The first event of NRF - the ‘reception’ was hosted by Wincor-Nixdorf at the Gotham Hall (very cool place on Broadway and 36th) and was interesting.  I’m really concerned about the attendance at NRF this year and, ultimately, the relevancy given the economy and the state of affairs within the retail sector.  The place tonight was pretty packed, but it seemed to lack cohesion.  I realize that this is a sort of strange statement considering that I’m talking about a party, but previous years seemed to have a sense of …

As I mentioned in a previous post, NRF is coming up and, for those of us that have been in the retail technology space for a number of years, this is a big deal.  It’s the one show that tends to draw important retailers and important executives.
With that in mind, I’m going to be doing a couple of things as NRF gets closer:

Posting on some topics of importance for 2009 in retail security
Posting to tools, articles, and other areas of particular interest to retailers that are getting ready for 2009
I’m …

Thanks to the guys at Payments News
The PCI Security Standards Council is putting on a webinar to help explain how the various PCI standards fit together. Here’s the link to the press release (which has a link to the registration site.)
A Perfect Fit: Understanding the PCI Security Standards

I ended up missing NRF’s Big Show in NYC in 2008 and it was a little disconcerting. Prior to this year, I had attended 10 straight shows and, although the memories of the cold (it is always the coldest week of the year) and lugging booth equipment for blocks weren’t the best, I actually enjoyed going. It gives you a good indication of what the industry is going to be focused on for the upcoming year and what the vendor cosmos is up to…
This year (2009), I am …