr. Johnson received a B.S. in Computer Science and Psychology from Iowa State University.

David Murdock  Master of Ceremonies

Mr. Murdock is the Executive Vice President and part owner of  Honey Farms Inc., a chain of 35 stores located in Central Massachusetts.  The chain is made up of mostly traditional neighborhood convenience stores with the bulk of them located in the city of Worcester, Massachusetts.  There are ten stores that sell gasoline under the following brands:  Mobil, Exxon, Shell, Sunoco and Getty. Branded food offerings include Honey Dew Donuts, Dunkin Donuts, Subway, Beantown Coffee, D’Angelo Sub Shops and McDonalds.  There are two locations with touch less self serve car washes and all sites have ATMs from Sovereign Bank. Dave started his career at Honey Farms as a Store Manager in July of 1976.  In 1978 he became one of the company’s first store supervisors, overseeing 15 locations.  He was later promoted to Merchandising Specialist responsible for the chain’s product mix and store merchandising.  He moved into the positions of Director of Merchandising, Director of Merchandising & Marketing, Director of Store Operations & Marketing, Vice President, and in 1995 to his current position as Executive Vice President and part owner of the company. As Executive Vice President, Mr. Murdock oversees all aspects of the day-to-day operations of the chain.  Dave has been very active in the New England Convenience Store Association for over 20 years.  A former President of NECSA, he currently serves as the Chairman of the Massachusetts’s Legislative Committee and is a member of their Finance Committee.  Over the years he has served on their Education Committee, Long Range Planning Committee, and Board of Directors.  As a member of the National Convenience Store Association he currently serves on their Technology Council. Mr. Murdock and Honey Farms have been associated with the Pinnacle Corporation since 1995.  They currently run Oasis Manager Workstation; Journal Manager; Pricebook; Palm; PRM; EPM; POS Manager and Loyalink software in their stores and home office. Dave and his wife Lynn have been married for 32 years and reside in Holden, Massachusetts, a suburb of Worcester. They have three children, David Jr. (30), Patricia (27) and Michael (20).

Kevin Coupe Opening Keynote Saturday 8:15 - 9:45 am

Seven years ago, Kevin Coupe bought a new laptop computer, rented office space above a tavern, and set out to prove that retail journalism could be provocative, exciting, and even fun to read. Today, MorningNewsBeat.com boasts more than 24,000 subscribers from all segments of industry and all over the world.  Kevin’s quick, concise, and unique brand of “news in context, analysis with attitude” – including a healthy dose of irreverence for sacred cows – has created a website that is a must-read every business morning.  In addition, Kevin runs Coupe Communications, a production company that specializes in business videos designed to help companies define and share big ideas with employees, customers, and clients. Even after more than 20 years of writing about the food business, Kevin likes nothing better than getting on a plane or behind the wheel of his aging convertible and traveling to someplace he hasn’t been before, where he can eat the local food, taste the local beer or wine, and find out what makes the local retailers tick.  He’s reported from forty-five of the United States and from some two dozen different countries around the globe.  Kevin has also spoken at hundreds of conferences in the U.S. and abroad, has been a daily newspaper reporter, ran a winery tasting room, worked in a series of men’s clothing stores, acted in a major (if obscure) motion picture, once was a bodyguard for Farrah Fawcett, and even wrote a segment of the French animated series, "Barnyard Commandos."  In his spare time he has completed two marathons and recently learned to drive a Formula Dodge racecar; and, because he is a glutton for punishment, he just started taking boxing lessons. He is married with three children, and lives in Connecticut.

Rick Dakin Saturday 11:15 - 12:05 pm

Mr. Dakin co-founded Coalfire and is a Senior Security Strategist. He brings 20 years of system integrations, application hosting, and mission critical security management to the team.  He was previously the Chief Operating Officer for a global application hosting company with secure data centers located in Europe, Asia, and the U.S.  He managed outsourced mission critical operations for companies with combined annual revenue in excess of $3 billion.  He was also a significant contributor to the U.S. Postal Service bio-terror attack case study submitted to the U.S. Congress. Mr. Dakin is a nationally recognized authority with respect to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.  Mr. Dakin is a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) and has spoken at numerous industry conferences, webinars, and forums regarding risk mitigation, data security, and theft involving payment card data.  Mr. Dakin is the former President of the Denver chapter of InfraGard, a group from the information technology industry and academia which supports the FBI’s investigative efforts in the cyber arena.  Mr. Dakin was recently named a recipient of the F.B.I.’s 2006 Citizen Award for his efforts in IT security. Mr. Dakin is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and he holds an M.B.A. from the University of Oklahoma.

Michael Davis Sunday 1:00 - 1:45 pm

Mr. Davis is currently the VP, Member Services at NACS, The Association for Convenience and Petroleum Retailing, responsible for providing products, services, information, and advice to its 2,000 retail and 2,000 supplier members.  Mr. Davis spent a total of 14 years with retailers such as Toys “R” Us, Gap, The May Department Stores Company, and Jewel Food Stores.  He has over 15 years retail and consumer products management consulting experience with Clear Thinking Group LLC, KPMG Consulting, and Deloitte and Touche.  He also was a former NACS Retail member having spent 10 years as the owner/operator of MichaelAngelo’s & More, a convenience food and beverage store in Laurel, DE.

Ed Freels Sunday 1:45 - 2:45 pm

Ed Freels is the Chief Information Officer for WILCOHESS, LLC, based in Winston-Salem, NC, where he oversees development and implementation of technology projects for their 400 c-stores, travel centers, and restaurants spread throughout seven southern states.  A 13 year c-store industry veteran, Mr. Freels has operated c-stores, travel centers, and restaurants for Pilot Travel Centers and WILCOHESS.  He was the Director of Training for WILCOHESS for several years before assuming the role of CIO. Mr. Freels graduated with a B.A. in Communications from Carson-Newman College, Jefferson City, Tennessee.  He is also a graduate of the US Army Command and General Staff College.  He lives with his wife of 22 years, Wendy, and their two teenage sons in Kernersville, NC.

Jenny Bullard Sunday 3:00 - 3:45 pm

Ms. Bullard is currently responsible for all technology implementation and on-going support from store level to corporate level for Flash Foods, Inc., a chain of 180 convenience stores located in Georgia and Northern Florida.  She has 37 years of experience in the c-store business, including involvement in the design, development, and/or purchase of all software applications used at Flash Foods, Inc. Ms. Bullard is also responsible for all technology information systems for other corporations owned by The Jones Company, which is the holding company for Flash Foods--those include Fuel South, a petroleum company, Distribution South, a wholesale distributor for grocery products and Health and Beauty Aids, and Walker/Jones Chevrolet, a local car dealership. Ms. Bullard served as Chair of the NACSTech Conference for 2008 and will also chair the conference for 2009.  She also served as PCATS Chairman of the Board for 2008 and is a member of the NACSTech Council Committee. Ms. Bullard has received several honors and awards for her contributions to the industry, including:  Pinnacle’s 2008 Excellence in Collaboration Award, Pinnacle’s 2007 Excellence in Innovation Award, Pinnacle’s 2006 Outstanding Technology Achievement Award, the 2004 Convenience Store News Executive IT of the Year Award, the 2005 Pinnacle Hall of Fame Award, and Flash Foods received the 2003 Pinnacle Overall Excellence Award.

John Dilsaver Sunday 3:00 - 3:45 pm

John E. Dilsaver is the Chief Financial Officer for Rite Way Oil & Gas Co., Inc.  Rite Way Oil Co. of Omaha, Nebraska, has been in business since 1965 and operates or supplies product to more than 40 Shell Oil branded convenient stores in 3 states, Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota under the name SpeedeeMart. Right Way Oil & Gas Co. has always strived to be a most efficient company, a great place for employees to work and a pleasant location for our customers to trade.  With 160 employees, Rite Way Oil Co. operates 16 locations, 8 Consignment Dealers, 16 Open Dealers and 4 Transports. John is a Board Member of the Nebraska Petroleum Marketers, a member of the Shell National Wholesale Council, and a member of the Rotary Club of Omaha.  John and his wife Diane have 3 Sons and 1 Granddaughter and are members of the Saint Bernadette Catholic Church.

Nishat Mehta Sunday 3:45 - 4:30 pm

Nishat Mehta is Director of OEM Programs at MicroStrategy.  In his role, he manages relationships with all North American partners that leverage MicroStrategy's engine as their Business Intelligence solution.  He has been with MicroStrategy for over 11 years, during which he has worked closely with companies of all sizes in many verticals to help design their Business Intelligence architectures.  Mr. Mehta holds a Bachelors degree in Applied Mathematics and a Masters Degree in Computer Science from Harvard University.