The speaker lineup at the National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA) Management Conference & Team Dealer Summit on September 26-28 at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in Naples, FL, is taking shape with entertaining golf analyst Gary McCord and Hall of Fame speaker Ross Bernstein among the prominent speakers.

The program also includes a look at how to build successful teams at a time when finding employees is a major challenge as well as an analysis of Gen Z sporting goods shoppers. The Conference concludes with the Sporting Goods Industry Hall of Fame Dinner and Induction Ceremony.

“We are very happy to give everyone in the sporting goods industry the opportunity to get together again with a program that covers some crucial topics,” says Matt Carlson, NSGA president and CEO. “Gary McCord is a great way to finish the speaker lineup and will provide a mix of laughs and life lessons. Ross Bernstein has an excellent perspective on the connection between champions in athletics and business.

McCord will provide the closing keynote on Tuesday, September 28, during “An Afternoon on Tour with Professional Golfer & TV Announcer Gary McCord.” McCord played in 422 PGA Tour tournaments in 23 years without a victory but he will share the knowledge and quick wit he parlayed into a successful career as a CBS-TV analyst, an author of Golf for Dummies and Just a Range Ball in a Box of Titleists and for his appearance in the Kevin Costner movie Tin Cup.‍

Bernstein will get Tuesday’s session started with “The Champion’s Code: Building Relationships Through Life Lessons of Integrity and Accountability from the Sports World to the Business World.” Bernstein is a best-selling author of nearly 50 sports books and has conducted thousands of interviews with professional athletes and coaches from championship teams to relate how the DNA of what makes champions in sports is unique and can be applied to business success.

Two sessions on Tuesday will focus on employment, which is one of the hottest topics for the sporting goods industry and others right now. Jeff Butler, the CEO of JButler International, is an expert on workplace dynamics and will look at Generation Z from that perspective in “Building an Effective Multigenerational Workplace.”

A Lunch & Learn on “Tips for Attracting & Developing a Great Workforce” will feature Bill Welch, who has more than 30 years of experience in the employment industry and is the Business Services Manager for CareSource Southwest Florida.

Also on the Tuesday schedule is “Organizational Cybersecurity: A Top Priority to Protect Your Business” with FBI Special Agent Andrew Sekela, who spent five years in Washington, D.C., working on public corruption and government fraud investigations, three years in an international corruption unit and seven years as a supervisor for an investigative unit on white-collar crime.

Monday’s programming will include “Better Understanding Generation Z Shoppers,” with NSGA director of insights and analysis Nick Rigitano on research completed with Ipsos, a global market research company and public opinion specialist. The look at Gen Z from the shoppers’ perspective will come after Duncan Wardle, a former vice president of innovation and creativity, gives the Monday morning opening speech “Back In Action: Igniting a Culture of Innovation and Creativity.”

The Sporting Goods Industry Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held for the Class of 2020:  Peter Capolino (Mitchell & Ness Nostalgia Co.), Robert Greenberg (Skechers) and Klaus Obermeyer (Sport Obermeyer). The popular Speed Networking session, which features a series of quick meetings between manufacturers and retailers and team dealers, will be held Monday afternoon.

Registration is open for the 2021 NSGA Management Conference and Team Dealer Summit on September 26-28, 2021, in Naples, FL. For more: https://www.nsga.org/conference2021.