For all those who are not able to go to the NRF Annual Convention (which is currently on, Jan 11-14), here are few links which gives the dope on the big things being announced/discussed in the convention.

-- NRF's event blog – Covers Q&As with speakers, show highlights etc.

-- A lot of news coming from Microsoft, 1. Accenture, Avanade and Microsoft Announce Multi-Channel Retail Initiative, 2. Microsoft Releases Windows Embedded POSReady 2009, 3. Microsoft launches The Retail Experience Center. You can read other Microsoft NRF related stories here, Microsoft Retail: Press Materials.

-- Shop.org Member blog – Good coverage of the convention, some recent topics discussed included Digital Retailing , Investing in E-Commerce in 2009.