NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- For the next two days, retailers and technology-oriented suppliers are in Nashville to experience a robust slate of technology-focused workshops, general sessions and exposition at NACStech 2007.

The first of NACStech's 17 workshops took place on Monday, including a session that explored mobile commerce advances, contactless payment, how to reach customers through text messaging and the use of cell phones as payment devices. 

NACStech 2007 kicked off on Monday with an Opening General Session address by World Wide Web inventor Sir Timothy Berners-Lee. His invention was also featured in Monday's USA Today as the top innovation that shaped the Internet. "Tim Berners-Lee created user-friendly 'Web pages' that could travel over the Internet, a network built to shuttle research between universities. The world logged on: 747 million adults in January," wrote the newspaper.

Today kicks into high gear with an Early Riser Session on "The Senior Management/IT Interface," featuring an interactive panel discussion on how retailers can obtain technology "buy-in" and take new initiatives to the next level. 

Tuesday also marks the opening of the exposition. This year, the NACStech expo covers more than 19,500 net square feet and features more than 114 exhibiting companies, 28 of which are new to NACStech.

"You won't find the basic 'technology 101' session here," said Patrick Lewis, NACStech 2007 chairman and partner at Twin Falls, Idaho-based Oasis Stop N Go LLC. "What you'll find are ways to leverage your assets to improve your business, how to create services that are simple enough for anyone to use, how to deliver a technology project that meets the needs of your customers, how to knock down the barriers and get the right buy-in  to make an IT project happen."

NACS Daily will provide coverage of news from the workshops and the expo floor throughout the week. For more information, log on to the NACStech 2007 Web site.