Robinson Oil Corp. President Tom Robinson opened the annual National Association of Convenience Stores show in Las Vegas on Monday by telling a packed house about the value delivered to members by NACS.

“Connections, to me, are value,” said Robinson, chairman of the board of NACS. “And connections are everywhere here at the NACS Show. These connections lead to opportunities.”

More than 22,000 attendees from 61 countries are expected to fill the Las Vegas Convention Center the next three days, with 1,220 companies exhibiting and 53 educational workshops available in 11 tracks.

“Everyone at the NACS Show is here for a simple reason,” Robinson said. “They want to improve their business. So we come here to share ideas. If you don’t have a goal of returning home with five or 10 useful connections and/or good ideas, well, you probably want to reconsider what you’d like to accomplish while you are here.”

Robinson said the convenience and fuel retailing industry was successful because, “we provide the consumer with a terrific offering, and we make it convenient for them to shop with us.”

He also mentioned the work done by NACS on the legislative front.

“The list of legislative and regulatory issues is long,” he said. “FDA tobacco regulations, menu labeling, fuels regulations, healthy and nutritional food issues, online lottery, PCI compliance, just to name a few.”