Agenda & Speakers

Chad Nikola, Director of Customer Retention, American Eagle Outfitters

Chad Nikola is a customer first leader with a record of evolving and optimizing loyalty and personalization programs. He is currently serving as the Director of Customer Retention at American Eagle Outfitters where he recently led the complete rebrand and relaunch of AEO’s loyalty program - Real Rewards by American Eagle & Aerie. Chad’s background (Target, CVSHealth, Catalina) has helped shape his unique perspective on Loyalty/CRM programs and his unwavering passion for the customer.
 

Frank Neumann, Senior Director - Consumer Lifecycle Management, Vans

With over 17 years of experience working for enterprise brands such as Proctor & Gamble, Bath & Body Works, and VF Corporation, Frank is an expert in developing in-depth customer understanding and employing advanced data analytics to identify and capitalize upon game-changing business opportunities. In his most recent role as Senior Director of Consumer Lifecycle Management at Vans, Frank is responsible for developing, launching and running Vans' industry-leading loyalty program, globally. His most recent work has been focused on establishing the consumer analytics function within Vans in order to build a holistic view of their customers' lifecycle through data and analytics.

Jason Whiting, Global VIP Program Director, LEGO

Jason is the head of loyalty at the LEGO® Group, where he oversees strategic direction and marketing of LEGO VIP, the company’s loyalty program operating across 30 countries and 22 languages.
 
Jason believes that the success of any loyalty program hinges on understanding your members passions and rooting you program design in strong company values. With these beliefs in mind,  he and his team, set out on a yearlong journey to redesign LEGO VIP to meet the needs of the program’s ever-expanding member base.
 
Prior to this role, Jason headed ecommerce marketing for North America and then EMEA/APAC where he was responsible for strategy and marketing leadership overseeing email, paid search, affiliate, and content marketing supporting the LEGO Group’s ecommerce platform.
 
A 20 year veteran in the marketing industry, Jason has held positions on both the client and agency side. Specializing in online, event, and engagement marketing, he has worked with a wide range of companies in both the B2B and B2C space including; Estee Lauder, AB InBev, the ANDYs, Ricoh/Savin, Honeywell, Tyco, Pfizer, and more.
 

Karen Szarvas, Sr. Director of Customer Loyalty and Partnerships, The Vitamin Shoppe

Karen Szarvas serves as Sr. Director of Customer Loyalty & Partnerships 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.

Helen Wilson, Loyalty Development Manager, Shell

Helen Wilson is the Loyalty Development Manager for Shell U.S., responsible for leading loyalty strategy development aimed at delivering more loyal customers and commercial value to the U.S. Mobility business.
 
Helen’s advertising and marketing experience spans across a variety of industries including technology, energy, sports and consumer package goods.    
 
Having spent the first part of her career on the advertising agency side at McCann-Erickson NY and Ogilvy & Mather, where she led the media department for O&M Houston, Helen has leveraged her multi-industry, agency perspective in her subsequent marketing roles at Compaq / HP, Comcast, Comcast SportsNet Houston and Questia.com, a trailblazer Internet start-up in the subscription services industry.  Her focus has always been to lead organizations to achieve aggressive marketing goals with customer-focused acquisition and retention strategies rooted in customer insights and marketing innovation.
 
A native New Yorker, Helen graduated from New York University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology, a Minor in the Classics and was a recipient of New York University’s Arts and Science academic scholarship.
 

Alyssa Callahan, Senior Manager - Loyalty Program Management, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

Alyssa Callahan is an avid loyalty professional with over 10 years of experience in program management, marketing, and customer relationship management. Her experience ranges from specialty & big-box retailers like Under Armour, Aéropostale and Toys“R”Us to destination travel & hospitality companies like RCI and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.

A self-proclaimed loyalty program aficionado and personal member in every program she can find, Alyssa is passionate innovating better in-person, digital, and people-related loyalty solutions that create greater member lifetime value. She’s equally excited to see rewards programs continue to evolve through loyalty technology advancements, as well as uniquely expand into new industries. A firm believer in the power of strong loyalty program design, Alyssa is pleased to deliver generous & attainable rewards to millions of Wyndham Rewards members in her current role.