Past Expo

Bob Gold, CEO, Gold Mobile

Connie Hill, President & Founder, VeraCentra

David Resnick, Vice President Technology Solutions, VeraCentra

Jen Millard, Chief Revenue Officer, Truaxis, A MasterCard family company

Nandan Mer, Group Executive, Global Loyalty Solutions, MasterCard Worldwide

Barry Kirk, Sr. Director of Digital Strategy, Bunchball

Joseph Cole, Sr. Digital Strategist, Bunchball

Mark Johnson, CEO & CMO, Loyalty 360

Maggie Lang, Sr. Director Loyalty and Relationship Marketing, Kimpton Hotels & Resorts

Phil Rubin, CEO & Founder, rDialogue

• Different types of data and how they are used
• Approaches by channel (guest-facing, digital, social)
• Examples and results
• Summary of best practices

Greg Brown, Vice President, Loyalty, Promotion & Relationship Marketing, Choice Hotels International

Greg oversees the consumer marketing strategy for Choice Hotels, a leading hotel franchisor with 6,200 hotels worldwide.  His principle focus is on global growth of Choice Privileges, the comprehensive, award-winning rewards program for Choice Hotels, which has tripled membership to over 15 million in the past 5 years.  He also oversees the promotional marketing initiatives group, as well as, the relationship marketing organization, which annually generate significant incremental revenue for our hotels.  A frequent speaker, Greg is also on the board of the Association of Travel Marketing Executives (ATME).
Greg has held a variety of marketing and finance leadership roles during his
25-year career, 17 of which were with American Airlines.  He began his career with Andersen Consulting (now Accenture).  Greg then joined American’s Finance department in the late-80s, and subsequently led organizations in Financial Analysis, Airport Resource Planning, Revenue Management, and Sales.  He was recruited to Choice Hotels initially as Vice President of Choice Privileges, and has been with Choice for nearly five years.

Lillian Murphy, Vice President, Customer Retention & Loyalty, Orbitz Worldwide

Mark Johnson, CEO & CMO, Loyalty 360

As President and CEO of Loyalty 360, Mark is committed to bringing loyalty to the forefront as a critical marketing strategy. To further this goal, he has created an unbiased, market-driven clearinghouse and think tank through which users and loyalty providers can interact and collaborate with. His finger on the pulse of what’s happening in loyalty, Mark is driven to give members the expert insight and guidance they need to develop strategies and implement programs that effectively engage their customers and employees and build stronger relationships with them.

Nandan Mer, Group Executive, Global Loyalty, MasterCard Worldwide

As group executive, Global Loyalty, for MasterCard Worldwide, Nandan Mer is responsible for developing and expanding the company’s suite of loyalty solutions, with a focus on enabling issuers to provide enhanced value to cardholders; and supporting merchants to attract and retain profitable consumers. Mer plays a critical role in helping MasterCard’s financial institution and merchant partners enhance their business relationships with MasterCard around the globe. Prior joining MasterCard, Mer spent 22 years with Citigroup, American Express & United Bank for Africa leading consumer and institutional banking businesses in locations such as Africa, China, India, Middle East, Russia and UK.

Adam Russell, Group Vice President, SunTrust Bank

Adam Russell is currently the Group Vice President at SunTrust Bank where he is heading up the marketing operations and product integration functions for the Consumer and Small Business Credit Card businesses. He was previously the Vice President of Strategic Accounts at Experian Information Solutions where he was responsible for managing and growing the strategic relationship between Experian and Capital One. Prior to this, Mr. Russell worked at Capital One for 13 years, in a variety of Marketing, Analytics, and Operations roles, from its spinoff from Signet Bank to its current position as a Fortune 200 company, and Top five credit card issuer. Mr. Russell graduated from the University of Richmond with a BS in Business Administration with concentrations in Marketing and Spanish and completed a Masters Certificate in Lean/Six Sigma from Villanova University.

Chuck Christianson, Group Vice President - Sales & Strategy, Affinion Loyalty Group

As Group Vice President of Sales and Strategy at Affinion Loyalty Group, Charles “Chuck” Christianson believes that our charge as marketers is no longer to just sell goods or services, but rather to enable experiences that must then live and breathe within each customer. As an experienced company storyteller, Chuck has spoken at numerous financial services and loyalty industry events including Card Forum & Expo, Loyalty Expo, Prepaid Expo, Cards & Payments Loyalty Conference, SIFMA’s Asset Management Roundtable and others. Additionally, Chuck has been quoted in Fox Business, Yahoo Finance, and various industry trade publications and he has held webinars dedicated to fostering consumer loyalty. Chuck’s nearly 15 year career in the payments and financial services industries began in 1998, when he joined eCommerce Processing, where he ran sales for this innovative payment processing provider. In 2002, Chuck co-founded Neos Merchant Solutions, marketers of a proprietary smart card based payment platform that enabled small to medium sized merchants to economically offer private label gift and loyalty functionality on a single card. Prior to its acquisition in 2005, Neos distributed more functional private label smart cards than any other company in the United States. Chuck earned his bachelor's degree from Dickinson College and Juris Doctor from the University of Maryland. Chuck spent eight years as a litigation attorney in Baltimore, Maryland, where he practiced commercial and product liability law.

Jack Donahue, Business Development, Badgeville

Jack is responsible for establishing and supporting customers on the East Coast for Badgeville. Founded in 2010 to help companies measure and influence user behavior, Badgeville is the gold standard for gamification, having amassed a roster of over 200 global customers including Deloitte, Samsung, Dell, NBC, CA Technologies, and Universal Music. He has over 12 years of experience working with companies to establish and optimize sales, marketing and service processes. Prior to Badgeville, Jack spent 6 years at Salesforce.com as a Strategic Global Account Executive, and before that he held the role of Strategic Account Manager at BMC Software for 5 years. Jack also worked as the Director of Process Reengineering at American Express and has a B.A. in Economics from Tulane University.

Neil Gandhi, Senior Engineer, sneakpeeq

Neil Gandhi is a Senior Engineer at sneakpeeq, a social shopping company that leverages social networks to bring the benefits of the in-store shopping experience to the online world. Neil currently leads the design and development of gamification and marketing tools. He has also been instrumental in thought leadership and execution of sneakpeeq's new SaaS e-commerce platform that was released in January.

Joe Dacey, Sr. Director, Strategic Services Group, Soundbite Communications

Joe Dacey is the Group Director of Strategic Services for SoundBite’s Mobile Services, leading the strategic program development efforts for clients that are using mobile marketing to grow their businesses. Joe has spent the last 14 years of his career in retail strategy and database marketing with a focus on loyalty. His understanding of both advanced analytic techniques and loyalty programs makes Joe a leader in the Loyalty world. Joe possesses seven years of mobile marketing experience and is a respected leader in the field having served on the MMA’s Mobile Metrics Committee and host of the Mobile Marketing round tables at the CRMC conferences.

Mark Friedman, EVP and GM Mobile Services, Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer, Soundbite Communications

Mark works with many of the world’s top brands to improve consumer responsiveness through the adoption of SoundBite’s award-winning customer experience management solutions. His business acumen and vision led to numerous corporate acquisitions (SmartReply, 2ergo Americas and Mobile Collect) and the development of the mobile services business unit, which he manages. Prior to SoundBite, Mark served as CEO of Peppercoin, a provider of card-based merchant loyalty programs (acquired by Chockstone, Inc., now Heartland Payments, in April 2007). Mark holds a dual-degree from the University of Pennsylvania’s Management and Technology program and an MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management. Mark Friedman is a loyalty industry thought leader with a focus on mobile marketing. He has authored many SoundBite whitepapers and is an avid contributor to its blog.

Alex Romero, Planning & eCRM Manager, Shell Lubricants

As Planning & eCRM Manager for Shell, Alex has expertise in route to market strategy, channel strategy, distributor management and business development.  He is a leader with a reputation of successfully delivering through others & breeding new leaders.  He is an out-of-the-box thinker that always finds a way to solve problems!  Alex has strength with multi-cultural and multi-lingual situations.

Alex’s major accomplishments at Shell include establishing a standard framework to perform multi-year planning and to secure a longer term marketing budget to deliver the growth aspirations of the company.  Also he established a standard technology platform that automated most of the collaboration between team members to integrate the strategic plan as well as the tactical components, also including the on-going tracking of work progress, actions, spend effectiveness and target delivery.

Prior to joining Shell in 2006, Alex spent time in marketing, strategy and business development roles at BP, Chocolates Turin, GSK (formerly Block Drug) and Procter & Gamble. Alex received his bachelor of science degree as well as his MBA from Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey.

Chris Guerrero, Global Brand Marketing Manager, Rotella, Shell Lubricants

With over 17 years’ experience in the lubricants business, Chris has held a wide range of roles within Shell including work in Global Brand and Sector Marketing, North American Sector Marketing, eBusiness Marketing, Diversity & Business Outreach, and as Commercial and Industrial Lubricant Sales. 

Chris is currently serving as the Global Brand Manager for Rotella Heavy Duty Diesel Engine Oil (HDDEO) - the #1 HDDEO brand in North America and a brand which contributes approximately 35% of global HDDEO sales for Shell. 

Chris is a native Houstonian, graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, and enjoys spending time with his wife Teresa and two sons, Robbie and AJ.

Michelle Davis, Group Account Director, Aimia

Michelle Davis manages three premiere Aimia accounts within the U.S. Region Consumer Packaged Goods vertical. She and her team leverage data insights to define strategic solutions that enable the successful operation of complex programs. These efforts help her clients build intelligent relationships with their customers and consumers. Michelle has a passion for solving client problems and defining loyalty offerings that change consumer behavior and establish a clear value exchange between clients and their consumers. She has a keen sense for leveraging data, database technologies and defining operations that allow for sustained high-program performance.

Glenda Cardenas, Marketing Manager, Customer Excellence, Siemens Building Technologies

Glenda Cardenas is a Marketing Manager within the Customer Excellence department of Siemens Building Technologies for the North American Region-NAM. She is responsible for the Customer Loyalty and Customer Experience programs for United States, Canada, Brazil and Mexico. She has over 10 years of experience in global-sales, marketing and financial leadership strategies. She is recognized for the ability to incorporate management techniques in processes and procedures to boost revenue, increase productivity and enhance business practices. She is certified in Customer Experience Management, Net Promoter® Score and Brand loyalty, and holds a dual degree in Public Relations and Business Management.

Jennifer Schmitt, Director, Customer Excellence, Siemens Building Technologies

Jennifer Schmitt is the Director of the Customer Excellence department of Siemens Building Technologies NAM region. She is responsible for Siemens Building Technologies Divisions NAM (North American Sector) “VOC - Voice of the Customer Program” for the United States, Canada, Brazil and Mexico. Jennifer has been with Siemens Building Technologies for 12 years and has achieved record results in NPS, Customer Loyalty and is recognized for establishing several best practices for “VOC – Voice of the Customer Program” that is used throughout Siemens and the Customer Experience Industry. She is also a recipient the of the Siemens Gold Top+ award for Customer Focus and holds a Black Belt Six Sigma certification.

Linette Myland, Marketing Manager, Customer Voice, Siemens Building Technologies

Linette Myland is a Marketing Manager within the Customer Excellence department of Siemens Building Technologies. She is responsible for the Customer Voice program for the United States, Canada, Brazil and Mexico. Linette has been with Siemens Building Technologies for 30 years and an advocate for their customers for the past 21 years. She is a certified Net Promoter® Associate, and holds her certification in Customer Experience Management and Six Sigma Green Belt.

Eric Holtzclaw, Acting Vice President and General Manager, Professional Services Organization, PossibleNOW

Eric V. Holtzclaw, Acting Vice President and General Manager of PossibleNOW’s Professional Services Organization, has spent 20+ years creating opportunities through the practical application of emerging technologies and trends to business. Eric leads a multi-disciplinary team that advises the world’s leading brands on how to prioritize strategic investments in technology, advertising and marketing for maximum return. Eric's book, Laddering: Unlocking the Potential of Consumer Behavior, the 1st in a series about how "laddering" can build better teams and create better products and services is scheduled for release in August, 2013.

Robin Korman, SVP, Global Loyalty and Strategic Partnerships, Wyndham Hotel Group

Robin Korman is Senior Vice President of Global Loyalty and Strategic Partnerships for the Wyndham Hotel Group. She is transforming Wyndham Rewards, the world’s largest lodging program with 7,000 hotels and 14 brands, into a program which builds loyalty by providing the easiest access to rewards.

Previously, as Vice President of Global Loyalty for Starwood, Robin reconfigured the Starwood Preferred Guest loyalty program from a broad point-accrual program to a customer-centric rewards and recognition program based on proprietary modeling which significantly increased ROI and customer profitability.

Prior to Starwood, Robin was General Manager of the AARP credit card portfolio at JPMorgan Chase and held vice president positions at GE Capital and Citibank. She is a board member of The CMO Council and Loyalty 360. She speaks frequently on loyalty and has written numerous articles for Colloquy and other industry publications.

Katherine Dimopoulos, Head of Marketing and Brand Experience, SCENE

Katherine Dimopoulos has established herself as a passionate brand architect through her unique blend of strategic, creative and business acumen.  She is known for her commitment to building marketing programs based on a deep understanding of her customer.  As Head of Marketing and Brand Experience for SCENE – Canada’s first movie and entertainment loyalty program – Katherine and her team have delivered significant ROI by focusing on ensuring that every Canadian movie lover takes full advantage of the SCENE program and all it has to offer.

Katherine joined SCENE in May 2011, bringing with her 20 years’ experience in the retail, financial services and technology sectors. She is responsible for SCENE’s member acquisition and engagement strategies and the overall member experience.  Prior to joining SCENE, she served as Head of Marketing Planning at Scotiabank. She has held positions with Padulo Integrated as Senior Vice President of Client Services and Strategic Planning, and with CIBC as Vice-President, Brand Delivery, for PC Financial, where she oversaw the launch of Canada’s first, no-fee direct bank, another strategic partnership that blended financial services, a retail brand within a loyalty platform.

Katherine is a strong believer that true customer engagement is a continuum, where you listen, learn and encourage, establishing an ongoing dialogue resulting in the ability to provide ‘real value’, ‘real relevancy’ and ‘innovate’ where required and if you can throw in some fun along the way, it gets that much better.

Scott Robinson, Senior Director, Loyalty Consulting & Solutions, Maritz Loyalty Marketing

Scott Robinson leads Maritz’ loyalty consulting & solutions discipline and is our thought leader for consumer loyalty strategy engagements. His focus is enabling clients with the best possible solutions for their specific objectives and environments, and ensuring Maritz maintains market leadership in terms of loyalty and CRM innovation, technique and approach. Scott has over 10 years’ experience designing, implementing and optimizing large-scale CRM marketing programs, and helping clients understand how to use them as stepping stones for inspiring powerful relationships with their customers. Along with his strong experience across a number of industries, including consumer retail and financial services, Scott brings a highly disciplined analytics approach to strategy development for clients. Previously, Scott launched and developed Maritz’ Consumer Insights and Strategy Group, and spearheaded the development of the CRM principles and techniques, campaign management protocols and consumer data-driven strategy development tied to some of North America’s most celebrated loyalty programs.

Bram Hechtkopf, Marketing Director, Kobie Marketing

Bram leads the “marketing of Kobie Marketing”. He consults with current and prospective clients on new business opportunities, helping to develop customer retention and loyalty marketing strategies and solutions that drive increased retention and spend. Following in the footsteps of his father, Kobie’s founder, Bram is eager to continue Kobie’s vision of technology and data analytics as enablers of leading-edge marketing executions for world-class customer loyalty initiatives. Bram has consulted with a wide array of leading brands including AMC Entertainment, TGI Friday’s, BJ’s Restaurants, Verizon, Bank of America, RBC, Flagstar Bank, JPMC, Sagicor, Coca Cola, Cox Enterprises, Ruby Tuesday, Hawaiian Airlines, and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.

    Prior to Kobie, Bram worked with the Human Capital Transaction Advisory Services practice for Ernst & Young, LLP, where he developed and presented analyses and recommendations on executive incentive and equity plan design and due diligence findings to senior management and the Board of Directors of Fortune 1000 clients. Prior to Ernst & Young, Bram worked with Towers Perrin in Manhattan as a consultant specializing in incentive plan design for executives and sales forces.

    Bram received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree with honors from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University with a concentration in Marketing and Information Technology.

Gregory D. Brown, Vice President, Loyalty, Promotion, & Relationship Marketing, Choice Hotels International

Greg oversees the consumer marketing strategy for Choice Hotels, a leading hotel franchisor with 6,200 hotels worldwide.  His principle focus is on global growth of Choice Privileges, the comprehensive, award-winning rewards program for Choice Hotels, which has tripled membership to over 15 million in the past 5 years.  He also oversees the promotional marketing initiatives group, as well as, the relationship marketing organization, which annually generate significant incremental revenue for our hotels.  A frequent speaker, Greg is also on the board of the Association of Travel Marketing Executives (ATME).

Greg has held a variety of marketing and finance leadership roles during his
25-year career, 17 of which were with American Airlines.  He began his career with Andersen Consulting (now Accenture).  Greg then joined American’s Finance department in the late-80s, and subsequently led organizations in Financial Analysis, Airport Resource Planning, Revenue Management, and Sales.  He was recruited to Choice Hotels initially as Vice President of Choice Privileges, and has been with Choice for nearly five years.

Russ has a long history in the loyalty field, including:

• • Designing and executing numerous loyalty promotions for Northwest Airlines
• • Running the WorldPerks program for Northwest Airlines including, program strategy, partnerships, and operations
• • Managing the Specialty and Retail Co-Brand Division for U.S. Bank
• • Starting Command Loyalty Solutions, a loyalty software and consulting company
• • And currently Leading the US Airways Dividend Miles program

Russ has a passion for loyalty done well.

Connie Hill, President & Founder, VeraCentra

Connie Hill, President and Founder of VeraCentra, brings more than twenty five years experience delivering strategy and execution services to the marketing community.  Ms. Hill’s passion for technology and process drives VeraCentra to innovate new platforms that help marketers manage the complexities of data driven, customer relevant programs and campaigns.

As President, Ms. Hill is responsible for charting VeraCentra’s long term strategic direction and driving daily business operations. Under Ms. Hill’s leadership the company has grown from a boot strap start up to a multi-million dollar industry leader, delivering on the promise of relevant communication, at a price today’s ROI-conscious marketers can afford.

Sarah Mendez, Director of Marketing, Mister Car Wash

Sarah Mendez is the Director of Marketing for Mister Car Wash, the fastest growing car wash chain in the United States. Sarah oversees the customer acquisition and retention programs along with branding initiatives for 69 car washes and 28 express lube centers, collectively servicing over 7 million cars annually. She has been with the company for 9 years.

The company focus is shifting more and more to strengthening relationships with loyal customers creating more revenue among best customers. As part of her role, Sarah has worked to develop paid and unpaid loyalty subscription programs in support of this strategy.

Sarah graduated in 1998 from Auburn University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing. She resides in Tucson, Arizona.

Bernard Chung, Senior Director of Global Solution Marketing, SAP

Bernard Chung is a senior director of global solution marketing at SAP. He is focused on customer loyalty and marketing solutions and is passionate about helping organizations to successfully engage their audiences to orchestrate customer experiences that build customer intimacy. A seasoned enterprise software professional, Bernard has held various CRM product strategy, product management, and product marketing roles for more than a decade. Currently, he is a senior member of the solutions marketing team at SAP developing solution strategy, messaging, and field enablement activities.  Prior to joining SAP, Bernard held database marketing and marketing operations roles at American Express and Wells Fargo Bank. He holds a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Washington and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University.

Elaina Herber, Director, Business Development, eCentra

Elaina Herber has over a decade of experience working with customers in various industries to achieve their customer service initiatives. Elaina possesses strong analysis, project management, operational and strategic planning, performance management, program development and implementation, budget management, and customer satisfaction measurement, which she combines with her extensive experience working with telephony architecture in the contact center to deliver highly productive customer service environments. Her main competencies are in SAP CRM, specifically in customer service and Business Process Management for contact centers with a specialization in SAP BCM, Avaya, Cisco, Nortel Architectures, and Computer Telephony Integration.

Francesca Muhlbaier, Local Marketing Manager, Sylvan Learning

Francesca Muhlbaier is a Manager of Relationship Marketing at Sylvan Learning, the leading provider of tutoring and supplemental education services.  At Sylvan, Francesca is focused on building integrated marketing campaigns for new product launches and for seasonal marketing campaigns throughout the year.  She also works to provide the franchise system with a robust local marketing toolkit and provide on-going training so that centers can extend their brand and reach in their local communities.  Outside of Sylvan, Francesca is either exploring city life or enjoying the great outdoors.

Sara Costello, Senior Director, Marketing, Sylvan Learning

Sara has led the transformation of marketing systems devoted to supporting learning centers in building strong relationships with their community of families, resulting in revenue growth and maximized lifetime value.  Previous experience includes leading the Northeast Field Marketing team for Taco Bell and developing and implementing breakthrough database marketing strategies and programs for Domino’s Pizza.  Sara earned her MBA from the University of Baltimore in 1999 following her Bachelor’s from the University of Kentucky in 1989.  She went on to become an Adjunct Professor at the University of Baltimore in the area of Organizational Behavior, because we can all learn a bit more about how folks tick in the workplace!

Craig Hendrix, Business Intelligence Director, Quintiles

As head of Quintiles’ Customer Feedback Team, Craig’s role is to ensure that the voice of the customer is heard within Quintiles so that the company can continue to improve its customers’ experiences. This requires work across many stakeholders groups and data sets, and generally reaches similar outcomes: our customers enjoy working with talented, motivated teams who have a real passion for improving healthcare.

Craig joined Quintiles in 1999 and has worked in a variety of customer strategy roles, including our early Key Account teams and CRM implementation. Prior to Quintiles, Craig was an executive recruiter for an international search firm. I have a B.A. from UNC-Chapel Hill in History and Philosophy, and a M.A. from Louisiana State University in American History.

Linda G. Shea, SVP/Global Managing Director, Customer Strategies, ORC International

As SVP/Global Managing Director of ORC International’s Customer Strategies practice, Linda is dedicated to helping organizations maximize customer acquisition and retention to drive business efficiencies and growth. She routinely speaks at conferences and has authored several papers: “The Economic Value of Loyalty”, “Goal Setting” and “Forget the Theory: Practical Considerations for Listening to the Customer Experience”, “The Art of Engaging the Customer: Proactive Steps To Delivering A Superior Customer Experience. “ and “Driving Organic Growth through Key Account Management”. She is frequently quoted in publications and news sources including Business Week, The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal radio.

Marianne Balfour, Loyalty Manager, Dunkin' Donuts

Marianne Balfour manages Loyalty Marketing for Dunkin' Donuts, the largest coffee and baked goods chain in the world. In this role, she is responsible for all customer acquisition efforts across multiple platforms including mobile, loyalty, email and DD Card, Dunkin's proprietary stored value card.

Before joining Dunkin', Marianne was an Account Director at Cramer, an events, media and digital marketing agency where she managed and cultivated client relationships. Prior to that, she was a Marketing Manager at Digitas, a leader in Customer Relationship Marketing for Fortune 500 clients. At Digitas, Marianne was a key contributor in managing cross channel marketing for the Delta client relationship supporting the award winning SkyMiles program.

Marianne has a BA in Communications from Boston College.

Peter Vogel, co-founder and CEO, Plink

Peter Vogel is co-founder and CEO of Plink, an online-to-offline rewards program that motivates members to make offline purchases. He has more than a decade of executive-level, online sales and marketing experience specializing in performance-based marketing, media buying and monetization of social media. Most recently, Peter was senior director of marketing and industry scout at Adperio, an interactive agency specializing in affiliate marketing, in-game advertising, social gaming monetization, virtual currency and Facebook Credits monetization. At Adperio, he incubated the idea of Plink, co-founded the company, spun it out of the interactive agency in 2011 and, in the summer of 2012, raised a $3 million Series A investment round from Grotech Ventures. Peter was previously co-founder of Memolink.com and led the company’s sales team from 1997 through the mid 2000s. He received a BA from Washington University in St. Louis in economics.

Jason Barbrow, Vice President, Customer Lifecycle Experience, Time Warner Cable

Jason manages the Customer Lifecycle Management & Experience team at Time Warner Cable and is responsible for leading the design and implementation of strategies that drive customer retention, loyalty, share and revenue growth within the company's targeted segments. In this spirit, he and his team have designed a series of multi-channel efforts that educate and reinforce value at key moments in the lifecycle. In addition to these broad-based programs, there are a series of efforts underway to target customers based on their segment, tenure, value and various propensity models.

Jason started his career with Time Consumer Marketing, one of the largest direct marketers in the United States. While Jason held a variety of roles within this group, most of his efforts were focused on acquiring, managing and growing customer relationships on behalf of the magazine brands. In addition to this direct marketing role, Jason also led the management of strategic partnerships for Sports Illustrated, resulting in significant growth of ancillary revenue streams for the company.

Jason holds a MBA from New York University, and graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a BS in Finance.

Jim Dicso, President & Chief Revenue Officer, SundaySky

Prior to joining SundaySky, Jim was executive vice president of sales and services at LivePerson, a SaaS-based provider of real-time online customer engagement solutions. During his tenure, LivePerson business solutions revenue grew from $17M to $96M and operating earnings grew from $2M to $30M. While at LivePerson, he built the enterprise sales organization from scratch and led the extended sales and service organization in developing and executing the go-to-market strategy while also leading the introduction of new business models to scale the business. Prior to LivePerson, Jim held multiple sales leadership roles in his two years at Witness Systems and eight years at Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC), including a four-year assignment in the UK and Europe. Prior to that, Jim served in a variety of sales positions over four years with Xerox Corporation.

At SundaySky, Jim drives the go-to-market strategy, sales execution, business development and revenue growth for SundaySky to support the growing market demand for the company’s solution. Mr. Dicso received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Villanova University.

Brian McCaul, Zions Bank

Brian McCaul is the Vice President of Bankcard Product and Marketing for Zions Bancorporation in Salt Lake City, UT,   Zions Bancorporation manages consumer and business debit and credit cards for 6 affiliate banks in the western US.    He has been in the financial services industry for the past 9 years.    Prior to that, he worked as a marketing consultant headquartered in Boston.   He spent over 10 years at AT&T in various sales and marketing management positions and was the Marketing Director responsible for the launch of AT&T’s consumer internet service.    Brian holds a B.A. in Political Science and an M.A. in International Relations from Villanova University.   He also attended the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley’s Executive Education Program.

Craig McLaughlin, President, CEO & Founder, Bridge2 Solutions

Craig is the President and Chief Executive Officer and founder of Bridge2 Solutions and is the primary architect overseeing the development of all programs. Under Craig’s leadership, the company has tripled revenue over the past three-years, and grown from a regionally-based establishment into an international corporation doing business with some of the world’s top retail brands and financial institutions. Today, Bridge2 Solutions manages fulfillment volume which places the company in the top 100 Internet commerce companies nationwide. With an employee base that has developed from 20 in 2009 to almost 100 today, Craig leads an ever-growing team of industry experts and insiders dedicated to providing service and technical acumen to clients. Craig has extensive knowledge and background in software development and process management and his experience includes CIO of a Southeast incentive firm, where he developed their incentive and promotion platform. He also spent over 10 years with Accenture as a senior manager, developing multimillion dollar software applications for Fortune 100 companies.

Julie Gerola, VP Loyalty and Rewards, Viggle

Julie joined Viggle as Vice President of Loyalty and Rewards after a 15+ year career in financial services.  Prior to Viggle, Julie was Senior Vice President at Citigroup overseeing the rewards collection for Citi ThankYou Rewards, a leading rewards program.  Her expertise is creating world-class rewards programs that drive value to consumers while being economical to businesses.  Julie also held positions in marketing and new product development at First USA and Bank One.

Kelly Passey, EVP of Business and Product Development, Access Development

Kelly Passey is a veteran of 20 years in the payments, incentives, rewards and loyalty industries.  As the Executive Vice President of Business and Product Development at Access Development, Passey is responsible for building strategic client relationships as well as forming innovative ways of creating value for those clients via product development.  Since joining Access in 2004, he has overseen the development of the industry’s first registered card-based merchant funded cash back rewards program (and companion mobile app) as well as the nation’s largest mobile coupon network. In 2012 Passey introduced PowerDeals, a currency engine that allows consumers to trade points or miles for valuable deals.

Prior to Access, Passey served as Vice President of the Incentive & Marketing Services Division at VISA. In that he role he oversaw many programs like Instant Visa Rewards, Visa Preferred, Visa Rewards Online, Merchant premiums and also managed the catalog and merchant partners for the Visa Extras loyalty program in delivering activation, usage and retention programs for top financial institution clients. He also spent five years with Fidelity Investments managing their credit and debit card portfolio and marketing efforts for brokerage accounts.

Jennifer Talcott, Director, Loyalty Solutions, Eloqua

Jennifer Talcott is a strategic marketer specializing in electronic and digital marketing, promotions, and revenue generation. With nearly a decade of experience in integrated marketing, Jennifer is an expert in demand generation and relationship marketing with a focus on proving measurable results.

Today, Jennifer focuses on executing Eloqua’s Loyalty strategy, and has worked with Eloqua customers such as Perry Ellis, American Airlines, and Gaylord Hotels in their loyalty marketing efforts.

Scott McNabb, VP, Loyalty Solutions, Eloqua

Scott McNabb joins us from Eloqua (an Oracle Company) and is a Digital Marketing expert with more than 20 years supporting, designing and executing revenue generation models.

Scott has held thousands of meetings with major Fortune-500 companies around the globe. These interactions were with C-Level executives aiding in the goal of business value extraction thru increasing customer intimacy and loyalty and thus increasing revenues. 

A resident of Atlanta, Georgia… Scott is responsible executing on Eloqua’s Loyalty vision and has held leadership positions for several global organizations to include WebTrends, IBM, and CDC Software along with a career in the United States Air Force where he served as a Weapons Systems Officer on the F-15 Strike Eagle fighter/bomber.

Herbert P. Goertz, Associate Partner for SAP Mobility & Innovation, IBM

With 20+ years of SAP experience across multiple industries and clients, and as the leader of multiple transnational SAP projects, Mr. Goertz specializes in application advisory services to help clients to understand, architect, select and implement the right SAP solution required to run their business.  As a key member of the global IBM Mobility & Innovation team, Herbert focuses on business process innovation creating solutions that include newest technologies from both, IBM and SAP. 
    Herbert's current focus is the development and marketing of IBM's Enhanced Loyalty Management Solution for SAP. The cloud based solution provides for a 360 degree view of the customer via a customer master and transaction hub and the integration of social media information. Individual purchase recommendations on mobile and web based consumer interfaces are provided via the IBM RESEARCH Analytics Engine. The system has open interfaces to POS and other transactional systems and is designed for rapid deployment.  Real time analytics is available via SAP HANA, both BW or CRM based.   
    Herbert speaks fluent English and German and is located in Austin/Texas.

Mitch Kennedy, EVP, All Digital Rewards

Mitch co-founded ADR in 2009 and has since built a client list that includes three of the top global firms in the target vertical and 2013 has seen the rapid expansion into new industries.  Mitch is a graduate of the University of Oregon (go Ducks!) and brings over 15 years experience as a marketing consultant in support of large scale member based programs and yield management systems.  With a background in enterprise wide marketing systems and digital music platforms coupled with the development of member based programs starting a loyalty marketing firm was a logical next step.

Wendy Norman, Chief Retail Officer, Affinity Solutions

Wendy Norman, Chief Retail Officer at Affinity Solutions, brings more than twenty five years experience working with the retail industry’s top executives to drive market share to their brand.  The focus of her work always centers around data, unique value propositions, ability to measure incrementality, effectiveness proof points, and large movements of the needle.

As CRO, Wendy is responsible for setting the strategic path for both Affinity Solutions and it’s base of top tier retail clients.

Arnold Lewis, Vice President of Customer Loyalty and Rewards, Macy's

Arnold Lewis is the Vice President of Customer Loyalty and Rewards for Macy’s, the role he has held since joining the company in 2010.  In this position, Arnold leads Macy’s Card marketing as initiatives designed to drive overall customer loyalty. 

Prior to joining Macy’s, Arnold led marketing and strategy for the Cash Back and Points based portfolios at Citi Cards, served as president of the United Airlines Mileage Plus program and held a wide variety of loyalty and marketing roles over a 15 year career with of American Express.

Mr. Lewis earned a Bachelor’s degree in History from Brown University and a MBA from Harvard Business School.

Bernny Thacker, Director, Loyalty and Credit Marketing, OfficeMax Inc.

Bernny Thacker,  Director of Loyalty and Credit Marketing is responsible for leading the integrated marketing strategies for each program as well as, managing the program operations and execution of consumer and business-to-business communication plans focused on increasing engagement, driving profitable sales growth and brand loyalty.

Bernny brings over 13 years of experience in a variety of marketing and operational aspects spanning from project management and customer analytics, to customer research and loyalty expertise.  Bernny applies both a customer-centric and analytic lens to her approach while looking for innovative methods to relevantly communicate to customers resulting in increased customer engagement and bottom line results for the OfficeMax retail channel.

Bernny holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Cleveland State University.

Brandon Hayes, Director, Financial Services, The Home Depot

Brandon Hayes, Director Financial Services, oversees product development and marketing of all financial products offered through The Home Depot.  These include private label credit for Do-It-Yourself (DIY) and commercial consumers and the sale and administration of extended protection plans.  In this role, Mr. Hayes has been instrumental in redesigning marketing strategies to drive greater efficacy and efficiency among in-store promotions and direct marketing offers.

Prior to his current role, Mr. Hayes served as Director of Strategic Business Development where he focused on overall corporate initiatives to include: enhancing in-store customer service, expanding online marketing, e-commerce and customer “know-how” capabilities, refining existing customer loyalty programs and leading growth initiatives focused on new customer segments, products, capabilities and geographies.

Prior to joining The Home Depot, Mr. Hayes was a strategy consultant with Bain & Company where he served clients in Retail, CPG Sales & Marketing, Wholesale Distribution, Industrial Manufacturing, and Transportation.  Prior to Bain & Company, he was a Captain in the U.S. Army where he served with reconnaissance units in Kuwait and Bosnia.  He is also a graduate of the U.S. Army’s Ranger School.

Mr. Hayes is a graduate of the United States Military Academy and the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business where he was a Shermet Scholar.

Leslie McNamara, EVP Partner Management, Citi Retail Services

Leslie J. McNamara is Executive Vice President, Partnership Management, for Retail Services, the Citi business unit which provides consumer and commercial credit products, solutions and services to national and regional retailers across the U.S. Ms. McNamara’s portfolio, with managed assets of approximately $40 billion, includes, among others, Sears/Kmart, The Home Depot, Macy’s, Shell, and ExxonMobil. Overall, her business holds relationships with nearly 30 primary retail and oil partners. She assumed this role in August 2011. In her previous role as Chief Marketing Officer, Ms. McNamara was responsible for centralized marketing strategy and planning for the entire Retail Services portfolio. Under her leadership, the integrated team she brought together evolved to bring broad intellectual capital and deep retail finance expertise to all partners and created new vertical marketing competencies such as Loyalty, Digital and Retail Insight Services. She was named to this position in November 2008 while still holding her previous role of General Manager for the Sears/Kmart relationship. Ms. McNamara led that relationship and portfolio from 2006 - 2009, a period which included the heart of the economic crisis and sweeping regulatory change for the credit industry.

Phil Rubin, CEO & Founder, rDialogue

Phil is the CEO and founder of rDialogue, a leading independent customer loyalty and relationship marketing firm based in Atlanta, GA.  rDialogue works clients ranging from Fortune 100 to growth-focused middle-market companies.  Examples include Citigroup, Kimpton Hotels, Merial (a division of Sanofi) and other leading brands in financial services, travel, retail, hospitality and service (B2B and B2C).  Phil has over 20 years of strategic marketing experience with an emphasis on customer loyalty and relationship marketing, integrated communications, partnership development, promotions and program development.  Phil’s success is driven largely by creating a strategic loyalty vision for clients around the importance of customer relationships created with each client’s unique brand and the business impact of achieving that vision.

Prior to rDialogue Phil served in a variety of roles working for companies such as Macy’s, GTE/Verizon Wireless and Midway Airlines.  He also founded the Atlanta office for The Lacek Group, now part of Ogilvy, where he led loyalty and relationship marketing initiatives for Delta Air Lines, UPS and Cox Communications, among others.

Phil has an M.B.A. with a concentration in marketing and strategy from the A. B. Freeman School at Tulane University and a B.S. in Finance from L.S.U.

Bryan Baecker, Director, Loyalty, Communications, and Media, dunnhumbyUSA

A seasoned customer relationship management (CRM) and loyalty professional, Bryan Baecker is an outspoken advocate of customer data and its ability to drive sustainable business results for companies that put their customers at the center of their decision making.

At dunnhumby, Baecker leads the loyalty and marketing team dedicated to the company’s engagement with California-based grocery retailer Raley’s. He is responsible for working directly with Raley’s on the strategy and tactics behind their CRM strategy that allows the retailer to engage in relevant, one-to-one dialogue with over one million of their best customers. Baecker played a critical role in the launch of Raley’s Something Extra™ loyalty program and subsequent launch of their Try-It™ online advocacy platform, the first of its kind for any retailer.

Throughout Baecker’s eight-year tenure at dunnhumbyUSA, he has held various positions of increasing responsibility working with some of the largest retailers in the United States, including Macy’s and The Kroger Co. As a member of the Merchandising Insights team at Macy’s, Baecker launched an online, customer data reporting tool to integrate insights with financial information and scale analytical capabilities to improve decision making on a daily basis. As a Data Solutions Lead, Baecker designed Kroger’s enterprise-level, customer database as well as helped develop an email marketing solution to send unique, targeted communications to their best customers. As an ETL developer, Baecker was responsible for managing all of Kroger’s inbound data feeds, processing the customer transactions of over 60 million households each week.

Thomas Hutchinson, Director, Customer Relationship Management and Analytics, Raley's

Tom Hutchison leads Raley’s Customer Relationship Management and Analytics efforts and is working to develop a best-in-industry structure that provides data insights, strategies, and true one-to-one marketing to build measureable value for Raley’s.  In this role, he has been responsible for the development and execution of the Something Extra™ rewards program, which was launched in September of 2012.  A key charge for Tom and his team is to utilize the available data to make strategic customer-centric changes in one-to-one communications, offers, pricing, promotions, assortment, and adjacencies.  A secondary charge is to identify partner companies which can further Raley’s ability to deliver tools and offers to customers which make the customers’ shopping experience easier and better.

Immediately before joining Raley’s, Tom worked in the Consumer Packaged Goods industry at Brown-Forman and led the company’s Shopper Insights group for North America across all of their brands and channels of trade.  That role provided a lot of perspective on how to merge the needs of manufacturers, retailers, distributers, and consumers.  In the years prior to working at Brown-Forman, Tom worked in engineering (Industrial and Nuclear), Logistics and Operations for both the US Navy and private industry.  He is currently a Lieutenant Commander in the US Navy Reserves.

Tom holds a Masters in Business Administration from Purdue University and a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Purdue as well.

Jen Millard, Chief Revenue Officer, Truaxis, a MasterCard family company

Jen is recognized industry expert on consumer and channel segmentation, specializing in the convergence of technology and retail innovation that improves retail operations and the consumer experience. She will be responsible for leading Truaxis’ sales effort with national and local merchants.
Her background includes 20 years of experience as a retail operations executive specializing in using innovations and technologies to improve the customer experience. Prior to Truaxis, she was the founder and managing partner of Retail Growth Partners LLC, a retail consulting practice focused on helping retailers and brands create long-term relationships with customers. She was also the Executive Vice President of New Business Development for ZoomSystems and has held executive positions at Bed Bath & Beyond, Brown Shoe Group, Sears, Saks Inc. and McMillan Doolittle LLP, a boutique retail firm in Chicago.
Jen studied finance at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and holds a bachelors from Colby College. She serves on multiple retail and consumer products board of directors and also holds a seat on the Board of Governors to the University of North Texas Retail Merchandising School. She is a member of the National Retail Federation, International Council of shopping Centers (ICSC), Airport Council international (ACI), and was recognized by Chain Store Age as a ‘Rising Star – Top 40 under 40’ in 2007.

Larry Nichter, Vice President, Restaurant.com

Larry Nichter is responsible for creating the B2B business unit for Restaurant.com over 10 years ago.  He continues to support Restaurant.com with emerging digital channel expansion and growth opportunities within Card-linked offers, In-store programming, and incentive programs.   Prior to working at Restaurant.com, he held key executive positions at SilverCarrot, a pioneer in the digital direct marketing world as well as at GiftCertificates.com where he founded the Hospitality Division.  Throughout his career Larry spent a considerable amount of time creating new business models and navigating unchartered waters in the on-line gifting and hospitality universe.

Dan Keller, Vice President, CRM & Loyalty, Kellogg Company

Dan is an energetic Marketing leader with a strong track record in both Consumer Packaged Goods and Automotive.  His skills are multi-faceted with a strong mix of Brand Management, integrated Marketing/Sales initiatives, and hands-on Consumer Relationship Marketing. 

With a proven ability to lead effectively at both the strategic and execution level, Dan is successful in building brands and generating near term sales results, operating with strong sense of urgency. He is a team builder who instills a sense of confidence and camaraderie in teams. He respects the agency role as a critical partner to accelerate positive business results and effectively works with Dealers, Distributors, and third parties to achieve mutual business objectives. Dan has a history of driving change within organizations.

Dan’s strengths include brand strategy, advertising - creative and media, and Consumer Relationship Marketing.

Prior to joining Kellogg Company as Vice President, CRM & Loyalty, Dan spent several years at General Motors in a number of leadership roles including CRM, Brand Management, and integrated Sales events.    Working in Marketing, Sales, and Brand Management roles, Dan also spent several years with Anheuser-Busch and Frito Lay.

Dan received his B.A. in Economics from DePauw University.  He received his M.B.A in Marketing from Tulane University - A.B. Freeman School of Business.

Maria Keller, Director of CRM & Loyalty, Digital Marketing IT, Kellogg Company

Maria is responsible for managing Kellogg’s global CRM platform that collects consumer data via website registration.  She also manages the technology infrastructure solution for the Kellogg’s Family Rewards US Loyalty program.  The program is currently provided via desktop and mobile, in English and Spanish, with Facebook and SMS capabilities.

In addition to these responsibilities, Maria’s team supports other consumer data initiatives as well as social media listening and management toolsets.
Prior to joining Kellogg Company in 2010, Maria spent many years in developing web globalization strategy and social media strategy.  She spent her career prior to Kellogg at Medialocate, Nortel and Medic Computer Systems/MISYS.

Maria received her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Almeda University, and also attended New York University.

Doug Dwyre, President, Mocapay

Doug is a seasoned executive with 24 years of experience in the financial services industry delivering innovative payment solutions to issuers, merchants and consumers around the world.

Before joining Mocapay, Doug was at Voltage Security, a Bay Area enterprise software company, serving as the Payments Practice Executive, and also responsible for Global Business Development and Strategy. Doug also spent more than 13 years as an executive at First Data Corporation serving as SVP Global Business Development and GM to new lines of business related to prepaid and loyalty. Doug was also Chief Financial Officer at Wells Fargo Merchant Services and Bank One Payment Services (now Chase).

Doug has served on the board of the National Branded Prepaid Card Association and is an active member of the ETA Strategic Leadership Forum and holds a business degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

Geoff Alexander, Vice President and Managing Partner of Wow Bao, Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises

Geoff Alexander has been wining and dining Chicago's discerning palate the Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Inc. ® (LEYE) way since May 1993 - a career he began merely nine days after his college graduation. Since then Alexander has worked with some of the most notable concept's in LEYE's ever-burgeoning local, national and international portfolio, including Mity Nice Grill; Shaw's Crab House; Big Bowl (eight locations locally and nationally); Vong's Thai KitchenTM(VTK) named one of "Chicago's Top 20 New Restaurants," (Chicago magazine, May 2002), Frankie's Scaloppine at the 900 Shops on North Michigan Avenue and now Wow Bao, a concept focusing on steamed Asian buns.

Alexander has also revolutionized the way diners interact with restaurants by being a leader in restaurant technologies and the use of social media. Under Alexander's guidance, Wow Bao has implemented on-line ordering from iPhones, Droids and computer desktops for pick-up orders, bicycle delivery and domestic shipping. He has also installed self-ordering kiosks for guest ordering at each location. Aside from pioneering the @baomouth twitterfeed into a well respected Chicago Social Media influencer, Alexander partnered with Foursquare to have Wow Bao as one of its first Chicago restaurants offerings. Wow Bao has also flourished through both a text messaging program, and mobile gift card platform that Alexander created.

Tim Barrett, COO, Barrett Distribution Centers

Tim Barrett currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer at Barrett Distribution Centers.  His primary responsibility as COO is to develop customized warehousing, transportation, and information technology solutions for Barrett’s clients that improve their performance and reduce their overall supply chain costs.

He is also responsible for the leadership and development of Barrett Distribution Centers' team as well as overall customer satisfaction with Barrett’s services. Tim ensures that Barrett delivers high performance and brings ideas to customers that improve their performance and improve their brand loyalty. Tim has developed Barrett's team and overseen the growth of Barrett from a single facility operation to a national provider of logistics, fulfillment, warehousing, and supply chain services.

Tim received his M.B.A. from The Ross School at The University of Michigan and B.A. in Economics and Accounting from The College of the Holy Cross.

Tom Cates, Founder & President, The Brookeside Group

Tom Cates is the founder and president of The Brookeside Group, a technology, consulting and training firm that helps its clients solve retention problems and strengthen business relationships.  Tom has built patented models to measure customer loyalty and now uses them to teach professionals how to become Trusted Advisors.