NACSTech, PCATS to Join Forces for 2013 Conference

NASHVILLE -- NACStech 2012 ended with a big bang with news that NACS, the Association of Convenience and Fuel Retailing, and PCATS will come together as one next year for the annual convention.

The Tech Event, as the show will be called, will be held May 5 through May 9, 2013 and feature more focused education sessions, more networking time, and a different format for suppliers to showcase their products and services, explained NACS President and CEO Hank Armour.

The merging of the two comes 18 months after PCATS was integrated under the NACS umbrella. The Tech Event is just one more way PCATS and NACS can better leverage the organizations for the better of the industry, Armour noted.

"We are doubling our power in the technology arena," he said.

While NACS is well known in the convenience channel, and the retail world as a whole, PCATS (the Petroleum Convenience Alliance for Technology Standards) is not as widely recognized.

The PCATS organization acts as a resource for all the industry technology needs of NACS. It is the body that creates and maintains the technological standards and establishes technological best practices. The PCATS board of advisors also acts as the forward-thinking group that helps identify new technologies that could impact convenience and petroleum retailers.