With Jeff at the helm, BuildDirect stands at the forefront of innovation in the home improvement industry. Jeff applies his deep knowledge of both technology and trends to invent new ways for people to explore, purchase and ultimately interact and connect in the home improvement space.

Drawing on his background as a builder, Jeff co-founded BuildDirect in 1999 from his first-hand experience with the inefficiencies and high costs inherent with the home improvement and building supplies industry. While most told him the industry was too large and too broken to fix, Jeff only saw possibilities. He knew that by combing technology with his entrepreneurial spirit and vision, he could build a simpler and more trusted home improvement industry. Ultimately, opening a world of possibilities for homeowners, suppliers and those in trades and shipping.

Nancy is the Chief Marketing Officer at Clearly, the largest online retailer of contact lenses, glasses and sunglasses. Prior to Clearly, she served as the CMO of Quanttus, a Cambridge wearable device start-up focused on making healthcare predictive versus reactive. Before joining the start-up, Nancy spent 5 years in Vancouver, BC as lululemon’s Vice-President, Brand and Digital where she focused on building a meaningful and beloved brand. Her early years in digital began at Starbucks Coffee Company in Seattle, WA where she developed digital platforms built to foster local community, build human relationships, and deliver world-class customer service. Nancy received her BA at The University of Washington and MBA from The Ohio State University. She enjoys doing daily Crossfit sessions and spending time with her husband of 14 years, her two kids ages 12 and 8, and 1 year old puppy named Kona.

Jeremy Pee started with Loblaw in September 2009 as the Vice President of Corporate Strategy. In 2012, he was promoted to Senior Vice President of E-commerce and Omni Channel for Loblaw Digital where he has been instrumental in shaping Loblaw’s e-commerce strategy, including launching Click & Collect, beautyBOUTIQUE.com, and JoeFresh.com.
 
Prior to joining Loblaw, Jeremy held various positions in the retail industry related to strategy and merchandising. He has a Bachelor of Applied Science in Engineering from the University of Waterloo and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Rebecca took over as CEO of Well.ca from its founder in March 2013. Before becoming part of the Well.ca team, Rebecca worked for the private equity firm Kohlberg, Kravis & Roberts (KKR) within the retail and consumer group. While at KKR, Rebecca spent the majority of her time driving operational improvements across the firm’s portfolio companies. Rebecca has also worked at McKinsey & Company

Rebecca holds a B.A. from the Richard Ivey School of Business, a B.Eng in Electrical Engineering from Western University, and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School where she was a Baker Scholar. She's a passionate online shopper, a mom to two young children, and she loves shopping for Green & Natural products at Well.ca to keep her family well.

Erin joined Well.ca in October 2013 as CMO responsible for Marketing and Merchandising. Since joining the team she has spearheaded efforts to re-launch the brand, enhance content marketing, improve/optimize customer acquisition, negotiate lower costs and improve merchandising. She has over 15 years of experience in the retail sector

Prior to joining Well.ca, Erin was a leader in McKinsey & Company’s North American Retail Practice where she led several large scale retail transformations in Canada and the US and worked closely with Drug, Grocery and Specialty retailers on the Strategy, Marketing, Merchandising and Operations topics with a focus on multi-channel. She also worked at Loblaw where she led the PC Blue Menu launch from concept to shelf.

Erin is the mother of three small children and enjoys running, travelling and cooking.

John works for adidas Canada Limited where he is the CRM & Digital Marketing Manager, responsible for all digital marketing activities for adidas and Reebok across Canada.  Prior to joining adidas, John worked for a number of retailers including Canadian Tire Corporation, Grand & Toy, and The Home Depot, gaining 9 years of experience in eCommerce, digital marketing and merchandising, and brand management for both B2C and B2B business lines.

As Vega’s Director of Digital, Jose oversees all paid, owned and earned digital media. His mandate is to lead digital innovation and generate awareness for Vega’s culture/brand in support of Vega’s goal of enabling the world to thrive.

In the past 15 years, Jose’s willingness to take on new challenges has given him the opportunity to lead digital strategies in a variety of industries ranging from high tech, finance, higher education, retail, advertising, not for profit, and tourism.

His peers would describe him as a collaborative leader who can work at a strategic and tactical level--a leader who's willing to roll up his sleeves to ensure the team is successful.

With a love of the outdoors and a keen understanding of customer motivation and behaviour, Amy is a natural fit as Cabela’s Canada’s digital marketing manager. When she isn’t glued to her devices tracking stats and learning more about industry trends, Amy likes to disconnect and explore the great outdoors to hunt, bike and fish. She has been leading Cabela’s Canada’s digital strategy since May 2015 and her e-commerce and marketing knowhow has aligned the company to be on track for big things in 2016 thanks to her ability to marry the art and science of marketing. From the company’s SEO, email marketing and strategic partnerships to its rapid growth and expansion of new stores – not to mention its high-traffic cabelas.ca site – Amy leads the social media and digital marketing team to not only enhance the user and customer experience but drive revenue across Cabela’s Canada’s multi-channel platforms.

Appointed to the role of Chief Marketing Officer and Customer Experience at Bentley Group Inc. in January 2014, Mrs. Bleau is responsible for developing brand and growth strategies, enhancing customer experience, leading e-commerce as well overseeing all marketing initiatives within the company including digital marketing development, marketing communications, research, CRM and visual presentation. Most recently, Mrs. Bleau held the position of Vice President, Marketing at Reitmans Canada Ltd. for 12 years. Prior to this role, Mrs. Bleau was General Manager at IC Company.

Peter is responsible for customer acquisition, retention and share of wallet development for all marketing channels including digital (paid search, display, affiliates), email, print DM and telesales.  Peter’s team also acts as the business owners for the two main eCommerce properties – staples.ca and staplespreferred.ca.  He has brought a customer first mentality to Staples and a key contributor to growing Staples into of the largest eCommerce players in Canada. 

Prior to joining Staples, Peter held various marketing leadership positions at Fedex and Starbucks Canada.

Shawn is the Senior Manager of eCommerce Performance at Rakuten Kobo, where he leads a team that drives the global online store strategy, A/B testing and analytics. Previously, he worked in various digital marketing and eCommerce roles at Sears Canada. Shawn holds his Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology from the University of Waterloo.

Ammar Khan is the Canadian social media lead at the Ford Motor Company and the VP of Marketing for Diamonius.com.  He  has a keen interest in new trends in interactive marketing and measuring digital ROI. Ammar has worked on digital and mobile marketing strategy mandates (client side and agency side) for some of Canada's most recognizable brands including Rogers, Bell, Sears, Air Canada,  Cineplex and The Canadian Royal Mint.  Ammar’s focus is on making the customer story a key component of the brand story. 

Enrico Del Grande has been around the block quite a few times and has had the privilege of being involved first hand in different business models within diverse corporate structures. 20 strong years in the Canadian retail industry, he’s earned recognition as a productive and highly appreciated leader focused on getting results, favouring team work while showing a strong understanding of customer behaviour and a keen brand expertise. But Enrico’s real strength lies in the support and cooperation of the people around him, whether on a personal or professional level.

Rex is the SVP - Technology Solutions at Canadian Tire accountable for Digital Experience Technologies, eCommerce, Data & Analytics, Innovation Labs and MSM (Merchandising, Sourcing and Marketing) technologies. 

Previously, Rex held various senior technology leadership roles at BlackBerry, Bell Canada and Bell Mobility and his approaches to innovation and technology have been featured in various publications and books. 

Rex holds an MBA in Marketing and Technology Management from McMaster University and an undergraduate degree from the University of Western Ontario.

Nicolas is the Chief Marketing Officer at Groupe Dynamite, overseeing the growth of both Dynamite and Garage banners.  His overarching focus is to implement a customer-centric omni-channel strategy.

Nicolas is a Canadian digital executive, entrepreneur and lecturer, known for his track record for driving digital transformations.  His past professional experiences include Sympatico, Bell and Yellow Pages.

Gaudreau holds an B.Eng and a MBA from INSEAD, France.  His current fields of research are in the area of mobile commerce and social shopping.

Colleen Rodericks has been in the technology space for over 15 years. She started her career in Software Sales as well as Marketing Consulting Services for large vendors SAP, Workbrain (Infor) and Janna/Siebel Systems (Oracle). She took a brief stop from working for large incumbents. In 2006, she started her own organic chocolate business called Kakayo Chocolate Company. Outside of having a brick and mortar store (mainly for production) and retail sales, she also had resellers and an online presence (pre-ecommerce era).

Fast forward a few years later (2011 to present) Colleen re-entered the technology field but this time focusing on content marketing for companies like Vortex, Fieldpoint, InFlow Inventory and Shopify. In 2015 Colleen joined Lastman’s Bad Boy to manage their Ecommerce Growth and Digital Marketing strategy.

David Sweet is a four-term Member of Parliament, representing the suburban Ontario riding of Flamborough-Glanbrook in the House of Commons. He is also the National Conservative Caucus Chair.

During his tenure on the government side of the House from 2006 to 2015, MP Sweet served as Vice-Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, Chair of the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, as well as the Chair of the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs.

The Industry, Science and Technology Committee that MP Sweet chaired dealt with a series of complex issues ranging from the ascendency of the digital economy, anti-spam legislation, entertainment software, mobile communications and more. Notably, the Committee released its report E-Commerce in Canada: Pursuing the Promise in 2012 following months of expert witness testimony and research.


Prior to his election to Parliament, David Sweet owned his own management consulting business – which operated for 17 years offering training services for a variety of corporate, public and not-for-profit sector clients. His consultancy leveraged his frontline business experience leading a large real estate brokerage in Mississauga during the 1980s building boom and the successful tow truck business he and his wife, Almut, operated in Mississauga from 1978 to the early 1980s.

MP Sweet continues to be a fitness and outdoors enthusiast who enjoys hiking, cycling, swimming and running. A favourite summer pastime is riding his motorcycle and participating in a number of charity rides each year.

Tim is the Founder and President of Online Print Decor, the company that operates the Posterjack brand.  Posterjack is the Canadian leader in the online Photo to Art category.  Founded in 2009 with the idea to help people easily enlarge their favourite photos to display in their homes, under Tim's leadership Posterjack has grown from a small startup into a mid sized e-retailer and manufacturer, with over 75,000 customers and over 12,000 positive customer reviews.

Johnny Russo joined Mark’s as the Associate Vice President of Digital Marketing and Ecommerce in January 2016. Previous to joining the Mark’s team, Johnny worked at Bentley Leathers Inc. and was brought on to lead their Ecommerce and Digital Marketing. He was tasked with re-launching the new, fully responsive Bentley Ecommerce experience in May 2015. Prior to Bentley, Johnny worked in similar capacities for Mexx Canada and Buffalo David Bitton, overseeing everything from digital marketing, ecommerce, social media, operations, customer service, web design, and project management.

Johnny has over 10 years of online marketing and ecommerce experience in the retail, manufacturing, mobile, and software sectors. Johnny is energetic and passionate about the Ecommerce and Digital Marketing fields, often speaking at numerous industry events, as well as sitting on the Board of Advisors for Etail Canada and Ecom MTL. Johnny is obsessively trying to optimize and improve upon the online and omni-channel customer experience. He believes vendors are partners, and the IT and finance departments are friends.

Alex has been an eCommerce consultant over the last 5 years bringing a broad range of knowledge to the development of eCommerce strategy. He has extensive experience in 3P Marketplaces operations, Omni-Channel Strategy, Market Intelligence, and Customer Insight development.

Ekaterina has been part of the L’Oreal Group since 2011. In her current role, she is responsible for continuously sharing social media best practices, innovation, reporting and managing the Consumer Care Center. One of her key mandates is the launch of the L’Oréal Group’s very first Content Factory to produce real-time, local, shareable content that drives business.

In this digital age, the role of consumer care is now more complex and more important than ever, therefore placing the consumer at the core of everything we do at L’Oréal Canada is a priority.

In addition to her business career, Ekaterina is a world-renowned professional magician who has appeared on several major TV networks and uploaded hundreds of magic videos on Youtube spanning over 3 million views.

As the Vice President, E-Commerce and Marketing, James is responsible for leading the marketing efforts at Roots with a focus on partnerships, loyalty, non-traditional and digital marketing. Additionally he is responsible for the company’s digital and integrated omni-channel commerce programs. He joined Roots 10+ years ago and has functioned in a number of roles within the organization primarily focused in the areas of digital commerce, marketing and direct to consumer sales.
 
His role in marketing at Roots and his passion for integrating digital technologies into marketing programs and physical stores have lead to Roots winning numerous awards and accolades including being nominated as a finalist for a Webby award in a category with brands like Google and Adobe. James has also spoken to audiences and industry journals worldwide on the topics of marketing, social media and online retail and co-authored a book published by Aspatore Books.

Idan Driman is the Divisional Vice-President, E-commerce at Sears Canada, leading the Digital Marketing, Online Production, User Experience and Analytics teams. With his background in strategy and experience in e-commerce and digital marketing, Idan is responsible for developing Sears Canada's digital marketing strategy, identifying & prioritizing key opportunities and leading the execution of key digital marketing programs. Idan and his team's efforts resulted in establishing Sears Canada as a digital marketing leader in the Canadian retail e-commerce landscape. He has successfully led innovative initiatives such as an advanced personalized e-mail program, the first Wishbook on Pinterest and the #mybrotherworksatsears campaign. Prior to that, Idan worked for 7 years in business strategy, leading strategic projects with internal and external work teams and guiding senior leadership on strategic issues like corporate strategy, business-unit level strategy and organizational strategy

Shaeleigh Afton has been committed to innovation in e-commerce since completing the Fashion/Business program at Humber College, Toronto. From the outset of her four-plus year career at Gotstyle Menswear (and the beginning of their  journey in e-comm), she has  demonstrated a relentless dedication to creating the ultimate customer experience. Her focus on  wallet-less payment and mobile app development for the brand are at the forefront of technology, utilizing her unique skill at reading and understanding retail behaviour and patterns – both online and in brick & mortar locations. She effortlessly merges creative and business driven concepts to present content that is engaging, shareable and sales-oriented. Shaeleigh's success is based on her  singular vision and experience, and her ongoing willingness to learn and improve.

Gianna Caucci is a passionate eCommerce marketing professional whose digital journey began in freelance copywriting. She now heads the eCommerce department at footwear distributor LEF Industries, where she is responsible for all digital activities across B2B and B2C channels, including the management of six transactional websites.
 
Gianna has ten years of experience in the fashion and footwear industry, having previously worked in the eCommerce departments of Steve Madden and of the Aldo Group. At work, Gianna is committed to quality customer service and she believes in making all decisions with the consumer in mind.
 
Through recent years, Gianna has enjoyed speaking to students and inspiring young professionals to recognize their potential and to follow their dreams. On her spare time, Gianna likes to explore her beloved city, Montreal.

Chris Parsons is currently the head of Ecommerce and Marketing for Big Als, Canada's leader for Aquariums and tropical fish. Chris has spent his career in retail marketing, pioneering digital marketing programs for world class companies including; Walmart Canada and Newegg.com where he lead the global marketing strategy and business development expansion. Chris's work with Metroland Media within their property - Flyerland.ca, helped develop and implement a profitable channel strategy progressively growing in the new retail digital economy. At Walmart Canada, Chris quickly advanced his early career from being an analyst to heading up their digital group setting record profit goals. He has also worked at Future Shop and Mark's Work Warehouse giving him a very extensive retail background and knowledge.

Known for her passion for fashion and love of all things social, Jennifer is the Online Content Manager at Addition Elle, a division of Reitmans Canada Ltd. Whether it be developing eye-catching content or providing timely fashion advice through her blog, “In Jen’s Closet”, Jennifer’s creativity and forward thinking has solidified Addition Elle’s position as a plus-size fashion authority. Jennifer is responsible for the brand’s high-profile presence across social media platforms and she was the driving force behind Addition Elle’s successful, first-ever runway show at New York Fashion Week.

Jennifer’s work as Online Content Manager has earned accolades for her and her team, winning Infopresse’s “Media Concept of the Year” as well as “Best in Niche Target and Multicultural” at the Media Innovation Awards.

Martin Aubut is Director, Head of Digital at L’Oréal Canada. In this role, he oversees the creation of the e-commerce Power House, as well as CRM and Innovation projects. Since his arrival and the establishment of an internal digital team in 2011, the company has experienced sustained growth in income, and the number of L’Oréal Canada transactional sites has more than doubled to 12 sites, including: lancome.ca, kiehls.ca, biotherm.ca, clarisonic.ca, shuuemura.ca, kerastase.ca, urbandecay.ca, nyxcosmetics.ca, vichy.ca several other brands to come in 2016. His mission is to support the transformation and the digital acceleration of L’Oréal Canada while positioning its brands as leaders in on-line e-commerce as well as leading e-retailers in the beauty market.

Martin has over 15 years of experience in digital marketing, e-commerce and entrepreneurship (as co-founder of Minitrade.ca). He was behind the success of reseaucontact.ca and canada411.ca. He also had the opportunity to explore the world of agencies as Vice-President, Interactive Media at PALM + HAVAS, where he supported the integrated interactive marketing strategies of major brands such as Volkswagen and Via Rail. He also worked on the media side and innovation at Canoë, as Manager, Social Media and Digital Platforms.

These diversified experiences make Martin Aubut a well-rounded leader and a major player in the transformation and digital acceleration of L’Oréal Canada.

Chiara Steffenini joined EQ3 Furniture in May 2011 to head up the newly created e-commerce division. EQ3.com launched in April 2012 and under Chiara’s careful watch experienced a 95% sales growth within the first year of operations. As E-commerce Manager, Chiara oversees everything, from website content and development to digital marketing, SEO, SEM, order fulfillment and customer care. Prior to joining EQ3 Furniture, Chiara held various marketing and e-commerce positions in mid to large size businesses. Chiara’s passion for the online world is evident as she diligently works to bring EQ3.com to new markets and new heights by creating a more seamless omni-channel customer experience. 

Jaylone has worked in the Canadian fashion apparel industry for over a dozen years, focusing exclusively on E-commerce since 2007. She has held key roles in launching  and re-platforming E-commerce businesses, as well as in driving E-commerce success through storefront management and online marketing.  A veteran of 10 E-commerce launches, she is currently leading the implementation of E-commerce in North America for BESTSELLER, a Danish apparel company with a wide portfolio of  fashion brands, including JACK & JONES, VERO MODA, ONLY, SELECTED, NOISY MAY, JUNAROSE, and Y.A.S.

Patrick is currently Team Lead for BESTSELLER Canada E-commerce, responsible for sales and digital marketing strategy for the JACK & JONES brand. In addition, he oversees the operations and fraud teams for all of BESTSELLER Canada’s online brands. Patrick’s experience with E-commerce began by implementing a ship from store program across Canada for a leading apparel retail chain with over 200 stores. Following that, he continued to drive various operational and technical infrastructure projects before transitioning into his current role at BESTSELLER Canada.

With a niche in eCommerce Retail, Omair has been intimately involved in creating a culture of making data-driven decisions at some of the largest retailers in North America. Having been responsible for analytics, testing, personalization and on-site experience across both Canada and US, Omair’s unique combination of analytical, marketing and strategic skills help him uncover actionable insight from customer data to drive strategic and tactical direction.

Shem is currently leading all revenue generating activities at StickerYou.  Shem and the team are driving a roughly 70% Y/Y growth with approximately 90% of the revenue being generated from exports outside of Canada.  StickerYou is a Toronto based ecommerce/technology company that creates custom die-cut stickers, labels, decals, temporary tattoos and other ‘sticky products’.  StickerYou is a Worldwide leader in low run custom stickers and label products.  Previously Shem was with HP where he led e-Business and Ecommerce for Canada and Latin America, as well as being a partner in an email marketing start-up. 

Erin has spent the last decade immersed in all things digital, a passion she currently funnels into her job leading the in-house digital communications agency, HyperLab, at Nestle Purina Canada, and which recently earned her a spot on Marketing Magazine’s Top 30 Under 30.

As a strategic planner with a focus on digital & emerging channels, her experience includes technology, creative & content, user experience, research & data science, media, PR, shopper marketing, and more. She has worked on major brands and at top agencies with clients across CPG, Media & Entertainment, Health & Beauty, Non-Profit, B2B, Financial Services, Retail, QSR, and Healthcare. Her diverse experience across categories and capabilities allows her to bring a unique perspective to her work that embraces today’s omnichannel world by viewing consumer behavior, technology, creative and data holistically.

When she’s not working, she can be found researching and testing the latest technology and gadgets, following her artistic passions through photography, video and writing, or simply spending time with friends and family. She is a self-proclaimed Netflixaholic, and loves to read blogs, online magazines, and scroll endlessly through Instagram. To learn more about Erin, please visit http://erinmckeever.wordpress.com

Ahmed Elemam is a Senior Digital Marketer at WestJet where he overlooks channel management, analytics, customer segmentation and the Adobe “premium” Marketing Cloud. Prior to this role, Ahmed led touregypt.net in 2010, one of the top online destination niche tour operators, which was later sold in 2013. During his time at Tour Egypt, Ahmed had assembled a team of 35 employees with a heavy focus on digital optimization. Ahmed was selected as one of the top 3 MBA students for Air Canada’s leadership program where he went on to become manager of Air Canada’s top product “Rapidair”. Ahmed holds a BA in economics and an MBA from McMaster University. He currently lives in Calgary, Canada.

William Greenbaum is an online retailer from Vancouver, BC who specializes in lifestyle products for urban cyclists. Prior to founding his new venture CruiserRepublic.com, William bootstrapped his first online retail shop aimed at the pet market in the US, and successfully grew it for nine years. After selling the operation in April 2015, William took the summer off and transformed himself into a competitive cyclist and traithlete.

William is utterly passionate and emersed in everything ecommerce and digital and fascinated by every new twist or opportunity that comes along in the retail space.

At this time, William is now full metal to the pedal leading the strategic growth of CruiserRepublic.com across as many sales channels as his team can get their hands on.

Prior to this role, Bill was the Managing Director of a biological medicine company in Burnaby, BC and going back even further, the director of the largest touring exhibition in the world – Dr. Gunter Von Hagens', BodyWorlds 2 – The Anatomical Exhibition of Real Human Bodies.

Andre James is the Director of Ecommerce at Carrier Enterprise Canada. Carrier Enterprise (CE) is a subsidiary of the largest independent HVAC/R distribution company in the world, Watsco. Carrier Enterprise Canada proudly distributes the Carrier, Bryant and Payne brands of HVAC equipment, as well as a full-line of aftermarket parts, supplies, and accessories.

Andre joined Carrier Enterprise one year ago and has been leading their eCommerce efforts as they transform their industry in the ecommerce and digital solutions space.   In October of 2015, he spear-headed the efforts to launch www.carrierenterprise.ca and the CE HVAC Assist App in Canada.

Prior to joining Carrier Enterprise, Andre spent over 15 years working for such companies as UPS, Purolator and Acklands Grainger, gaining a vast array B2B experience in eCommerce, Product Development, Ecommerce Sales and digital marketing.

Andre is a graduate of Ryerson University with a Bachelors of Commerce degree in Marketing and IT.

Richard Betanzos joined the Bentley Group in January 2016 as Director of eCommerce and Digital Marketing, responsible for all aspects of Bentley's online business along with the architecture of Bentley's omnichannel roadmap. With over twelve years of experience in SEO, SEM, UA, UX, performance marketing and analytics, Richard maintains a passion for creating stellar online shopping experiences borne out of future-forward e-commerce strategies that bridge the gap between e-tail and retail. Prior to joining Bentley he served as an eCommerce consultant at Groupe Dynamite, where his mandates included Oracle ATG platform migration, new technology integration, UX optimization and analytics platforms alignment and analysis for both Garageclothing.com and Dynamiteclothing.com. Past positions include Director, Acquisition Marketing at Woozworld.com, SEM & Comparison Shopping Manager at Ice.com & Diamond.com and six years with Klicksmart Marketing as an online performance marketer specializing in direct response and user acquisition. Prior to 2004, Richard enjoyed a successful career in the Canadian film & televison industry as a sound designer and re-recording mixer, earning numerous Gemini and Genie nominations along with a Gemini award for best sound.

Shalina is a digital marketer with 10 years of experience in the retail industry. She has held positions at Canadian Tire, Pet Valu and most recently Lowe’s Canada. Originally hired at Lowe’s to launch their social media strategy from scratch, she has taken on increasing responsibility within the eCommerce team over time. She now provides leadership in the areas of search engine optimization, user generated content, mobile, loyalty marketing and email marketing while continuing to oversee social media. She has a passion for learning, sharing her knowledge and loves all things digital.

Tema Frank put up her first website in 1995, and in 2001 founded the world's first company to do omni-channel customer experience testing, Web Mystery Shoppers Inc. She has consulted on digital strategy and customer experience to organizations such as the Royal Bank of Canada, 1-800 Flowers, Travel Alberta, Cruise Ship Centres, About Curves, ING Direct, Geico and Bank of America. She is the author of the new book, PeopleShock: The Path to Profits When Customers Rule. Get the first chapter free at http://peopleshock.com. An international speaker and consultant, she has taught e-marketing at universities in Canada and France, and spoken at events there and in the United States and Mexico. She hosts the weekly podcast, Frank Reactions on customer experience in the digital era,  available on iTunes and her website (http://frankreactions.com). Tema rhymes with Emma.

Milton Pedraza is the CEO of the Luxury Institute. Over the past 12 years, Milton has established the Luxury Institute, first and foremost, as a high performance client relationship consulting firm. Our Luxcelerate System has helped our clients to significantly improve client data collection, conversion and retention rates. In addition, the Institute has conducted more research with affluent consumers than any other entity in the world. In the last decade, we have served over 1,000 luxury and premium goods and services brands across dozens of categories.

Milton advises and coaches luxury CEOs and advises the boards of top-tier luxury and premium brands, as well as luxury startups. He is sought after worldwide for his practical, innovative and humanistic insights and recommendations on luxury and is the most quoted global luxury industry expert in leading media and publications.

Milton is also an authority on customer relationship management technologies, 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.

Salim Maherali serves as the Managing Director of Adobe’s Digital Marketing business for Canada. Prior to joining Adobe, Mr. Maherali was the CIO, SVP of E-Commerce and Omni-Channel at Sears Canada. He was also an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company in Toronto and a leader of McKinsey’s North American retail practice. He has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Masters in Development Economics from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He serves as an advisor to technology startups at MaRS and is a member of the Operations Management Committee of the Time & Knowledge Office – a global volunteer model developed by the Aga Khan.

Gabriel has been with Instart Logic since 2013. As Director of Product Management he has responsibility for the core components of the Instart Logic service, including the proxy and caching systems as well as all web performance optimization technologies, and broad responsibility for the Instart Logic security product portfolio. Prior to joining Instart Logic Gabriel held a variety of roles in product management and engineering organizations, including 7 years at ArcSight, which was eventually purchased by HP Enterprise.

With more than 15 years of digital and mobile experience in North America, Europe and the Middle East, Derek Colfer is currently the Head of Technology & Digital Innovation for Visa Canada, focused on mobile innovations like HCE and NFC, core platform technologies and the recently announced Visa Token Service and Apple Pay initiatives. Since joining Visa in 2010, Derek has led several successful mobile initiatives including Canada’s first commercial NFC deployment in 2012.

Dr. Doha is an Assistant Professor of Supply Chain Management at Sprott School of Business, Carleton University in Ottawa. His areas of interest for research and practice include e-commerce, service design and management, supply chain business models, the internet of things, operations strategy, and technology and innovation management. His award-winning research appeared in leading journals and conference proceedings in these fields. His current research studies supplier and buyer collaboration in e-commerce with applications in the internet of things era. His research is supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and CANARIE. Dr. Doha is a recipient of the prestigious Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship for doctoral studies from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. He teaches e-Supply Chain Technologies, Operations Management, and Technology and Innovation Management at Sprott School of Business.

As President and CEO of yconic, Rob helps companies not only adapt, but prosper in a landscape that is quickly evolving with the growth of the millennial and Gen Z demographics. By providing unique insights and perspectives on youth behaviour, yconic helps brands, agencies and higher institutions understand, connect with and recruit young adults in a meaningful way.

yconic.com is Canada’s largest student platform with over 825,000 active student members across North America. It is a place where students can give and get the money and support they want to manage student life. yconic also operates Canada’s largest youth focused market research panel, with more than 550,000 young adult panelists. The insights founded from this panel help partner organizations better understand youth in Canada.

Prior to taking the helm at yconic, Rob held senior executive positions at Cyberplex, 80/20 Solutions and DECOSTA Marketing, where he was responsible for leading digital and technology teams through high-growth periods. One of Rob’s passions is to help build and support an entrepreneurial culture in Canada. He is currently an advisor and donor to Enactus, Canada’s largest student entrepreneurship program, of which he is a proud alumnus and former Executive Director. Rob also co-founded the National Angel Investor Organization (NAO) with Henry Vehovec in 2002, an organization formed to solve the access to capital gap for earlystage Canadian companies.

Jennifer has more than 20 years' Marketing strategy and communications experience.  She started her career at the Gap, and has progressed with industry leaders: Ogilvy & Mather, IBM, Golf Town, Danier and clients such as Olympian Heather Moyse, celebrity Jeanne Beker, and startups such as Ryerson Futures, and Triton Wear.  Ms. Steckel Elliott prides herself on the balance between creativity and sales results, as well as the ability to utilize data to make actionable recommendations – delivering “Fresh AIR – Analysis, Insights, Results”.  Ms. Steckel Elliott holds an MBA from the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, and undergraduate degree from the University of Western Ontario.

Mark Rouse is a Partner at IQ PARTNERS Inc. and leads a large recruitment team focused on Marketing and Communications. After two decades working in some of Toronto’s top communications agencies where he was responsible for hiring, developing, and retaining top talent he has spent the last 9 years at IQ PARTNERS working as a trusted advisor helping clients to hire better.
Mark and his team work across multiple industry categories on roles from mid-senior to C-Suite with specialist expertise in Digital, Social, Public Relations, Creative, Media, Data Analytics, CRM and Strategy.

Mark has a lifelong passion for advertising & marketing and prior to IQP worked at companies such as BBDO, Wunderman, and J. Walter Thompson.  He got to work on amazing brands in the Automotive, Retail, CPG, Financial Services and Energy industries but counts himself most lucky to have met people to work with and learn from that remain friends and colleagues today.

A proud Canadian, Asif is a renowned global speaker, author and serial entrepreneur.  He is currently focused on working as a consultant and venture capitalist to the location-based marketing services community.  In support of this, Asif recently formed the Location Based Marketing Association - an international group dedicated to research and education in the space. 

Prior to launching The LBMA, Asif built 4 start-ups and worked with companies as diverse as Limited Brands, IBM, Baxter Pharmaceuticals, Molson-Coors, BestBuy, American Airlines, Cineplex Entertainment, ING Bank, Vroom & Dreesman and L’Oreal. You can catch Asif’s weekly video podcast - This Week In Location-Based Marketing.

An avid technology evangelist, Asif also holds a degree in economics and management sciences from the University of Waterloo, is a adjunct professor at Penn State University, and can be found on Twitter @AsifRKhan

Landon helps leading brands convert trust and confidence into material business results. Leveraging his background in business development, financial services, and marketing, Landon is motivated to help you lock-down the maximum value from Symantec and Norton.

Denis hails from South Africa, where he received his Masters degree in Marketing from the University of Johannesburg. He has been running online marketing campaigns for various clients all over the world since 2004. He moved to Raleigh, NC, in early 2006 and joined ROI Revolution shortly thereafter. In his time at ROI, Denis has overseen tens of millions of dollars in PPC ad spend, specifically for retailers, and he understands where and how to look in order to improve results accordingly.

Jennifer develops strategic insights to grow Canada Post's e-commerce and parcel delivery business. She has extensive experience in consumer market research and marketing strategy across diverse industries including consumer goods, retail, financial services, media and technology, radio, telecommunications, nonprofit, and international organizations. Jennifer has an MBA from the Schulich School of Business and an HBA from the University of Toronto.

James Smith is the EVP of the Americas at Criteo, the leading performance marketing technology company. James is responsible for managing all sales and operations throughout North and South America. Previous to Criteo, James spent eight years as CRO of several very successful start-ups, including Verve Mobile, Flixster and The Huffington Post. In his role as CRO at these organizations, James oversaw a combination of advertising sales and related operations, as well as marketing and business development. Prior to his start-up experience, James held SVP roles at AOL and AOL’s Ad.com, and served as SVP General Manager at Sony Digital. Over the course of his career, James spent many years working across digital video, social and mobile, and has led effective business teams. James is a graduate of Columbia University and resides in New York City where he shares his home with his two short people and a drum set.

Matt Davis is responsible for delivering solutions at the heart of the Bronto Marketing Platform, including Workflows, Reporting and App Framework to help retailers maximize the impact of their marketing campaigns. He has a background in both SaaS product management and marketing.

Prior to Bronto, Davis served as Product Manager at iContact and Deutsche Bank Global Technology. In 2006, he helped start Futures Inc., then a startup company in Southern California, where he was crucial in the development and launch of the cloud-based Pipeline platform, focused on talent matching, career marketing and professional networking. Prior to Futures, he worked in marketing and sales for Apple, Inc.

Paresh Vadavia began his affiliate marketing career in 2006 as Affiliate Manager for Ice.com and Diamond.com. In two short years, he made a name for himself thanks to hard work, dedication and networking skills. These qualities, among others, led to Paresh winning LinkShare’s Golden Link Publisher’s Choice Award in 2008 and earning a nomination for the same award the following year.

Today, with a digital marketing agency to call his own, vast industry recognition and valuable experience under his belt, Paresh has come a long way since earning his Computer Engineering degree from Concordia University. OPM Pros was named ‘Agency of the Year’ at the 2015 CJ You Awards hosted by CJ Affiliate by Conversant, and since its founding in 2009, OPM Pros has been named Winner of LinkShare’s ‘OPM Agency of the Year’ Golden Link Award three times in six years announced as Finalist. In 2014, Paresh, alongside Sonny, was named Finalist in the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, recognized for his “vision, leadership and financial success and social responsibility” as an Emerging Entrepreneur in the ever-growing online affiliate marketing channel.

Paresh is actively involved with and invited to a number of popular affiliate conferences; in May 2015, he was invited – and honoured – to serve as Chairperson at the prestigious eTail Canada conference in Toronto. Additionally, under the branded name PareshConnect.com, he hosts hot-ticket (and highly anticipated) networking parties several times a year.

As Senior Product Manager at Urban Airship, Neel Banerjee is on the front line of technology powering customer engagement via his focus on mobile marketing, analytics, and push notification. At Urban Airship he works with industry leading companies to help them create engaging experiences for their customers while also creating ways to track metrics and ROI. With over a decade of experience as an Electrical Engineer, Neel owns a score of patents from his work in R&D and innovation groups at Columbia Sportswear and Hewlett-Packard.  He is active in the tech community and supports various organizations that promote innovation.

Demetrius is Shopify's only growth hacker. He leads Shopify's Gmail, Facebook, and Tools initiatives. He grew his marketing accounts from the ground up, and now manages a massive multi-million dollar marketing budget and a growth team. He is the head instructor of Digital Marketing at Bitmaker, Canada's leading tech skills accelerator based in downtown Toronto.

Deb Berman has been with Curalate since 2012 and currently works on developing strategic partnerships. In this position, Deb is finding and developing technology partnerships which enable Curalate to expand and deepen its value to clients. Curalate is the leading visual commerce platform used by over eith hundred of the world's most loved brands. The Curalate Visual Commerce Platform connects visual content to commerce throughout the customer journey to drive awareness, engagement, and conversions..

In addition to starting a successful social enterprise in Boston, Deb has 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.

Greg currently leads global business development efforts at Quantcast for their big data service Audience Grid.  Audience Grid is an open data platform that applies Quantcast's leading dataset, data processing and data modeling capabilities to dramatically increase the reach and accuracy of any third party data set for digital advertising.  Prior to Quantcast Greg spent 10 years at online shopping company Become, Inc as CRO and Managing Director of Germany and Italy where he helped publishers and retailers generate over $250 Million in sales per annum.  He started his career in venture capital at Asia Pacific Ventures where he specialized in the Internet space which led to stints at e-commerce companies Liquidprice and NexTag.

Greg received a B.A. in Political Science from Brigham Young University and followed up with an MBA at The Marriott School of Management in Provo, Utah.  When he is not shopping online for his wife and two daughters, Greg can be found on the soccer pitch either coaching, refereeing or playing.

Throughout his career David has built some of the most innovative creative agencies in the country where he has led strategy, design and development of award-winning products, services and experiences for leading global brands including IKEA, Reebok, WIND Mobile, Canadian Tire, Kraft, Volkswagen, Audi, Microsoft, RIM and Doctors Without Borders.

David has also built and led various design and technology think-tanks charged with pushing the limits of emerging technology to create new possibilities for human-computer interaction and enrich the human experience. He is widely recognized as one of the industry’s most innovative thinkers and is frequently sought by leading enterprises and startups for his insights on cultural behaviour, design, technology, and business futures.

Alison French is the Senior e-Commerce Manager for DJO Global, where she is responsible for the direct-to-consumer digital and e-Commerce marketing. She brings a compilation of 14 years of communications, marketing, and e-Commerce experience to her role. With consumer behavior evolving to rely more on e-commerce for health and wellness purchases, Alison focuses on development and strategy execution to maximize growth in this niche market. Her breadth of experience in e-Commerce management and focus on customer experience has been instrumental in driving positive ROI and YOY growth over the past 7 years. Prior to DJO Global Alison was e-Commerce Manager at National Pen and started her career marketing superyachts. She has an MBA for the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University (Go Hoosiers!) and a B.A. in Communications from San Diego State University (Go Aztecs!).

Julia is the Outbound Sales Manager at Shopify.  Together with her team of Sales Hackers, they are helping to build the giant rocketship that is Shopify Plus.  At Shopify Plus, we are changing the face of enterprise ecommerce.  Our team of Sales Hackers experiment, test, hack and redefine the way sales are executed. Julia leads these experiments, explores new customer and market trends, and helps the team build processes and systems that will drive the growth of Shopify Plus.

Jon Vassallo is the Head of Direct Sales for Kijiji Advertising. He leads the team that helps eTailers, retailers, and service providers harness the power of Kijiji’s advertising solutions, allowing them reach their target audience at scale.