Agenda

A veteran sales, marketing and communications practitioner, 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 – building their brands and 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, the fourth largest van line group in the country. In 2014, Schneider became Executive Vice President. Today he’s responsible for Sales and Marketing, Agency Development, Customer Service, the Military and the company’s FF&E division.

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. 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 Hotel Group in 2013, Julia worked for American Express for 14 years in a variety of strategy, business development and product marketing roles. 

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.

Brandon Delgrosso is President of Pattern Ventures, a division of Pattern focused on growing brands thru joint ventures, product development and M&A.  One of their most successful brands is KONG Box, a monthly subscription of dog toys and treats from the largest and most recognized dog brands in the world, KONG.  Brandon’s passionate about the process of building a brands culture to create loyalty.  Being customer obsessed leads to fanatical customers.
 

As Managing Director of CRM, Customer Analytics and Digital Optimization at Air Canada, Beth Quinton and her team apply a data-driven approach and insight to acquiring and engaging Air Canada’s customers through their marketing communications and offers across their customer and Aeroplan member journeys.

Prior to this, Beth led the integration of Aeroplan integration into Air Canada. Beth brought with her over 10 years of Aeroplan experience in strategy & planning, loyalty product & program development and competitive intelligence. Before becoming the Air Canada/Aeroplan Integration Lead, Beth was the Senior Vice President of Program Strategy & Product at Aimia (Aeroplan’s parent company).  

Beth’s structured approach is informed by her five years as a management consultant with Stroud International, based in London UK and early engineering roles; Beth connects the dots between ideas and people.

Beth holds a Bachelor of Applied Science & Electrical Engineering from Queens University in Kingston, as well as an International MBA from Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University in the Netherlands.
 

Fernando Mello has been the Program Manager for Informed Delivery since March of 2020. In this role, he leads the development of new features and enhancements for the Informed Delivery platform. The program mission is to provide mailers the ability to engage users through an integrated mail and digital marketing campaign that generates additional consumer impressions, interactions, and insights.

Prior to joining Informed Delivery, Fernando was a Project Management Specialist in the Product Innovation Support team for two years. This role involved research and analysis on market trends and emerging technology relating to the shipping industry, with a focus on product returns. Identifying and presenting opportunities for enhancing USPS products and services as well as exploring new ones aligned well with his background in process improvement and engineering.

His postal career began in 2015 as an Operations Industrial Engineer (OIE) at the Dulles Processing & Distribution Center. During his time as an OIE, Fernando led various projects at Dulles P&DC, involving scanning, machine throughput, staffing, and facility layout improvement.

Fernando holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, VA.

Tracy Brooks is Senior Vice President at Salem One, Inc.  He is responsible for the strategic direction and growth of one of the fastest growing print based corporate communications companies in the U.S.

Tracy is part of a world class team assisting Salem One’s national brand clients in developing and implementing direct marketing strategies that improve their bottom line.

His career in marketing and advertising spans 30 years.  He holds numerous certifications including USPS Certified Direct Mail Professional and volunteers his time as a proactive industry advocate. 

Tracy is a graduate of Appalachian State University and currently serves on the Advisory Board for the App State Graphics Communications Management Department.
 

Todd Miller, Sr. Director of Brand Strategy and Experience, is responsible for the articulation and experience of the Wawa brand across all consumer touch points.
 
Prior to joining Wawa, Todd was the Chief Experience Officer of The Archer Group, an independent digital agency. At Archer, Todd was responsible for all of Archer’s core product teams (Analytics, UX, Research, Design, Content, Social, Media and Technology) as well as overall digital strategy.
 
Prior to Archer, Todd led and built product and design teams for various companies, agencies, start-ups and non-profits. 
 

Emily Mikus serves as the Director of Loyalty and Shopper Marketing at The GIANT Company
 
In this role, Emily leads the team responsible for all aspects of the company’s loyalty program, GIANT Choice Rewards, including the strategy, management and execution. She also has oversight of the company’s shopper marketing programs.
 
Emily has 15 years of experience in the grocery industry and has held various positions at The GIANT Company over the years. Prior to her current position, Emily held positions in Strategic Planning and Business Development, Insights, Marketing and Store Operations. Emily’s breadth of experience in providing strategic leadership and consumer research support for multiple disciplines across the business lends to a deep, longitudinal understanding of consumers, brands and competitors, with a customer-minded focus and analytical drive to continually uncover new opportunities and innovate new solutions.
 
Emily earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Millersville University. She currently serves on the Occupational Advisory Committee for Careers and Technology at the Carlisle Area School District and is a proud mom of two young boys.
 

Jacqueline is Senior Director, Business Development & Long-Range Product Planning at Air Canada. In this role, Jacqueline leads the development of strategic partner relationships with Air Canada’s loyalty program Aeroplan in key everyday categories with a primary goal of enhancing member engagement, expanding Aeroplan’s relevance, and reinforcing the complexion of the Air Canada brand. She also leads the evaluation, selection and negotiation of sponsorships for both Air Canada and Aeroplan, including but not limited to eight NHL & NBA teams and the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Teams.

Prior to this role, Jacqueline was the Senior Director, Brand Marketing & Sponsorship for Air Canada where she led the in-house Creative Studio, Sponsorships and Brand Activation teams. She was responsible for the strategy and implementation of Air Canada’s brand marketing plans with a focus on building world-class integrated marketing programs that brought the refreshed Air Canada brand to life. She also co-led the thought leadership and creation of the refreshed Aeroplan brand and related Aeroplan co-brand credit cards that were unveiled in August 2020.

Jacqueline started her career at Corporate Executive Board (now Gartner) in Washington, D.C. before returning to Toronto to join the Brand & Sponsorship group at Royal Bank of Canada dedicated to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic & Paralympic Games and Torch Relays marketing efforts. After the Games, Jacqueline headed south again to New York City to work with Citi for 6 years on their sponsorship and corporate brand file, inclusive of Citi Field, the New York Mets, the London 2012, Sochi 2014 and Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Jacqueline’s father was a pilot for Air Canada for 35 years and her love of the brand runs deep. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University and is the proud mother of a 14-month son who is just learning to point to his feet in both English and French.
 

Jessica Drozd serves as Marketing Manager, Brand & Acquisition for SCENE, Canada’s largest entertainment loyalty program. She’s passionate about creating customer-first experiences and data-driven strategies for business growth. In her role, she leads mass consumer marketing, new member acquisition, and brand management. During her time at SCENE, she’s implemented several award-winning integrated marketing programs with partners such as NBA Canada and Universal Music Group. Prior to this role, she worked for the U.S. Department of State.
 
Jessica holds a Bachelor of Arts and Science from McGill University and recently completed an MBA Certificate at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.

Dena Pizzutti is the Senior Marketing Manager of Personalization and Optimization for Wawa, a chain of more than 900 convenience retail stores in the Mid-Atlantic and Florida.  She currently oversees the Wawa Rewards loyalty program and Customer 360 efforts.  Dena has over ten years of experience in loyalty marketing, previously working for CVS on the ExtraCare program.  Additionally, Dena holds a Doctorate in Business Administration and has taught marketing courses at West Chester University and St. Joseph’s University.
 

 

Carlo Savino is Executive Director of eCommerce for Lenovo. In this role, he leads the vision, strategy, and execution of next generation digital commerce capabilities for Lenovo's online business, including Lenovo.com, mobile commerce, and marketplaces.  His team is responsible for sales performance, operations, marketing, merchandising, loyalty, offer creation, pathing & navigation, and content for online consumer & small business transactions.
 
Carlo has extensive experience in online marketing and eCommerce.  Prior to his role at Lenovo, he lead the US Consumer and Small Business online team for dell.com, where he was deeply involved in optimizing the purchase experience, mobile platform, personalization, loyalty and site monetization businesses.
 
Carlo loves building data-driven organizations that define and deliver to key KPIs while focusing around features and experiences that center around our customers.
 
Carlo holds a bachelor's degree in Zoology from the University of Texas at Austin and is an active volunteer in a variety of animal charities in and around the Raleigh, NC area.
 

Bill Tine joined King Arthur Flour in 2009.  In his role as Vice President of Marketing and a member of King Arthur’s Strategy Team, he leads brand management, digital and performance marketing, customer loyalty, insight and analytics, content development, innovation and web development. 
 
Under his guidance, the company’s consumer-centric marketing strategy has evolved to be a leader in content marketing, with a focus on digital.  King Arthur’s brand-building efforts have led to significant share growth in the baking category as core products like whole wheat flour, bread flour and the entire Organic flour line are category leaders and new products in their grain-free and gluten-free lines have seen double-digit growth each of the past few years.
 
Bill is a graduate of Dickinson College with an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He is a board member and ESOP trustee of Chelsea Green Publishing, former Chair and Treasurer of the board of the Children’s Literacy Foundation (CLiF), and board member for the Friends of the Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth Hitchcock Hospital.
 

Amy Harrington is a Marketing Manager on the Auto Marketing Team at Ally Financial, Inc. Over the past 4 ½ years, Amy has helped build the Regional Marketing Team by bringing unique and strategic marketing programs to our 18,000+ auto dealer customers through the Ally Dealer Difference platform. Amy loves having the opportunity to work closely with our field team to help develop new programs that ultimately help build strong business relationships with our dealers and help grow customer loyalty.
 

John Sellers is the executive in charge of Rewards at Bank of America. In this role, John oversees all reward programs; including consumer, wealth management and small business relationship rewards programs and credit card rewards redemption. In 2019 Preferred Rewards for Business was named the ‘Most Innovative Product’ by Barlow’s Monarch Innovation Awards, which recognizes excellence and creativity in business banking

Prior to his current role, John had worked with other products including; Vehicle Lending, Investments, and Credit Card.  While in Card, John was the Director of Preferred Products and New Account Acquisition where he was responsible for all mass affluent BofA and Merrill branded products. John is the architect of the award winning Travel Rewards Card and led the effort to bring Chip technology to BofA cards.

Before his product roles, John spent the first half of his career in Credit Risk, where he was the Director of Risk Strategies. In this role, John oversaw existing account management strategies which included; line management, balance stimulation (cash and retail), authorizations (overlimit and delinquent) and other payment related strategies.

John began his career with BofA via the MBNA acquisition. He has an undergraduate degree from the University of Delaware where he was a Finance major. He also has an MBA from Penn State’s Smeal College of Business where he graduated with distinction and is a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma academic honor society.

John is involved in several community organizations. He is a lifesaver for the Blood Bank of DE and coaches several youth sport teams in Kennett Square, PA where he resides with his wife and three kids.

Matt Goldberg is the Director of PRO Strategy and Loyalty for Floor & Decor. Over the past 3 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 Wallet Share. Matt is constantly thinking “What’s Next” in the realm of loyalty, and is excited to learn more from other Loyalty360 participants!  

Sheree Rajan joined the Marketing organization at Essilor of America in 2007. She became Vice President, Marketing in 2017 and currently leads the Commercial Marketing team which is the key partner and bridge between Marketing, Sales and Customers across all channels. Sheree was honored as one of Vision Monday’s Most Influential Women in Optical – Rising Stars in 2017. Prior to Essilor, Sheree worked in the non-profit sector leading marketing, public relations and business development for various organizations including the Special Olympics. She earned both her MBA and bachelor’s degree in marketing from the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University.
 

Ana is a digital transformation leader and experienced technology professional with over 10 years of Digital Technology delivery, Loyalty and Customer Engagement strategy, Mobile Commerce, Web technologies expertise.

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.
 

Don earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from The Florida State University, and spent 11 years in academia teaching statistics and policy evaluation. Prior to joining Brierley, he was a research director for Dallas County, in charge of database modeling, data mining, and program reporting. He has authored several journal articles and a full-length book. At Brierley, Don leads our strategic program design practice, responsible for engineering solutions which balance compelling value propositions with enhanced member experiences and data-driven customer engagement. An avid theater aficionado, his passion for presentation informs his marketing data analytics, where he eschews the traditional view in favor of a dynamic storytelling model that brings numbers to life through contextualization and the generation of actionable insights.
 

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.
 

Cecilie Balfour is a Marketing Manager at TELUS leading the go-to-market strategy for TELUS Rewards, the only points-based loyalty program offered by a telco in Canada, with over 1.3 million members. In this role, Cecilie focuses on how to build awareness and drive customer engagement with Rewards across all TELUS channels. Prior to TELUS, Cecilie worked in the advertising industry, specializing in brand strategy for financial, insurance, and tourism clients.
 
Cecilie just recently completed her MBA at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC. She holds a B.A. from Simon Fraser University and a diploma in Digital Marketing from New York University.

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.

 

Adam has been part of Sleep Number’s CRM team for 4 years, and manages the InnerCircle Rewards loyalty program as well as all Email and SMS marketing.  He is passionate about customer-centric direct marketing, and has held related roles at Staples, the BBC, the College of William & Mary, and Schwan’s Home Service.  He, his wife, and their 2 daughters live in Minneapolis.

Susan LeBlanc is an enthusiastic marketing leader who’s all about connecting science and art through data-driven marketing strategies that create exceptional consumer experiences and happy cross-functional teams. She is currently leading brand, acquisition and mass consumer marketing for SCENE, Canada's #1 Multi-Award Winning Entertainment Loyalty Program. Here she spearheaded the company’s largest-ever brand marketing campaign that activated 15% of the member base on a single day and moved consumer’s perception of the brand to being an instigator of fun, social experiences.

I am Imani Joye Sanders Samuels. I love to listen. I love to serve. I love to ask “why?”
 
As a digital strategy and marketing leader in the private and non-profit sectors for over 14 years, I’ve had the privilege to advance influential movements during significant moments in history – from the voter education campaign at the Children’s Defense Fund to launching the financial education campaign during the 2008 financial crisis with FDIC.

In my current role as Loyalty Marketing Director at AARP, I co-launched and co-lead AARP Rewards, a loyalty program for the greater good. The digital gamified platform is designed to incentivize and foster behavior change with hundreds of learning opportunities that drive meaningful impact to each individual who engages. Prior to my transition to Loyalty, I was the Member Benefits Communications Director where I led the implementation of the overarching integrated communication strategy for 38 million members, leveraging account and media expertise from my experience at small and large ad agencies like Campbell Mithun, McCann, Porter Novelli and Arnold.
 
I hold my MA in Public Communication from American University and BA in Journalism, with a concentration in advertising, from Howard University. During my time at Howard, I also studied global citizenship at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. During my tenure at AARP, I was also selected to participate in Georgetown University’s ADEPT program where I received a certificate in leadership. Today, I also have the pleasure of studying Psychology with a concentration in Spirituality Mind Body at Teachers College, Columbia University.
 
Delightfully married to Philemon, we have two young feminists, Paz and Noire - both who have a great sense of curiosity, purpose and imagination. 
 

Cecilie Balfour is a Marketing Manager at TELUS leading the go-to-market strategy for TELUS Rewards, the only points-based loyalty program offered by a telco in Canada, with over 1.3 million members. In this role, Cecilie focuses on how to build awareness and drive customer engagement with Rewards across all TELUS channels. Prior to TELUS, Cecilie worked in the advertising industry, specializing in brand strategy for financial, insurance, and tourism clients.
 
Cecilie just recently completed her MBA at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC. She holds a B.A. from Simon Fraser University and a diploma in Digital Marketing from New York University.
 

As a Senior Project Manager in TELUS’ Corporate Citizenship and Communications department, Janna supports TELUS’ social purpose initiatives with a focus on fundraising for the TELUS Friendly Future Foundation, a registered Canadian charity of which TELUS is a founding partner. In 2019, she helped launch and continues to manage, Donate the Change, a program that enables TELUS customers to round up their monthly bills donate 100 of the difference to the TELUS Friendly Future Foundation. Janna also oversees the Foundation’s donation campaigns in TELUS Rewards, helping raise over $200K in donations in the last year.
 
Janna has 20 years of experience in marketing, communications and project management, coupled with a lifelong volunteer career. She has a Certificate in Project Management and holds a B.A from Simon Fraser University in BC, Canada.
 

Mike has been with Caesars Entertainment for the last two Years, previously working for Citigroup. He holds a BBA, Finance from Texas A&M University and an MBA from USC Marshall School of Business. 

With Caesars, his main responsibilities include onboarding new and supporting existing properties on the UrVenue platform, set up, traning, and launch for QLess (Virtual Queing System), onboarding and support for Runtriz (mobile ordering), and advanced analytics and reporting for all mobile and digital platforms. 

Valérie Durand is Director, Communications Optimization for Air Canada.  In this role, she leads the corporate sustainability team and the Air Canada Foundation (a registered, not-for-profit charity which focuses on the well-being of children and youth). She is responsible for the communication and promotion of Air Canada's sustainability efforts, and all aspects of the Corporate Sustainability (ESG) Report.  She leads the Air Canada Corporate Sustainability Working Group, which is comprised of senior management subject-matter experts from diverse functions, and tasked with the oversight and monitoring of Air Canada’s corporate sustainability initiatives. 

Prior to this role, Valérie was Senior Counsel, Commercial & Legal Services Director.  She was active in the general management of the Air Canada Legal Department and was responsible for supporting, and championing the effective and efficient delivery of best-in-class legal services to Air Canada and subsidiary client groups.  She also provided expert advice to executives and senior management on complex matters involving specialized areas of law and relating to matters of significant strategic importance to Air Canada. 
Before joining Air Canada in 2007, Valérie held legal counsel positions with Hydro-Québec and Dessau, and also worked as a flight attendant with Air Canada.

Valérie holds a Civil Law degree from the Université de Montréal, and has been a member of the Quebec Bar since 2003.  She is an active board member, including with the Douglas Foundation, and the proud mother of two young girls, aged 7 and 3.
 

Matt Goldberg is the Director of PRO Strategy and Loyalty for Floor & Decor. Over the past 3 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 Wallet Share. Matt is constantly thinking “What’s Next” in the realm of loyalty, and is excited to learn more from other Loyalty360 participants!  

As Director of Fido XTRA, Rachel is responsible for leading the overall program strategy as well as all partner relationships and implementation. Rachel has led the Fido XTRA program since its inception, optimizing its evolution over the years by working with internal stakeholders to drive executional efficiencies in order to achieve key success metrics, while also collaborating with brand and agency partners on content and technology initiatives designed to benefit all parties involved. Prior to heading up the Fido XTRA program, Rachel leveraged her agency background in managing global customer-based communications for the Fido brand, building a consistent and effective relationship across their customer life cycle.
 

Catherine Paraan has extensive marketing experience in the entertainment, travel and healthcare industries leading integrated, multi-channel marketing efforts that drive proven business results.  She is currently Manager of Partnership Marketing for Sony Rewards, the loyalty program for Sony Corporation of America, responsible for identifying marketing opportunities with Sony business unit partners where they can leverage the loyalty platform, tools and currency to drive and support business objectives and goals.
 

Tammy Lucas serves as global vice president of marketing for BWH|Hotel Group (Best Western Hotels and Resorts). In her role, Lucas leads the global loyalty, performance marketing, advertising, digital marketing, regional marketing and search teams by setting the strategy and direction for key initiatives that focus on delivering strong business performance to BWH|Hotel Group portfolio of brands.

Since joining the company in 2004, her tenure has been marked with considerable transformation and growth. In 2009, Lucas led the complete overhaul and rebranding of the Best Western Rewards® (BWR®) program. Under her leadership, the program doubled its membership and revenue to member properties in less than five years and continues to be ranked as one of the top five loyalty programs by U.S. News & World Report  In 2015, Lucas played an integral role in the brand’s effort to launch a full rebranding initiative, resulting in Best Western’s first new logos in more than 20 years. She has also played an instrument role in the growth of Best Western Hotels and Resorts portfolio of Brands, which includes the newly acquired WorldHotels and the launch of WorldHotels Rewards.  She brings substantial loyalty, marketing, sales, performance analytics and operations experience in a variety of different verticals, with a passion for inspiring teams to surpass goals both professionally and personally.

An advocate for women in leadership, Lucas mentors women to help them achieve their career aspirations. She has participated in a variety of women-led panels, including Best Western’s first-ever Today’s Women in Leadership Forum in 2018.  In 2020 Lucas was recognized as one of the honorees for Women Leaders in AI.
Lucas also serves on the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) Americas Board of Directors. Previously, she served on the HSMAI Foundation Board of Directors from 2014 to 2017. In 2012, Lucas was recognized by HSMAI as one of the Top 25 Most Extraordinary Minds in Sales & Marketing for her tremendous contributions in shaping BWR.

Lucas grew up in Ottawa, Ontario, where she attended the University of Ottawa and earned a Bachelor of Social Science majoring in Psychology and minoring in Business. She is also a proud mother of her three amazing children – Kaylen, Kenzie, and Karson.
 

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. 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 Hotel Group in 2013, Julia worked for American Express for 14 years in a variety of strategy, business development and product marketing roles. 

 

Ryan is the Director of Loyalty & Digital for Giant Food, one of the Mid-Atlantic’s leading grocery chains. In this role, he and his team are responsible for fostering the long-term relationship with Giant’s extensive base of prospective and current shoppers across a variety of brick and mortar and digital channel, and authoring the near and long-term loyalty road map that delivers the benefits, promotions and partnerships within their Giant Flexible Rewards™ program.
 
Ryan formerly led Choice Privileges, the multi billion-dollar reward program for Choice Hotels, and over a five-year period completely overhauled the program via the scrutiny of member data and advocacy of members needs from a best in class program. The results catapulted the program to its first major Freddie Award and moved the program from #11 in the country to #2 in the US News & World Report’s Best Hotel Reward Program category during his tenure.
 
Prior, Ryan earned a U.S. patent for his work standing up Sallie Mae’s first in market true-cost college affordability online tool for all families to understand the real education financing. His tenure includes other loyalty and marketing leadership positions with Capital One, Citigroup and Switchfly. Ryan is also an adjunct professor within Georgetown University instructing on Hospitality Loyalty Strategy, where he also earned his MBA. He lives in Alexandria, VA with his wife Despina and four children.

 

 

Christine Luongo is a Senior Brand Manager at Veggies Made Great. At Veggies Made Great, Christine and her team are responsible for the entire marketing ecosystem, including email marketing, community management, digital and social strategy, shopper marketing programs, customer service, consumer insights, and data and research analysis. Christine is passionate about Veggies Made Great’s mission: inspiring people to love eating veggies by creating veggie-packed, nutritionally smart, and remarkably delicious foods. Her favorite veggies are brussel sprouts.

Prior to joining Veggies Made Great, Christine was a Digital Strategist for Margaritaville Enterprises and a member of the Investments Marketing team at J.P. Morgan Private Bank. After 10 years of marketing-related roles, both in CPG marketing and services marketing, Christine believes in partnering with brands that have a unique and inspiring story to tell.

Christine has been quoted inThe Shelby Report, Food & Beverage Magazine, and Frozen & Refrigerated Magazine for her insight on the frozen food category. Christine holds a BA in Marketing from the Syracuse University.

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.

 

 

Tammy Lucas serves as global vice president of marketing for BWH|Hotel Group (Best Western Hotels and Resorts). In her role, Lucas leads the global loyalty, performance marketing, advertising, digital marketing, regional marketing and search teams by setting the strategy and direction for key initiatives that focus on delivering strong business performance to BWH|Hotel Group portfolio of brands.

Since joining the company in 2004, her tenure has been marked with considerable transformation and growth. In 2009, Lucas led the complete overhaul and rebranding of the Best Western Rewards® (BWR®) program. Under her leadership, the program doubled its membership and revenue to member properties in less than five years and continues to be ranked as one of the top five loyalty programs by U.S. News & World Report  In 2015, Lucas played an integral role in the brand’s effort to launch a full rebranding initiative, resulting in Best Western’s first new logos in more than 20 years. She has also played an instrument role in the growth of Best Western Hotels and Resorts portfolio of Brands, which includes the newly acquired WorldHotels and the launch of WorldHotels Rewards.  She brings substantial loyalty, marketing, sales, performance analytics and operations experience in a variety of different verticals, with a passion for inspiring teams to surpass goals both professionally and personally.

An advocate for women in leadership, Lucas mentors women to help them achieve their career aspirations. She has participated in a variety of women-led panels, including Best Western’s first-ever Today’s Women in Leadership Forum in 2018.  In 2020 Lucas was recognized as one of the honorees for Women Leaders in AI.
Lucas also serves on the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) Americas Board of Directors. Previously, she served on the HSMAI Foundation Board of Directors from 2014 to 2017. In 2012, Lucas was recognized by HSMAI as one of the Top 25 Most Extraordinary Minds in Sales & Marketing for her tremendous contributions in shaping BWR.

Lucas grew up in Ottawa, Ontario, where she attended the University of Ottawa and earned a Bachelor of Social Science majoring in Psychology and minoring in Business. She is also a proud mother of her three amazing children – Kaylen, Kenzie, and Karson.
 

Matt Goldberg is the Director of PRO Strategy and Loyalty for Floor & Decor. Over the past 3 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 Wallet Share. Matt is constantly thinking “What’s Next” in the realm of loyalty, and is excited to learn more from other Loyalty360 participants!  

Sarah Sharp-Wangaard has been Vice President Marketing for Hibbett Sports since 2013 and manages all aspects of the company’s Marketing efforts including; Mobile, Social Media, Direct Mail, Email, SEO, SEM, Paid Digital, Content Creation and more. In addition to Marketing Programming, she oversees Hibbett’s Customer Loyalty Program, Vendor Relationship Management, Collegiate Partnerships, In-store and Third Party Giftcard Programs and Public Relations efforts. Sharp-Wangaard is responsible for Hibbett’s in-house Marketing Team of seven and more than 20 agency partners nationwide.
 
Sharp-Wangaard began her dynamic Hibbett career in 2007 and during her tenure has held the positions of; Director, Digital Marketing, Digital Design & Communications Manager, Website Marketing/MVP Rewards Manager and Marketing Assistant. She has made many significant contributions to the organization over the past decade including; the development and launch of the Hibbett Rewards Customer Loyalty Program and the development and launch of the company’s Digital Marketing programs. Additionally, Sharp-Wangaard spearheaded the company’s inaugural Philanthropic partnership with the American Heart Association which began in 2015.
 
Sharp-Wangaard earned her bachelor of arts degree from Lee University located in her hometown of Cleveland, Tennessee, graduating with honors, Cum Laude. She also played on the Lee University women’s soccer team, the Lady Flames.
 
Sharp-Wangaard now lives in Gardendale, Alabama on the outskirts of Birmingham with her husband of ten years, Elias and her two daughters Leah and Avery-Kate. Outside of work, she is active as a volunteer with her church, serves on a consumer advisory board for Vibes and Coaches the Gardendale U9 Youth Soccer Team. She enjoys spending any free time she has with her family.

10 years of experience in HoReCa marketing

>100 case studies in marketing strategy development for SMB & enterprise businesses

Ex Marketing Director at Black Star Gaming

Ex Marketing Director at Moskalyan (hookah chain, Russia) 

 

Sarah Sharp-Wangaard has been Vice President Marketing for Hibbett Sports since 2013 and manages all aspects of the company’s Marketing efforts including; Mobile, Social Media, Direct Mail, Email, SEO, SEM, Paid Digital, Content Creation and more. In addition to Marketing Programming, she oversees Hibbett’s Customer Loyalty Program, Vendor Relationship Management, Collegiate Partnerships, In-store and Third Party Giftcard Programs and Public Relations efforts. Sharp-Wangaard is responsible for Hibbett’s in-house Marketing Team of seven and more than 20 agency partners nationwide.
 
Sharp-Wangaard began her dynamic Hibbett career in 2007 and during her tenure has held the positions of; Director, Digital Marketing, Digital Design & Communications Manager, Website Marketing/MVP Rewards Manager and Marketing Assistant. She has made many significant contributions to the organization over the past decade including; the development and launch of the Hibbett Rewards Customer Loyalty Program and the development and launch of the company’s Digital Marketing programs. Additionally, Sharp-Wangaard spearheaded the company’s inaugural Philanthropic partnership with the American Heart Association which began in 2015.
 
Sharp-Wangaard earned her bachelor of arts degree from Lee University located in her hometown of Cleveland, Tennessee, graduating with honors, Cum Laude. She also played on the Lee University women’s soccer team, the Lady Flames.
 
Sharp-Wangaard now lives in Gardendale, Alabama on the outskirts of Birmingham with her husband of ten years, Elias and her two daughters Leah and Avery-Kate. Outside of work, she is active as a volunteer with her church, serves on a consumer advisory board for Vibes and Coaches the Gardendale U9 Youth Soccer Team. She enjoys spending any free time she has with her family.
 

Mike has been with Caesars Entertainment for the last two Years, previously working for Citigroup. He holds a BBA, Finance from Texas A&M University and an MBA from USC Marshall School of Business. 

With Caesars, his main responsibilities include onboarding new and supporting existing properties on the UrVenue platform, set up, traning, and launch for QLess (Virtual Queing System), onboarding and support for Runtriz (mobile ordering), and advanced analytics and reporting for all mobile and digital platforms. 

 

 

Vanessa Peña is the Digital Experience Program Leader on the Innovation team at Domino’s Pizza. She develops and leads digital experience initiatives and strategies to grow Domino’s eCommerce business. Vanessa works cross-functionally with Advertising, Analytics & Insights, Information Technology and agency partners to ensure program success and primarily focuses on delivering best-in-class digital experiences to support national TV campaigns.

Previously, Vanessa managed digital experiences at retailers including Home Depot, Bluefly, and Barnes & Noble, and earned degrees in marketing and finance from Georgia State University. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, cooking, and trying to keep up with her high-energy adventure dog, Ranger Danger.

Doug Speedie leads go-to-market, partner management, program performance and insights for T-Mobile Tuesdays. T-Mobile Tuesdays is a customer appreciation program that thanks customers every week with free stuff, great deals and chances to win epic prizes from brands they love. We partner with brands across Entertainment, Retail, Food & Beverage and CPG, bringing to life campaigns that provide value to our customers, partners and T-Mobile.  A graduate of the University of Washington, Doug’s career has spanned across program and product management, operations and marketing.
 

Sarah Sharp-Wangaard has been Vice President Marketing for Hibbett Sports since 2013 and manages all aspects of the company’s Marketing efforts including; Mobile, Social Media, Direct Mail, Email, SEO, SEM, Paid Digital, Content Creation and more. In addition to Marketing Programming, she oversees Hibbett’s Customer Loyalty Program, Vendor Relationship Management, Collegiate Partnerships, In-store and Third Party Giftcard Programs and Public Relations efforts. Sharp-Wangaard is responsible for Hibbett’s in-house Marketing Team of seven and more than 20 agency partners nationwide.
 
Sharp-Wangaard began her dynamic Hibbett career in 2007 and during her tenure has held the positions of; Director, Digital Marketing, Digital Design & Communications Manager, Website Marketing/MVP Rewards Manager and Marketing Assistant. She has made many significant contributions to the organization over the past decade including; the development and launch of the Hibbett Rewards Customer Loyalty Program and the development and launch of the company’s Digital Marketing programs. Additionally, Sharp-Wangaard spearheaded the company’s inaugural Philanthropic partnership with the American Heart Association which began in 2015.
 
Sharp-Wangaard earned her bachelor of arts degree from Lee University located in her hometown of Cleveland, Tennessee, graduating with honors, Cum Laude. She also played on the Lee University women’s soccer team, the Lady Flames.
 
Sharp-Wangaard now lives in Gardendale, Alabama on the outskirts of Birmingham with her husband of ten years, Elias and her two daughters Leah and Avery-Kate. Outside of work, she is active as a volunteer with her church, serves on a consumer advisory board for Vibes and Coaches the Gardendale U9 Youth Soccer Team. She enjoys spending any free time she has with her family.
 

   

  

 

 

 

  

Mike has been with Caesars Entertainment for the last two Years, previously working for Citigroup. He holds a BBA, Finance from Texas A&M University and an MBA from USC Marshall School of Business. 

With Caesars, his main responsibilities include onboarding new and supporting existing properties on the UrVenue platform, set up, traning, and launch for QLess (Virtual Queing System), onboarding and support for Runtriz (mobile ordering), and advanced analytics and reporting for all mobile and digital platforms. 

Paul Ford is the Group Product Manager for Overstock.com’s Customer Organization where he manages the strategy and implementation for the company’s customer-centric product vision. In this role, Ford directly manages a world-class product team. Additionally, he oversees development for customer care, customer experience, user-generated content, customer loyalty, self-service experience, my account, payments, financing options, gift cards, as well as Overstock’s cutting edge CRM and customer identity systems.

Ford joined Overstock’s team two years ago as a product manager in marketing, where he developed technological solutions for push, email, customer identity, and marketing tag management. His 18 years of experience as a business and technology leader resulted in Overstock winning the Braze Customer of the Year award in 2019 as the company reached new heights in marketing tech and customer experience.

As Overstock continues its 21-year success as a tech-focused ecommerce company Ford and his teams will continue to develop and utilize new features, new products, and new customer experiences.

After graduating from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco in 1989, Dave has held a variety of positions in the hospitality industry in California. Prior to joining Sodexo, Dave was the first general manager for Bubba Gump Shrimp Company when the concept debuted in 1996. Subsequently, he assumed the role of public relations and sales manager for that company helping to open all of their locations in the United States and abroad.
 
During his tenure, he developed, sold and implemented tour group programs for the domestic and international market and was responsible for $20 million in annual regional revenue. Dave left Bubba Gump Shrimp Company after their acquisition by Landry’s Restaurants. Dave began his career at Sodexo as a general manager in Corporate Services before joining the Universities team in 2011.
 

Jessica Printy Groves serves as a customer-obsessed Brand Manager of Loyalty Strategy with over 15 years of experience in the grocery industry including Merchandising, Human Resources and Store Operations.
 
In her current role, Jessica all aspects of The GIANT Company’s loyalty program as well as end-to-end customer lifecycle relationships. Her day to day revolves around collaboration with marketing peers to enhance the customer relationship as well as finding new ways to drive growth across the business. Most recently, she led efforts to overhaul and re-launch the company’s loyalty program, introducing GIANT Choice Rewards in the fall of 2019.
 
Jessica earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in accounting and business administration from Thiel College. She is an alumni of the Chi Omega Fraternity and is a mother of two young crazy kids.
 

Julie has been working in the Retail/Loyalty space for 20+ years at L.L.Bean and the past four years with Hannaford.  Julie joined Hannaford to support the design, development, and launch of the award-winning My Hannaford Rewards program – the first 100% digital rewards program in the grocery industry.  Julie is the Manager of Loyalty Marketing responsible for securing high penetrating digital offers that are targeted for relevancy as “Just for You” offers, on a monthly campaign cadence, driving incremental sales/trips, customer engagement/loyalty and vendor ROI.
 

Adam has been part of Sleep Number’s CRM team for 4 years, and manages the InnerCircle Rewards loyalty program as well as all Email and SMS marketing.  He is passionate about customer-centric direct marketing, and has held related roles at Staples, the BBC, the College of William & Mary, and Schwan’s Home Service.  He, his wife, and their 2 daughters live in Minneapolis.

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.

Amanda Krabbenhoft, a native of Minnesota, graduated from Concordia University St. Paul with a degree in Marketing Management. After receiving her degree she began her career in marketing, sales, and customer care in Cancun, Mexico with the Royal Resorts. 
 
In 2009 Amanda moved back to the United States with her husband and her two children. She began work in the USA Amanda worked at North Dakota State University Alumni Center as the Center Director. In October of 2014 Amanda started her marketing career with Sodexo, where her 20 years of marketing, sales and customer service experience give her a diverse background and bring a wide variety of knowledge to the teams she supports.
 

Tammy Lucas serves as global vice president of marketing for BWH|Hotel Group (Best Western Hotels and Resorts). In her role, Lucas leads the global loyalty, performance marketing, advertising, digital marketing, regional marketing and search teams by setting the strategy and direction for key initiatives that focus on delivering strong business performance to BWH|Hotel Group portfolio of brands.

Since joining the company in 2004, her tenure has been marked with considerable transformation and growth. In 2009, Lucas led the complete overhaul and rebranding of the Best Western Rewards® (BWR®) program. Under her leadership, the program doubled its membership and revenue to member properties in less than five years and continues to be ranked as one of the top five loyalty programs by U.S. News & World Report  In 2015, Lucas played an integral role in the brand’s effort to launch a full rebranding initiative, resulting in Best Western’s first new logos in more than 20 years. She has also played an instrument role in the growth of Best Western Hotels and Resorts portfolio of Brands, which includes the newly acquired WorldHotels and the launch of WorldHotels Rewards.  She brings substantial loyalty, marketing, sales, performance analytics and operations experience in a variety of different verticals, with a passion for inspiring teams to surpass goals both professionally and personally.

An advocate for women in leadership, Lucas mentors women to help them achieve their career aspirations. She has participated in a variety of women-led panels, including Best Western’s first-ever Today’s Women in Leadership Forum in 2018.  In 2020 Lucas was recognized as one of the honorees for Women Leaders in AI.
Lucas also serves on the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) Americas Board of Directors. Previously, she served on the HSMAI Foundation Board of Directors from 2014 to 2017. In 2012, Lucas was recognized by HSMAI as one of the Top 25 Most Extraordinary Minds in Sales & Marketing for her tremendous contributions in shaping BWR.

Lucas grew up in Ottawa, Ontario, where she attended the University of Ottawa and earned a Bachelor of Social Science majoring in Psychology and minoring in Business. She is also a proud mother of her three amazing children – Kaylen, Kenzie, and Karson.
 

Tiffany currently leads campus field marketing in North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky, Tennessee and parts of Pennsylvania. Tiffany manages marketing efforts at seventy-six  (76) 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 bachelor’s 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. 
 

As Global Brand Manager for 19 Crimes wine, Ashley Beckman is involved with all aspects of the business including innovation, digital, sales, promotions, PR, finance and supply. In addition to bringing the Infamous Insiders Loyalty program to life, Ashley led the launch of the largest new item innovation for Treasury Wine Estates, Snoop Cali Red, as well as managed 19 Crimes’ best-in-class Augmented Reality experience.

She’s got a big smile, big heart, and bigger goals. Ambitious and determined, Chanelle’s a little firecracker. After working 2 years at an up and coming marketing agency, Chanelle took a position in the marketing department at Atlantic Lottery. Now the Product Manager for Scratch and Breakopen products, Chanelle is responsible for creating prize structures, generating revenue, and breathing life into retail lottery!

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. 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 Hotel Group in 2013, Julia worked for American Express for 14 years in a variety of strategy, business development and product marketing roles. 

Melanie is the Manager of CSM and Loyalty Strategy for Giant Food, a grocery brand that is part of the Ahold Delhaize family of brands, with stores in Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and Washington D.C.  Melanie graduated in 2008 from Millersville University in Pennsylvania with her Bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education and earned her Master’s degree in Business Administration from Elizabethtown College in 2016.

Melanie joined the Ahold USA family of Brands in 2010.  She held positions in a variety of functions including Promotion Execution, Health & Wellness Marketing, Fresh Category Marketing and Digital Marketing.  In 2018 she moved to Maryland from Pennsylvania to join the Giant Food family and has since held roles in Social and Digital Media Strategy and now manages the strategies and plans for their Loyalty and Customer Specific Marketing programs.

Since beginning her role in 2019, she has had the opportunity to help shape and launch the new Giant Flexible Rewards™ loyalty program.  The new program brings Giant shoppers additional opportunities to earn points based on their shopping behaviors, as well as the flexibility to use their points on rewards that make the most sense for their lifestyle – including savings on grocery, gas and free or discounted products.  Melanie, along with her team, continue to strive for new ways to amplify their programs, while nurturing the loyalty relationships with their shoppers through personalization of offers and communications.

Melanie lives in Southern Maryland with her husband John and son Owen. They enjoy cooking, exploring new cities and spending as much time as possible close to the water, especially with their dog, Winston.
 

Ryan is the Director of Loyalty & Digital for Giant Food, one of the Mid-Atlantic’s leading grocery chains. In this role, he and his team are responsible for fostering the long-term relationship with Giant’s extensive base of prospective and current shoppers across a variety of brick and mortar and digital channel, and authoring the near and long-term loyalty road map that delivers the benefits, promotions and partnerships within their Giant Flexible Rewards™ program.
 
Ryan formerly led Choice Privileges, the multi billion-dollar reward program for Choice Hotels, and over a five-year period completely overhauled the program via the scrutiny of member data and advocacy of members needs from a best in class program. The results catapulted the program to its first major Freddie Award and moved the program from #11 in the country to #2 in the US News & World Report’s Best Hotel Reward Program category during his tenure.
 
Prior, Ryan earned a U.S. patent for his work standing up Sallie Mae’s first in market true-cost college affordability online tool for all families to understand the real education financing. His tenure includes other loyalty and marketing leadership positions with Capital One, Citigroup and Switchfly. Ryan is also an adjunct professor within Georgetown University instructing on Hospitality Loyalty Strategy, where he also earned his MBA. He lives in Alexandria, VA with his wife Despina and four children.

 

 

John Sellers is the executive in charge of Rewards at Bank of America. In this role, John oversees all reward programs; including consumer, wealth management and small business relationship rewards programs and credit card rewards redemption. In 2019 Preferred Rewards for Business was named the ‘Most Innovative Product’ by Barlow’s Monarch Innovation Awards, which recognizes excellence and creativity in business banking

Prior to his current role, John had worked with other products including; Vehicle Lending, Investments, and Credit Card.  While in Card, John was the Director of Preferred Products and New Account Acquisition where he was responsible for all mass affluent BofA and Merrill branded products. John is the architect of the award winning Travel Rewards Card and led the effort to bring Chip technology to BofA cards.

Before his product roles, John spent the first half of his career in Credit Risk, where he was the Director of Risk Strategies. In this role, John oversaw existing account management strategies which included; line management, balance stimulation (cash and retail), authorizations (overlimit and delinquent) and other payment related strategies.

John began his career with BofA via the MBNA acquisition. He has an undergraduate degree from the University of Delaware where he was a Finance major. He also has an MBA from Penn State’s Smeal College of Business where he graduated with distinction and is a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma academic honor society.

John is involved in several community organizations. He is a lifesaver for the Blood Bank of DE and coaches several youth sport teams in Kennett Square, PA where he resides with his wife and three kids.

Lauren Strien oversees program strategy and marketing for T-Mobile Tuesdays, a customer appreciation program that thanks customers every week with free stuff, great deals and chances to win epic prizes from brands they love.  Lauren is a global loyalty and partnership marketing professional with 15+ years of experience developing loyalty strategy and building strategic partnerships.  She has experience working on loyalty programs within a variety of industries, including financial services, hospitality, and telecom, in the US as well as in Europe and Asia Pacific.  Lauren has an MBA from IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain and a BS in Economics from The Wharton School at The University of Pennsylvania.
 

 

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.
 

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 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 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 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 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.

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.

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.
 

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.

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.
 

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 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.

 

 

John Sellers is the executive in charge of Rewards at Bank of America. In this role, John oversees all reward programs; including consumer, wealth management and small business relationship rewards programs and credit card rewards redemption. In 2019 Preferred Rewards for Business was named the ‘Most Innovative Product’ by Barlow’s Monarch Innovation Awards, which recognizes excellence and creativity in business banking

Prior to his current role, John had worked with other products including; Vehicle Lending, Investments, and Credit Card.  While in Card, John was the Director of Preferred Products and New Account Acquisition where he was responsible for all mass affluent BofA and Merrill branded products. John is the architect of the award winning Travel Rewards Card and led the effort to bring Chip technology to BofA cards.

Before his product roles, John spent the first half of his career in Credit Risk, where he was the Director of Risk Strategies. In this role, John oversaw existing account management strategies which included; line management, balance stimulation (cash and retail), authorizations (overlimit and delinquent) and other payment related strategies.

John began his career with BofA via the MBNA acquisition. He has an undergraduate degree from the University of Delaware where he was a Finance major. He also has an MBA from Penn State’s Smeal College of Business where he graduated with distinction and is a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma academic honor society.

John is involved in several community organizations. He is a lifesaver for the Blood Bank of DE and coaches several youth sport teams in Kennett Square, PA where he resides with his wife and three kids.

Lauren Strien oversees program strategy and marketing for T-Mobile Tuesdays, a customer appreciation program that thanks customers every week with free stuff, great deals and chances to win epic prizes from brands they love.  Lauren is a global loyalty and partnership marketing professional with 15+ years of experience developing loyalty strategy and building strategic partnerships.  She has experience working on loyalty programs within a variety of industries, including financial services, hospitality, and telecom, in the US as well as in Europe and Asia Pacific.  Lauren has an MBA from IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain and a BS in Economics from The Wharton School at The University of Pennsylvania.
 

 

As Global Brand Manager for 19 Crimes wine, Ashley Beckman is involved with all aspects of the business including innovation, digital, sales, promotions, PR, finance and supply. In addition to bringing the Infamous Insiders Loyalty program to life, Ashley led the launch of the largest new item innovation for Treasury Wine Estates, Snoop Cali Red, as well as managed 19 Crimes’ best-in-class Augmented Reality experience.

She’s got a big smile, big heart, and bigger goals. Ambitious and determined, Chanelle’s a little firecracker. After working 2 years at an up and coming marketing agency, Chanelle took a position in the marketing department at Atlantic Lottery. Now the Product Manager for Scratch and Breakopen products, Chanelle is responsible for creating prize structures, generating revenue, and breathing life into retail lottery!

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. 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 Hotel Group in 2013, Julia worked for American Express for 14 years in a variety of strategy, business development and product marketing roles. 

Melanie is the Manager of CSM and Loyalty Strategy for Giant Food, a grocery brand that is part of the Ahold Delhaize family of brands, with stores in Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and Washington D.C.  Melanie graduated in 2008 from Millersville University in Pennsylvania with her Bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education and earned her Master’s degree in Business Administration from Elizabethtown College in 2016.

Melanie joined the Ahold USA family of Brands in 2010.  She held positions in a variety of functions including Promotion Execution, Health & Wellness Marketing, Fresh Category Marketing and Digital Marketing.  In 2018 she moved to Maryland from Pennsylvania to join the Giant Food family and has since held roles in Social and Digital Media Strategy and now manages the strategies and plans for their Loyalty and Customer Specific Marketing programs.

Since beginning her role in 2019, she has had the opportunity to help shape and launch the new Giant Flexible Rewards™ loyalty program.  The new program brings Giant shoppers additional opportunities to earn points based on their shopping behaviors, as well as the flexibility to use their points on rewards that make the most sense for their lifestyle – including savings on grocery, gas and free or discounted products.  Melanie, along with her team, continue to strive for new ways to amplify their programs, while nurturing the loyalty relationships with their shoppers through personalization of offers and communications.

Melanie lives in Southern Maryland with her husband John and son Owen. They enjoy cooking, exploring new cities and spending as much time as possible close to the water, especially with their dog, Winston.
 

Ryan is the Director of Loyalty & Digital for Giant Food, one of the Mid-Atlantic’s leading grocery chains. In this role, he and his team are responsible for fostering the long-term relationship with Giant’s extensive base of prospective and current shoppers across a variety of brick and mortar and digital channel, and authoring the near and long-term loyalty road map that delivers the benefits, promotions and partnerships within their Giant Flexible Rewards™ program.
 
Ryan formerly led Choice Privileges, the multi billion-dollar reward program for Choice Hotels, and over a five-year period completely overhauled the program via the scrutiny of member data and advocacy of members needs from a best in class program. The results catapulted the program to its first major Freddie Award and moved the program from #11 in the country to #2 in the US News & World Report’s Best Hotel Reward Program category during his tenure.
 
Prior, Ryan earned a U.S. patent for his work standing up Sallie Mae’s first in market true-cost college affordability online tool for all families to understand the real education financing. His tenure includes other loyalty and marketing leadership positions with Capital One, Citigroup and Switchfly. Ryan is also an adjunct professor within Georgetown University instructing on Hospitality Loyalty Strategy, where he also earned his MBA. He lives in Alexandria, VA with his wife Despina and four children.

Adam has been part of Sleep Number’s CRM team for 4 years, and manages the InnerCircle Rewards loyalty program as well as all Email and SMS marketing.  He is passionate about customer-centric direct marketing, and has held related roles at Staples, the BBC, the College of William & Mary, and Schwan’s Home Service.  He, his wife, and their 2 daughters live in Minneapolis.

Amanda Krabbenhoft, a native of Minnesota, graduated from Concordia University St. Paul with a degree in Marketing Management. After receiving her degree she began her career in marketing, sales, and customer care in Cancun, Mexico with the Royal Resorts. 
 
In 2009 Amanda moved back to the United States with her husband and her two children. She began work in the USA Amanda worked at North Dakota State University Alumni Center as the Center Director. In October of 2014 Amanda started her marketing career with Sodexo, where her 20 years of marketing, sales and customer service experience give her a diverse background and bring a wide variety of knowledge to the teams she supports.
 

After graduating from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco in 1989, Dave has held a variety of positions in the hospitality industry in California. Prior to joining Sodexo, Dave was the first general manager for Bubba Gump Shrimp Company when the concept debuted in 1996. Subsequently, he assumed the role of public relations and sales manager for that company helping to open all of their locations in the United States and abroad.
 
During his tenure, he developed, sold and implemented tour group programs for the domestic and international market and was responsible for $20 million in annual regional revenue. Dave left Bubba Gump Shrimp Company after their acquisition by Landry’s Restaurants. Dave began his career at Sodexo as a general manager in Corporate Services before joining the Universities team in 2011.
 

Jessica Printy Groves serves as a customer-obsessed Brand Manager of Loyalty Strategy with over 15 years of experience in the grocery industry including Merchandising, Human Resources and Store Operations.
 
In her current role, Jessica all aspects of The GIANT Company’s loyalty program as well as end-to-end customer lifecycle relationships. Her day to day revolves around collaboration with marketing peers to enhance the customer relationship as well as finding new ways to drive growth across the business. Most recently, she led efforts to overhaul and re-launch the company’s loyalty program, introducing GIANT Choice Rewards in the fall of 2019.
 
Jessica earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in accounting and business administration from Thiel College. She is an alumni of the Chi Omega Fraternity and is a mother of two young crazy kids.
 

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.

Julie has been working in the Retail/Loyalty space for 20+ years at L.L.Bean and the past four years with Hannaford.  Julie joined Hannaford to support the design, development, and launch of the award-winning My Hannaford Rewards program – the first 100% digital rewards program in the grocery industry.  Julie is the Manager of Loyalty Marketing responsible for securing high penetrating digital offers that are targeted for relevancy as “Just for You” offers, on a monthly campaign cadence, driving incremental sales/trips, customer engagement/loyalty and vendor ROI.

Tammy Lucas serves as global vice president of marketing for BWH|Hotel Group (Best Western Hotels and Resorts). In her role, Lucas leads the global loyalty, performance marketing, advertising, digital marketing, regional marketing and search teams by setting the strategy and direction for key initiatives that focus on delivering strong business performance to BWH|Hotel Group portfolio of brands.

Since joining the company in 2004, her tenure has been marked with considerable transformation and growth. In 2009, Lucas led the complete overhaul and rebranding of the Best Western Rewards® (BWR®) program. Under her leadership, the program doubled its membership and revenue to member properties in less than five years and continues to be ranked as one of the top five loyalty programs by U.S. News & World Report  In 2015, Lucas played an integral role in the brand’s effort to launch a full rebranding initiative, resulting in Best Western’s first new logos in more than 20 years. She has also played an instrument role in the growth of Best Western Hotels and Resorts portfolio of Brands, which includes the newly acquired WorldHotels and the launch of WorldHotels Rewards.  She brings substantial loyalty, marketing, sales, performance analytics and operations experience in a variety of different verticals, with a passion for inspiring teams to surpass goals both professionally and personally.

An advocate for women in leadership, Lucas mentors women to help them achieve their career aspirations. She has participated in a variety of women-led panels, including Best Western’s first-ever Today’s Women in Leadership Forum in 2018.  In 2020 Lucas was recognized as one of the honorees for Women Leaders in AI.
Lucas also serves on the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) Americas Board of Directors. Previously, she served on the HSMAI Foundation Board of Directors from 2014 to 2017. In 2012, Lucas was recognized by HSMAI as one of the Top 25 Most Extraordinary Minds in Sales & Marketing for her tremendous contributions in shaping BWR.

Lucas grew up in Ottawa, Ontario, where she attended the University of Ottawa and earned a Bachelor of Social Science majoring in Psychology and minoring in Business. She is also a proud mother of her three amazing children – Kaylen, Kenzie, and Karson.
 

Tiffany currently leads campus field marketing in North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky, Tennessee and parts of Pennsylvania. Tiffany manages marketing efforts at seventy-six  (76) 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 bachelor’s 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. 
 

 

 

 

 

Mike has been with Caesars Entertainment for the last two Years, previously working for Citigroup. He holds a BBA, Finance from Texas A&M University and an MBA from USC Marshall School of Business. 

With Caesars, his main responsibilities include onboarding new and supporting existing properties on the UrVenue platform, set up, traning, and launch for QLess (Virtual Queing System), onboarding and support for Runtriz (mobile ordering), and advanced analytics and reporting for all mobile and digital platforms. 

Paul Ford is the Group Product Manager for Overstock.com’s Customer Organization where he manages the strategy and implementation for the company’s customer-centric product vision. In this role, Ford directly manages a world-class product team. Additionally, he oversees development for customer care, customer experience, user-generated content, customer loyalty, self-service experience, my account, payments, financing options, gift cards, as well as Overstock’s cutting edge CRM and customer identity systems.

Ford joined Overstock’s team two years ago as a product manager in marketing, where he developed technological solutions for push, email, customer identity, and marketing tag management. His 18 years of experience as a business and technology leader resulted in Overstock winning the Braze Customer of the Year award in 2019 as the company reached new heights in marketing tech and customer experience.

As Overstock continues its 21-year success as a tech-focused ecommerce company Ford and his teams will continue to develop and utilize new features, new products, and new customer experiences.

 

Doug Speedie leads go-to-market, partner management, program performance and insights for T-Mobile Tuesdays. T-Mobile Tuesdays is a customer appreciation program that thanks customers every week with free stuff, great deals and chances to win epic prizes from brands they love. We partner with brands across Entertainment, Retail, Food & Beverage and CPG, bringing to life campaigns that provide value to our customers, partners and T-Mobile.  A graduate of the University of Washington, Doug’s career has spanned across program and product management, operations and marketing.

 

 

Sarah Sharp-Wangaard has been Vice President Marketing for Hibbett Sports since 2013 and manages all aspects of the company’s Marketing efforts including; Mobile, Social Media, Direct Mail, Email, SEO, SEM, Paid Digital, Content Creation and more. In addition to Marketing Programming, she oversees Hibbett’s Customer Loyalty Program, Vendor Relationship Management, Collegiate Partnerships, In-store and Third Party Giftcard Programs and Public Relations efforts. Sharp-Wangaard is responsible for Hibbett’s in-house Marketing Team of seven and more than 20 agency partners nationwide.
 
Sharp-Wangaard began her dynamic Hibbett career in 2007 and during her tenure has held the positions of; Director, Digital Marketing, Digital Design & Communications Manager, Website Marketing/MVP Rewards Manager and Marketing Assistant. She has made many significant contributions to the organization over the past decade including; the development and launch of the Hibbett Rewards Customer Loyalty Program and the development and launch of the company’s Digital Marketing programs. Additionally, Sharp-Wangaard spearheaded the company’s inaugural Philanthropic partnership with the American Heart Association which began in 2015.
 
Sharp-Wangaard earned her bachelor of arts degree from Lee University located in her hometown of Cleveland, Tennessee, graduating with honors, Cum Laude. She also played on the Lee University women’s soccer team, the Lady Flames.
 
Sharp-Wangaard now lives in Gardendale, Alabama on the outskirts of Birmingham with her husband of ten years, Elias and her two daughters Leah and Avery-Kate. Outside of work, she is active as a volunteer with her church, serves on a consumer advisory board for Vibes and Coaches the Gardendale U9 Youth Soccer Team. She enjoys spending any free time she has with her family.
 

Vanessa Peña is the Digital Experience Program Leader on the Innovation team at Domino’s Pizza. She develops and leads digital experience initiatives and strategies to grow Domino’s eCommerce business. Vanessa works cross-functionally with Advertising, Analytics & Insights, Information Technology and agency partners to ensure program success and primarily focuses on delivering best-in-class digital experiences to support national TV campaigns.

Previously, Vanessa managed digital experiences at retailers including Home Depot, Bluefly, and Barnes & Noble, and earned degrees in marketing and finance from Georgia State University. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, cooking, and trying to keep up with her high-energy adventure dog, Ranger Danger.

10 years of experience in HoReCa marketing

>100 case studies in marketing strategy development for SMB & enterprise businesses

Ex Marketing Director at Black Star Gaming

Ex Marketing Director at Moskalyan (hookah chain, Russia) 

 

Mike has been with Caesars Entertainment for the last two Years, previously working for Citigroup. He holds a BBA, Finance from Texas A&M University and an MBA from USC Marshall School of Business. 

With Caesars, his main responsibilities include onboarding new and supporting existing properties on the UrVenue platform, set up, traning, and launch for QLess (Virtual Queing System), onboarding and support for Runtriz (mobile ordering), and advanced analytics and reporting for all mobile and digital platforms. 

 

Sarah Sharp-Wangaard has been Vice President Marketing for Hibbett Sports since 2013 and manages all aspects of the company’s Marketing efforts including; Mobile, Social Media, Direct Mail, Email, SEO, SEM, Paid Digital, Content Creation and more. In addition to Marketing Programming, she oversees Hibbett’s Customer Loyalty Program, Vendor Relationship Management, Collegiate Partnerships, In-store and Third Party Giftcard Programs and Public Relations efforts. Sharp-Wangaard is responsible for Hibbett’s in-house Marketing Team of seven and more than 20 agency partners nationwide.
 
Sharp-Wangaard began her dynamic Hibbett career in 2007 and during her tenure has held the positions of; Director, Digital Marketing, Digital Design & Communications Manager, Website Marketing/MVP Rewards Manager and Marketing Assistant. She has made many significant contributions to the organization over the past decade including; the development and launch of the Hibbett Rewards Customer Loyalty Program and the development and launch of the company’s Digital Marketing programs. Additionally, Sharp-Wangaard spearheaded the company’s inaugural Philanthropic partnership with the American Heart Association which began in 2015.
 
Sharp-Wangaard earned her bachelor of arts degree from Lee University located in her hometown of Cleveland, Tennessee, graduating with honors, Cum Laude. She also played on the Lee University women’s soccer team, the Lady Flames.
 
Sharp-Wangaard now lives in Gardendale, Alabama on the outskirts of Birmingham with her husband of ten years, Elias and her two daughters Leah and Avery-Kate. Outside of work, she is active as a volunteer with her church, serves on a consumer advisory board for Vibes and Coaches the Gardendale U9 Youth Soccer Team. She enjoys spending any free time she has with her family.
 

 

Christine Luongo is a Senior Brand Manager at Veggies Made Great. At Veggies Made Great, Christine and her team are responsible for the entire marketing ecosystem, including email marketing, community management, digital and social strategy, shopper marketing programs, customer service, consumer insights, and data and research analysis. Christine is passionate about Veggies Made Great’s mission: inspiring people to love eating veggies by creating veggie-packed, nutritionally smart, and remarkably delicious foods. Her favorite veggies are brussel sprouts.

Prior to joining Veggies Made Great, Christine was a Digital Strategist for Margaritaville Enterprises and a member of the Investments Marketing team at J.P. Morgan Private Bank. After 10 years of marketing-related roles, both in CPG marketing and services marketing, Christine believes in partnering with brands that have a unique and inspiring story to tell.

Christine has been quoted inThe Shelby Report, Food & Beverage Magazine, and Frozen & Refrigerated Magazine for her insight on the frozen food category. Christine holds a BA in Marketing from the Syracuse University.

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.

 

 

Tammy Lucas serves as global vice president of marketing for BWH|Hotel Group (Best Western Hotels and Resorts). In her role, Lucas leads the global loyalty, performance marketing, advertising, digital marketing, regional marketing and search teams by setting the strategy and direction for key initiatives that focus on delivering strong business performance to BWH|Hotel Group portfolio of brands.

Since joining the company in 2004, her tenure has been marked with considerable transformation and growth. In 2009, Lucas led the complete overhaul and rebranding of the Best Western Rewards® (BWR®) program. Under her leadership, the program doubled its membership and revenue to member properties in less than five years and continues to be ranked as one of the top five loyalty programs by U.S. News & World Report  In 2015, Lucas played an integral role in the brand’s effort to launch a full rebranding initiative, resulting in Best Western’s first new logos in more than 20 years. She has also played an instrument role in the growth of Best Western Hotels and Resorts portfolio of Brands, which includes the newly acquired WorldHotels and the launch of WorldHotels Rewards.  She brings substantial loyalty, marketing, sales, performance analytics and operations experience in a variety of different verticals, with a passion for inspiring teams to surpass goals both professionally and personally.

An advocate for women in leadership, Lucas mentors women to help them achieve their career aspirations. She has participated in a variety of women-led panels, including Best Western’s first-ever Today’s Women in Leadership Forum in 2018.  In 2020 Lucas was recognized as one of the honorees for Women Leaders in AI.
Lucas also serves on the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) Americas Board of Directors. Previously, she served on the HSMAI Foundation Board of Directors from 2014 to 2017. In 2012, Lucas was recognized by HSMAI as one of the Top 25 Most Extraordinary Minds in Sales & Marketing for her tremendous contributions in shaping BWR.

Lucas grew up in Ottawa, Ontario, where she attended the University of Ottawa and earned a Bachelor of Social Science majoring in Psychology and minoring in Business. She is also a proud mother of her three amazing children – Kaylen, Kenzie, and Karson.
 

Catherine Paraan has extensive marketing experience in the entertainment, travel and healthcare industries leading integrated, multi-channel marketing efforts that drive proven business results.  She is currently Manager of Partnership Marketing for Sony Rewards, the loyalty program for Sony Corporation of America, responsible for identifying marketing opportunities with Sony business unit partners where they can leverage the loyalty platform, tools and currency to drive and support business objectives and goals.

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. 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 Hotel Group in 2013, Julia worked for American Express for 14 years in a variety of strategy, business development and product marketing roles. 

Matt Goldberg is the Director of PRO Strategy and Loyalty for Floor & Decor. Over the past 3 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 Wallet Share. Matt is constantly thinking “What’s Next” in the realm of loyalty, and is excited to learn more from other Loyalty360 participants!  

As Director of Fido XTRA, Rachel is responsible for leading the overall program strategy as well as all partner relationships and implementation. Rachel has led the Fido XTRA program since its inception, optimizing its evolution over the years by working with internal stakeholders to drive executional efficiencies in order to achieve key success metrics, while also collaborating with brand and agency partners on content and technology initiatives designed to benefit all parties involved. Prior to heading up the Fido XTRA program, Rachel leveraged her agency background in managing global customer-based communications for the Fido brand, building a consistent and effective relationship across their customer life cycle.

Tammy Lucas serves as global vice president of marketing for BWH|Hotel Group (Best Western Hotels and Resorts). In her role, Lucas leads the global loyalty, performance marketing, advertising, digital marketing, regional marketing and search teams by setting the strategy and direction for key initiatives that focus on delivering strong business performance to BWH|Hotel Group portfolio of brands.

Since joining the company in 2004, her tenure has been marked with considerable transformation and growth. In 2009, Lucas led the complete overhaul and rebranding of the Best Western Rewards® (BWR®) program. Under her leadership, the program doubled its membership and revenue to member properties in less than five years and continues to be ranked as one of the top five loyalty programs by U.S. News & World Report  In 2015, Lucas played an integral role in the brand’s effort to launch a full rebranding initiative, resulting in Best Western’s first new logos in more than 20 years. She has also played an instrument role in the growth of Best Western Hotels and Resorts portfolio of Brands, which includes the newly acquired WorldHotels and the launch of WorldHotels Rewards.  She brings substantial loyalty, marketing, sales, performance analytics and operations experience in a variety of different verticals, with a passion for inspiring teams to surpass goals both professionally and personally.

An advocate for women in leadership, Lucas mentors women to help them achieve their career aspirations. She has participated in a variety of women-led panels, including Best Western’s first-ever Today’s Women in Leadership Forum in 2018.  In 2020 Lucas was recognized as one of the honorees for Women Leaders in AI.
Lucas also serves on the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) Americas Board of Directors. Previously, she served on the HSMAI Foundation Board of Directors from 2014 to 2017. In 2012, Lucas was recognized by HSMAI as one of the Top 25 Most Extraordinary Minds in Sales & Marketing for her tremendous contributions in shaping BWR.

Lucas grew up in Ottawa, Ontario, where she attended the University of Ottawa and earned a Bachelor of Social Science majoring in Psychology and minoring in Business. She is also a proud mother of her three amazing children – Kaylen, Kenzie, and Karson.
 

Cecilie Balfour is a Marketing Manager at TELUS leading the go-to-market strategy for TELUS Rewards, the only points-based loyalty program offered by a telco in Canada, with over 1.3 million members. In this role, Cecilie focuses on how to build awareness and drive customer engagement with Rewards across all TELUS channels. Prior to TELUS, Cecilie worked in the advertising industry, specializing in brand strategy for financial, insurance, and tourism clients.
 
Cecilie just recently completed her MBA at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC. She holds a B.A. from Simon Fraser University and a diploma in Digital Marketing from New York University.
 

I am Imani Joye Sanders Samuels. I love to listen. I love to serve. I love to ask “why?”
 
As a digital strategy and marketing leader in the private and non-profit sectors for over 14 years, I’ve had the privilege to advance influential movements during significant moments in history – from the voter education campaign at the Children’s Defense Fund to launching the financial education campaign during the 2008 financial crisis with FDIC.

In my current role as Loyalty Marketing Director at AARP, I co-launched and co-lead AARP Rewards, a loyalty program for the greater good. The digital gamified platform is designed to incentivize and foster behavior change with hundreds of learning opportunities that drive meaningful impact to each individual who engages. Prior to my transition to Loyalty, I was the Member Benefits Communications Director where I led the implementation of the overarching integrated communication strategy for 38 million members, leveraging account and media expertise from my experience at small and large ad agencies like Campbell Mithun, McCann, Porter Novelli and Arnold.
 
I hold my MA in Public Communication from American University and BA in Journalism, with a concentration in advertising, from Howard University. During my time at Howard, I also studied global citizenship at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. During my tenure at AARP, I was also selected to participate in Georgetown University’s ADEPT program where I received a certificate in leadership. Today, I also have the pleasure of studying Psychology with a concentration in Spirituality Mind Body at Teachers College, Columbia University.
 
Delightfully married to Philemon, we have two young feminists, Paz and Noire - both who have a great sense of curiosity, purpose and imagination. 

As a Senior Project Manager in TELUS’ Corporate Citizenship and Communications department, Janna supports TELUS’ social purpose initiatives with a focus on fundraising for the TELUS Friendly Future Foundation, a registered Canadian charity of which TELUS is a founding partner. In 2019, she helped launch and continues to manage, Donate the Change, a program that enables TELUS customers to round up their monthly bills donate 100 of the difference to the TELUS Friendly Future Foundation. Janna also oversees the Foundation’s donation campaigns in TELUS Rewards, helping raise over $200K in donations in the last year.
 
Janna has 20 years of experience in marketing, communications and project management, coupled with a lifelong volunteer career. She has a Certificate in Project Management and holds a B.A from Simon Fraser University in BC, Canada.
 

Mike has been with Caesars Entertainment for the last two Years, previously working for Citigroup. He holds a BBA, Finance from Texas A&M University and an MBA from USC Marshall School of Business. 

With Caesars, his main responsibilities include onboarding new and supporting existing properties on the UrVenue platform, set up, traning, and launch for QLess (Virtual Queing System), onboarding and support for Runtriz (mobile ordering), and advanced analytics and reporting for all mobile and digital platforms. 

Valérie Durand is Director, Communications Optimization for Air Canada.  In this role, she leads the corporate sustainability team and the Air Canada Foundation (a registered, not-for-profit charity which focuses on the well-being of children and youth). She is responsible for the communication and promotion of Air Canada's sustainability efforts, and all aspects of the Corporate Sustainability (ESG) Report.  She leads the Air Canada Corporate Sustainability Working Group, which is comprised of senior management subject-matter experts from diverse functions, and tasked with the oversight and monitoring of Air Canada’s corporate sustainability initiatives. 

Prior to this role, Valérie was Senior Counsel, Commercial & Legal Services Director.  She was active in the general management of the Air Canada Legal Department and was responsible for supporting, and championing the effective and efficient delivery of best-in-class legal services to Air Canada and subsidiary client groups.  She also provided expert advice to executives and senior management on complex matters involving specialized areas of law and relating to matters of significant strategic importance to Air Canada. 
Before joining Air Canada in 2007, Valérie held legal counsel positions with Hydro-Québec and Dessau, and also worked as a flight attendant with Air Canada.

Valérie holds a Civil Law degree from the Université de Montréal, and has been a member of the Quebec Bar since 2003.  She is an active board member, including with the Douglas Foundation, and the proud mother of two young girls, aged 7 and 3.
 

Adam has been part of Sleep Number’s CRM team for 4 years, and manages the InnerCircle Rewards loyalty program as well as all Email and SMS marketing.  He is passionate about customer-centric direct marketing, and has held related roles at Staples, the BBC, the College of William & Mary, and Schwan’s Home Service.  He, his wife, and their 2 daughters live in Minneapolis.

Cecilie Balfour is a Marketing Manager at TELUS leading the go-to-market strategy for TELUS Rewards, the only points-based loyalty program offered by a telco in Canada, with over 1.3 million members. In this role, Cecilie focuses on how to build awareness and drive customer engagement with Rewards across all TELUS channels. Prior to TELUS, Cecilie worked in the advertising industry, specializing in brand strategy for financial, insurance, and tourism clients.
 
Cecilie just recently completed her MBA at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC. She holds a B.A. from Simon Fraser University and a diploma in Digital Marketing from New York University.

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.

 

Susan LeBlanc is an enthusiastic marketing leader who’s all about connecting science and art through data-driven marketing strategies that create exceptional consumer experiences and happy cross-functional teams. She is currently leading brand, acquisition and mass consumer marketing for SCENE, Canada's #1 Multi-Award Winning Entertainment Loyalty Program. Here she spearheaded the company’s largest-ever brand marketing campaign that activated 15% of the member base on a single day and moved consumer’s perception of the brand to being an instigator of fun, social experiences.

Amy Harrington is a Marketing Manager on the Auto Marketing Team at Ally Financial, Inc. Over the past 4 ½ years, Amy has helped build the Regional Marketing Team by bringing unique and strategic marketing programs to our 18,000+ auto dealer customers through the Ally Dealer Difference platform. Amy loves having the opportunity to work closely with our field team to help develop new programs that ultimately help build strong business relationships with our dealers and help grow customer loyalty.
 

John Sellers is the executive in charge of Rewards at Bank of America. In this role, John oversees all reward programs; including consumer, wealth management and small business relationship rewards programs and credit card rewards redemption. In 2019 Preferred Rewards for Business was named the ‘Most Innovative Product’ by Barlow’s Monarch Innovation Awards, which recognizes excellence and creativity in business banking

Prior to his current role, John had worked with other products including; Vehicle Lending, Investments, and Credit Card.  While in Card, John was the Director of Preferred Products and New Account Acquisition where he was responsible for all mass affluent BofA and Merrill branded products. John is the architect of the award winning Travel Rewards Card and led the effort to bring Chip technology to BofA cards.

Before his product roles, John spent the first half of his career in Credit Risk, where he was the Director of Risk Strategies. In this role, John oversaw existing account management strategies which included; line management, balance stimulation (cash and retail), authorizations (overlimit and delinquent) and other payment related strategies.

John began his career with BofA via the MBNA acquisition. He has an undergraduate degree from the University of Delaware where he was a Finance major. He also has an MBA from Penn State’s Smeal College of Business where he graduated with distinction and is a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma academic honor society.

John is involved in several community organizations. He is a lifesaver for the Blood Bank of DE and coaches several youth sport teams in Kennett Square, PA where he resides with his wife and three kids.

Matt Goldberg is the Director of PRO Strategy and Loyalty for Floor & Decor. Over the past 3 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 Wallet Share. Matt is constantly thinking “What’s Next” in the realm of loyalty, and is excited to learn more from other Loyalty360 participants!  

Sheree Rajan joined the Marketing organization at Essilor of America in 2007. She became Vice President, Marketing in 2017 and currently leads the Commercial Marketing team which is the key partner and bridge between Marketing, Sales and Customers across all channels. Sheree was honored as one of Vision Monday’s Most Influential Women in Optical – Rising Stars in 2017. Prior to Essilor, Sheree worked in the non-profit sector leading marketing, public relations and business development for various organizations including the Special Olympics. She earned both her MBA and bachelor’s degree in marketing from the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University.
 

Dena Pizzutti is the Senior Marketing Manager of Personalization and Optimization for Wawa, a chain of more than 900 convenience retail stores in the Mid-Atlantic and Florida.  She currently oversees the Wawa Rewards loyalty program and Customer 360 efforts.  Dena has over ten years of experience in loyalty marketing, previously working for CVS on the ExtraCare program.  Additionally, Dena holds a Doctorate in Business Administration and has taught marketing courses at West Chester University and St. Joseph’s University.

Emily Mikus serves as the Director of Loyalty and Shopper Marketing at The GIANT Company
 
In this role, Emily leads the team responsible for all aspects of the company’s loyalty program, GIANT Choice Rewards, including the strategy, management and execution. She also has oversight of the company’s shopper marketing programs.
 
Emily has 15 years of experience in the grocery industry and has held various positions at The GIANT Company over the years. Prior to her current position, Emily held positions in Strategic Planning and Business Development, Insights, Marketing and Store Operations. Emily’s breadth of experience in providing strategic leadership and consumer research support for multiple disciplines across the business lends to a deep, longitudinal understanding of consumers, brands and competitors, with a customer-minded focus and analytical drive to continually uncover new opportunities and innovate new solutions.
 
Emily earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Millersville University. She currently serves on the Occupational Advisory Committee for Careers and Technology at the Carlisle Area School District and is a proud mom of two young boys.
 

Jacqueline is Senior Director, Business Development & Long-Range Product Planning at Air Canada. In this role, Jacqueline leads the development of strategic partner relationships with Air Canada’s loyalty program Aeroplan in key everyday categories with a primary goal of enhancing member engagement, expanding Aeroplan’s relevance, and reinforcing the complexion of the Air Canada brand. She also leads the evaluation, selection and negotiation of sponsorships for both Air Canada and Aeroplan, including but not limited to eight NHL & NBA teams and the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Teams.

Prior to this role, Jacqueline was the Senior Director, Brand Marketing & Sponsorship for Air Canada where she led the in-house Creative Studio, Sponsorships and Brand Activation teams. She was responsible for the strategy and implementation of Air Canada’s brand marketing plans with a focus on building world-class integrated marketing programs that brought the refreshed Air Canada brand to life. She also co-led the thought leadership and creation of the refreshed Aeroplan brand and related Aeroplan co-brand credit cards that were unveiled in August 2020.

Jacqueline started her career at Corporate Executive Board (now Gartner) in Washington, D.C. before returning to Toronto to join the Brand & Sponsorship group at Royal Bank of Canada dedicated to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic & Paralympic Games and Torch Relays marketing efforts. After the Games, Jacqueline headed south again to New York City to work with Citi for 6 years on their sponsorship and corporate brand file, inclusive of Citi Field, the New York Mets, the London 2012, Sochi 2014 and Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Jacqueline’s father was a pilot for Air Canada for 35 years and her love of the brand runs deep. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University and is the proud mother of a 14-month son who is just learning to point to his feet in both English and French.
 

Jessica Drozd serves as Marketing Manager, Brand & Acquisition for SCENE, Canada’s largest entertainment loyalty program. She’s passionate about creating customer-first experiences and data-driven strategies for business growth. In her role, she leads mass consumer marketing, new member acquisition, and brand management. During her time at SCENE, she’s implemented several award-winning integrated marketing programs with partners such as NBA Canada and Universal Music Group. Prior to this role, she worked for the U.S. Department of State.
 
Jessica holds a Bachelor of Arts and Science from McGill University and recently completed an MBA Certificate at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.

Susan Frech is the co-founder/CEO of Vesta, a consumer engagement technology company that powers online communities to turn real consumers into brand evangelists.