Luxury Interactive 2009 - The Premier Luxury Branding & eBusiness Conference

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Luxury Interactive 2008 Speakers Included:


	Ron Kurtz Principal American Affluence Research Center
Ron is a principal of The American Affluence Research Center and The Management Resource Group, which provide marketing research and strategic planning services to prominent clients such as American Express, Philip Morris, Merrill Lynch, ResidenSea, Celebrity Cruises, the Bahamas government, and Rio Suites and Casino. Prior to founding MRG in 1989, Ron’s experience included over 20 years in senior management positions in the airline, hotel, and tour business. As the founding President of Sea Goddess Cruises, he created the product category of small deluxe ships for the very affluent. He also served as the chief marketing officer of four cruise lines, including Norwegian Cruise Line and Windstar Cruises.

	Joe Robinson President & CEO A Small World
Joe Robinson has recently taken the helm of aSmallWorld, bringing with him a wealth of experience and a seasoned management team, after successfully leading and growing several online media companies from inception to sale. In fact, Joe has been involved in the world of digital media content, social networks, media technology and luxury brands for more than ten years. Prior to joining aSmallWorld, Joe founded Signalray Media, an online media sales and consulting group, of which he is currently a board member. Joe was an investor and senior executive of Scout Inc, which, along with Myspace.com, was acquired by the Fox Network as part of its push into online social networking. The group also has holdings in In2Apps and Spongecell, important web 2.0 media technology companies. In 1999 Joe founded IWIN.com, a leading online gaming entity with over four million registered users and two million monthly visitors. He currently sits on the companys board and is a close and active financial advisor. In 1998, Joe co-founded UGO networks, a mens lifestyle site that was recently acquired by Hearsts interactive group.

	Larry Promisel VP E-Commerce Barneys
Larry is currently Vice President, E-Commerce for Barney’s New York; managing all aspects of Barney’s emerging e-commerce business. Prior to Barney’s, Larry served as Director of Online Retail for Bluefly.com. He implemented strategic site enhancements and revisions to optimize brand, voice, conversion, sales, and customer satisfaction at Bluefly.com. At Coach, Inc Larry developed and executed multi-channel marketing strategies and managed website development and design for Coach.com. Prior to that he was Circulation Manager for Bloomingdale’s Department Stores where he was responsible for direct mail targeting and database marketing. In addition, Larry has held positions at Market Information Research Corporation and United Consumers Club.

	Bill Mirabito Founder and Principal Consultant B2C Partners
Bill Mirabito is founder and principal consultant at B2C Partners. His firm assists online retailers with product evaluation and vendor selection of ecommerce platforms and services. B2C Partners uses a proven method called FAST Score™ that custom weighs various selection criteria; and scores providers on Features, Administration, Services and Traction. For more than a decade, Bill has managed eBusiness initiatives, both as a marketer and technologist. Most recently, he covered eCommerce products and services as senior retail analyst at Forrester Research. In 2006, Bill founded Sunfitters, an online specialty retailer with which he remains actively involved. He previously held product marketing positions at Demandware and Akamai Technologies — with primary focus on retail solutions. Bill also held a leadership role at BJ’s Wholesale Club, where he launched the retailer’s first eBusiness initiatives and later served as IT executive for online commerce

	Debra Pereira Director of Internet Marketing Bloomingdale's Direct
Debra Pereira started with Bloomingdale's in 2004 as a Prospecting Manager on their direct mail catalog. After launching an affiliate marketing and behavioral display ad program she moved to the online space as the Director of Internet Marketing. Today she manages the search engine, email and affiliate programs for the division. With the site's rapid growth Debra's current objective is to increase relevant traffic to Bloomingdales.com.

	Olivier Stip Senior V.P of Marketing and Communications Cartier North America
Olivier Stip is the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communication for Cartier North America. A 20-year veteran of the luxury marketing industry, Olivier joined Cartier in North America in March of 2002. Shortly after his graduation from the ESCP Business School in Paris, Olivier moved to New York City in the banking business for Credit Lyonnais. After spending a year in New York, Olivier moved back to Paris and spent the following two years as a Business Consultant for the industrial group Alcatel. In 1987, Olivier began working for Cartier International, located in Paris, France. During his 10 year stay with the company he held several key positions such as Marketing Director of Fragrance and Watches. In June of 1996, Olivier moved to Switzerland as the Vice-President of Marketing for Piaget International and later to Vice-President of Jewelry and Retail. Interested in returning to the city where he began his career, Olivier and his family moved back to New York City in March of 2002 and have remained here ever since.

	Roberta Rinker-Ludloff Vice President Brand Performance, Americas Conrad Hotels & Resorts
Roberta Rinker-Ludloff is currently Vice President of Brand Performance, Americas for Conrad Hotels, the global luxury brand of the Hilton Family of hotels, and has been with the brand since June 2005. Her responsibilities include developing the brand’s marketing and communications strategies within the Americas, initiating regional marketing programs in conjunction with the North American hotels and leveraging the Hilton Family shared services to maximize synergies for the Conrad Brand relating to Quality Assurance, Operations, Development, and Sales. She serves as the brand expert with the American development team in order to meet development objectives for the growth of the Conrad network in the Americas. And, finally acts as a conduit between the brand team and the hotels in the Americas for all issues relating to Conrad Brand Standards.

	Dan Evans President Critical Mass
Dan has deep experience in integrated communications and account planning, and spends much of his time working on integrated solutions with agencies across all disciplines. He excels in strategic development and has a passion for problem solving, leading his team toward creative solutions within a wide range of marketing challenges. Dan has over 15 years experience in the worlds of traditional and interactive advertising, heading the client service function at Critical Mass across a wide range of consumer categories with clients like Rolex SA, Mercedes-Benz USA, Tropicana, Unilever, Toyota, P&G and AT&T. He has particular expertise in automotive strategy, advertising, and online marketing having worked for over 10 years with automotive brands.

	Ronit Weinberg Director E-Business Diane Von Furstenberg
Ronit Weinberg serves as the Director of E-business for designer Diane von Furstenberg ("DVF"), where she is responsible for all aspects of strategic planning, management, operations and search marketing for the DVF's E-business division. Prior to the E-business position Mrs. Weinberg served as Director of Retail for DVF, where she is responsible for all aspects of strategic planning, management, and operations for the DVF retail stores, DVF's e-commerce division, and DVF's retail department store business. Mrs. Weinberg also oversaw the development of the redesigned DVF.com website, which resulted in a 300% increase in sales, and supervised all aspects of the relationship between DVF and Amazon and the current platform provider ATG. Prior to joining DVF, Mrs. Weinberg was the Global Strategic Business Planning Manager for Marc Jacobs Inc. from March 2000 until March 2004 and was one of the primary architects of the launch of the Marc by Marc Jacobs collection. Mrs. Weinberg's retail and wholesale experience also includes merchandise planning for the women's and men's divisions of Tommy Hilfiger, where she was promoted to Director of Retail Planning and Analysis for Hilfiger's upscale women's line in 1999. Prior to joining Tommy Hilfiger, Mrs. Weinberg was a Merchandise Buyer and Department Planner in a number of women's departments at Saks Fifth Avenue and an Assistant Buyer at Burdines in Miami, Florida.

	Christine DeMaio Publisher Epicurious.com and Concierge.com
In her role as Publisher, Christine DeMaio leads the sales team responsible for generating revenue for Epicurious.com and Concierge.com through advertising, custom programs, and partnerships. During her tenure, revenue growth of Epicurious.com and Concierge.com has significantly outpaced industry growth, driving Epicurious's continued profitability. Ms. DeMaio brings 15 years of marketing and advertising sales expertise from her experience with Internet and media companies. Prior to joining CondéNet, Ms. DeMaio worked extensively in digital media as Director of Sales at Atom Entertainment, where she was responsible for all East Coast sales, and as Eastern Advertising Manager at IGN.com. Previously, Ms. DeMaio was with Condé Nast Media Group, Architectural Digest, and Ogilvy & Mather.

	Marisa Thalberg VP Global Online Marketing Estee Lauder Companies
As the Vice President of Global Online Marketing for The Estee Lauder Companies, Inc., Marisa has the distinction of holding the first corporate (all brands) marketing function in the company’s history. In this role, she is charged with upgrading and creating new digital marketing programs across the company’s portfolio of prestige beauty brands, to create more modern consumer engagements and drive ecommerce sales. In this capacity she is also a current member of the Forrester Interactive Marketing Council. Leading up to this position, Marisa’s background has spanned both the client and agency worlds, where she gained a reputation as a noted strategist and brand-builder.

	Tim Rendall Product Manager Facebook
Tim Kendall is a Product Manager at Facebook where he oversees revenue generating products and leads new monetization initiatives including the company’s new advertising solution, Facebook’s Social Ad system. Prior to Facebook, Tim worked in Amazon.com’s digital media group as a Product Manager. Previously, he worked in technology private equity and venture capital for JPMorgan Partners. Tim has been a contributing writer to Forbes on a variety of high technology topics. He holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering and an M.B.A. from Stanford.

	Bernardine Wu CEO FitForCommerce
Bernardine Wu is the CEO of FitForCommerce, an industry resource and consultancy helping online businesses benchmark to best practices and select best-fit technology solutions. Bernardine founded FitForCommerce after years of operational and strategic success in helping online retailers design and re-launch competitive webstores as president and COO at Venda, an on-demand eCommerce platform provider. Retail clients included: Lands' End, Neiman Marcus, Crabtree & Evelyn, UnderArmour, Pokemon and DoItYourself.com. Bernardine has extensive business development, finance, technology and eCommerce experience rooted in Wall Street and a successful history working in the technology industry as a consultant for Accenture. Bernardine also serves on the board of directors of SiteAcuity which provides online marketing, sales and contact center technology.

	Sascha Lewis CEO Flavorpill
Before co-founding Flavorpill, New York City native Sascha Lewis was co-founder of Netsetgoods, a content and e-commerce site that sold accessories and home-design products in the US and 15 other countries. Prior to entering the digital media space, Lewis was a partner at Madison International Real Estate in New York City, which focused on high-end residential rentals and sales. Currently, Lewis is the Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of Flavorpill, a publisher of 12 email magazines often referred to as the "Condé Nast of email," reaching over 600,000 subscribers. Flavorpill has been featured in the New York Times Magazine, Business Week, the Financial Times, the Economist, and many other media outlets. In some quarters, writes Chip Brown in the New York Times Magazine, Flavorpill's "seal of approval is considered the equivalent of a papal blessing." Lewis is an exuberant student of life, being a recreational DJ, a self-professed sneaker-head, an avid yoga practitioner, and — as Patrick Ewing will attest — a former ball boy for the New York Knicks.

	Peter Kim Senior Analyst Forrester Research
Peter is a Senior Analyst contributing to Forrester's Interactive Marketing research, focusing on mobile marketing and social computing. Previously, Peter was responsible for global marketing operations, eCommerce, and online marketing at PUMA AG. Earlier, Peter was at Razorfish and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Peter has been widely quoted on marketing, including outlets like Advertising Age, Brandweek, and The Economist, and CNBC, CNN, and NPR.

	Henry H. Harteveldt VP, Principal Analyst Forrester
Henry joined Forrester in January 2000, to lead the its worldwide travel industry practice. Henry's research helps travel industry eBusiness, Channel & Product Management professionals worldwide understand and anticipate how technology will impact the way they market, sell, and distribute their products and services. Henry's research at Forrester has served to define strategy and opportunity across the travel industry, and functions as a leading indicator of key trends and innovation. Recent key research by Henry identified the opportunity presented by mobile data services for travel marketing, customer service, and distribution; recognized the need for the industry to humanize the digital travel experience by making the human benefits more visible than the technology; and noted the first-ever decline in the number of online travel buyers, coupled with a growth in the use of offline travel agencies.

	Cecilia Pagkalinawan, Director Web & E-commerce Frette
She began her career as a media specialist at Young & Rubicam, working with clients such as Fruitopia, Guinness Beer, Sprint and Radio Shack. She left Y& R to joining K2 Design where as the VP of Client Services, Cecilia helped K2 grow from a 6 person firm to a publicly traded Internet company with over 65 employees. At K2, Cecilia produced sites for Toys R Us, MCI, AOL, IBM, Footlocker, Champs, and Audi. Cecilia went on to be the Executive Producer and Creative Director for the Interactive unit of Messner Vetere Berger McNamee Schmetterer/Euro RSCG where she worked with clients such as Evian, MCI and Volvo. In 1997, Cecilia started her own company, Boutique Y3k, an e-commerce solutions provider and e-tailing consultant for the fashion and luxury retail industry. In 1998, BoutiqueY3k launched Nine West’s e-commerce site which was soon followed by EasySprit.com, and JonesNY.com. In 2001, BoutiqueY3k was one of the multitudes of companies which suffered in the dot com crash and shut down. After taking a sabbatical, Cecilia started consulting with GE Capital in 2002 in restructuring one of their companies, Voyager, formerly a catalogue which was distributed via airlines. Soon after, Cecilia joined RichFX as VP of Strategic Development where she consulted with LEGO, Barney’s, Cole Haan, Burberry, Aerosoles, and Toys R Us on enhancements to their e-commerce sites. In 2004, Cecilia left RichFX and joined Burberry, one of her clients, as Consulting Director of E-commerce. At Burberry, Cecilia spearheaded the launch of Burberry’s e-commerce business and managed all online marketing initiatives. Recently joined Frette as Director of E-commerce and launched their e-commerce business in November 2006. At Frette, she oversees all aspects of the business including creative, merchandising, operations, and marketing.

	Matt Marcus Former Worldwide Director e-Business
Matt Marcus was most recently the Worldwide Director of Gucci, eBusiness. He was responsible for Gucci’s online platform, client experience and global expansion strategy. Matt is a trained industrial designer, user researcher, and speaker on innovation and user centered design. When he gets the chance Matt teaches both graduate and undergraduate workshops on design innovation and future studies.

	Greg Shove CEO and Founder Halogen Guide
Prior to launching Halogen Guides, Greg was an active private and public company investor, and currently serves on the board of Red Envelope. From 1996 to 2000, Greg was an executive at America Online, eventually serving as Vice President of Sales at America Online, overseeing more than $600 million in annual revenue. Greg joined AOL after the acquisition of 2Market, an interactive shopping startup he co-founded. Greg is a Sloan Fellow from Stanford University's Graduate School of Business and holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Western Ontario.

	Stacey Haefele President HNW
Stacey is a senior executive and strategic marketing specialist with over 15 years experience of in conceiving and implementing brand-building marketing campaigns, creating interactive customer relationship solutions and launching new products and services. Stacey joined HNW in 2002 and was appointed President in December 2006. Stacey is responsible for the day-to day operations of the company, and serves as a lead Relationship Manager for a number of the firm’s top clients including Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management, Fidelity Investments, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and Vail Resorts. Prior to joining HNW, Stacey was a Vice President, Director of Digital Strategy at Digitas, where she was consulted with clients including American Express Platinum and Centurion Cards, Neiman Marcus.com and American Century Investments. Before joining Digitas she served as a Researcher and Senior Associate Consultant with CSC Index in Cambridge Massachusetts where she contributed to the development of breakthrough business books including The Discipline of Market Leaders and Reengineering Management, and her clients included The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Chrysler Financial and the American Hospital Association. Stacey began her career as an M&A and Investor Relations Specialist in a joint venture between James D. Wolfensohn Inc. and Treuhandanstalt, the German Government agency tasked with the privatization of Eastern Germany at the time of the German reunification. Stacey is a magna cum laude graduate of Wellesley College with a degree in International Relations and holds a Masters in International Affairs from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University in the City of New York.

	Stanley Stalnaker Founder and Creative Director Hubculture
A leading thinker and commentator on the social impact of globalization, Stan Stalnaker is the Founder of Hub Culture Ltd. and President and Creative Director of Hub Culture Services Ltd, with bases in London, New York and Singapore. Hub Culture began in 2002 with the worldwide publication of Hub Culture: The Next Wave of Urban Consumers, the first specialized look at the emergence of harmonized cultural psychographics in the world economy. Following the success of the book, activity shifted online to www.hubculture.com, a source of information and interactivity for this community of urban influentials. Today hub culture is one of the world’s first collaborative social systems, with regular fundraising and event based activities, curated content, and distributed access to some of the world’s most influential people.

	Joseph Olewitz SVP, Client Relations IconNicholson
As Senior Vice President, Client Relations at IconNicholson, Joseph has been instrumental in engagements with McKinsey & Company, Prada, Valspar, MasterCard, Castiglion del Bosco, BT Global Services and others. After 29 years producing Interactive programming for major corporations, his expertise in leveraging social media to meet corporate business objectives helped guide the firm’s development of Social Retailing®, which Time Magazine selected as one of the best inventions of 2007. Prior to joining IconNicholson, Joseph was Partner, Global Client Relationships and Business Development at marchFIRST (formerly USWeb/CKS). In addition, Joseph received an Emmy award for his work as Executive Producer for the documentary film “Trader.”

	Melissa Biggs Bradley CEO Indagare
Melissa Biggs Bradley is the founder of Indagare Travel, a Web site, newsletter and community for the world’s most sophisticated travelers. Before she launched www.indagare.com, she was the founding Editor of Town & Country TRAVEL, a quarterly publication launched by Hearst Magazines in the fall of 2003 as well as the former editor of the biannual Town & Country WEDDINGS. In its first year, Town & Country TRAVEL was named one of the best new magazines of the year, and under her stewardship, the magazine won numerous awards for its writing, photography and design. Bradley also served as the Features and Travel Editor at Town & Country magazine for more than ten years. She regularly appears as an expert on luxury trends at travel industry events and on radio and television programs, including “Good Day New York,” CNN’s Headline News and specials on the Travel and Discovery Channels.

	Maryssa Miller Director eCommerce Lacoste
Maryssa Miller is currently Director of E-commerce for Lacoste USA where she launched the very first e-commerce site for this international brand. With close to 10 years of e-commerce experience, Maryssa is currently focused on growing the online business for Lacoste while maintaining brand equity and continually striving to provide a superior experience that serves the needs of all of their customers.

	Milton Pedraza CEO Luxury Institute
Milton is the CEO of the Luxury Institute, LLC. Through the use of proprietary surveying techniques with high net worth consumers, Mr. Pedraza has established the New York-based Luxury Institute as the trusted and impartial luxury brand ratings and research institution that is the voice of high net worth consumers. Today, luxury goods and services firms, luxury professionals, high net worth consumers, and the international press, all rely on the Institute for its impartial ratings and best practices insights on to how to better serve high net worth clients globally.

	Irfan Salim President and Chief Executive Officer MarkMonitor
Irfan brings to MarkMonitor more than 20 years of experience growing and leading world-class Internet security, fraud prevention, and domain registrar companies. Prior to MarkMonitor, he was president and chief operating officer of Internet security company Zone Labs, which was acquired by Check Point Technologies. Earlier, Irfan was president and CEO of NameSecure.com, an Internet domain name registrar and services company. Irfan has also held positions including president of US and European operations at TrendMicro; president and CEO at desktop publishing and presentation software company Software Publishing Corporation; and vice president and general manager of the Spreadsheet Division at Lotus Development. Prior to Lotus, Irfan spent 7 years with Texas Instruments. He holds an undergraduate degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Imperial College London, and an M.B.A. from Manchester Business School, England.

	Eric Jillard Department Manager, Digital Marketing Mercedes-Benz USA


	Lewis Schiff Author The Middle-Class Millionaire
LEWIS SCHIFF leads a team of private wealth experts specializing in the needs of high-net-worth clients for Advanced Planning Group (advancedplanning.org). He is a regular contributor to Inc.com and TheStreet.com as well as a columnist for Investment Advisor magazine. He wrote the popular investing book, The Armchair Millionaire.

	Adam J. Broitman Director, Emerging and Creative Strategy Morpheus Media
Adam Broitman, Director of Emerging and Creative Strategy, Morpheus Media (BOLD) As Director of Emerging and Creative Strategy, Adam works on high profile accounts such as A&E, New York University, L’Oreal and The New York Times. Adam keeps his finger on the pulse of emerging media channels in order to devise creative strategies that leverage technology and add value to brand initiatives. Prior to joining Morpheus, Adam worked at Digitas on the American Express team. He’s a freelance writer/speaker for iMedia Connection, the PRSA (as well as many others) and authors the media blog, amediacirc.us. Adam holds a B.A, in English from Queens College as well as an M.A. in Media Studies and a certificate in media management from The New School University.

	Scott Dunlap CEO Nearby Now, Inc
As CEO of NearbyNow, Inc., Scott brings over 15 years of experience in developing new Internet technologies to strengthen retailer connections with customers. At E.piphany, Inc., his product management team developed data mining and marketing technology to help retailers such as Charles Schwab, Microsoft, Zale Corporation and Godiva better target and grow their customers. Later he joined the founding team of Loudcloud/Opsware to operate and manage some of the largest e-commerce sites in the world for companies like Nike, Fannie Mae, Univision, and USA Today. At Avolent, he helped develop e-billing software to streamline customer interactions for companies such as Dell, Office Depot, and Xerox. When he’s not focused on retailer technology, he is running ultramarathons and posting to his award-winning blog, A Trail Runner’s Blog.

	Sheldon Gilbert Founder and CEO Proclivity Systems
Sheldon Gilbert is the founder and CEO of Proclivity Systems (www.proclivitysystems.com), a company that develops innovative solutions that provide insight and foresight into consumer behavior online. As CEO, Sheldon provides the vision for the company, manages day-to-day operations, oversees sales efforts and applies his technological expertise to leading product development. Previously, Sheldon held the position of Director of Business Intelligence and Data Mining Services at Bluefly.com, Inc., a leading high-fashion apparel retailer. During his tenure with Bluefly, Sheldon developed, launched and managed its business intelligence division. Prior to his time at Bluefly.com, Sheldon was the Lead Developer and Senior Consultant at Fort Point Partners, spearheading its business intelligence efforts. Sheldon's leadership at Fort Point Partners resulted in the formation of enterprise-wide business intelligence and data warehouse systems critical to the sales, merchandizing, marketing, and campaign initiatives of a number of high-profile retail and financial services clients, such as Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Best Buy, Finish Line and Wells Fargo. Sheldon is a graduate of Yale University with a bachelors of science degree in molecular biochemistry and biophysics. During his time at Yale, Sheldon served in a number of research positions with prestigious institutions including Cornell University Medical Center, The Rockefeller University, The Oswaldo Cruz Institute and Yale University School of Medicine. He also interned at the White House in the Office of National AIDS Policy and received numerous awards and scholarships.

	Dee Salomon SVP Sales and Marketing CondeNet
Dee Salomon serves as the Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing for CondéNet. In this role she oversees all sales revenue functions for the CondéNet brands, which include Concierge.com, Epicurious.com, Flip, MEN.STYLE.COM and STYLE.COM. Ms. Salomon brings over fifteen years of experience to the position from her tenure in the fashion and publishing worlds. She joined CondéNet in April of 2003 as Senior Vice President and Managing Director of STYLE.COM and was instrumental in the launches of MEN.STYLE.COM in 2005 and Flip in February 2007. Before joining STYLE.COM, Ms. Salomon served as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications at Anne Klein where she was responsible for successfully revamping the company's brand. Prior to that, she worked for six years at Donna Karan International (DKI) where she served as Senior Vice President of creative services and advertising. Before DKI, she was with Condé Nast Publications, working as fashion director on the business side for House & Garden and Condé Nast Traveler.

	Brian Sugar Founder & CEO Sugar Inc.
As CEO & Publisher, Brian Sugar sets the overall direction for Sugar Inc. Prior to founding Sugar Inc., Brian served first as Vice President of Marketing then as Vice President & General Manager of 2Wire, Inc.’s media business unit. Before joining 2Wire, Brian was founder and CEO of Sugar Media, a digital media software company, which was acquired by 2Wire in October 2003. Brian was Chief Web Officer at Kmart’s BlueLight.com, Vice President of eCommerce at J.Crew, and a founder of Neptune Interactive, a Washington, DC-based ISP. Brian started Sugar Inc. to keep a close eye on his wife, Lisa and her obsession with Matt Damon.

	Mary Senin Corporate Director of E-Commerce Marketing The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company
Mary Senin drives the brand's e-commerce marketing strategy behind ritzcarlton.com, search engine marketing, e-mail marketing and online globalization. Mary joined The Ritz-Carlton in 2003 and was responsible for the award-winning redesign of ritzcarlton.com last year. She directs a small internal team on the research, planning, marketing, site development and online analytics related to the web site.

	Dennis Syracuse SVP Retail Sony
Dennis Syracuse, Senior Vice President, Sony Retail for Sony Electronics. He is part of the Consumer Sales Company, responsible for the Sony Style retail stores across the United States. Syracuse joined Sony in 2001 to develop a retail direct business from concept to roll out – which became the nationwide Sony Style retail store concept. There are more than 40 stores in distinctive fashion malls in 22 states. He is also responsible for the flagship stores (2), Sony Retail Outlets (15) and Sony Employee Family Stores (6). Sony Style was named Best Vendor Retailer by Twice Magazine in 2007.

	Roxanne Ong Director, CRM & Field Marketing St. Regis & Luxury Collection
Roxanne Ong is responsible for driving the CRM strategy for the St. Regis and Luxury Collection brands. She is also responsible for the marketing strategy and execution for all St. Regis hotels across North America. Leveraging critical areas of the online space including content, promotions, advertising, grassroots and search engine marketing, she ensures sound marketing practices for maximum returns. Roxanne joined Starwood Hotels & Resorts in 2003 where she managed the online marketing initiatives for W Hotels Worldwide, after spending 4 years with interactive marketing agency Publicis Modem (then Modem Media Inc.) While at Publicis Modem, she managed clients such as General Motors, Citibank, IBM, General Electric and John Hancock on an international scale providing strategic thought and support in multi-million dollar projects including online marketing and B2B/C eCommerce solutions. Prior to Modem Media, Roxanne’s career experiences span the fashion, entertainment, corporate public relations, public affairs and legal industry verticals.

	Christopher Parr Consumer Marketing Manager Sub-Zero/Wolf
Christopher Parr manages consumer marketing, media and planning for Sub-Zero and Wolf. This includes consumer branding and all things interactive; web sites, promotions, video, e-newsletters, blogging & podcasts -- and developing online campaigns with HGTV, New York Times, Food Network, Oprah and Epicurious.com. Before joining Sub-Zero, Christopher founded Parr Interactive in 1995. As Marketing/Creative Director of the award-winning interactive, branding and e-marketing agency, he developed marketing strategies for many Fortune 500 companies. He was also a VP, Marketing/Creative Director for a technology and entertainment company.

	Gordon Gould CEO This Next
Before founding ThisNext in 2005, serial Web entrepreneur Gordon Gould served as CEO of blog platform company Blogsmith (now part of AOL), president at New York's Silicon Alley Reporter/Rising Tide Studios (now part of Dow Jones) and founder & CEO at mobile community startup UPOC (now part of Dada Mobile). His belief in buying better to live better is why we're all here at ThisNext. Gordon has a BA in environmental studies from Pitzer College, served as a founding board member of MOUSE (Making Opportunities for Upgrading Schools and Education) and is the former co-chair of the L.A. branch of New Democrats Network.

	Mark Lynton Director of E-commerce Tumi
Mark is the Director of E-Commerce for Tumi, Inc., the leading international luxury brand of travel, business and fashion accessories. Mark was instrumental in the planning and execution of Tumi's first-generation e-commerce website in 2002. After launching the U.S. site, he oversaw the development of the company's sites for the UK, Japan and Germany. Mark began his career in sales and marketing with Tumi 20 years ago, and was a key player in growing the business to become the globally-recognized status brand it is today.

	Janet J. Kraus CEO Spire.com
As CEO, Janet drives Spire’s vision and culture. She came to Spire by way of Circles, the leading provider of concierge services, the company she co-founded with Kathy Sherbrooke and recently sold to Sodexho Alliance. While at Circles, Janet oversaw the company’s growth strategy, including the creation and ultimate spin-off of Spire as a stand-alone company. Spireis a gated community where discerning people come to seek answers and share insights about life. The company has raised venture capital from Trident Capital, TL Ventures and Hearst Interactive. Janet is a recipient of Boston’s 40 Under 40 and was a finalist in Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year. Prior to co-founding Circles, she served as the Director of Values and Vision for The Body Shop. She received her MBA from The Graduate School of Business at Stanford University and her BA from Yale University. She is a regular speaker on the topic of entrepreneurship at Harvard Business School, Babson Business School, Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, The Capital Network, The MIT Enterprise Forum, The Commonwealth Institute and the Center for Women and Enterprise. Personally, Janet is an adventure-seeking traveler and a family oriented home-girl. She loves exploring places and cultures from Turkey to Brazil to Bora Bora . . . but she is just as happy doing yoga or hanging out at her summer home on Cape Cod with her twins baby girls, her husband, extended family and friends and dog Mara.

	David Manela Former VP Strategy and Business Development Vivre
David joined Vivre in 1997 to supervise Vivre's operations and circulation strategy. He has streamlined the customer acquisition process through innovative modeling and profiling techniques, resulting in one of the industry’s most profitable databases. From 2000 to 2004 he also led the launch of vivre.com and its cross-channel integration with Vivre’s catalog marketing business, and he successfully implemented the Vivre Client Services business, developing strategic and custom publishing programs for clients such as Bvlgari, Salvatore Ferragamo, Schieffelin-Sommerset and Yves-Saint-Laurent. Since 2004, David has been managing key areas of the company, business development, direct-marketing, finance and operations. David has previously worked at Coopers & Lybrand in the audit division and as an independent consultant in Paris. David received a MBA, majoring in Finance from Rouen Graduate School of Management and a Masters degree in European History from the University of Rouen in France

	Guy Salter Deputy Chairman Walpole
Guy Salter gained his grounding in retailing and brand development at the Burton Group (now Arcadia). From there he was seconded to be Assistant Private Secretary to HRH The Prince of Wales for Industry and Commerce. While there he formed the Duchy Originals brand and started the Prince of Wales Business Leader's Forum. His entry into the luxury industry came with his appointment as managing director of Laurent-Perrier. While at Laurent-Perrier he was also chairman of the Champagne Association and a member of the steering committee of the Comité Colbert. It was while he was managing director of Asprey & Garrard that he first became involved in Walpole. In April 2002, Guy and Rupert Hambro & Partners acquired Tanner Krolle. As chief executive Guy oversaw the company's very rapid growth in revenues and margins. This period saw the establishment of Tanner Krolle's UK stores and quality wholesale accounts, as well as distribution in the USA, Japan, Hong Kong, the Middle East and Russia. Guy is also a trustee of the Prince's Trust.