It’s going to be absolutely impossible for me to provide a thorough overview of Bob Thacker’s captivating, hour-long presentation at the Shop.org Strategy & Innovation Forum. I’ve seen Bob speak before at the Retail Advertising Conference (a show put on by the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association, another NRF division) and knew that he is a strong presenter with rock-solid insights. (And his street cred is high: he was just featured in BusinessWeek.)

What I wasn’t expecting, I suppose, was an overpowering realization of how relevant and applicable his message of hope and perseverance is for retailers right now. In a time where budgets are being slashed, corporate positions are being eliminated, and getting consumers into stores and on to websites is an interminable challenge, Bob brought with him a message that retailers need to hear.

Though we may need to sacrifice, we shouldn’t suffer, he said. There are still opportunities for retailers to connect with their customers and do great things. “In history, hope, beauty and inspiration were continuing to live in the most abject of times,” he said, reminding the audience that companies like Walt Disney, Revlon, American Airlines, and 20th Century Fox were all created during the Great Depression.

One of the biggest takeaways from his presentation for me came was his quip that “if you’re going to crash the party, you’d better bring a bottle of wine.” He acknowledged that traditional advertising “barges in” to people’s lives. To compensate, he said, retailers should think of ads like people. As he put it, “If I came and screamed at you, would you want me in your home?” Or, to the contrary, “If I said something funny or something that touched your heart, you might let me stay.” Finding emotion—whether it be tugging at heartstrings or inducing side-splitting laughter—is something that Bob does best.

Sometimes the biggest opportunities come at the most unexpected times, and alongside the most insignificant budgets. Bob told stories ranging from how the Michael Graves and Target partnership came to be (short story: the other people they were supposed to meet with were delayed on a train) and how he landed Robert Redford as a Target spokesperson in exchange for a $40,000 donation. He made people tear up with the story about OfficeMax’s A Day Made Better program and laugh with videos from its hugely popular “Elf Yourself” holiday website. He captivated the audience with the company’s relevant “Power to the Penny” campaign for back-to-school 2008 and its well-received “Schooled” series.

Near the end of Bob’s presentation, he talked about the company’s current focus: the very real fact that women do not like office supply stores. He provided an overview of OfficeMax’s approach to appeal to these shoppers and showed us a new television ad and products the company will soon unveil in its stores. (I would consider myself one of these women and I’ll tell you, I’m sold.)

As a person who both attends and speaks at conferences on a somewhat regular basis, it’s sometimes easy to get a feel for how others are receiving a presentation by monitoring the ratio of people coming in to people going out. Despite the emails, phone calls, and work-related crises demanding the attention of the hundreds of people in the room, not a single person left.

To make sure I was not completely out of touch, I just sifted through the evaluation forms. I wasn’t the only one who left the keynote with inspiration, ideas, and a few action items. Bob’s presentation was so well-received by attendees that some of them added a “6” to the 1-5 ranking on the evaluation forms. Attendees said the keynote was a “spirit lifter” and provided “real motivation to go back to work.” One evaluation form said Bob’s speech alone was “worth the entire trip.”

It’s hard to explain all of this to people who weren’t there, but I do know that people who were there will be talking about this keynote for a very long time.