What We Do
Advertisers
Publishers
.EDU
Events
News
Home > Events > Symposium 2007 > Speakers

Speakers

Distinguished Keynote Address

Don Tapscott
Chief Executive, New Paradigm and best-selling author of Wikinomics
Don is an internationally recognized thought-leader on the Net Generation that uses digital media like blogs, wikis, and videos to impose culture and beliefs on society. He specializes in the impact of information and communication technologies on business and society, and was one of the first to see the importance of the Internet for business models. His book Digital Capital defined the business models that emerged from the networked revolution of the 1990s. An earlier work, Paradigm Shift, gave executives the indispensable guide to fulfilling the promise of information technology. He is the author of eight other books on business strategy, including, The Naked Corporation: How the Age of Transparency Will Revolutionize Business. His new New York Times bestseller, Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything, explains how businesses can tap the full potential of the emerging networked economy and its self-organized, mass-participatory communities. Don is the Chief Executive of the international think tank New Paradigm, which he founded in 1993, and adjunct professor of management, Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto.


TrendWatch Panelist

Ken Eisner
Vice President, Marketing and Membership, Shop.org
Ken joined Shop.org in 2006 and is responsible for membership, marketing, website, and branding initiatives. Before Shop.org, Ken was Vice President, National Sales for multi-channel, multi-carrier wireless distributor Simply Wireless, where he directed all e-commerce, direct marketing, and call center activities. Before that, he was Vice President of Marketing for VarsityBooks.com, where he helped guide the online college bookseller and marketing services provider to the #1 brand position of all college-oriented brands and helped the company achieve a 2/2000 IPO. His background also includes experience with top direct marketing and branding companies, including international licensing leader NFL Properties. Ken holds a BA from Cornell and an MBA and MPP from Georgetown.


TrendWatch Panelist

Sara Holoubek
Free Agent and Columnist
Sara is a free agent consultant, serving growth firms and investors in the interactive advertising sector. She is also contributing editor of DM News SearchBuzz and a general contributor to Marketingprofs: Daily Fix. She has recently been elected to the Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization (SEMPO) board of directors for a second term. Previously iCrossing's Chief Strategy Officer, Sara was a critical player in building the firm's New York office, repositioning the iCrossing brand and raising a VC round of $13 million. Prior to this experience, she held posts in client strategy with interactive agencies Organic and Blue Dingo. Her vertical expertise covers over 10 sectors. Sara has contributed to and/or been quoted in publications such as Adweek, DM News, Mediapost's Search Insider, WSJ, The Madison Avenue Journal, ClickZ and Internet Retailer. She also serves as a frequent speaker at venues such as Harvard, NYU, Baruch College, SES, OMMA and the DMA.


TrendWatch Moderator

David Liu
Managing Director, Jefferies & Company, Inc.
Since joining Jefferies & Company in 1993, David has completed over 40 transactions ranging from IPOs, follow-on offerings, convertibles, mergers and acquisitions, tender offers and restructurings. He co-manages Jefferies' Internet and Digital Media activities and past clients of his firm include aQuantive, Bankrate, Fastclick, Kelkoo, Limelight Networks, MaxPreps, Reunion, Shutterfly, Vertrue and WiderThan. David is an active speaker on topics such as Digital Media, Internet, Software, Asian Technology, M&A and Capital Markets. He has spoken at the World Economic Forum, Harvard Business School, The Red Herring, Zero2IPO's China Venture Capital Forum, IBF's Venture Capital Conference and the Dow Jones Technology Conferences. He has also been frequently quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Investment Dealers' Digest and CBS MarketWatch. He holds a MBA degree from Harvard Business School, a BS in Engineering (Manufacturing and Robotics) from the University of Pennsylvania, and a BS in Economics from the Wharton School of Business, with honors. He is a member of the national engineering honor society, Tau Beta Pi. He has been an avid blogger since the early 90s.


TrendWatch Panelist

Karen Parrish
Vice President, Business Intelligence Solutions, IBM Corporation
Karen is the Vice President of Business Intelligence Solutions in IBM. She is responsible for the cross divisional strategy and execution of a business that has hundreds of customers worldwide who have implemented IBM's industry specific solutions that make up the Business Intelligence portfolio. Karen accepted this responsibility in March of 2003. Prior to this role, Karen was the Vice President of World Wide Sales where she led a team of specialists in high end data warehousing.


TrendWatch Panelist

Lisa Picarille
Editor-in-Chief, Revenue Magazine
Lisa is the Editor-in-Chief of Revenue magazine, where she develops and oversees all the content for the Revenue print publication as well as RevenueToday.com. Lisa has more than 15 years' experience as a senior writer and editor at CMP (as executive editor of TechWeb.com), IDG and Ziff-Davis. She was also an executive producer at TechTV. Her work has appeared in PC Week, InfoWorld, Computerworld, Computer Reseller News, MacWeek, Wired.com and Rolling Stone. She began her career as a sportswriter in the Boston area, where she also worked at radio stations WBCN and WFNX as a producer and voiceover artist. Currently, she also co-hosts (with Shawn Collins) the Affiliate Thing podcast on WebMasterRadio.FM. She is also a frequent speaker at industry events including Ad:Tech.


Seminar Panelist
Affiliate 2.0: Ecommerce Mash-Ups
Jake Bailey
Affiliate Program Manager, Overstock.com
Jake has worked in numerous positions at Overstock which involved Strategy, Business Development, Lead Generation, and the Gift-Card program. He has also worked for Merrill Lynch as an Operations Manager in syndicate lending and as a Director of marketing for the AAA baseball team for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He has a BS in Business Management from Brigham Young, a Master's of Business from the University of Utah, and currently teaches marketing at Salt Lake Community College.


Seminar Panelist
Winning with Multichannel Collaboration
Gina Bernadet
Customer Acquisition Manager, America's Gardening Resource
Gina has been with America's Gardening Resource since 1998. As Customer Acquisition Manager for Gardener's Supply and Dutch Gardens she is responsible for acquiring new customers across all channels. Programs she manages include the affiliate programs, search analysis (Gardener's Supply was the 2004 Golden Links winner for best performance based search strategy), partnerships, shopping sites, catalog acquisition and affinity relationships. Prior to her tenor at Gardener's Supply, Gina was a print and broadcast Media Buyer. Gina holds a BA in English from the University of Vermont.


Seminar Panelist
Partnerships 2.0
Harry Boadwee
CEO, Market Annex LLC
Harry Boadwee is a technology attorney and CEO of Market Annex LLC, an internet marketing and consulting company based in Cupertino, California. Market Annex is the creator of Travelosa.mobi, a mobile web portal for travelers on the go, and its companion PC web site, Travelosa.com. Travelosa.mobi has been covered by The Wall Street Journal, and is a showcase site of the dot mobi registrar mTLD, and a nominee of the 2007 Webby Awards.


Seminar Panelist
Winning with Multichannel Collaboration
Darrell Cavens
Senior Vice President of Marketing and Technology, Blue Nile
Darrell has served as Blue Nile's Senior Vice President since June 2005. He served as Vice President of Development from October 2003 through June 2005, and as Blue Nile's Chief Technology Officer from November 2000 to June 2005. From September 1999 to November 2000, Darrell served as Blue Nile's Director of Technology. From April 1996 to September 1999, he worked as Staff Engineer within the Advanced Development team at Starwave Corporation, an Internet development company. Darrell attended the University of Victoria in Canada from 1990 to 1994.


Seminar Leader
Search Marketing Today: What Partners Need to Know
Peter Chun
Managing Director, Search Services, LinkShare Corporation
Peter is a key driver in the growth and development of LinkShare's Search Advantage solution. Peter started at LinkShare in 2003 in the merchant services group and continues to provide strategic guidance for LinkShare's top partner brands. He is a Qualified Google AdWord Professional and Certified Yahoo! Ambassador. He has spoken at industry events such as eTail and the Affiliate Summit. Prior to joining LinkShare, Peter held a variety of roles at Sirius Satellite Radio, Kozmo.com and various startups. Peter is also a GLG Scholar and a member of various new media organizations in New York.


Seminar Panelist
Affiliate 2.0: Ecommerce Mash-Ups
Jeff Eichel
Founder, MyPickList.com
Jeff is a seasoned Internet Entrepreneur having started his first company IR Solutions (AnnualReports.com) in 1999. IR Solutions is the leading provider of global investor relations and investment information services that attract and retain investors for public companies. Jeff is currently the Founder/CEO of MyPickList.com which launched in late 2006. MyPickList.com is social commerce application that allows people to create and share lists of their favorite items through the MyPickList widget. Jeff has a BA in Business Administration from the University of Florida.


Seminar Leader
Winning with Multichannel Collaboration
Melissa Feemster
Managing Director, Merchant Services, LinkShare Corporation
As Managing Director of Merchant Services, Melissa and her team manage category leaders in almost every vertical - travel, apparel, home, electronics, toys, gifts, and pet supplies. In 2004, Melissa joined LinkShare as the first account manager in the Chicago office. Prior to LinkShare, Melissa worked in DRTV at Ogilvy, in brand management at Campbell Soup Company and in Corporate Communications at McDonald's Corporation. Melissa holds an MBA in Marketing from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business and a BA from DePauw University.


Seminar Panelist
Winning with Multichannel Collaboration
Lisa Frankina
Director of Client Marketing, Mall Networks
Lisa develops strategic marketing initiatives for clients and oversees content for all loyalty shopping sites. She has more than 13 years of experience in direct and online marketing, establishing her as a veteran in the affiliate marketing industry. Before Mall Networks, Lisa was Senior Account Manager at BeFree and Commission Junction for 5 years managing the highest revenue-producing loyalty publishers in the industry and top merchants including Citigroup, Staples, Sprint and Travelocity. Previously, Lisa held senior marketing positions at Ziff Davis, Arnold Advertising and TMP Worldwide. She worked with leading brands including Bose, IBM, Polaroid, Sears, Stride Rite and Sun Microsystems.


Seminar Leader
Affiliate 2.0: Ecommerce Mash-Ups
Abe Hsuan
Executive Vice President, LinkShare Corporation
Abe's responsibilities include leading the Company's development of the affiliate network including the Distribution Services, Affiliate Support and Technical Services teams. He joined LinkShare in 2002 as the Company's General Counsel and brings an extensive background in corporate structuring, mergers and acquisitions, and business development in the technology, media and Internet industries. Prior to LinkShare, Abe was Managing Director at VennWorks LLC, an international early stage venture capital company and incubator, where he was in charge of the firm's strategic alliances. Before that, Abe was Senior Vice President, Business Affairs for Oxygen Media LLC, a cable TV and Internet network for women, where, as part of the pre-launch management team, he led formations for many of the network's key early acquisitions, online relationships and cross-platform advertising sponsorship deals. Abe received an AB degree from Princeton University and a JD from New York University School of Law.


Seminar Panelist
Affiliate 2.0: Ecommerce Mash-Ups
James Keating
Vice President, Business Development, ShopWiki, Inc.
James, a seasoned sales and marketing executive with more than fifteen years experience, develops ShopWiki's partnership strategy to enhance traffic and revenue. In that role, he evaluates how partnerships will mesh with ShopWiki's user centered, user contributing philosophy to insure that core focus on their shoppers is preserved. James has been working in interactive since 1999, and has extensive experience with B2B and B2C online marketing. He holds a BS in engineering from the University of Scranton and an MBA from Fordham University.


Seminar Panelist
Affiliate 2.0: Ecommerce Mash-Ups
Scott Kolber
Vice President, Sales, Linkstorm
Scott directs all sales and business development activities at Linkstorm. He has over twenty years experience launching new ventures and services in the media and telecommunications industries. Most recently, Scott co-founded and was a partner in Canopy Enterprises, a television production and integrated marketing company. Previously, at Loral Space and Communications, Scott established joint ventures and strategic alliances with a variety of U.S. and international partners to deliver satellite data and video services around the world. Scott held a number of executive positions in the Corporate Technology and Entertainment divisions at Viacom where he was involved with many distribution and programming initiatives. These include the implementation of a global satellite distribution strategy for MTV and Nickelodeon, and the development and sale of television programming and feature films. Scott holds a B.A. in Government and Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia.


Seminar Panelist
Winning with Multichannel Collaboration
Tom O'Brien
Business Solution Executive, Multi-Channel Retail Solutions, IBM Global Business Services
Tom has over twenty years of business strategy and transformation, performance improvement, and management experience in both industry and consulting, with an emphasis on developing and executing customer-focused strategies and processes. His primary focus areas include CRM vision and strategy, customer experience, contact center and channel integration, marketing effectiveness, and sales productivity. Tom's past experience includes leadership positions in customer-focused engagements at Fortune 500 clients in consumer packaged goods, retail, medical products, media and entertainment, and government. In recent years, Tom worked with JCPenney, Walgreens, Circuit City, Sprint, Astra Zeneca, Motorola, and Sony Music. Prior to his consulting career, he spent eight years in management roles with a leading consumer products company. Tom holds an MM degree in Marketing and Finance from Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University and an MA from Illinois at Urbana.


Seminar Panelist
Search Marketing Today: What Partners Need to Know
Rick Renaud
Online Store Manager, America's Gardening Resource: Gardener's Supply Company and Dutch Gardens
Rick currently manages eCommerce websites for America's Gardening Resource: www.gardeners.com and www.dutchgardens.com. Prior to that he managed and significantly grew all online customer acquisition channels for both brands including their affiliate programs. Rick continues to oversee all paid and organic search marketing efforts. He's been working in eCommerce since 1998. Rick lives with his wife Beth and daughter Lucy in Vermont.


Seminar Panelist
Search Marketing Today: What Partners Need to Know
Steve Schaffer
Founder and CEO, Vertive, Inc.
Vertive, founded in 2002 to provide search engine marketing services, works as a trusted partner on an affiliate and on a direct basis with merchants and online advertisers. The company primarily uses search engine marketing to drive qualified traffic, leads, sales, and, ultimately, profitable transactions. Prior to Vertive, Schaffer had over fifteen years of experience in senior management and product management roles at companies including eRegCard, DayMaker, Power Up, and Symantec. He is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor's of Business Administration in Finance.


Seminar Panelist
Partnerships 2.0
Karen Snyder
Marketing Director, Incentive Networks, LLC
Karen is responsible for establishing and maintaining more than 1,500 domestic and international merchant relationships. Karen was part of founding team of business development professionals that managed the Schoolpop.com ecommerce relationships in 1999. She was responsible for millions of dollars in revenue participating merchants. Prior to Schoolpop, was manager of partner and channel programs Exodus Communications, a web hosting provider, where her efforts grew business with major including Microsoft, Sun Microsystems and Systems. Karen began her online career at Beyond.com, an online software store, where defined and repositioned Beyond.com's affiliate program to recruit new affiliates and negotiated exclusive agreements with key accounts.