Michael Burgess was appointed President, HBC Digital in February 2014. Mr. Burgess previously served as President of Saks Direct where he was responsible for ecommerce at Saks Fifth Avenue including saks.com and saksoff5th.com. Prior to joining Saks, Mr. Burgess held various executive positions including Executive Vice President of the Consumer Division at FTD and Vice President of Internet Businesses at Teleflora. He earlier served as a consultant at McKinsey and Company.
Mr. Burgess has a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Finance and a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. Mr. Burgess also has a Master of Business
Administration from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Mr. Burgess serves on the Board of Shop.org, the digital division of the National Retail Federation.

Keiron McCammon joined Moda Operandi in November of 2013 as the Chief Technology Officer.

Prior to joining Moda Operandi, Keiron was CEO of Bonfaire, a company he founded in 2012 and whose platform will be applied to the operation of Moda Operandi.  The revolutionary site was one of the only on-line destinations to offer first access to next season’s designer shoes, handbags and accessories for pre-order. 
 

Twitter: @mccammon

Johanna Murphy is the CMO of Ivanka Trump, where she is charged with developing the brand strategy and brand experience, and with bringing the brand to life through traditional and innovative digital marketing techniques. She also owns the development and launch of the online business and the creation of the retail experience.
 
Previously, she was VP of eCommerce at Kate Spade & Company, where she was responsible for the company’s overall digital strategy, in addition to the sales growth, marketing, merchandising, creative, fulfillment, customer service, customer experience and global expansion of the online and mobile businesses of kate spade new york, Kate Spade Saturday and Jack Spade. She was also a member of the Board of Directors of Shop.org, the online division of the National Retail Federation, and was named one of the Top 50 Women in Brand Marketing by Brand Innovators in 2013.
Twitter: @johannamurphy

Buffy Sash is the CMO of alice + olivia where she oversees Marketing and Digital Commerce.  With over 20 years of marketing and online experience in the retail industry,  at alice + olivia Buffy leads advertising, digital marketing, social media, customer analytics and global brand strategy.  She also oversees the alice + olivia website, supervising digital marketing, merchandising, operations, technology, usability and customer service.

Mark Ramsey is General Manager, Digital Retail Operations at Audi of America.  He is responsible for Audi U.S. digital activities including the AudiUSA.com brand website and myAudi online owner’s portal; Audi dealer website platform including Dealer Advertising Group websites; Audi digital leads program; and the Audi Progressive Retail Experience program which provides dealers with digital sales and service tools to enhance the customer experience and improve dealership operational efficiencies.

Prior to this position, Ramsey held the title of General Manager, Retail Marketing & Launch Strategy at Audi of America with responsibility for cross-functional launch execution from 2008-2012, accomplishing successful major launch introductions for the Audi Q5, A8, A7, A6 and complete TDI and Audi S-model lineups.  Ramsey was also previously responsible for Audi retail marketing activities consisting of Audi Dealer Advertising Group media and advertising, regional marketing strategy and execution, and in-dealership point of sale marketing.

Elizabeth Pizzinato manages global digital marketing, social media, advertising, promotions, marketing communications, public relations, and reputation management for Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.  Her background combines more than 25 years of experience in operations, corporate communications, public relations and marketing to bring a unique perspective to brand building. 

Elizabeth has an in-depth understanding of luxury marketing and the affluent consumer.  Her creative approach and passion for storytelling has helped established Four Seasons as the pre-eminent leader in luxury hospitality through the creation of compelling custom content that creates both engagement and affinity with consumers. 

Twitter: @epizzinato

Wendy S. Purvey, a 28-year industry veteran, is responsible for creating and implementing all marketing, interactive digital, advertising and public relations initiatives for the Sotheby's International Realty® network, developing systems that are true to the brand's vision, unique positioning and savvy and refined personality.

Purvey has earned a reputation for delivering marketing strategies that have helped drive new business growth. Throughout her career she has been involved in multiple mergers and acquisitions and is experienced at bringing together multiple firms into new and existing brand identities.  She joined the Sotheby’s International Realty brand in November 2004 as senior vice president, marketing, and was promoted to chief marketing officer in April 2010.
Twitter: @WendyPurvey

Sarah is the founder and CEO of M.M. LaFleur.  Before founding M.M. LaFleur, Sarah managed the luxury goods portfolio of Starwood Capital in New York and Paris.  Prior to that, she was a management consultant at Bain & Co. and TechnoServe where she advised consumer packaged goods and financial services companies as well as agribusinesses.  Sarah grew up in Tokyo and Paris, and has worked internationally in South Africa, Zambia, and Mexico.  She is a graduate of Harvard College. Twitter: @smlafleur

Kristina Buckley is Vice President of Communications at the renowned French Jewelry Maison, Van Cleef & Arpels. She has 13 years of experience overseeing Communications and Marketing  for the Americas (North America, Carribean, Latin America and Canada) subsidiaries of several preeminent European Luxury firms. 
Since joining Van Cleef & Arpels in 2008, Kristina has spearheaded a fully integrated communications strategy ensuring qualitative, distinctive and consistent transmission of the Maison’s identity, values and creations across all communication channels. Kristina ensures that digital is treated as a dynamic thread which is woven into all areas she oversees: advertising, special events, COOP marketing, PR, celebrity relations, strategic institutional partnerships, exhibitions, direct mail and eCRM. Examples of her approach include ensuring that print, display and search campaigns are synergistic and contextually distinctive; driving social media conversations throughout the year and heightened during key initiatives (key events, product launches, special exhibitions); penetrating the blogger community in a relevant and authentic way; as well as bringing a digital extension to brick-and-mortar environments through interactive visual displays.

Mark Simmons is the Vice President of Marketing at Design Within Reach, the leading modern design brand in North America. For the last two years, he has led the re-launch of the DWR brand, building loyal DWR fans and nurturing their life-long love affair with modern design. In his prior stint at DWR, he led the eCommerce group from startup through IPO.

Prior to DWR, Simmons helped launch the bicycle start-up, PUBLIC Bikes, and video game start-up, Simraceway. As any early evangelist of social media, Simmons led the marketing team at Six Apart (now SAY Media), a leading blogging services business.

Jimmy Lepore Hagan is a proponent of the digital vanguard and a fanboy of 21st century branding. When he's not hanging out in Brooklyn with fellow Ohio ex-pats, he's the Social Media Guy at Nanette Lepore. At Oberlin College, Jimmy studied Art History and English — prepping himself for a career critiquing the art world. When he realized no one was paying for that kind of labor, he took a job with his family's fashion company. He now runs everything digital at Nanette. He also art directs the Nanette Lepore photo campaigns, oversees public relations in Japan and China, and leads business development in the Middle East. Twitter: @jimmyjimmyhere

Han Wen is Vice President of Digital and eCommerce Americas at Groupe Clarins, where she oversees the growth and development of the Clarins brand in all digital channels, including eCommerce, social, mobile, and media. Prior to joining Clarins, Han was in charge of various marketing and digital positions at LVMH and L’Oreal Luxe, including KENZO, Kiehl’s and Ralph Lauren Fragrances. Han holds a Bachelor’s of Arts degree from Brown University. 

Katie Gowdy is Senior Fashion & Luxury Sales Director at Refinery29. Since her arrival three short years ago, she has welcomed 40 new luxury partners to the R29 fold, including Cartier, Chloe, Hermes, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Chopard, Jimmy Choo and more. Through the voice of the market, she has been an evangelist for developing new definitions of native content particular to luxury advertisers' needs, and has pioneered for always-on content platforms for luxury partners such as Net-A-Porter and Cartier. Ultimately she has grown her business by 1000% since her arrival. Prior to joining Refinery29, Katie spearheaded the fashion and luxury category at NYMag - running point for both digital and print and more than doubling her business while on board. Before that she was at Elle Magazine and ELLE.com.

Chris joined Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group from Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok in 1999. Being part of the global corporate marketing structure, he was involved in several reservations and revenue management related projects. In 2001, he started to focus primarily on internet distribution with the implementation of a private label booking engine. Since then, his role has expanded to completely oversee the Mandarin Oriental website presence including their languages sites, the mobile strategy as well as all of its online & search marketing efforts for the luxury hotel operator. In 2007, Chris moved to New York City to manage his teams in the US and Hong Kong as well as the vendor partnerships from the USA corporate office. His most significant recent accomplishment is a complete re-launch of Mandarin Oriental’s digital presence in late 2012 with a fully re-designed website, offered in 7 languages, a sophisticated mobile presence and a new booking platform all supported but state of the art back end technology. Under Chris’ responsibility, Mandarin Oriental launched a completely new digital presence across desktop, tablet and mobile in 9 languages in late 2012 which has won the Group several prestigious awards and resulted in an online growth of over 20%.

Qianna Smith joined Saks Fifth Avenue (Saks) as Director of Social Media in May. With over 10 years of digital experience in custom content creation and community building, Smith brings her editorial ingenuity to the social platforms at Saks and to SaksPOV blog. Throughout her edit career, Smith has helped readers stay attuned to the breaking developments of the ever-changing fashion zeitgeist, producing content that stays in sync with what's new and hot in fashion. Prior to Saks, Smith held roles that included Senior Editor of the Nordstrom blogs, leading the content platform and voice for Q+A UK; creating the social media strategy for cycle 1 of ‘Asia’s Next Top Model’ TV show; developing the national online platform for Jones magazine; writing as Fashion Contributor for AOL networks; and working as the Fashion & Beauty Editor at Essence.com. In the fashion industry, Smith has become a recognized authority by providing expert style and trend commentary for media outlets such as WWD, Fox Business News, FashionTV and The Guardian UK. Her fresh voice and perspective on fashion and beauty has allowed her work to be featured on MSN Living, Tyrashow.com, Health.com, Shape.com, ExtraTV.com, Huffingtonpost.com and Yahoo.Shine.com. Smith holds a master’s degree in fashion journalism from the London College of Fashion. Twitter handle: @qianna_smith Corporate handle: @saks

Follow Him @rbonifacino

Stephen has over 12 years of experience in retail e-commerce and is working as a lead digital strategist for the luxury apparel brand Lafayette 148 New York. Stephen began his e-commerce career as Content Director of Kozmo.com in 2000 and has been chasing conversions ever since. His past online marketing experiences cover a wide array of product categories: DVDs, furniture, jewelry, high fashion and artisanal chocolate – all with the common thread of translating digital marketing trends into profitable online sales vehicles.

Director of Web and E-commerce at EILEEN FISHER, Lauren Croke has been leading digital efforts for EILEEN FISHER for the past decade. A strategic visionary, Lauren has led a wide range of teams and departments, notably developing and launching EILEEN FISHER into the digital era through the company’s first entry into Ecommerce and later on through the Social Media Program and Cross-Channel Customer Experience Strategy. As head of Web and E-commerce, she places emphasis on the company’s core values of simplicity, collaboration, connection and great design placing the customer at the center and focuses on ensuring the website remains at the forefront of online strategy, innovation, usability and branding. Twitter: @LaurenCrokenyc

Kate Greer is the Director of Global Integrated Marketing for alice + olivia where she is responsible for developing the brand’s global social media strategy and overseeing the company’s new media program.  In addition, Kate is responsible for vetting new social technology and developing strategic partnerships.
 
Previously, Kate has worked as a new media consultant for technology startups, Fortune 500 companies and influential individuals, including artists, athlete, authors and media personalities. Prior to starting her consulting business, Kate was part of the founding team of the sports social network, QFive, and had previously spent three years leading marketing for a New York-based asset management firm.
 
Twitter: @kategreer

As Waterford’s global marketing driver and champion for the new look of luxury, Regan Iglesia has successfully transitioned the Waterford brand from heritage keepsake to sophisticated, contemporary lifestyle brand essential to the “Live the Crystal Life” ethos.

Regan began his career at Virginia-based department store Miller & Rhode’s, where he held management and buying positions for 7 years prior to joining Waterford Wedgwood. 

Twitter: @ReganIglesia

Debbie Johnsen is the Director, Interactive Marketing for The Leading Hotels of the World. She began her career in marketing and e-commerce over twenty years ago, and has worked on both the client and agency side. Her background includes both traditional marketing and digital roles with Bertelsmann, Omnicom and Rail Europe Group. Industry experience spans Travel & Hospitality, Retail E-Commerce, Entertainment and Global Brands.

Debbie is currently Adjunct Faculty at N.Y.U., where she teaches Web Analytics and Digital Marketing as part of the school’s MS in Integrated Marketing program.

Twitter:@debonair_ny

Heather Kaminetsky joined NET-A-PORTER.COM in October of 2013 as Vice President of Marketing for the Americas. In her role, Kaminetsky oversees all sales, marketing and communication functions in the Americas – delivering the NET-A-PORTER mission to be the global fashion destination for content and commerce and ensures that NET-A-PORTER constantly exceeds the expectations of its global customer base.

Prior to NET-A-PORTER Kaminetsky worked as the Senior Vice President of Business Management at Borderfree and prior to that served as the Vice President of Marketing at Barneys New York. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems from the Sy Syms School of Business at Yeshiva University in New York City.

Elizabeth Kosich is CORE’s Director of Marketing and Digital Strategy where she serves as the company’s brand guardian. Responsible for creating, implementing and integrating all marketing messaging and strategies, Elizabeth ensures CORE’s brand alignment across all media platforms. She also drives digital marketing and web strategies, where she advances CORE’s mission to engage and disrupt online. A holistic role, her marketing responsibilities extend to branding CORE agents and individualizing market positioning for their listings.

A creator of intuitive and authentic brand experiences, Elizabeth brings a disciplined approach to marketing that seeks clarity and connection. Prior to CORE she worked in-house at Riley Weiss, a strategic brand consulting and design agency. Leading the firm’s New York City office, Elizabeth directed and managed the agency’s deliverables and served as the account lead for brands such as CitiBank, Ernst & Young, American Express, Alliance Bernstein and Heritage Auctions.

Scott has experience in various aspects of ecommerce, digital strategy, marketing, and analytics from both the brand side and agency perspective. Scott began his digital career in Seattle as a VP of Online Product Development for Chase. From there he moved to the Global Digital Agency Possible. While at Possible, he led digital strategy and ecommerce for Faconnable, Entertainment Weekly, Motorola, and REI. After five years with the agency, he moved back to the brand side leading ecommerce and digital initiatives for Diesel USA, Kiehls, AmEx, and Morgans Hotel Group. He is currently the CMO for Charity Buzz. Twitter: @ScottyDLux

Rachel is the Director of Social Media at Birchbox, the discovery retail company changing the way women and men shop for beauty, grooming and lifestyle products. Through its multi-channel platform, the Birchbox experience features personalized sampling, informative editorial content and a handpicked online store. Prior to joining Birchbox, Rachel was instrumental in launching Movements.org, an organization focused on providing social media resources for human rights activists. Rachel received her Masters in International Affairs and Conflict Resolution from the American University of Paris and her B.A. from Michigan State University. Twitter: @racheljosilver

Heather Park joined NARS Cosmetics in 2011. During her tenure, NARS has been repeatedly recognized as an industry leader in the digital space, not only for the strength of the content strategy across their owned channels but for innovative digital campaigns. In her role as Global Executive Director, Digital and Consumer Strategy, Heather manages the full scope of digital for the brand, overseeing e-commerce, global consumer strategy, digital advertising and social media strategy. Over the course of her ten years in the beauty industry, Heather Park has transitioned from traditional beauty publicist to digital media specialist. Beginning at Mario Badescu and Revlon Inc, Heather went on to shape the social and digital strategy for MAC Cosmetics in 2007. In 2010, Park joined Momentum Worldwide as a senior Social Media Strategist, working on such accounts as Sony Pictures, American Express, Verizon and Hyundai. Heather currently lives in Astoria with her deaf rescue dog Cordelia; she’s a recovering musician, bitcoin fanatic and enjoys barefoot running, hiking and vegan baking.

Milton Pedraza is the CEO of the Luxury Institute. Over the past 10 years, Milton has established the Luxury Institute as an independent and objective luxury research company and a trusted boutique consulting firm. Known globally as the foremost resource for affluent consumer insights and customer experience best practices, the Luxury Institute has served hundreds of luxury goods and services brands across numerous categories. Milton advises and serves on the Boards of top-tier luxury and premium brands, start-ups, and private investment firms. He is sought after worldwide for his candid and forward-thinking views on luxury and is the most quoted industry expert in leading media outlets and publications. Milton is an authority on CRM, Analytics and Big Data. Prior to founding the Luxury Institute, his successful career at Fortune 100 companies included executive roles at Altria, Pepsico, Colgate, Citigroup and Wyndham Worldwide.

New York-based French transplant Alice Ritter designs a contemporary collection that perfectly blends elements of French chic with New York’s laid-back approach to style. Feminine and delicate details share the stage with sharply tailored and more masculine lines to conjure up the image of an elegant, stylish and free-spirited woman.

When Alice moved to New York from Paris over a decade ago, fashion was only a passion for the former music publicist. She got her first order while making one-of-a-kind hand-made pieces, which gave her the motivation to push the adventure further. Few years of hard work and determination garnered Alice Ritter the recognition she needed form the industry: supportive press, sponsored fashion shows, loyal customers and more recently (February 2010) a place on the CFDA Fashion Incubator Program.

James Sandora is the Global Director of Digital Strategy & Integration at Kohler Co., leading all digital communications initiatives and setting the agenda for digital marketing innovation across Kohler Co.’s portfolio of 26 brands housed within its four business units: Kitchen & Bath, Hospitality & Real Estate, Interiors, and Global Power. As a member of the executive management team James also participates in setting the strategic, experiential, and platform directions that guide the future of the Kohler Co. business.  James is a University of Wisconsin – Madison graduate with a MBA from Columbia Business School.

Thomaï Serdari, Ph.D. is a strategist in luxury marketing and branding. She has consulted clients in launching, growing, and successfully managing luxury brands. She is an expert on luxury and actively studies, values, and reports on companies or funds that operate and invest within the luxury goods market. 

Thomaï has been teaching at New York University since 1999. She has developed a variety of courses at NYU, among which: “Cultures of Excess: Product and Fashion Design through Modernity” and “Entrepreneurship in the Business of Art.” She also developed the core courses for the Luxury Marketing specialization at the Leonard N. Stern School of Business, MBA level: “The Core of Luxury: Processes, Products, and Strategies through History” and “Luxury Branding: Brand Thinking and Experience.” 
Twitter: @Thomai

Accomplished marketing executive (American Express and L’Oreal) and consultant, Professor Jean Marc Rejaud is a Full Time Marketing Professor in the Advertising and Marketing Communications Department at the Fashion Institute of Technology (in New York City) where he teaches and researches new trends-best practices in Marketing, Integrated Marketing Communications, (Global) Digital Marketing, Sales Promotion, Database Marketing, Strategic Marketing Planning & (Digital) Marketing Analytics.

Professor Jean Marc Rejaud is the President and Founder of Focus Marketing, a consulting boutique which helps to (re)focus key marketing, digital marketing and marketing communications strategies through information-driven marketing planning, with clients ranging from Fortune 100 companies to small-medium size businesses in the US and Asia.

Avery Booker is a Partner at the Los Angeles, New York, and Paris-based consultancy China Luxury Advisors, which develops global strategies for luxury brands and retailers to tap the global Chinese consumer. With a decade of experience working in the Greater China market, specializing in luxury branding, new media, and trend forecasting, Avery Booker has closely watched and chronicled the emergence of the global Chinese luxury consumer on the world stage.
Twitter: @averybooker

Kathleen Guzman is a recognized appraiser and auctioneer with over thirty years experience in the art and antiques industry. Ms. Guzman is the Managing Director of Heritage Auctions in New York, the third largest auction house based in Dallas. She has personally auctioned over 1,500 sales with over $1 Million objects valued at over $1 Billion US dollars. She brings 15 years experience from the world-renown international auction house Christie’s, selling such items as a Monet watercolor for $4.3 Million and the Ruby Slippers from the Wizard of Oz for $660,000. She was the former President of Christie’s East and President of Phillips Auctioneers, as well as Senior Vice-President of Business Development at Ebay. Ms. Guzman is frequently quoted in print, radio and has been seen on television regarding the art and antiques market and spokesperson for the art market on such shows as Oprah, Good Morning America, Today, CNN and Sally Jessy Raphael. She appears as an expert on the PBS series “Antiques Roadshow” for the past seventeen years, as on-air host for Good Life TV, host at QVC, and frequent guest for the Treasure channel satellite cable station in, “Treasure Seekers” and Metro TV’s “Antique Show and Sell”. She also has co-starred for the pilot TV show “For What It’s Worth” with Robin Leach and is a contributing editor to the Miller’s Antique Collector’s Books writing articles recently. She was the Director of Hubert Gallery, specializing in Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso for two years, and is professionally, an independent consultant, a USPAP certified art appraiser, writer and charity auctioneer. She holds an Executive M.B.A. from Columbia University and has a Master’s Degree in Art History from Queen’s College. Ms. Guzman lectures extensively on the art market for the American Appraiser’s Association, New York University, Bard College and the Fashion Institute of Technology. Ms. Guzman also auctions extensively for charitable causes including Make-a-Wish, Juvenile Diabetes and Housing Works to name a few, with noted celebrities. Her present and past clients include Bloomberg, Inc, the Estate of Marilyn Monroe, Barbra Streisand, the estate of Tom Thumb and the artist John Graham.

Jason Antony, Director of Ecommerce for Viceroy Hotel Group, has over a decade of online experience in both retail and hospitality verticals. Jason is responsible for managing all digital marketing, the development of new websites, content management systems, and CRM communication strategies for Viceroy Hotel Group. Currently, Jason manages the global online efforts of the portfolio in Abu Dhabi, Anguilla, Beverly Hills, Maldives, Miami, New York, Palm Springs, Riviera Maya, Santa Monica, San Francisco, Snowmass, St. Lucia and Zihuatanejo with forthcoming properties in Dubai, Istanbul and Bodrum, Turkey. And during his free time Jason is actively involved with HSMAI Los Angeles as the Social Media Chair Board Member.

Among his significant previous positions, Jason served as the Ecommerce Manager for FIJI Water’s direct-to-consumer business and e-commerce marketing, including the comprehensive management of their website, email, and online strategy.

Prior to joining FIJI Water, he managed the San Diego Zoo’s e-philanthropy programs, spent two years leading field marketing for Starwood Hotels & Resorts in San Diego, and spent six years at SeaWorld developing websites, online marketing, email communications, and retail sites

Maggie Wei joined LALIQUE in December of 2013 as Director of Marketing for North America where she is responsible for spearheading and overseeing all marketing/PR strategies and communication for North America across five product categories: interior design, decorative objects, jewelry, art and fragrance. Prior to joining LALIQUE, she was Head of Marketing for Luxury Optical Holdings/Morgenthal Frederics and prior to that worked in the PR department at Tiffany & Co. and also for the company’s philanthropic arm, The Tiffany & Co. Foundation. She holds a Bachelor of Art’s degree from Wellesley College in Art History and French and a Master’s Degree in Communications from Columbia University.

Marc Viale joined The RealReal as VP of Marketing in August 2012. In his role, Viale leads all customer acquisition and retention marketing efforts for the authenticated luxury consignment site. In just three years, the company has experienced sky rocket growth with 3 million members and is tracking to over $100m in sales in 2014. Viale is a dotcom veteran and has been a key player in several high growth startups. In 1999, he implemented ofoto.com's customer acquisition & retention programs which lead to acquisition by Kodak in 2001. In 2005, Viale led direct marketing and loyalty efforts for bebe stores. More recently, from 2009-2012, Viale directed marketing efforts for Linden Lab, the makers of Second Life.

Mr. Brinas developed his passion for software in the French countryside where he grew up. With a Master’s degree in software engineering, Mr. Brinas became a developer in the financial industry at Standard & Poor's in London. Currently he works as a VP at BNP Paribas in New York. During the past 8 years, he has led Web development teams of various sizes for multiple business lines and functions, evangelizing architecture and development of good practices. In 2008, Mr. Brinas co-founded and assumed the role of CTO at muendo.com, a social network for professional classical musicians. Two years later, he launched his business architecture firm through which he helps entrepreneurs in the creative industries (fashion, design, music) execute their ideas by merging technology and business processes. He is a repeat guest lecturer in “Entrepreneurship in the Business of Art” at New York University. Mr. Brinas is the founder of Castle Ventures Inc, a start-up in stealth mode aiming at making an impact on people’s travel and leisure activities.

Tze Chun is the founder of Uprise Art, an online gallery for the next generation of art collectors. Uprise Art features a highly curated roster of exceptional contemporary artists, and makes collecting original art easier and more affordable. Their team of art consultants help collectors find the perfect art for their home or office. Tze graduated from Columbia University and and has delivered talks on art and entrepreneurship at Harvard Business School, Columbia Business School, Affordable Art Fair, the Apple Store, Cooley LLP, and Deloitte, among others. Tze is also Artistic Director of Tze Chun Dance Company, a curator for Quarterly.co, and a partner in the Brooklyn restaurants Dover and Battersby. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram: @tzechengchun and @UpriseNYC.

Sharon Bell is responsible for all marketing, demand generation, and PR for the Americas and EMEA.  Since joining CDNetworks in 2012, Sharon and her team have contributed to the 50%+ growth in new business and 30% growth in year-over-year revenue in these regions. Prior to joining CDNetworks, Sharon led marketing teams at technology start-ups and giants including CA Technologies.  Sharon holds a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing from Franklin University, Columbus, OH.

Susan Kilkenny is a sales and marketing professional with a distinct passion for the luxury retail sector. She spent the past 12 years in sales and development roles within top media organizations including Vogue, WWD, Interview, Dossier, IMG, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week and more. Today, Susan is the Director of Luxury Sales at WealthEngine, a leading technology company that provides exclusive customer intelligence, analytics and online/office acquisition solutions to luxury brands, financial institutions and non-profits. Specializing in developing partnerships and connecting brands with innovative solutions and targeted audiences designed to generate sales and awareness, Susan has conceptualized and executed numerous successful programs generating millions of dollars in revenue for organizations across the luxury landscape.

Matt is responsible for overseeing digital marketing strategies and strengthening brand awareness at Elastic Path. Matt has over 20 years experience in helping grow revenue, market share and valuation for leading software companies such as Crystal Decisions, Apparent Networks and Meridex. At Elastic Path, Matt works with analysts and market leaders including Google, Pearson, Symantec, Time Inc. and Virgin Media to influence and discuss industry strategies and best practices in creating outstanding customer experiences that drive engagement and conversion.

Deb Berman is VP of Client Success at Curalate, the leading marketing platform for the visual web. In her role, Debworks closely with digital marketers to help them leverage imagery to increase brand affinity and revenue. Curalate enables brands to measure, monitor, and grow their presence on visual social media sites including Pinterest and Instagram. Curalate is currently in use by over $00 brands including Neiman Marcus, Michael Kors, Gap, and Better Homes & Gardens. Curalate is backed by top-tier venture capitalists including New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and First Round Capital. Prior to Curalate, Deb worked for technology start ups including Justmeans, which was sold to 3BL Media, and Buddy Media where she served as the first Vice President of Account Management. Deb attended Harvard University's Graduate School of Education, Boston University's Graduate School of Management and Colgate University.

Apu Gupta is the CEO & Co-founder of Curalate, the leading marketing platform for the visual web. Curalate enables brands to measure, monitor, and grow their presence on visual social media sites including Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr. Curalate is currently in use by over 400 brands including Neiman Marcus, Time Inc, Michael Kors, Gap, and Martha Stewart. Prior to Curalate, Apu worked in retail and technology. Apu built the second largest drugstore chain in India as the COO & CMO of MedPlus Health Services, served on the interim management team of Peracon, a provider of software for the commercial real estate industry, and was in sales and marketing roles at WebEx Communications from their Series A financing through their IPO. Apu has an undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin and a MBA from the Wharton School of Business.

John Hendricks is founder and CEO of Ergo Interactive, a Marketing Automation firm that combines data insight and content marketing to deliver conversion proven Content Choreography.™ The firm has developed award-winning, multi-channel relationship development programs for such brands as American Express, Delta Airlines, Ameriprise and MGM Hotels. As an early adopter who is always on the cusp of new emerging marketing technologies and practices, John was a pioneer in the eCRM space co-founding Bigfoot Interactive, which was sold to Alliance Data in 2005. There, he was instrumental in the development of an email marketing database management platform which has managed enterprise-wide email marketing and loyalty programs for blue chip brands including: Walt Disney World, Target, Hyundai, Honda, Capital One, JPMorganChase and Discover. With broad knowledge drawn from his 15+ years of experience, John is hailed as an industry expert on Marketing Automation with deep roots in data science, content architecture and customer experience.

David is responsible for all marketing functions at Instart Logic. He has 25 years of tech industry marketing experience, most recently serving as Chief Marketing Officer at Ubiquiti Networks, a high-growth, publicly-traded leader in wireless networking systems. Prior to Ubiquiti, David served as Vice President of Marketing for video and emerging technologies at Cisco. In that role he was responsible for marketing Cisco's video portfolio to enterprises, service providers and growing emerging technology businesses across multiple market segments, including Cisco TelePresence. Prior to Cisco, he was the senior marketing officer for three publicly-traded companies — Evolve Software, LBMS, Inc. and WebEx — and a senior executive at Sybase, FaceTime Communications and Marrakech. David has a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from Northwestern University.

Jon Jackson is responsible for the creative direction and execution of large-scale initiatives at Huge. In his role, Jon collaborates closely with the Visual and Interaction Design teams to develop concepts and strategies for some of Huge’s largest clients including Target and Gucci. Specializing in building well-known, consumer-facing brands and extending engagement through traditional and digital media, Jon has over 14 years of experience in art direction. Prior to joining Huge, he worked at SapientNitro as an Associate Creative Director, where he collaborated with such clients as Coca-Cola, Sprint, Yahoo!, Disney, Nissan and Sony. In addition, he’s developed creative solutions for clients such as Nike, Acura, Toyota, Chrysler, Microsoft, Sony Pictures, Nokia and Warner Brothers. Jon lives, eats and breathes design, and over the years has taught design and motion at Art Center College of Design, illustrated for publications like Anthem and Arkitip, and even won a How International Design Award for his wedding invitation. Jon holds a BFA in Graphic Design from California State University, Fullerton. Jon lives in Brooklyn with his wife and dog.

As VP of marketing, Damian Roskill is responsible for growing and refining the Applause brand, expanding the customer base and serving as the tactical leader of the company's marketing initiatives. In this role, Damian aligns marketing's goals with that of other departments to ensure that the company continues its aggressive growth. Prior to joining Applause, Damian held senior positions at a wide range of companies, including Compete, 50 Lessons, Soundbridge, RxCentric and others. During this time, his responsibilities included project management and development, product marketing, as well as general marketing. Damian earned his BS in computer science from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

James Keller is CEO at Vee24, the world’s leader in live video assistance solutions. Prior to Vee24, Jim was the EVP and CMO at Shoebuy.com, a Top 100 online retailer, where he was responsible for all online and offline advertising and marketing programs and partnerships, sales, website optimization, and customer loyalty, as well as software development, website operations, and customer experience. His prior career has included a variety of both business and policy roles in technology industries and has focused on the development of products and markets in emerging online categories. Jim is an Advisory Board member for eTail and the University of Massachusetts, Department of Economics, a board member and advisory to several early stage technology companies, and has served on the Google Client Advisory Board.

Sophie Kleber (Executive Director, Product and Innovation) creates innovative digital products with engaging features and solid information architecture, tackling design problems where users need a beautiful, approachable interface to complex functionality. Sophie provides a leadership role in key stages of research, product definition and interaction design for some of Huge's largest clients in North America and Europe, including IKEA, Comcast, Swisscom, Under Armour, Revolt TV and QVC. She leads Product Strategy, Data Visualization, and User Experience at Huge, driving innovation efforts in product, disciplines, skills, and methodology. Prior to working at Huge, Sophie designed complex software applications in her hometown of Berlin, Germany. With a background in print design, she brings her passion for information graphics to her current position at Huge. She has taught at the Touro College Berlin, the University of the Arts Berlin, Bergh's School of Communication in Stockholm, Google Labs in London, and Parson’s School of Design in New York. Sophie was the keynote speaker and leader of the winning team at Digiday’s Agency Innovation Camp in 2014, and has spoken at the Future of Web Design conference (2013), Hyper Island in Sweden (2010), and SVA’s Dot Dot Dot Series (2010). She also blogged for the TED conference in 2010. Sophie is a Fulbright alumna and holds an MFA in Graphic Design from Fachhochschule Potsdam (Germany) and a Master's in Product Design from the University of the Arts (Germany).

Michael Klein is the Director of Industry Strategy for the Adobe Marketing Cloud. He leads a team of subject matter experts who work with Adobe’s global commerce clients to help them develop best-in-class digital marketing strategies. Michael regularly contributes thought leadership to industry events, and is an active member of Shop.org and the Global Retail Marketing Association. Prior to joining Adobe, Michael spent over 25 years as a Senior Merchant and Marketer for brands such as the LVMH Group (eLuxury.com), William-Sonoma, Harry & David, Discovery Channel Stores, and wine.com.

Paul Levine joined Planet Payment Solutions in October 2011 as President and is responsible for business development and sales in North America. Prior to joining Planet Payment, Paul was President for several years at Superior Bankcard Services, an Intuit Company. Paul has been in the payments industry for over 20 years and focuses on launching new products and entering new markets for US retailers. With the new release of UnionPay Online Processing (UPOP), Paul and his team are focused on helping US retailers take advantage of the burgeoning Chinese ecommerce opportunity.

Jingming Li is responsible for driving the international expansion of Alipay, China's leading payment platform. As such, he mobilizes resources from across the various Alibaba business units to support U.S. and European retailers selling to China. The Alipay-enabled China growth strategy he spearheads provides the world’s online retailers with comprehensive and streamlined payment, logistics and marketing solutions that unlock the enormous potential of the China marketplace.

Erik Pavelka is an expert at understanding the affluent online. As a co-founder of Martini Media, Erik has played a central role in helping premium brands reach the affluent audience online. Prior to Martini, Erik was the Chief Strategy Officer for Hands-On Mobile, a leading mobile applications and games company where he brought brands as diverse as the NFL and Guitar Hero to life across mobile devices. Prior to Hands-On, Erik formed global strategic partnerships for Yahoo! and Excite@Home that drove brand advertising, new product development, and expansion across mobile, cable and telecom platforms. In addition, Erik has extensive experiences in strategy consulting and investment banking.

Josh co-founded TellApart with over 10 years of marketing technology and start-up experience. Prior to TellApart, Josh served as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Greylock Partners, advising the firm in the areas of consumer internet products and their monetization. For over five years preceding, he was a lead Product Manager at Google and oversaw many of its advertising offerings, including AdWords, Audio Ads and Google’s display ads efforts. He earned his Bachelor’s degree with distinction in Economics at Stanford University, where he was a Mayfield Fellow.

Christopher Parr, CEO and Editor of Pursuitist, is an award-winning luxury marketing veteran, writer, a frequent speaker at luxury and interactive marketing conferences and a pioneer in web publishing. He launched Pursuitist.com as a curated list of the good things in life, with guest contributors from Forbes, Mashable, TechCrunch, Glamour, Saveur and more sharing their favorite luxuries. Online at parrinteractive.com and pursuitist.com

Kerri Pollard has over a decade of experience in affiliate marketing. As president of CJ Affiliate by Conversant, Kerri's primary responsibility is to oversee the operations of CJ's U.S. and Europe offices. Kerri has a proven track record of building partnerships between advertisers and publishers and helping them grow revenue and increase profits through innovative technology and strategic analytical insights. Kerri's thought leadership in the affiliate marketing space has earned CJ the recognition of the #1 affiliate marketing provider by Internet Retailer for the second year in a row. Prior to CJ, Kerri operated in a sales capacity at consulting firm Keane, Inc., and at i-Cube (now Avenue A/Razorfish). She has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the E.W. Scripps School at Ohio University.

Danielle Savin is the Director of Digital Consulting Services at LYONSCG, working with client teams to help define scope and recommended approach for major digital projects and retail strategy for clients. She plays an advisory role on client engagements, serving as a digital strategy advisor to both account leads and clients. Danielle has spent over 15 years in the eCommerce industry, launching her first site in 1998. She has seven years of digital consulting experience, was the VP of Strategy for FitForCommerce, Divisional VP of eCommerce for Playboy Enterprises, and the GM VP of Fredericks of Hollywood – Direct. Since joining LYONSCG in early 2012, Danielle has worked on projects including Henri Bendel, La Senza, World Kitchen, Wilton Brands, Havaianas, Jarden Consumer Group, JoAnn, Beats by Dre, Hat Club, Paris Presents, and Pac Sun. Danielle is extremely active and thoroughly enjoys spin classes and hot yoga. She loves traveling and is a champagne enthusiast.

Nick is Head of Content Marketing at Piqora. Before joining Piqora he led content teams at Gawker Media & DARPA. Connect with Nick via email at nick@piqora.com and on Twitter at@nickmueller

Nick has more than 18 years of experience creating brand, credit, and customer marketing strategies. Prior to joining Alliance Data, Nick held a variety of marketing and strategy roles at JP Morgan Chase, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, MasterCard Worldwide with clients in many different verticals, including American Express, American Airlines and Porsche.

Dr. Ulrich Hammerschmidt has worked in leading IT and telecommunication companies (Deutsche Telekom, Telecom Italia, Telekom Austria) for the past 15 years, with a strong focus on global business development, transformation and strategic C-level partnerships. Previously, he held marketing and sales management positions with international companies in a number of industries (food, retail, electronics), giving him a very rich and diverse background. Ulrich’s academic education includes law, business administration and telecommunication. His career experience, in combination with his education, enables him to not only understand technologies, but to also create the optimal commercial and legal set-up for their monetization. His structered, yet practical approach ensures that plans become reality, in a timely and efficient manner. Ulrich’s knowledge and expertise are reflected in his role as a member of the International Business Development team for Takemetuit Inc.

Ben Gray is a Retail Strategist at Applause, and is responsible for helping large brands conceive and implement app quality solutions. Prior to joining Applause, Ben served as a Principal Analyst with Forrester Research, focused most recently on Enterprise Mobility. During his 10 years with Forrester, Ben authored more than 150 reports, advised hundreds of companies on IT strategies, served as a frequent keynote speaker, panelist and presenter at industry events and was regularly quoted in top publications like The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and InformationWeek.

Claire draws on her years of experience working in the translation industry with diverse clients and projects to develop tailored solutions for her customers’ unique needs. Claire's key interests are around helping her customers deliver a message that will resonate with their global audience and helping them ensure their content is culturally appropriate for a target market. Claire is a localization industry veteran, with 15 years of experience working as a Project Manager, Operations Manager and now Solutions Architect. She has helped build and deploy successful multilingual solutions for industry leading companies in Travel and Hospitality, Retail, IT and Life Sciences.

With multimedia business solutions powered by language at the core, Paris and her team offer highly consumer and client centric approaches by tailoring brand offerings to the omni-channel, digital and e-commerce marketplace and integrating the client’s key agency, media, marketing services and technology platform partners…all with language expertise at the core. Paris is an industry veteran drawing on her 25 years of experience from WPP/GroupM, P&G, Kraft, Coca-Cola and IRI and where she developed unique global and local solutions for clients in the Luxury, Consumer, Travel/Hospitality, Financial and Retail Verticals.

Michael Reitblat is the Co-Founder and CEO of Forter, which creates a completely fraud free environment for online retailers and enables them to focus on driving their business without worrying about fraud at all. Michael has started Forter after building a mobile commerce platform and realizing that there is something totally wrong in the way fraud is being managed in e-Commerce. Michael leads Forter through its hyper growth, driving exceptional results to its customers and substantial funding from the top venture capital firm Sequoia Capital. Michael was the VP Product and International Operations for the mobile payments company Pango. Michael played a key part in building the first ever fraud prevention company that offered coverage of online transactions - Fraud-Sciences and its successful acquisition by PayPal and was part of the team that redesigned PayPals internal risk operation. Prior to PayPal, Michael led the product at the online marketing leader Kontera (acquired by SingTel) and cyber security company Imperva (successful IPO as IMPV). Michael has served as a military intelligence officer in the Israeli Intelligence Corps. Personal Twitter - @reitblat

Wes is Head of Demand Generation at Piqora. Before joining Piqora he led marketing teams at Kony, Sharevault and Semphonic. You can connect with him via email at wes@piqora.com and on Twitter @wesyee

As Director of Sales for CJ Affiliate, Joe Doretti is responsible for identifying and developing new opportunities and engagements that have generated millions of dollars in revenue for clients. With over 20 years of online experience, Joe’s understanding of and ability to articulate client needs have been invaluable to creating and evangelizing solutions that exceed customer expectations. Joe's infectious energy has led him to market, manage and sell at several start-up operations that continue to thrive. He feels privileged to have seen online media grow to where it is today, having participated in such early endeavors as AOL Inc. before they even had one million members. Joe also held previous business development roles at Citizen Hawk, Kinset and BzzAgent. He graduated with a degree in business management from Boston University.

As CTO and Founder of Needle, Mikko Valimaki has been leading the charge to build the most innovative solution that powers online engagements for some of the largest eccomerce websites globally, helping customers buy everything from cruises to hand bags. Mikko has a long history of building scalable server side solutions for commerce, communication and security. Before co-founding Needle, Mikko was the Chief Scientist at Blue Coat Systems (Nasdaq: BCSI), where he architected the cloud-based content filtering and malware protection solution. Additionally Mikko served as the technology spokesperson for the security and WAN optimization solutions. Mikko was the CTO of Cerberian prior to its Blue Coat acquisition and was the VP of Engineering at Novell where he directed all aspects of the development of Novell eDirectory, DirXML and other value-added security and identity management solutions. Originally from Finland, Mikko now enjoys the mountains of Utah for cross-country skiing and mountain biking. Mikko is quadrilingual and has a keen interest in natural language processing. Mikko studied at Brigham Young University, earning both a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Computer Science.