Speakers

People Matter. Her simple mantra on how she approaches every situation. How does what we are about to do or say affect the guest experience, team members and franchisees?

She has been with Sumo as a marketing consultant since 2009 and full time as the Chief Marketing Officer since 2014.She focuses on growing internal and external brand consistencies, brand messaging, marketing campaigns and communications as well as the marketing/technology integration. She has hyper-focused on the guest, team member and franchisee experience through technology and how to best utilize platforms for communication, data analysis, and results driven campaigns to optimize sales and make market turns where necessary.

Mrs. Coulter, earned her Certified Franchise Executive credentials in 2018, counting her in the top expertise of franchise executives.

A veteran sales and marketing communications practitioner, as well as a Customer Experience champion, Schneider spent nearly 15 years working with a variety of corporations and clients in a host of industries – from technology and engineering to recruiting and state government. He helped build their brands ensuring that sales and service were aligned.
 
He learned the household goods relocation services industry by developing programs for some of the largest domestic moving companies in the U.S. while working for public relations, marketing communications and branding firms in the Midwest.
 
Schneider entered the relocation services industry full-time in 2007 by going to work for Wheaton Van Lines, Inc., the parent company of Wheaton | Bekins | Stevens, the fourth largest van line group in the country. In 2014, Schneider became Executive Vice President where he’s responsible for Sales and Marketing, Agency Development, Customer Service, the Military and the company’s FF&E division as well as the company’s strategy to improve customer experience and loyalty. 
 
Schneider also is a member of the company's Board of Directors and he's on the Board of Directors of the American Moving and Storage Association (AMSA). 
 
Schneider earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism from Indiana University.    
 

Brad Macdonald is a Vice President of Strategic Consulting for Epsilon’s loyalty practice and has a passion for helping clients design experiences that create customers for life.
 
Brad has over 13 years of loyalty and CRM experience across a variety of industries.  His work includes loyalty program design and implementation, database marketing, CRM system development, marketing analytics, partner marketing, and product development.
 
Prior to Epsilon, Brad led loyalty and CRM efforts within the beauty industry at Regis Corporation and gained extensive travel/hospitality industry experience while at Carlson Hotels, Delta Air Lines, and Northwest Airlines.
 
Epsilon clients include Darden Restaurants, Valvoline Instant Oil Change, Helzberg Diamonds, GNC, Big Lots, Buffalo Wild Wings, Gap, Inc., and AutoZone
 
Brad lives in Utah, where he loves spending time with his family, finding adventures outdoors, backcountry skiing, trail running, and triathlons.

Ajit Sivadasan manages the Global Web strategy for Lenovo across 90+ countries. In his role he manages Lenovo's substantial online sales and marketing across its B2C and B2B channels globally. Over the last 12 years he has architected and built Lenovo's web capabilities working with an internal team spread across 15+ countries, growing the business over 6x and profits by over 10x. Lenovo.com has won several awards for Usability and Design globally.

Ajit holds a bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering from India, a MS in Industrial Management from Northern Illinois University and a MBA from Claremont Graduate University's Peter F. Drucker School of Management.

Matthew Kates is the Chief Marketing Officer at PrizeLogic where is responsible for company’s positioning, go-to-market strategy and key client initiatives. He has 20+ years of marketing experience ranging from promotions and loyalty marketing, and brand management to corporate marketing and growth strategy. He previously served as Vice President of Strategic Services at HelloWorld (formerly ePrize) where he built the company’s promotions and loyalty strategy capability and was the lead strategist for high-profile programs including My Coke Rewards and Xbox Live Rewards. Kates also served in brand and marketing manager positions for both the Pepsico, Quaker Foods Division and the Kellogg Company where he spearheaded initiatives to penetrate emerging channels and bring new products to market. He has been recognized as a thought leader, quoted in numerous publications including Adweek, Chief Marketer and Forbes. Kates earned his bachelor of science in economics from Northwestern University and his MBA from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.
 

Katie Macior is a Loyalty Manager for McClatchy Newspapers. She has been with the company for 3 years and helped create its unique rewards program for 28 of their newspapers. She currently helps manage all aspects of the rewards programs from content/contest creation to fulfillment, marketing of the programs, customer support and future program development. Katie has 12 years of experience in marketing promotions, research, and analytics in the news industry. She has a BS in Marketing from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro.  

As the Sr. Director of CRM & Loyalty, Lisa leads the development, execution and management of Sleep Numbers Loyalty program, the InnerCircle, as well as all direct mail and email programs. Lisa is responsible for the overall success and ongoing growth and management of these programs.  She directs the testing of all programs to ensure continued evolution and growth.  She is responsibility for the InnerCircle member engagement and program profitability. Leveraging her deep experience in retail, holding positions in merchandising, finance, strategic and promotional planning and marketing she is able to activate new initiatives quickly and successfully. Lisa is constantly striving to take the InnerCircle program to the next level of engagement. Prior to joining Sleep Number, Lisa held management positions at Best Buy and the Department Store Division of Target Corporation. She is born and bred in Minnesota, living there all her life and earning her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Minnesota in Retail Merchandising and Business.

Carrie “Ariel” Thomas is a Market Development Manager at Thermo Fisher Scientific, a global biotechnology company providing products and technical solutions to the world’s leading pharma, industrial and academic institutions. Joining in 2015 as a participant in their prominent Graduate Leadership Development Program (GLDP), Ariel has worked to drive business solutions in several divisions and functions within the company including new service development, operations, and corporate marketing. Led by the desire to emphasize customer centric results, Ariel joined the Aspire team in 2017 to manage the customer allegiance team responsible for owning the customer relationship, developing and executing social media marketing strategy, and analyzing member data used to execute personalized marketing campaigns.  Ariel is also owns Aspire’s voice of customer and strategic accounts strategy. In addition to her day to day work, she also serves as the site lead for the African Heritage Employee Resource Group and is passionate about increasing diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Ariel is a graduate of the University Southern California earning her bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Global Business and also holds an MBA from Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business. She continues to support her alma maters, providing the donations and serving as a frequent mentor to the student body. She is an active alum of the Consortium of Graduate Management and frequently engages and recruits on behalf of the company and organization. In her spare time she enjoys golfing and traveling. 

    

Tiffany currently leads campus field marketing in North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky. Tiffany manages marketing efforts at forty-one (41) university dining and facilities management accounts.
 
Tiffany’s responsibilities include deployment and implementation of all Sodexo marketing initiatives.  Her focus is on strategic development to support the region with sales growth, research, trends and customer satisfaction. Tiffany has a passion for working with our client partners and delivering exceptional customer experiences and sales at accounts. She works closely with all of the team members in her region to ensure that they have the marketing tools and expertise they need to achieve Sodexo’s partnership goals. Tiffany has a bachelors degree in English and MBA with a concentration in Marketing.
 
Tiffany is graduate of Florida A&M University.
 
Tiffany resides in Greensboro, NC with her husband Corey and son Taylor. 
 

Hope oversees the Membership and Consumer Research teams at Foot Locker Inc. With over 15 years of experience, Hope is a customer focused marketer and leader with a track record of combining analytical discipline with creativity and marketing ‘gut instinct’ to drive customer engagement and revenue growth across retail, entertainment, financial services and food & beverage industries. 
 
Prior to joining Foot Locker, Hope held positions at American Express and Starbucks. She holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Penn State University and an MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business. Hope is a snowboard enthusiast, competes in triathlons and is an active member of her community.

Bill Linehan joined Red Lion in February 2014 as Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer. He has more than 25 years of hospitality experience, most recently as Chief Marketing Officer and Managing Director at Richfield Hospitality and Sceptre Hospitality Resources, where he led the sales, marketing and resource management activities surrounding the company's portfolio of hotels and resorts. At Sceptre, Linehan repositioned the company to become a global leader of hotel revenue technologies. Prior to that, he was Vice President of Global Marketing for InterContinental Hotels Group where he established the marketing to re-launch seven IHG brands to the development community. Linehan also previously served as Global Vice President of Marketing, Brand Alignment and Partnerships for Starwood Hotels and Resorts and held sales and marketing positions with both Hyatt and Sheraton. 

Michelle Musgrove has more than 15 years of specialized marketing experience including strategy, product development, segmentation, multi-cultural marketing, loyalty program management, relationship management and customer experience management.  

Currently, Michelle serves as Vice President, AARP Experience Strategy & Governance at AARP.  In this role, Michelle has supported the launch of the customer experience management function with a focus on strategy, change management, communications and generating early wins.  Prior to joining AARP, Michelle led successful engagement and loyalty programs at AOL, American Express and JP Morgan Chase. 

Michelle graduated with a MBA and concentration in Marketing from the University of California at Berkeley as well as a BA in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania. 

 Kyla Kappers leads marketing strategy for Ally CashBack Credit Card as well as strategic initiatives and campaigns focused on strengthening emotional ties with the enterprise customer base. Her responsibilities include strategic planning, brand strategy, product positioning, campaign development, channel optimization and program measurement. Kyla is an Ohio native who enjoys traveling and spending time in the outdoors with her husband and son.

Steve Greifer has enjoyed over twenty-five years of success in organizations ranging from top agencies (including Digitas and Ogilvy) to technology leaders (including Google). He has a proven track record of meeting client objectives through integrated marketing solutions built with traditional and digital marketing tools and capabilities.  He has a deep expertise in digital and promotional marketing, and an equally strong background in affinity marketing across sports, music, and entertainment.
 
He has served a wide range of roles, including President of General Manager of experiential marketing agencies, CEO of an early e-commerce site, and the leader the Google agency sales team that partnered with Publicis agencies.  He also led Google’s sponsorship efforts in North America, working closely with clients, properties, and the YouTube team. 
 
As SVP of Business Development at IC Group, Steve works on developing, customizing, selling and servicing its offerings for client success. 
 

Alex Glover is currently a Guest Loyalty and Engagement Analyst for Celebrity Cruises. He began his career as a Celebrity Cruises customer service representative within Consumer Outreach while also a full-time student at Florida International University (FIU) where he served as an executive officer for several student organizations including Alpha Kappa Psi Professional Business Fraternity and the Student Life Council. In 2017, Alex graduated from FIU and was promoted to a Group Event Coordinator at Celebrity. A year later he joined the marketing organization in his current role where he manages the Captain’s Club loyalty guest experience and loyalty marketing.

Jane Rosenblum is the Director of Guest Experience for MGM Resorts.  Jane’s previous roles with MGM Resorts include working in leadership roles at New-York New York and Excalibur.  In her current role, Jane and her team lead the strategic development, creation, and implementation of innovative customer centric initiatives.  Jane has worked in the industry for over 10 years and has previously worked with Caesars Entertainment and Hilton.  In 2018, Jane was nominated for a Great Women of Gaming Award with Global Gaming Women. 
 

Una is Senior Vice President of  MassMutual Financial Group and leads the Client Management organization within MassMutual WorkPlace Solutions. Leading all of the account and relationships managers, Una is responsible for the plan sponsor experience, ensuring high levels of satisfaction and retention driven by superior tactical and strategic execution.  Una and her teams are focused on plan management and delivering consultative solutions to ensure that we are helping plan participants retire on their own terms.
   
Una joined MassMutual in 1996 and has spent her career in the Retirement Plan arena with over 24 years of industry experience.  Una has held several roles at MassMutual, all client facing, and has been recognized for her leadership and passion centered on constantly elevating the plan sponsor’s experience at MassMutual.
 
Una holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in European Studies from the University of Limerick in Ireland. She also holds FINRA Series 6, 7, 24 & 63 registrations, and is a Retirement Plans Associate of the International Foundation for Employee Benefit Plans.
 
Una lives in East Longmeadow, MA with her husband Lou, and two children Leah and Louie.

Michael Marino is the CXO at Caesars Entertainment.  Michael’s previous roles within Caesars include SVP of Loyalty & Digital at Caesars Entertainmen, Vice President and Executive Associate to the Chairman, President and CEO and Director of Marketing Analytics.  Prior to joining Caesars, Michael worked at Bain & Company and Capital One Financial.   Michael holds a BS in Computer Science and an MBA from the University of Virginia. 

Mark Messing is the Director of Loyalty Programs at Domino’s Pizza. He has 12 years of total marketing experience with the past 6 years being spent at Domino’s Pizza. While at Domino’s, Mark has built an in-house digital media team, overhauled the Domino’s media measurement approach, and developed the first ever self-driving pizza delivery test. He is currently charged with advancing the Piece of the Pie Rewards program, and his team recently launched Points for Pies; a limited-time National promotion rewarding points to people for eating any pizza from anywhere.

Kelly is a loyalty strategist, entrepreneur & partner at IC Group.  With over 20+ years of promotion and loyalty experience working with the largest global brands and international sports organizations, his expertise in developing loyalty economies, managing rewards liability and developing engagement solutions has allowed IC Group clients to save millions of $ annually while driving billions of exciting engaging moments between consumer and brand. This past year Kelly opened a 20,000SF Indoor Beach Volleyball Centre restaurant and bar, with over 10,000 consumers monthly Kelly continues to be at the forefront of loyalty and customer experience.
 

Shelley is currently a Marketing Manager and Program Owner of Zumiez loyalty program, The Zumiez Stash. The Zumiez Stash is a unique reward and recognition program that engages and gives back to Zumiez best customers. Shelley is responsible for developing fun and engaging ways to give back to Zumiez Stash members across all of Zumiez channels.
 
Shelley is an eCommerce pioneer with technical acumen and repeated success inspiring teams to achieve unprecedented results.  WIth over 15 years as an Ecommerce professional, she has varied accomplishments under her belt.
 
As a founding member of Nordstrom.com, accountable for strategic web content planning, team building, project management, and eCommerce success. Shelley’s consistent focus was on developing teams, tools, and processes to streamline the deployment of website product pages and creative content. In addition to driving capital planning, funding procurement, and strategic planning, She also guided development process of organizational change within Nordstrom.com.
 
Shelley is super psyched to take learnings from her previous roles and apply them to the growing Zumiez loyalty program. 
 
 
Shelley graduated from The Evergreen State College with BA in Political Science.

Roger Dooley is an author and international keynote speaker. His books include Friction: The Untapped Force That Can Be Your Most Powerful Advantage (McGraw Hill, April 26, 2019) and Brainfluence: 100 Ways to Persuade and Convince Consumers with Neuromarketing. He writes the popular blog Neuromarketing as well as a column at Forbes.com. He is the founder of Dooley Direct, a consultancy, and co-founded College Confidential, the leading college-bound website. He’s been a serial entrepreneur since he left a senior strategy position at a Fortune 1000 company to enter the then-nascent home computer market.

Chris Malone is Founder and Managing Partner of Fidelum Partners, a firm that specializes in customer loyalty insights, strategies and results.

Chris has over 25 years of sales, marketing, consulting and organizational leadership experience, and a track record of driving growth and profitability.  He held senior marketing positions at leading organizations such as Choice Hotels, ARAMARK, Coca-Cola, the National Basketball Association, and Procter & Gamble and has consulted to a broad range of Fortune 500 companies.

As Chief Marketing Officer of Choice Hotels, one of the largest hotel companies in the world, with over 6,000 hotels open worldwide, Chris led the company’s 800 person global consumer marketing, worldwide travel industry sales, e-commerce and reservations organization. Previously he served as Senior Vice President, Marketing for ARAMARK Corporation, a multinational food, facility and uniform services enterprise with over $12 billion in revenue annually.

Chris is also co-author of the award-winning book, The HUMAN Brand: How We Relate to People, Products & Companies, which was published by the Jossey-Bass division of Wiley Publishing.  He has delivered over 100 keynote speeches on the insights from his book around the world.

He is also a frequent guest and contributor to CNBC, FOX Business, Bloomberg TV, Wall Street Journal Live, Forbes and Businessweek. 

Chris holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland at College Park and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Sabrina Lillew is the Vice President Loyalty Programs for Accor’s North & Central America region.   Sabrina’s 25+ years in marketing, sales and customer service support her in her current role responsible for the strategy, marketing and operation of Accor’s seven unique B2C and B2B loyalty and certificate programs as well as all partnerships in the region. 
 
Following the acquisition of FRHI in 2016, Sabrina was one of the key leaders involved in developing the global integration strategy of the Fairmont, Raffles and Swissôtel brand loyalty programs into Le Club AccorHotels.  Sabrina was also responsible for the successful program implementation and roll out.  She is currently one of the regional leaders involved in the development and implementation of Accor’s new ALL lifestyle loyalty program.

J.P. Furst is a Marketing Manager at Sony Corporation of America.  He has 15+ years of marketing experience across multi-faceted positions in consumer brand loyalty and sports and entertainment marketing. 

J.P. leads Sony Rewards internal and external partnerships on behalf of Sony Pictures Entertainment to deliver seamless experiences that strengthen consumer engagement and emotional connection to the brand.  J.P.’s blend of experience across marketing and technology coupled with consumer-focused methodologies has helped him lead several successful multi-channel marketing campaigns and the development of new marketing tools and technology platform enhancements.

Don Vaccaro is the founder and CEO of TicketNetwork, one of the top secondary ticket selling exchanges, and a driving force in the ticketing industry, founding several industry related companies and business associations. He has more than 40 years of experience in the secondary ticket market, pioneering the development and creation of industry-related software. He is also the founder of Ticket Summit, the leading conference and trade show for ticketing and live entertainment executives. He is widely respected for his role in industry circles and has been sought out for comment by Forbes, Billboard, Fox Business TV, Venues Today, the NY Times, Bloomberg, Pollstar, as well as other industry related media outlets.
 

Magen Murray is a senior marketing specialist responsible for deposits/credit card and enterprise social media campaigns across all Ally. In this role, she helps with the creation, execution and launch of campaigns. In her spare time, she loves traveling and spending time with family and friends.
 

Heather Blatter is the Senior Director for the Dollar Car Rental Brand, leading growth for the brand through strategic product innovations, media investments, partner activations, and program development. Previously, she led the Merchandising and Ancillary Revenue team, supporting the Hertz family of brands, which also includes Dollar and Thrifty.

Prior to Hertz, Heather worked at The Advisory Board Company in Nashville, Tennessee, as a Healthcare Consultant, helping large healthcare systems drive strategic and financial transformations. In addition, she worked for the Banner Health system in Tucson, Arizona, managing productivity improvements and benchmarking to drive best practices. Heather has also held positions in marketing and finance at Nationwide Insurance in Columbus, Ohio.

Heather holds a master’s degree in accounting from The Ohio State University’s Fisher School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from The University of Utah. She is also an inactive CPA in Ohio.

Lanna is currently Manager of Global Loyalty Campaigns & Planning at IHG®, one of the world’s leading hotel companies. At IHG, Lanna leads development and delivery of member activation, engagement and retention programs for IHG® Rewards Club globally. Prior to joining IHG in 2015, she spent 10+ years on both the agency and client side specializing in data-driven customer acquisition and retention strategy for brands in the telecommunications and financial services industries. Lanna is a graduate of the University of Tennessee.
 

  

Clay is a Principal at Lenati and leads our Customer Retention and Loyalty Team. Clay helps Fortune 500 companies adopt and implement customer engagement strategies that accelerate growth and build loyalty. He has a proven track record of delivering successful organizational change, program design, optimization, and CRM operations that unlock business-wide impact. Past clients include Hilton, Nordstrom, Expedia, Airbnb, Uber, Capital One, DSW, Microsoft, and T-Mobile.
 

Jon Bloom serves as Vice President, Personal Auto at Erie Insurance. He is accountable for top line growth and bottom line profitability for ERIE’s $3 billion personal auto business. During Jon’s 16 year tenure at ERIE, he has held positions in actuarial, finance, program management and product management. Jon has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Penn State and a master’s degree in applied statistics from Bowling Green State University. Jon is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society, a Certified Public Accountant, a Chartered Financial Analyst charter holder, a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter, and a Certified Insurance Counselor.
 

Manish Agarwal is leads Customer Technology at 7 Eleven. His responsibilities include Loyalty, Scan & Pay, Wallet, Fuel Rewards, CRM technology and big data engineering. His team builds the 7-Eleven app & the website, and APIs empowering omni-channel experiences. His data engineering team supports marketing, personalization, and machine learning needs of the organization.
 
Manish has been a part of Digital Technology organization at 7-Eleven for a little less than 2 years. Before that he was at Sabre for 7 years where he led their Digital experience and API teams. Manish graduated from IIT Mumbai in 1999.
 

As Senior Vice President, Loyalty, Tad is responsible for leading Epsilon’s Loyalty business, including the Agility Loyalty™ solution. Prior to joining Epsilon in January 2016, Tad served as Senior Vice President, Global Commercial Solutions at Visa, where he was responsible for Visa’s B2B payment products around the world. Additionally, he was responsible for business strategy and product management of Visa’s risk, loyalty and business intelligent solutions. Before joining Visa, Tad was the director of database marketing for Hilton Hotels Corporation. Tad holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Southern Methodist University.

Ashley Roberts is currently the Manager of Owner Recognition on the Owner Experience and Engagement team with Hilton, working on building long term, franchisee loyalty. She has been with Hilton for over six years and is a graduate from George Mason University. She recently relocated to Dallas, TX.

Eliot Hamlisch serves as senior vice president, worldwide loyalty and partnerships at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, one of the world’s leading hotel brand franchisors and hotel management services providers with more than 9,000 hotels across 80 countries under 20 hotel brands. In his role, Hamlisch oversees Wyndham Rewards, the company’s award-winning guest loyalty program, as well as its co-branded credit card, loyalty partnerships & sponsorships, rewards program marketing, and customer acquisition and retention efforts.
 
Previously, Hamlisch served as Wyndham’s head of global sales, overseeing a team of over 100 sales professionals tasked with generating more than $1B in annual revenue across the company’s worldwide hotel portfolio. He joined the organization in 2016 as vice president of sales innovation.
Prior to Wyndham, Hamlisch spent three years leading sales strategy and operations at Starwood Hotels and Resorts, where he was responsible for developing, executing and supporting strategic initiatives to drive profitable growth across the company’s North American portfolio.
Earlier in his career, Hamlisch held a number of strategic planning, business development and customer engagement positions with Deloitte Consulting and American Express Company. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College and received his Master's in Business Administration from Harvard Business School.

Karen Szarvas serves as Director of Customer Loyalty at The Vitamin Shoppe®, an omni-channel specialty retailer and wellness lifestyle company.  In her role, Karen oversees the newly redesigned Healthy Awards Loyalty program and is responsible for the development, execution and management of the program, as well as strategies to drive customer awareness, engagement and retention.
 
Karen has more than 19 years of global marketing and loyalty experience and is a highly motivated, customer focused, thought leader.   Prior to joining The Vitamin Shoppe, she worked at Wyndham Worldwide and consulted at KMS Marketing Solutions where she specialized in loyalty, branding, customer communications and experiences.

Chandler Delmas serves as program and brand manager for Cinemark Movie Club, the first subscription program offered by a domestic movie exhibitor. Chandler led the research and marketing efforts in support of launching the program in December 2017, and now spearheads member acquisition, retention and engagement efforts through defining program enhancement strategy, CRM, and strategic partnerships.
 
Prior to her role with Cinemark, Chandler held positions with Michaels Stores and J.C. Penney in various CRM and marketing strategy roles. She holds a bachelor’s degree in advertising and a master’s degree in integrated communications.
 

Rachel Schilowitz (SOM ’15) is currently a Marketing Manager at PepsiCo, working on long term innovation and strategy for the Mountain Dew brand coming up with new ways to inspire and excite Dew Nation, whether through bold flavors or new loyalty platforms. Prior to PepsiCo, she worked in product development at OXO, a kitchen and household gadgets company known for its ergonomic and innovative products. She graduated from Columbia University and Yale School of Management. She lives with her husband Daniel and three children in Stamford, CT. 
 

Nate Beran joined 7-Eleven in October of 2016 as Product Manager for the 7Rewards loyalty program. He oversaw the successful launch of the new points program and is responsible driving 7Rewards loyalty program strategy, capabilities, and customer experiences across all touchpoints.  He is a relentless customer advocate focused on delivering memorable experiences through loyalty and digital channels.  Prior to 7-Eleven, Nate oversaw digital loyalty and offer experiences at Walgreens. 

Nate graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington., with a degree in Software Engineering. He earned his MBA degree from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas.  He lives in Arlington, Texas with his wife Soli and three children. 
 

Maria Pyle is a marketing specialist responsible for paid social media campaigns across all Ally’s lines of business. In this role, she helps with the execution, optimization and measurement of awareness and conversion campaigns. Since moving from her hometown in Columbus, Ohio, Maria spends time hiking various trails throughout North Carolina, making homemade pasta and even homebrewing out of her apartment!

As Senior IT Manger of CRM at Dunkin’, Saad is focused on leading Dunkin’s Loyalty CRM platforms to deliver top notch experiences for guests. Additionally, he oversees the strategic development of the applications internal team members leverage for reaching and engaging guests with the brands. Saad is always researching key technology solutions and strategic channel integrations that will increase guest engagement and loyalty to the Perks program. Prior to leading CRM at Dunkin’, Saad focused his efforts on Point of Sale (POS) integration ranging from credit and gift cards to loyalty and in-store technology like digital menu boards, online orders, video surveillance and more. Before joining Dunkin’, Saad worked at Paytronix Systems where he led multiple POS integration initiatives, was instrumental in directing the Loyalty product roadmap and provided clients in the QSR and financial services industries with programs that positively impacted their sales. Saad earned both his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Master of Business Administration in Management Information Systems from Boston University.

Sara never intended to work in loyalty. After a six year stint working in the arts, she stumbled into loyalty at US Airways and never looked back. After the merger with American Airlines brought Sara back to Texas, she joined the Select Guest team at Omni Hotels & Resorts as the Loyalty Marketing Manager in 2016.

Since her arrival, Sara has focused on improving employee engagement with the corporate office and members of Select Guest. A people-focused individual, she led the implementation of a new holistic employee engagement program driving motivation, engagement, and education of Front Office staff around growing membership and increasing consistent and exception delivery of program benefits and member recognition.
In addition to Loyalty Marketing, Sara also held positions in Partnership Strategy, Partner Channel Strategy, Partnership Marketing, and Advertising Sales with Dividend Miles and AAdvantage.

Dale serves as CMO at Stash, the financial platform revolutionizing the way millions of Americans save and invest for their future. She is responsible for driving the growth and retention channels for one of the fastest growing financial platforms in the U.S. Dale has more than 20 years of marketing experience across Fortune 500 brands, including Time Inc., AOL and The Walt Disney Company. Dale currently resides in New Jersey with her husband and 4 children.
 

Josh Margolis is the Vice President of Customer Journey for Caesars Entertainment. His team leads loyalty, national promotions, and digital products for the enterprise.  Prior to his current role, Josh was responsible for integrating Caesar’s Total Rewards loyalty program with Playtika’s chart topping social casino games and real money online gaming in New Jersey and Nevada.  His work helped create one of the first social loyalty programs spanning multiple games and an 8 figure cross-marketing revenue stream.  He has marketing experience across multiple verticals including time with category leaders in legal services, financial services, media, gaming and hospitality.  Josh holds a BS in marketing from Lehigh University and a JD/MBA from Temple University. He splits time between Vegas and Los Angeles.
 

Sonya Durante is a Marketing Strategist who thrives in developing innovative go-to-market strategies from discovery through delivery, and in building engaged teams.

In her current role at TELUS Communications, she supports a broad team dedicated to growing market share and customer satisfaction – which includes TELUS Rewards. With more than 12 years of marketing experience spanning industries such as technology, telecommunications, advertising, fashion, consumer products and beauty – she loves a new challenges & continual learning.

Sonya has a track record of success driving results, highlighted by industry awards such as the Georgie Award for Best Print Advertising with client Concord Pacific & the Lotus Awards for integrated Campaign for Tourism BC.  At TELUS, internally known as an innovator – she received a nomination for the Chloe ‘Women in Leadership’ Innovation award for her work driving forward multicultural marketing strategies.

Additionally, Sonya holds an MBA in strategy & marketing from the Sauder School of Business, at the University of British Columbia.

Aldine Shamir serves as vice president, CRM and Loyalty, at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, one of the world’s leading hotel brand franchisors and hotel management services providers with approximately 9,200 hotels across 80 countries under 20 hotel brands.
 
In her role, Shamir has global oversight for member acquisition and engagement with Wyndham Rewards, the company’s award-winning guest loyalty program. Most recently, she spearheaded a multi-faceted evolution of Wyndham Rewards—named the number one hotel rewards program by readers of USA TODAY—adding new member benefits and expanding program features, all of which were built around extensive customer research and analysis.
 
Shamir joined Wyndham in early 2018 following a 15-year tenure with American Express, where she held a number of progressive marketing roles including, vice president of Global Customer Experience, vice president of Customer Acquisition, and Director of Customer Retention & Loyalty Strategy. Outside of American Express, she has held marketing and business strategy roles with Verizon, GE and Accenture.
 
Shamir is a graduate of Binghamton University and received her Master's in Business Administration from New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business.

Ryan joined Omaze as Senior Vice President, Partnerships in February of 2019. In this role, Ryan oversees business operations and partnerships. During his 10+ years in the Sports industry, he has assumed leadership roles with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Miami Dolphins where he played an integral role in the negotiation of the Stadium Naming Rights Entitlement partnership with Hard Rock, which is the 2nd largest team deal in the NFL. Ryan has also worked internationally with Manchester City FC in London and he has helped open new stadiums for the New York Yankees, New York Giants and Jets as well as the San Francisco 49ers. Ryan is originally from California and a graduate of George Mason University.
 

Darin Smith has a unique background for his way of looking at business and marketing. Having spent a vast majority of his experience in field leadership, he always sees things through the lens of the customer- no matter what business he directs. Having taken that vast leadership expertise, while staying focused on what matters to the customer, it has helped him oversee two of the largest loyalty programs in retail. GameStop’s PowerUp Rewards and AutoZone Rewards are both now in 1 of every 5 homes in the U.S. He is always looking at what technology is next for the consumer to increase their loyalty and share of wallet spend. Darin is a recognized speaker for loyalty and is an avid gamer.
 

Megan Audette is a marketing leader responsible for marketing strategy and integrated campaigns for Ally Bank Deposit products. In this role she leads a cross-functional marketing team focused on driving growth through full funnel, disruptive marketing across TV, digital, social and CRM.  When not working, the Wisconsin native enjoys spending time with her husband and children, traveling and attending sporting events.

Jennifer Leitman is a proven integrated marketing leader and data-driven strategist who thrives on innovation and creativity to connect communities and brands. As executive vice president of Marketing for The Family Coppola, Jen helps translate the vision of Francis Ford Coppola, six-time Academy Award winning director and entrepreneur, to millions of consumers around the world. The Family Coppola encompasses all the things Francis loves most–cinema, wine, food, spirits, resorts, and adventure–and embraces quality, authenticity and pleasure as a backbone to each of these vibrant business endeavors.
 
Jen connects the dots between consumer behavior, creative development and business strategy. She is responsible for innovation, communications, content, media planning, creative development, partnerships, and consumer and trade marketing, to enhance the growth and profitability of the entire business. Jen’s entrepreneurial spirit and endless curiosity about the world fuels her approach to progressive thought leadership and results-driven integrated campaigns. From digital and loyalty marketing to immersive experiences, packaging and partnerships, Jen’s diverse team of marketers, public relations professionals, site developers and creatives, work across a wide variety of platforms to promote some of the most iconic premium alcohol beverage brands in the world. 
 
Prior to her current role, she successfully led all aspects of marketing and creative for several entertainment brands, including; HGTV, PBS, DIYnetwork and Great American Country. She directed brand evolutions, redesigns, led consumer-marketing, creative services, partnerships and social media. Jen holds a BA in Communications from University of Missouri-Columbia and an MBA from University of Tennessee.

Jen is a strong proponent for equality and believes in doing good in the world. She currently serves on the Sonoma County Vintners Board and lives in Santa Rosa, California with her husband and daughter, whom she regularly volunteers with at Sonoma County Animal Services.

Mark has over 15 years’ experience in loyalty, promotions and consumer relationship marketing.  His work began at ePrize (now HelloWorld) where he led the loyalty and promotion strategy for Coca-Cola and the MyCokeRewards program.  He has held roles at the Kellogg Company leading the creation, implementation and activation of national promotions and key strategic partnerships.  For the last 2.5 years he has led the Kellogg’s Family Reward program and has been instrumental in its evolution from a code based program to one based on receipt image and loyalty card validation.

A graduate of the University of Michigan with both a B.A. and an MBA, Mark enjoys spending time with his family, reading and getting outdoors.

Emily oversees the Client Success and Marketing teams at CrowdTwist. Emily has more than 15 years of retail, analytics, client services and marketing experience. Throughout her career, Emily led transformational initiatives that have enabled brands and retailers to form strong connections with their customer base. She offers a unique customer-centric perspective and has a proven track record for increasing value for customers, managing complex relationships and developing hard ROI for her customers. Prior to joining CrowdTwist, Emily held positions at Macy’s, Coach, Ann Inc., dunnhumby, and The Children’s Place. She holds a bachelor’s degree in consumer studies from Syracuse University. Emily is a proud mother of two. She and her husband are active members of their community.

Allie Porter is the Loyalty Program Leader on the digital marketing team at Domino’s Pizza. She serves as the primary point of contact for rewards member experiences and program enhancements. Allie works cross-functionally with Advertising, Strategy/Insights, Information Technology and agency partners to ensure program success.  With a unique background in analytics and creative design, she identifies areas of opportunity within the online and offline customer journey, leads A/B testing plans and implements winning concepts that drive both program KPIs and positive customer experiences.  Moving forward, she’ll be leading enrollment focused initiatives.

Allie came to Domino’s from the agency side of the business, with clients in the automotive and homebuilding verticals.  Her past roles in account management included traditional and digital marketing campaigns.
Allie holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan with two majors: Communication Studies and Political Science.  In her free time, she enjoys crafting, working out and cleaning/organizing.  And time with her pup, Steel!

Kevin is a senior level executive with over 25 years’ experience in marketing consulting, CRM and Loyalty strategy in complex business environments. Kevin has consulted with leading companies including Domino’s, Dunkin, Baskin-Robbins, Lowe's Home Improvement, Marriott, Harrah's Casino and many other Fortune 500 clients.

He currently leads Epsilons’ restaurant group, helping clients improve their customer experience by leveraging data, technology and communications.
 
Prior to joining Epsilon, Kevin was a Partner at Trone Brand Energy, a Digital Marketing Agency, Executive Vice President of Strategy with Targetbase, an Omnicom company and Vice President of Client Services at M/A/R/C Research. Kevin has a passion for helping brands connect with people and leading winning teams to produce business results.
 
Kevin lives in High Point, NC and enjoys outdoor activities, travel and creating new experiences with his family.
 

Taylor Gray is the Global Director of PR for Loyalty and Partnership at IHG® (InterContinental Hotels Group), one of the world’s leading hotel companies. With more than 14 years of PR experience, Taylor is a strategic and results-oriented leader who manages high-performing, integrated teams that deliver award-winning results. Prior to joining IHG, she worked at two of the world’s largest PR agencies and she specialized in multi-channel campaign development for consumer brands across the house and home, hospitality, consumer packaged goods and luxury industries. 
 

Coming from a multidiscipline background, Drew spent his prior career agency side consulting for brands like IBM, E-Trade, CVS Health and Citi Group and built performance driven, award winning programs across CRM, Brand, Digital/Social, Content, Influencer and Media for them.

At Luxottica, Drew currently leads CRM and loyalty for Oakley Retail and Sunglass Hut in North America. He believes loyalty today needs to be data driven, but also balanced with emotional connections throughout the customer journey. The intersection of loyalty and brand is extremely integrated, and his team approaches loyalty with the mindset that 1:1 relationships are the ultimate representation and experience of the brand. Since joining Luxottica in January 2017, he has initiated several initiatives that have driven member engagement and increased repurchase rates.

Neil Norman knows something about loyalty. He’s spent the past 25 years at Food Lion, a 1,030 store banner of Ahold-Delhaize USA. Starting as a cashier/bagger, he moved to customer service manager during college, while earning his marketing degree at UNC-Greensboro. After fulfilling roles as assistant manager and store manager, he moved to corporate, serving in roles as category analyst, customer insights, fresh merchandising manager, category manager, and customer loyalty manager. In 2016, he was named Director of Loyalty and Shopper marketing. Neil oversees 11m yearly MVP loyalty card customers providing shopper marketing themed events throughout the year and personalized campaigns such as 360 CONNECT and recently launched Shop & Earn, a monthly digital personalized rewards program, for the banner. 
 

Matt Goldberg is the Sr. Manager of PRO Services Development for Floor & Decor. Over the past 2 years, Matt has managed the growth of the PRO department and developed the loyalty strategy for Floor & Decor, including creating, rolling out and optimizing PRO Premier Rewards, F&D’s Loyalty Program. Matt has loved contributing to the tremendous growth of the company and is passionate about driving loyalty in an industry where there is so much opportunity to gain Share of Wallet. Matt is constantly thinking “What’s Next” in the realm of loyalty, and is excited to learn more from other Loyalty360 participants!
 

Ashley Downey is the Director of Customer Loyalty & Branding at Giant Eagle, one of the nation’s largest multi-format food, fuel and pharmacy retailers and among Forbes Magazine’s top 40 largest private companies. Ashley oversees loyalty and branding initiatives for the company to create cross-channel communications, rewards-based incentives, and data-driven strategies. She is currently charged with transforming the rewards experience across the company’s banners to include Giant Eagle, GetGo Café + Market, and Market District through the use of the fuelperks+ loyalty program and more than 5 million active cardholders. Ashley holds a Bachelors in Business from Westminster College and an MBA in Marketing and Strategy from the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University.

5+ years of global CRM and loyalty experience in luxury retail. Shinjani has spearheaded the launch and growth of CRM and loyalty programs for Sunglass Hut and Oakley retail across multiple countries. She also has an MBA from Ross School of Business, University of Michigan.
 

Julia Russell is currently the Director of Loyalty Marketing for the Verizon Up loyalty program, responsible for the overall strategy and operations of the program. Verizon Up is an innovative, app-based rewards program that thanks Verizon customers through a variety of rewards ranging from everyday brand favorites to once-in a lifetime experiences. 

Prior to joining Verizon in 2018, Julia held the positions of Senior Director, Customer Engagement & Member Lifecycle and Senior Director, Global Loyalty Strategy & Innovation at Wyndham Hotel Group, where she was responsible for managing the value proposition, operations and global acquisition strategy across all channels for the Wyndham Rewards loyalty program.  Prior to joining Wyndham in 2013, Julia worked for American Express for 14 years in a variety of strategy, business development and product marketing roles.  Prior to American Express, Julia worked for the French Trade Commission, a division of the French Ministry of Economy, Industry and Employment, as a commercial attaché. 

Julia currently serves on the board of ment’or, a non-profit organization founded by Thomas Keller, Daniel Boulud and Jerome Bocuse to inspire culinary excellence and tradition in America.

Julia holds an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and a BA from Lehigh University. 
 

Zainub oversees Customer Marketing and Loyalty at Sugarfina. Zainub built, launched and leads strategy & efforts of Sugarfina Rewards for the organization. Besides acting as the key stakeholder over Sugarfina Rewards, she also handles all customer metrics, consumer insights and direct mail. Throughout her career, Zainub has brought transformational insights and marketing strategy to organizations which has in turn led to an increase in customer satisfaction & positive ROI driving initiatives. Prior to joining Sugarfina, Zainub held positions at Fabletics at Techstyle, Yext and Huron Consulting Group. She holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan. Zainub enjoys yoga, cooking and getting involved in her community. She currently resides in Los Angeles, CA with her husband.
 

Tamara Camp is the Vice President of Global CEM, Growth and Loyalty Programs for Western Union. Throughout her career, she has spearheaded teams with a strategic, data-driven approach to digital marketing that has increased brand engagement, consumer loyalty, and ROI. She prides herself in her proactive, highly adaptable approach and commitment to cultivating a collaborative, productive culture.

Michelle Musgrove has more than 15 years of specialized marketing experience including strategy, product development, segmentation, multi-cultural marketing, loyalty program management, relationship management and customer experience management.  

Currently, Michelle serves as Vice President, AARP Experience Strategy & Governance at AARP.  In this role, Michelle has supported the launch of the customer experience management function with a focus on strategy, change management, communications and generating early wins.  Prior to joining AARP, Michelle led successful engagement and loyalty programs at AOL, American Express and JP Morgan Chase. 

Michelle graduated with a MBA and concentration in Marketing from the University of California at Berkeley as well as a BA in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania. 

John is the Retail Practice Leader at FICO.  John is a thought leader and manages delivery of FICO Retail Solutions focusing on analytics, technology and process.  John has over 25 years of business and consulting experience in personalization, marketing, customer management, information technology and organization transformation. Prior to joining FICO, John held various positions at the Kellogg Company and Ernst & Young.  John is a graduate of Northwood University.
 

Julie Roy leads loyalty, CRM, digital marketing, and customer insights and analytics for DSW, a leading omni-channel footwear retailer.  Julie is responsible for leading the optimization and continued growth of DSW’s cross-channel marketing programs, with the objective of improving customer acquisition, engagement, and retention.  She has an acute passion and proven track record for delivering meaningful results by developing data-driven strategies that engage consumers and achieve business goals.
 

Jeff Sopko co-founder and President, Baesman Insights & Marketing, has established himself within technology and agency ecosystems as both a visionary leader and growth advisor.
 
Jeff’s career is highlighted by his extensive work with entrepreneurs and rapidly growing companies in the SaaS, technology, consulting, and big data agency space.
 
Through Jeff’s leadership Baesman Insights & Marketing has established itself as a highly responsive, yet boutique provider of fact-based marketing strategy and execution services for the retail, fashion and home services brands.
 
Prior to founding the Baesman agency Jeff served as a senior executive and advisor to companies in Toronto, Ontario, Los Angeles and as CEO of eVisons.com a business and technology consultancy supporting both Fortune 1000 and dot.com brands.

Dawn is a creative, dynamic, results-driven, multifaceted marketer specializing in developing and managing high-impact, fully integrated, marketing campaigns that drive profitable growth. She has led successful, Global loyalty marketing initiatives focused on groups and meetings, a part of the Company’s B2B customer engagement program.

Prior to joining IHG® in 2012, Dawn gained strong brand and field marketing experience working with the Burger King Corporation, McDonald’s, The UniWorld Group and other commercial products, including Waterford Wedgewood, health & beauty and food and beverage.

Specialties: Thought Leadership, Marketing Strategy, Customer Engagement, Building Strong, Cross-functional Teams

Jim Bentubo is the Manager of Social Media Strategy for Ally Financial, a leading digital financial-services company. He oversees campaigns, sponsorships and paid activations with a focus on driving awareness, consideration and conversions for the Ally brand and its lines of business. Jim has more than 10 years of experience leading social media initiatives for companies in the sports, automotive, retail and banking industries. He holds a bachelor of science in mass communication from Boston University and a certificate in digital media and marketing from Duke University.

Lance Masten is a Sr Identity Account Executive at Akamai Technologies where he focuses on their Identity Cloud solution and how it can benefit today’s digital transformation efforts.  He has been in the software industry for 19 years having worked in a number of different roles including: Engineering, Product Management and Sales.  Areas of expertise are: Cloud Architecture, Behavioral Analytics, ConsumerIAM, Identity Governance and Dev Opps.
 

Anita Bichsel is the Marketing Manager for Break Time convenience stores, a division of MFA Oil Company. Her focus is primarily on loyalty, digital, and brand management. With a solid background in marketing to convenience stores both in B2B and B2C capacities, Anita’s perspective on customer experience was valuable to the unique composition of Break Time’s loyalty program. Under her direction, MyTime Rewards has achieved 40% penetration within the first two years of launch. Anita has also achieved regional notoriety for her fantasy football prowess—narrowly missing a 3-peat league championship last year.
 

Jimmy Budnik, Overstock.com’s Vice President of Customer Care, began his  career  with  the  online  retailer  in  2008  as  a  Senior  Process  Improvement  Engineer  after  half  a  decade  working  as  an  Industrial  Engineer,  first  with  UPS,  then  with  Homeshield.  
 
Budnik  has  held  several  positions  in  his  time  at  Overstock,  where  he  developed  strategies  and  executed  improvements  initiatives  to  drive  growth  and  improve  the  customer  experience.  These  roles  included  transitioning  between  multiple  departments  as  a  Chief  of  Staff,  including  Customer  Care,  Marketing,  Merchandising,  and  the  Office  of  the  President.  Also  during  this  time,  he  was  a  Senior  Director  of  the  Product  Content  Teams,  worked  in  Overstock’s  technology  incubator,  OLabs,  and  most  recently  he  served  in  a  dual  role  as  the  General  Manager  of  Marketplace  and  the  General  Merchandising  Manager  for  Home  Essentials  and  Apparel. 
 
In  his  current  role  as  VP  of  Customer  Care,  Budnik  leads  a  workforce  of  hundreds  of  associates  that  consistently  deliver  a  world-class  customer  experience,  while  promoting  the  customer-centric  culture  that  has  given  Overstock  the  reputation  as  an  award-winning  leader  in  online  retail  customer  service  for  nearly  two  decades.