Update on the Center for Retail Innovation

I was driving through Winston-Salem yesterday and noticed the big billboard near downtown promoting the Center for Retail Innovation. Wake Forest University and Inmar debuted this research center earlier this year as part of the annual Marketing Summit. The idea is to foster collaboration among manufacturers, retailers and channel partners.

I went online and stumbled upon the group's blog. Even though no one has posted a blog since February, I was able to glean a few informational nuggets that I thought would be useful to share since we have heard very little from the center since its high-profile debut.

The center now has 13 corporate sponsors, which is quite impressive after less than a year of existence. In addition to Inmar, Symphony/IRI Group, Bellomy Research and John Whitaker are also founding sponsors. (Of course, those who live in Winston-Salem should realize that Whitaker is also Inmar's founder.) We also included a video Dean Reinemund that was released when the center was founded, which you can watch at the end of this post.

"The Center for Retail Innovation provides a forum for Inmar to work with manufacturers and retailers on innovations that will impact their bottom lines," says David Mounts, Inmar's CEO. "We are dedicated to supporting innovation in retailing and the development of future retail leaders."

Led by veteran marketing and advertising executive Roger Beahm, the center will be a key component of the new Farrell Hall under construction and set to open next year. The schedule of events is a bit unclear but the center has four programs in its calendar: a data and mobile workshop, an innovation fair sponsored by CVS, a retail innovation awards conference and the Marketing Summit.

Other sponsors include Altria, BB&T, Chick-fil-A, CVS, Embassy Suites, FedEx, Fleishman Hillard, Hanesbrands, Marriott, Mullen, Pepsico/Frito-Lay, and Sam's Club. These folks will sponsor events, participate in workshops, underwrite research and provide educational opportunities for employees, among other things.

Take a Hard Hat Tour of Farrell Hall

The Wake Forest University Schools of Business is planning a series of hard hat tours of Farrell Hall.

On Wednesday, June 20, you can get an inside look at what it's like to be a part of the Winston-Salem Evening MBA Program. In addition to the tour, you can participate in a mock class and talk to admissions representatives and current MBA students. The event runs from 5:30-8 pm.

A week later, from noon to 1 pm, the Schools of Business will have a tour and lunch event.Geared toward potential Working Professional MBA students, the tour will help prospects learn how to become a member of the first class to graduate from this world-class facility.

The event will begin with lunch, followed by a tour of the 128,000-square-foot building. There will also be an admissions process overview.

There is still time to apply for the evening program before classes start in August. Visit here for more information.

Clutch Time for Fund Raising Drive

We just found out that the Wake Forest Fund for the Schools of Business needs nearly 600 new alumni pledges in the next 12 days.

So far, 406 new alumni have committed funds. If Wake Forest can get 1,000 new commitments by the end of the month, a pair of alumni will donate $200,000 to the Wake Forest Fund. Doing so will get the Schools of Business past its annual goal of $2.4 million for the fiscal year that ends June 30.

Click here to learn more.

Triad Business School Mixer Planned in Winston-Salem

What an excellent idea!

There is an event planned to bring together alumni from the Wake Forest Schools of Business, UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School, N.C. State's Poole College of Management, Duke's Fuqua School of Business and UNC-Greensboro's Bryan School of Business and Economics.

This is a great chance to show your school pride and network with a variety of other business school alumni.

Foothills Brewing Co. at 638 W. Fourth St. in downtown Winston-Salem, N.C. is the venue. The event is set for Thursday, June 21, from 6-7:30 pm. Appetizers and drinks are available for purchase.

To register, click here. To see a list of attendees, you can go here.

Law School's Business Clinic Featured in Winston-Salem Journal

The Winston-Salem Journal recently had a feature on the Wake Forest University School of Law's Community Law & Business Clinic. The article notes that the program's students assist rural communities by helping people understand the legal and regulatory steps tied with creating food systems.

The program has supported more than 30 projects since its formation in 2009, including the Virginia Food Works.


The Community Law & Business Clinic is a clinical education program that provides law and graduate business students with an opportunity to develop skills needed to practice in the increasingly complex legal and regulatory environment they will encounter as professionals. In addition, CL&BC uses the resources and expertise of Wake Forest University to enhance community development efforts in Winston-Salem, Forsyth County and regionally.

Wake Forest Wins Innovation Award

The Wake Forest University Schools of Business won the Connected Campus Award at the AMX® Innovation Awards ceremony on June 11 in Las Vegas. The AMX® Innovation Awards, sponsored by the University Business Institute, recognize innovative higher education institutions, their accomplishments and best practices of the use of technology.

Award winners at the 2012 UB Tech conference included: Wake Forest (Connected Campus), Stanford University (Automation and Control) and George Washington University (Collaboration Initiatives).

The successful implementation of technology to connect and integrate the Wake Forest University Schools of Business campuses in Charlotte and Winston-Salem garnered the attention of AMX®, a leading provider of hardware and software solutions.

“We are very excited to receive the award of $50,000 worth of AMX® products. This will provide students and faculty with access to state-of-the-art technology that is essential for advancing education in a global economy. The gift is very timely as it will be used to implement the core audio-visual foundation in several of the new classrooms in Farrell Hall, the new Schools of Business building that is set to open in the fall of 2013 on our main campus in Winston-Salem,” John Owen, Director of Information Technology, Wake Forest University Schools of Business.

“To attract new students and keep up with competing schools, universities are adapting their facilities to current trends in the learning environment,” said Jackie DeLuna, Director of the Global Education Alliance and AMX Education Marketing. “The universities recognized are answering those challenges with ground-breaking uses of technology.”

AMX® technology is already being utilized at the Wake Forest University Charlotte Center that opened in January of this year. Rashid Skaf, President and CEO of AMX® personally delivered the company’s first Enova® DVX-3150HD All-In-One Presentation Switcher to the Charlotte campus prior to its grand opening. The switcher integrates audio visual equipment and information technology for control and distribution between classrooms, conference rooms, auditoriums and campuses.

(L-to-R: Dan Kinnaman, President of Pro Media Group; John Owen, Director of Information Technology, Wake Forest Schools of Business; Jeff Wilhelm, Wake Forest University Multimedia; and Rashid Skaf, AMX President & CEO.)

View the original press release here.

Student Profile: Dan Murdock

Wake Forest University

Dan Murdock (JD/MBA) became interested in business issues during his first two years at Wake Forest after seeing how the law shaped so many aspects of business. He says studying both at the same time has provided a unique perspective into how each field interacts with the other.

“I’ve always enjoyed public speaking and debate, so the law seemed like a natural place to both hone these skills and develop them into a career.”

After sitting for the bar in July, he will work in Raleigh as an associate at Teague Campbell Dennis & Gorham.

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Who in the law school was your biggest supporter?
Professor Mike Green has been my most important mentor. He and I co-authored a book chapter during my second and third years here, and I learned an immeasurable amount from him. He taught me how to be a better writer and editor, and how to think more critically about the law and the policies that underlie it.

Did anything surprising happen during your time in law school?
While working with Professor Green on the book chapter I was able to attend a conference on the book project in Vienna, Austria. While there, I discussed issues surrounding employers’ liability and workers’ compensation with lawyers and academics from all over Europe. I also was able to explore Vienna, which is one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

What class did you enjoy most and why?
The two that were the most enjoyable were “Business Solutions” in the business school and “Litigation Clinic” in the law school. Developing an expansion plan for a local business and working with local attorneys in these two courses allowed me to turn the skills I have developed over the last four years into a real-world work product.

What is your favorite memory of your time at Wake Forest?
Working with so many great people in both the law and business schools has been wonderful, particularly preparing for and presenting an endless number of PowerPoint presentations with my first-year business group. During one such presentation we ended up having to extemporize on the state of Spain’s political affairs for a solid ten minutes with no preparation. It made for an interesting and memorable experience.

Did you participate in an internship?
At the nonprofit Pacific Legal Foundation I worked with homeowners battling onerous land use regulations, which was intellectually challenging and rewarding. I was also a summer associate with a Raleigh firm, Teague Campbell Dennis & Gorham, where I worked on a number of litigation matters.

What is the most dramatic change you’ve undergone?
The business and law schools have helped me become a much better critical thinker. Not just in thinking about issues from different perspectives, but also how the underlying ideas or policies in law or business affect other aspects of society and whether those are positive effects.