Former cabinet member, ambassador present keynotes at IMC Gift + Home CEO summit

Home Accents Today Staff -- Home Accents Today, 8/15/2012 8:55:50 AM

Jon HuntsmanLAS VEGAS -- Former Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman Jr. and former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich will be featured keynote speakers at International Market Center's inaugural Gift+Home CEO Summit at the Las Vegas Market in January 2013.

Drawing on extensive experience on the world stage, Huntsman and Reich will address issues such as geopolitics, labor and currency, which are impacting and influencing gift and home industry businesses today.

Both keynote sessions will be followed by a Q&A session moderated by Bob Maricich, CEO of International Market Centers. The two-day conference also will present a series of breakout sessions, panel discussions and other topical presentations, with all content geared toward CEOs, presidents and owners of gift and home businesses. Co-produced by International Market Centers and Eller Enterprises, the event will take place Jan. 31-Feb. 1, 2013, during the Winter 2013 market.
Robert Reich

"No other industry conference or marketplace offers industry leaders exposure to U.S. economic strategists and thought leaders of this caliber," said conference organizer Randy Eller, president of Eller Enterprises. "These men, who have served presidents and influenced international policy, will offer exclusive insights into the issues and opportunities our industry faces today and into the future."

On Thursday, Jan. 31, Reich will address international currency and geopolitical issues - including the Euro crisis and China's economy -impacting the gift and home industry. Reich, an economic analyst, CNBC contributor and author of 14 books, has served under three national administrations, most recently as Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton. He also served on President Barack Obama's economic transition board.

Currently a professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley, Reich has written more than 200 articles on the global economy, the changing nature of work and the centrality of human capital. In 2003, he received the prestigious Vaclev Havel prize for his original contributions to economic thinking. In 2004, he was named one of America's three most influential opinion leaders on business and the economy, based on a study by Accenture. In 2008, The Wall Street Journal named him one of the nation's top 10 thought leaders.

On Friday, Feb. 1, Huntsman will present a keynote address on the topic of China, one of the world's largest product manufacturers. His remarks will focus on how issues affecting that country, such as labor and currency, presently impact the gift and home industry. Huntsman served as U.S. Ambassador to China from 2009-2011 and U.S. Ambassador to Singapore from 1992-1993. He was also the Governor of Utah from 2005-2009.

Huntsman's public service career began as a White House staff assistant to President Ronald Reagan, and has since included appointments as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Asia and Deputy U.S. Trade Representative. He is a founding director of the Pacific Council on International Policy and has served on various boards, such as the Brookings Institute Asia Policy Board, the Center for Strategic and International Studies Pacific Forum, the Asia Society in New York and the National Bureau of Asian Research.

"The launch of this top-level conference is an important part of our transformation and differentiation of Gift + Home at Las Vegas Market," said Dorothy Belshaw, president of Gift + Home Décor. "As the first-of-its-kind executive-level conference for the gift and home industry, the Gift and Home CEO Summit is an important element of our three-phase plan to transform Las Vegas into the preeminent gift and home marketplace for the Western United States."

For information, registration and sponsorship opportunities, contact Randy Eller at 615-771-1112, ext. 10 or reller@ellerent.com.