
Be the first to know when registration opens for the 2023 NACS Human Resources Forum. Plus, get updates on special room rates within our NACS-designated hotel block. We’ll alert you as soon as details are confirmed!
The NACS Human Resources Forum educates and connects HR professionals specifically working in the convenience retailing industry. Attendees benefit from engaging presentations on topics vital to their job, case studies that can generate new ideas and valuable opportunities to build relationships with peers.
Here’s what you can expect when you attend:
Exceptional Content: We provide custom-made, high-level content that fosters a fruitful dialogue among participants.
Working Group Discussions: Engage in in-depth discussions on how HR can properly function in the age of COVID-19.
Legal and Data-driven Insights: Sessions are delivered by legal counsel and focus on new laws and regulations that impact the convenience industry; exclusive NACS data on compensation and hiring is also presented.
Lasting Relationships: Attendees build a strong peer network that can function as a personal board of advisors to help with work issues and opportunities throughout the year and in years to come.
HR Solutions: First-hand look at HR solutions and technologies via a curated list of HR partners who will help prepare you for the future of work.
CEU credits: Participants will receive CEU credits from HRCI and SHRM.
Attend the NACS HR Forum and leave with the toolkit you need to deliver next-level HR value.


Attendees earn an average of 10 professional development credits from HRCI and SHRM.
"As an HR leader in our industry, I attend the NACS HR Forum because it is a great place to network and meet new people who are facing and dealing with the same issues as I am—plus, all the legal updates keep me out of trouble and in compliance! Lastly, it is great to hear from peers I have known for a long time, sharing insights near and dear to their hearts and the companies they represent."
– Kurt Weigel - Weigel's Stores, Inc.
For any questions or to request more information, please contact:
Brandi Mauro
Education Program Manager
bmauro@convenience.org
(703) 518-4223

This is a sample agenda, 2023 agenda details will be released later this year.
Opening Remarks
Embedding Personality Into Your Cultural DNA: Reinventing the Way People Interact
Session Description >>
Organizations spend time, money, and energy on an array of behavioral assessments and training. But does it make a difference? Discover why these sessions get rave reviews, yet overwhelmingly fail to create a lasting impact. You will learn how to infuse personality into your culture and transform the way people work together and lead others.
From meaningless alphabet soup to the training methodology itself, we will deconstruct today’s current model and reinvent a new one for the future. Instead of styles and types that reside in short-term memory and create only momentary ahas!, this session reveals a brain-friendly approach to rewire your employees so the styles trigger at the exact moment they are needed. Reimagine how you can drive engagement with personality.
- Bridge the gap between personality assessment and culture change
- Turn self-awareness into long-term application, not short-term fascination
- Utilize the personality styles as a catalyst for cultural revolution
- Unleash a new way to create an attractive culture that inspires commitment and inclusiveness
- Heighten organizational emotional intelligence
Welcome Reception
Kickoff: Creating Connections
Legal and Legislative Update: What We Know, What We Anticipate, and What We Can Do
Session Description >>
The legal landscape and legislative priorities Human Resources professionals face working in the convenience industry is rapidly evolving to reflect demographic, technological, and societal trends. Understanding the impact of new or changing laws and policies is a critical component in an organization’s business success. In this session, participants will hear about changes to laws that impact the human-capital aspects of convenience stores, discuss potential changes on the legislative horizon and provide recommendations on how to best prepare their organization for future impacts.
Networking Break
2021 NACS Research Recap: Wages, Turnover, and the State of Labor and HR in Convenience
Session Description >>
Where are we now? This presentation will explore the complexities of the labor market of 2021, starting with macro-level trends to set the stage for labor in convenience. This session will dive deep into the data published in the newly released 2021 NACS Compensation Report, providing benchmarks for industry metrics on wages, benefits, turnover, and recruitment/retention. Using the data provided in this session, you will be able to benchmark against the industry to build the best compensation package for your company and plan your strategic labor strategy for the future.
Lunch & Informal Networking
Employee Value Proposition: Differentiating Yourself in the Market
Session Description >>
In a tight labor market, organizations differentiate themselves from competitors with an Employee Value Proposition. Whether you have defined one or not, you attract and retain employees due to your values, commitment to customers and how you pay, retain and develop those who work for you. Telling prospective employees how they can benefit from working for you can be the difference between fully staffed stores and scrambling to cover shifts. In this session, participants will learn how to develop the story to tell prospective employees, how organizations integrate their stories into the hiring process, and how to reinforce the message to retain new hires.
Networking Break
Tabletop Discussion: Informal best practice sharing by store size
L&D Advancing DEI: Relearning & Reengineering for Culture Change
Session Description >>
Have you noticed the increased focus on culture and purpose? Over the last few years, we’ve learned we need to approach differently. We know associates want to live their purpose and see how they are making the world better through their work. At Kum & Go, we are trying to rethink how work is done. Our goal is to build diverse teams, meaning we need to prioritize Diversity, Equity and Inclusion work and embed it across our onboarding, training ,and programming. Come learn more about our DEI journey and how we are leveraging a partnership between Learning and Development and DEI to drive culture change for embedded inclusion and equity. In this session, you will learn how to get started in DEI, create key relationships with a small DEI team, create space to facilitate individual and organizational DEI journeys, and embed DEI into all HR, starting with learning and development.
Tangible Takeaways + Wrap up
Optional S’mores Networking Event
Group Photo/Tabletop Discussion (Connecting)
Innovation Spotlight: Practices to Meet Evolving Labor Needs
Session Description >>
It is said that “Necessity is the mother of invention.” As the demands of the workplace have increased and the availability of talent has been constrained, organizations have responded by implementing innovative practices that help them attract, hire, and retain talent. In this session, we will invite attendees to share things they have done to innovate over the last two years.
Transitioning to a New Hiring Environment
Session Description >>
Every employer agrees that finding the right talent is one of the key business challenges in today’s tight labor market. The demands and needs of employees have changed, but many organizations are using the approach and hiring practices to staff their organizations. In this presentation, hear how TXB Stores is evolving its hiring practices to staff its stores by making same day hiring decisions, leveraging referrals, and leveraging social media.
Networking Break
Rapid Response: Applying What We Have Learned Since 2020 to More Normal Times
Lunch
Master Your Story to Retain Talent
Session Description >>
It is human nature to communicate through stories, yet we often struggle to unlock the value of stories as a means of communicating in the workplace to drive action and outcomes. In this session, we will discuss the power of stories and apply the fundamentals of effective storytelling as a means of connecting with top talent to drive engagement and retention. In this session, attendees will explore the power of stories and the science behind them, learn the thought process to build your story to better connect with top talent as a tool for engagement and retention, and practice the fundamentals of effective storytelling and identify 1-2 specific actions to develop and share a more compelling story.
Delivering Favorite Place to Work Through Development
Session Description >>
Our industry has faced extraordinary leadership challenges over the last two years. To meet these evolving and demanding challenges, Thorntons has continued to prioritize and invest in development. In this session, learn how culture guides their investment in development, how they engage and grow field operations team members, and how they focus on developing their corporate staff.
Wrap up + Conclusion
The NACS Human Resources Forum educates and connects HR professionals specifically working in the convenience retailing industry. Access this year’s attendee list (PDF) to see who joined us in Orlando, and then join our mailing list to stay in the know about 2023 event details.
2023 Registration Pricing
Retail Member: $1250
Non-member: $2500
Sign up to be notified when registration for the 2023 NACS HR Forum opens.
The 2023 HR Forum will be held at:
The DeSoto [In the heart of downtown Savannah, GA]
15 East Liberty Street,
Savannah, GA 31401
(866) 810-5325
www.thedesotosavannah.com
Attendees must book their own hotel accommodations. Cost of accommodations are not included in the event registration fee.
A group/event discounted rate: $189 single/double room per night is available until Friday, February 17, 2023.
There are two convenient ways to make your hotel reservations:
- Make hotel reservations online (recommended browser: Google Chrome)
Use this group code: NACS Human Resources Forum to receive the NACS special rate.
- Call the hotel directly at 1-800-239-5118 and reference “NACS Human Resources Forum” for the preferred rate.
Attendees must book their own flight accommodations. Cost of flights are not included in the event registration fee.
Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport (SAV) to/from Hotel
11 miles, 20 minutes Travel Time by Car
For questions regarding hotel or travel accommodations, please contact:
Christy Hicks
Meetings & Events Manager
chicks@convenience.org
+1 703.518.4247
Buyer Beware: Please be vigilant if dealing with companies or services other than the official NACS event headquarter hotel (noted above) that imply or claim an affiliation with the NACS. We have been made aware of other housing companies that may market to you or your company to book your guest rooms through their company at supposed significant discounts. Unfortunately, some past attendees (and exhibitors) have fallen prey to these companies and have either: lost significant deposit amounts; been relocated to an alternative hotel with little or no warning; not had the guest rooms they thought they had booked; or not received reservations at the hotel they had thought were confirmed. This has caused great hardships and significant financial loss to these companies and individuals. Reservations made through an agency other than the NACS official hotel event hotel link will be at your own risk. If you are contacted by another housing company attempting to sell hotel rooms, please notify NACS Management at chicks@convenience.org.
The 2023 NACS HR Forum will include opportunities for attendees to visit with HR partners. We are looking for partners with HR solutions and technologies to help prepare the industry for the future of work. See the list of past HR Forum participating companies (PDF).
See All Marketing Opportunities
If you are a vendor and are interested in participating in the 2023 NACS HR Forum, then please reach out to Jennifer Nichols Leidich at jleidich@convenience.org to discuss available opportunities to engage with this audience.