Georgia Retailers Organized Crime Alliance Annual Conference Goes Virtual:
Celebrates 10 Years With International Attendance

Atlanta, GA -- The Georgia Retailers Organized Crime Alliance (GROC) is celebrating the success of its 10th annual ORC conference. The conference was originally planned to be hosted in-person at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, but the curveball that has been 2020 forced GROC to pivot- alas PIVOT 2020: A Virtual ORC Summit was born. GROC partnered with TalkLP to host the event that garnered international attendance on August 27.

Over 400 loss prevention professionals, law enforcement officers, and solution providers tuned in from their homes and offices from 2 countries, 24 states, 3 territories and 73 cities. The always entertaining TalkLP duo, Amber Bradley and Dave Thompson, CFI, hosted the conference live from Atlanta. They even kicked with a special session on the importance of the pivot featuring NBA hall of famer and special guest Dominique Wilkins.

The speaker lineup included Lisa Mitchell, CFI founder of Power Body Language, who joined live from Indiana to coach attendees on Winning High Consequence Conversations. Wicklander-Zulawski’s Joe Wolf, CFI, led a session on a non-confrontational approach to conflict resolution and de-escalation, a very relevant topic during a pandemic, and veteran police chief and motivational speaker Paul Butler inspired conference goers with motivation on leadership, teamwork and the power of positivity.

In true TalkLP fashion, Bradley and Thompson were joined by Scott Glenn of The Home Depot for a TalkLP Podcast exclusive- a candid conversation on leading in challenging times, a crowd favorite.

A conference wouldn’t be a conference without breakout sessions! PIVOT 2020 Breakout topics included: Fighting ORC and Domestic Terrorism with Law Enforcement Partnerships by The Home Depot Asset Protection Investigations Team, De-Coding and Optimizing Virtual Interviews by Lisa Mitchell and Dave Thompson, and Women In LP: Breaking Barriers In A Male Dominated Industry, a remarkable panel moderated by Amber Bradley with panelists Melissa Allgood, CFI (NBC/Universal Studios Hollywood), Carmen DuBois (Hibbett Sports), Sandra Chandler (UTLA Beauty), Chief Janet Moon (Peachtree City Police Department) and Kris Vece (Protos Security).

There was quite a buzz of networking and camaraderie throughout the event. Attendees took to the chat box to comment on sessions, share ideas, participate in Q&A, and provoke a little friendly banter. Although a tradeshow isn’t quite the same without the swag, the virtual tradeshow was a hit with attendees and solution providers alike and proved to synthesize meaningful conversations and connections.

While GROC has traditionally captured regional attendance, the virtual platform lended itself to an expanded audience, record breaking attendance and many first-timers. PIVOT 2020 was a resounding success and was made possible by the support of its sponsors and partners, many returning for the tenth year. QMI Security Solutions was the Elite Sponsor of PIVOT 2020 and is an invaluable partner to the organization.

Planning for GROC 2021 is already underway! The 2021 Organized Retail Crime Conference will be held in person at the Cobb Galleria in Atlanta in August 2021. Information on future events will be available at georgiaroc.org

About Georgia Retailers Organized Crime Alliance
The Georgia Retailers Organized Crime Alliance (GROC) is a statewide crime-fighting partnership. The GROC Alliance allows retailers, corporate security investigators and law enforcement agencies to communicate about criminal activity impacting business on a real-time basis, while preventing other partners from being victimized. This collaborative partnership enables law enforcement and the business community to work together to identify offenders and resolve cases, share best practices, and innovate in the fight against organized retail crime (ORC). To get involved visit www.georgiaroc.org.


Thank you to Chad McManus for this event recap.