NRF Foundation loves it when there’s an opportunity for students to get an inside look at what’s happening in the retail industry. The industry is so innovative, so fast-paced, so interesting! We couldn’t have been more thrilled to hear that students from University of North Texas’ Merchandising Programs were able to participate in Shop.org’s Annual Summit in Dallas last month. At the conference, students tweeted in the Keynote Sessions, were on hand to help with the Concurrent Sessions and Boot Camp, and worked the EXPO Hall Tour Desk.
We contacted several of the students and asked them to share more about their conference experience, what they learned, and — my favorite question of all — what’s their dream retail job. Here’s a profile of one student, Kirsten Key, and several more to come!
University of North Texas students at Shop.org’s Boot Camp
(from left to right: Nick Wood, Sarah Jones, Kirsten Key, Kimberly Staples)
Name: Kirsten Key
College/University: University of North Texas
Hometown: Greenville, Texas
Graduation Year: August 2011
Degree: Double Major, Merchandising and Digital Retailing
Why did you attend the Shop.org Annual Summit in Dallas?
I am very interested in the digital side of the fashion industry. It was a great honor for Shop.org to allow us as students to come and help out. It was a great learning opportunity.
What were you hoping to get out of your involvement?
Learn more about the industry and what is really going on everyday with in it, and to network with hopefully future employers.
What was your favorite session? Why?
I really enjoyed the breakout sessions about customer/consumer experiences. I had no idea that all these companies had these programs on their websites to enhance the customer experiences; it was very new to me. I was shocked to see some of the advances in technologies that retailers are now using.
Did you have a favorite speaker?
I really enjoyed Glen Senk from URBN — he was very inspiring.
What was the most exciting thing you saw or learned?
All the new technologies I saw that retailers are using online to enhance their customer experience, such as virtual fitting rooms from your webcam.
What did you learn about the industry that you didn’t know before?
Honestly, I did not realize how much time, research, and effort it takes to create a great customer friendly webpage.
What other fun things did you do while in Dallas?
We walked around the Gaylord Hotel; it is an amazing place. We also went to some great restaurants around Grapevine.
What’s your dream retail job?
I really love everything about this industry. However, Texas is my home, so I hope to one day work at a corporate company located here such as Fossil, Michaels or JCPenney.
Read the profiles of other of University of North Texas students: Kirsten Key, Ran Huang, Julie Wilkinson.
