The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) Annual Conference on Dietary Supplements taking place in September is to focus on the pivotal science, regulatory, legislative and business issues and opportunities facing the industry, with the underlying theme 'Looking Forward to the Future'.
Dan O'Connor, president and chief executive officer of Management Ventures, will be the keynote speaker at the conference that takes place from September 14-17 at the Westin La Paloma resort in Tucson, Arizona.
The keynote session, entitled 'From Top to Bottom and Bottom to Top: Working the Value Chain,' will be held on Tuesday, September 16, 12:45 - 2:30 pm.
O'Connor, a certified management consultant and certified public accountant, asserts that all businesses have a vested interest in understanding the needs, attitudes and behaviors of all links along the value chain, including consumers, in order to improve the financial health of a business.
According to CRN, his interactive session will provide practical insights into understanding the strategies, scope and scale of customers in order to help build a more effective company strategy. In addition, he will provide insights on how one end of the industry interlocks with the other end, and why companies need to pay attention to the whole chain, from top to bottom and back again.
"CRN has developed a strong program targeted towards business leaders with supplement companies and ingredient suppliers in the $18 billion dietary supplement industry," said Tom Zimmerman, CRN Annual Conference chairman, and vice president of business development at Pharmavite.
"This is a time of tremendous change. This conference will help companies anticipate the issues and develop the strategies to maximize the opportunity a changing market presents," he continued.
The CRN conference will also feature a panel on sports nutrition supplements; an opportunity to hear from the Federal Trade Commission's Lee Peeler, assistant director at the Agency's division of consumer protection; an examination of third-party certification programs; and a presentation by a D.C.-based communications expert, Andrew Gilman, on the necessity of media training.
In addition, there will be scientific panel sessions on antioxidants, botanicals, and trace minerals, and a final session that will focus on future trends in the industry.
The CRN recently announced the addition of three new member companies as voting members. They are General Nutrition Centers (GNC) of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Nashai Biotech, of Nashville, Tennessee; and Pulse Nutrition Solutions, of Deerfield, Illinois.
For further information on the conference or CRN, visit the CRN's website.