Speakers

Stephen J. Dubner
Bestselling Author
Freakonomics
@freakonomics

Stephen J. Dubner is an award-winning author, journalist, and radio and TV personality. He is best known as co-author of the books Freakonomics, SuperFreakonomics, and Think Like a Freak. Dubner is also the host of the Freakonomics Radio podcast. Dubner maintains the popular Freakonomics blog, which has been called "the most readable economics blog in the universe" (which isn't saying much). He has appeared widely on television, including as a regular contributor to ABC News and as host of the Emmy-nominated NFL Network program "Football Freakonomics." Dubner is also the author of several other books, including Turbulent Souls/Choosing My Religion (1998), Confessions of a Hero-Worshiper (2003), and the children's book The Boy With Two Belly Buttons (2007).

Flint McGlaughlin
Managing Director
MECLABS Institute
@FlintsNotes
LinkedIn

Flint McGlaughlin is the Managing Director of MECLABS Institute. The organization has partnered with key market leaders including, The New York Times, Microsoft Corporation, and Reuters Group. McGlaughlin also serves as the Director of Enterprise Research at the Transforming Business Institute, University of Cambridge (UK), as the Chairman of the Board of Governors for St. Stephen's University, and as a Trustee for Westminster Theological Centre. McGlaughlin originally studied Philosophy and Theology at the University of London's Specialist Jesuit College. Today, his primary research is focused on enterprise as transformative agent. His work has won multiple awards and has been quoted in more than 13,000 online and offline sources.

Jose Palomino
President
Value Prop Interactive
@jpalomino
LinkedIn

Jose Palomino is the author of the very well-received book, Value Prop, which is at the heart of Value Prop Interactive and The Program. As President of Value Prop Interactive, Palomino has a strong track record of success working with business owners, mid-market CEOs and Fortune 1000 marketing teams who want to take ideas, products and services to market with greater consistency, speed and impact. With more than 25 years of leadership experience in technology and service sectors, Palomino is a proven strategist, dealmaker and presenter.

Jonah Berger
Marketing Professor
The Wharton School
@j1berger

Ever wondered why some things catch on and become popular while others falter? How to generate more word of mouth for a product or initiative you’re working on? Jonah Berger has the answers. He’s a marketing professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and author of the recent New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller Contagious: Why Things Catch On. Dr. Berger has spent the last decade studying how social influence works and how it drives products and ideas to catch on. He’s published dozens of articles in top-tier academic journals, consulted for a variety of Fortune 500 companies, and popular outlets like the New York Times and Harvard Business Review often cover his work.

Aaron Buchanan
Digital Personalization Manager
Finish Line

Aaron Buchanan is a digital marketing veteran, having served in various capacities for Internet Retailer's Top 500 brands for over a decade. In his current role as Digital Personalization Manager at Finish Line, he is charged with developing cross-channel marketing strategy to include delivering personalized experiences through all digital communication channels. He has great passion for leveraging data to facilitate engaging conversations between brands and their customers.

Charles Nicholls
SVP, Product Strategy for Marketing Solutions
SAP
@webconversion

Charles Nicholls is SVP, Product Strategy for Marketing Solutions, SAP, and serves as part of SAP’s drive to reinvent customer experience and commerce across channels.

Charles Nicholls is a leading industry expert on ecommerce, web analytics, social media marketing and online buyer behavior. He specializes in optimizing conversion across the purchase path and founded the Conversion Academy, where he now serves as Chairman.

Nicholls is a market analyst, blogger, commentator and contributor to ecommerce and analytics publications including Mashable, Forbes, ClickZ, Practical Ecommerce, CustomerThink and BusinessWeek.

He founded the website conversion company SeeWhy, which was acquired by SAP in June 2014, and served first as CEO then as Chief Strategy Officer. SeeWhy grew from an idea, which Nicholls patented, into a leader in its field with more than 4,000 customers deployed on its SaaS platform. Prior to SeeWhy, he held a series of leadership, product and marketing roles at HNC, Sybase and Business Objects.

Damien Coullon
Senior Product Manager
LinkedIn

Damien is Senior Product Manager for LinkedIn’s multichannel communication platform (email, push notification, SMS). He is passionate about blending quantitative methods with qualitative insights and customer centricity. Before joining LinkedIn, Damien was leading Product and Software Engineering at Weekendesk.com, Europe’s leading platform for weekend breaks. Damien holds a MSc from Imperial College London, a MSc from Telecom ParisTech and an MBA from College des Ingenieurs Paris.

Diana Primeau
Director of Member Services
CNET
@macrosmed

Diana Primeau is Director of Member Services, Audience Development at CNET, the No. 1 source for researching tech and consumer electronics and the world's largest and most-trusted tech media source for news, reviews and downloads with more than 100 million unique users. Primeau brings decades of experience to CNET, where she leads a cross-functional team that drives site engagement, increases subscription conversions, maximizes social and traditional email registration and pristinely manages email lists comprised of millions of unique visitors. Prior to her 10 years at CNET, she was Vice President of Cross Product Initiatives at Macromedia.

Jacquelyn Kearns
Senior Vice President, Global Digital
Dun & Bradstreet
@jackearns

Jacquelyn Kearns is a seasoned digital visionary and strategic marketer who provides strategic direction and management for Dun & Bradstreet’s digital properties, mobile, ecommerce and demand generation. As a proven leader and technologist, Jacqui leads a team of marketers to drive profitable growth by focusing on the customer. With more than a decade of marketing and product experience, she cultivates an approach that integrates technological preferences to brand authority, which has proved to increase awareness, loyalty and improve marketing capabilities. She previously held posts with Morgan Stanley Investment Management and New York Life Investment Management.

Jeannine D’Allegro
Vice President, Global Digital
Dun & Bradstreet
@digitaltweetie

Jeannine D’Allegro is a tenured digital visionary with solid, effective experience and performance within senior and executive leadership environments. As a “big picture” thinker, Jeannine is currently a leader of a digital marketing team at Dun & Bradstreet where she uses her expertise in the digital space. Her extensive experience in the latest digital technologies within customer experience, content management, ecommerce and social media gives her the leverage to lead teams that continually drive business outcomes that exceed plan. Prior to joining Dun & Bradstreet, she held management positions at IBM and MetLife.

Jeff Koleba
Vice President, Marketing & Programming
The Kentucky Derby

Jeff leads the innovation and integrated marketing communications strategy for Churchill Downs Racetrack and the legendary Kentucky Derby, including the development of new ticketed products, on-track experiences and content for the world’s largest 4K video board.

Prior to joining Churchill Downs, Jeff held brand management roles at Colgate-Palmolive and Johnson & Johnson where his accomplishments included the launch of Colgate MaxClean toothpaste and K-Y Yours + Mine personal lubricant.

An active improv comedian with over 10 years of experience, Jeff holds a dual-degree in economics and psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business.

Jeffrey Anderson
Digital Marketing Manager
A Place for Mom
@fossilspark

Jeffery Anderson is a digital marketing manager at A Place for Mom, a senior care and senior housing referral company based in Seattle. He manages A Place for Mom’s promotional email program that has seen steadily increasing engagement over the three years since it its inception. Anderson largely attributes this success to an ongoing focus on list hygiene and smart list-pruning. A Place for Mom’s email program received awards from WhichTestWon in 2013 and 2014, including “Best in Show” in WhichTestWon’s 2014 email testing awards.

Jessica Best
Digital Marketing Evangelist
emfluence
@bestofjess

Jessica is one part massive email and online marketing nerd and one part permission-marketing evangelist. She acts as a strategic consultant and subject matter expert for brands, corporations and nonprofits nationwide. She's spoken for audiences of a dozen to over 300 from Wichita to New York City to SXSW Interactive in Austin. Jessica’s primary role is as speaker, digital marketing evangelist and content marketing manager for emfluence, where she implements the best practices she preaches for emfluence’s own marketing strategy.

John A. Caldwell
Principal & Founder
Red Pill Email
@jacaldwell

An email marketing practitioner since 1996, Red Pill Email founder John Caldwell has been involved in over 50 ESP vendor selections for major clients since 2005 and has produced an annual Email Vendor Features and Functions Guide since 2009. He is a Member of the Email Experience Council of the DMA, serving as Chair of the Marketing and Membership Subcommittee for 2013-2014, Co-Chair of the Email Measurement Accuracy Roundtable/Advisory Board from 2009-2013, a member of the former Speakers Bureau, a MAC Committee member and member of the former Career Paths Roundtable. John was also named as one of the “50 Marketing Leaders over 50 You Should Know” in the May 2013 edition of Global CMO Magazine.

Justine Jordan
Marketing Director
Litmus
@meladorri
@litmusapp

A lover of content, customers and cats, Justine Jordan is a recovering designer masquerading as a marketer. Once responsible for designing, building and managing email campaigns for ExactTarget customers, Jordan is now director of marketing at Litmus, where she leads content marketing, customer education and research initiatives. She's strangely passionate about this email marketing thing, hates being called a spammer and still gets nervous when it's time to hit the send button.

Kate Ellis
Marketing Analyst
The Kentucky Derby
@ellisk8lyn

Kate Ellis is a marketing analyst for Churchill Downs Racetrack and The Kentucky Derby, where she leads the strategy and execution of email marketing for both brands. With previous experience in database, loyalty, product launch and social media marketing, Kate is passionate about marketing decisions driven by data. She is an avid horse lover and enjoys bringing new fans to The Kentucky Derby. She holds a dual degree in management and economics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Certificate in Equine Business from the University of Louisville.

Lauren Wagner
Senior Manager, Engagement
VolunteerMatch
@Lauren_Lynn2
@VM_Solutions

Lauren Wagner is the Senior Manager of Engagement at VolunteerMatch, the Web’s largest volunteer engagement platform. Lauren also serves as the administrator for VolunteerMatch’s sales and marketing systems including Salesforce and Pardot. Passionate about philanthropy and volunteering, Lauren organized a partnership between the International Bird Rescue and Research Center (IBRRC) and Enterprise Rent-A-Car to set up donation points at various ERAC locations after the Cosco-Busan oil spill in 2007. She has also donated her time volunteering for many organizations such as Craigslist Foundation, S.M.I.L.E. Science and Atmos Theatre, where she served as president of the board of directors from 2011-2012. Lauren holds a BA in psychology from Penn State University. She currently lives in San Francisco.

Mary Abrahamson
Email Marketing Specialist
Ferguson
@mabraham08

Mary Abrahamson is an Email Marketing Specialist at Ferguson Enterprises, the largest wholesale distributor of residential and commercial plumbing supplies, with operations spanning multiple business groups including bath, kitchen and lighting. She boasts a strategic, multi-channel approach with a keen eye for customer cultivation. Both at ForRent.com and Ferguson, she has worked in the B2C and B2B worlds, and although her skillset is vast, her greatest expertise is in campaign implementation and reporting. She is also lover of all things food, which shines through from time to time on her blog, Mary in the Kitchen.

Michael Kelly
Co-founder, Business Development
ClickMail
@ClickMail

Michael Kelly helped to found ClickMail in 2000, bringing 16 years of experience to the company. Today, he has been in the marketing industry for 19 years, and he is regarded as one of Silicon Valley’s most knowledgeable email marketing experts. Michael has an in-depth knowledge of technology and how that technology can be used to customize ESPs for maximum effectiveness. Michael can speak to both the technical and business aspects of an email strategy. He understands the complexities of a technology but communicates the results in layman's terms for his business audience. An in-demand speaker, Michael regularly presents at ESP and industry user conferences and has also been on the faculty at USF (University of San Francisco) and ASM (Association of Strategic Marketing), teaching and sharing best practices in email marketing.

Preston Wily
CEO
Sewell
@pwily

Preston is the CEO of Sewell Development Corp., a consumer product design company. Preston started working for the company part time in 2002 while earning a degree in economics and accepted a full-time position after graduation when he realized that economists don’t really know anything. Sewell’s best-selling brands include the house brand (home theater connectivity products), MOS (mobile accessories) and Saffron (LED lighting).

Ryan Phelan
Vice President, Global Agency Shared Services
Acxiom
@ryanpphelan

Ryan Phelan brings over 15 years of online marketing experience to Acxiom as the Vice President, Global Shared Services. Prior to his time at Acxiom, Ryan contributed at a senior level at BlueHornet, Responsys, Sears/Kmart and infoUSA. Ryan is a nationally recognized thought leader, writer and distinguished speaker on subjects relating to using complex data practices to drive effective strategies in CRM, email marketing, social and mobile. Ryan was recognized as one of the top 30 digital strategists in 2013 and was a keynote speaker at the 2012 and 2014 Email Evolution Conference. He is heavily involved in industry organizations as a member of the Board of Directors for the ESPC, is currently serving as the Chair of the Email Experience Council (email arm of the Direct Marketing Association) Member Steering Board and is on the Advisory Board for Direct Marketing News (DMNews).

Shaun Brown
Lawyer
nNovation

Shaun Brown is a partner with nNovation LLP, an Ottawa-based law firm that specializes in regulatory matters. With several years of experience both in the public and private sectors, Shaun's practice focuses on ecommerce, e-marketing, privacy, access to information and information security, assisting with compliance and representing clients before tribunals and in litigation-related matters. He speaks and writes regularly on privacy, marketing and information management issues and is the co-editor and co-author of Privacy Scan, one of Canada's most popular and insightful resources on Canadian privacy issues. Shaun has an in-depth understanding of the online marketing industry, both from an operational and legal perspective, and has worked with many organizations across various sectors in complying with Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation and related online marketing rules.

Shawna Dahlin
Senior Email Marketing Manager
Microsoft Store
@shawnadahlin

Shawna Dahlin, Senior Email Marketing Manager, Microsoft Store, directs the email marketing channel for the global retail stores division. Her omni-channel program drives both online and foot traffic to microsoftstore.com and brick-and-mortar Microsoft retail stores. Shawna has 10 years of marketing experience, including eight years in online marketing at Microsoft. Shawna lives in beautiful Bellevue, Washington and holds a B.A. from the University of California, San Diego.

Stephen Bruner
Marketing Manager, Vertical Markets
Precor

Stephen is a 15-year, data-driven multi-segment content marketer at Precor. Responsible for prospecting, MQL generation and conversion to SQLs, Stephen’s team develops and implements multi-channel, lifecycle-nurturing campaigns to support the Precor go-to-market strategy.

Stephen Hiller
Lead Web Developer
LinkedIn

Stephen Hiller is a Lead Web Developer with LinkedIn’s Communications team and has been part of the team for the past two years. He is responsible for maintaining email standards and managing the user experience for all of LinkedIn’s email. Previously, Stephen was a Software Developer for Bunchball, building their next generation gameification platform. Stephen graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology with a Bachelors of Science in biomedical photographic communications and a Masters of Science in information technology.

Tessa Srebro
Lead Generation and Marketing Associate
VolunteerMatch
@TSrebro

Tessa Srebro is fortunate to work at VolunteerMatch, a place where nonprofit and technology comes together (as they should!). At VolunteerMatch, she is the Lead Generation and Marketing Associate, a role in which she gets to see firsthand how companies, nonprofits and volunteers are stepping up to create positive change in their communities. She is fascinated by language and communications, which is how she found her way to content marketing after some time in project management and nonprofit operations. She earned a Master’s in nonprofit leadership from Seattle University and a B.A. in public relations from Penn State University. She currently lives in San Francisco with her husband Samiur and her cat Renato.

Alex Richards
Marketing Manager
MECLABS Institute
@alexlivinlife
LinkedIn

As a member of the marketing team, Alex works daily with the design and development teams to build and launch promotional landing pages, and ensures all marketing campaigns are in line with MECLABS brand guidelines. Prior to joining the MECLABS team, she was a consumer marketing intern at Johnson & Johnson Vision Care and a research intern at Florida's tourism bureau. Alex holds her bachelor's degree in advertising from Florida State University, where she was involved in Arrowhead, the university's competitive advertising team. In her spare time, she enjoys playing volleyball, traveling and singing the occasional Broadway musical number.

Courtney Eckerle
Manager of Editorial Content
MarketingSherpa
@courtneyeckerle
LinkedIn

With a focus on inbound and email marketing, Courtney's goal is to produce clear, interesting and actionable external content for MarketingSherpa readers. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, Mass Communications and Film Studies from Saint Mary's College in Notre Dame, Ind. She has worked as a writer and sports photographer for The University of Notre Dame Observer, and was a collegiate correspondent for USA Today College prior to joining MECLABS. In her spare time, Courtney enjoys kayaking, travel, reading and photography.

Daniel Burstein
Director of Editorial Content
MarketingSherpa
@DanielBurstein
LinkedIn

Daniel oversees all editorial content coming from the MarketingExperiments and MarketingSherpa brands while helping to shape the editorial direction for MECLABS – working with our team of reporters to dig for actionable information while serving as an advocate for the audience. Daniel is also a frequent speaker and moderator at live events and on webinars. Previously, he was the main writer powering MarketingExperiments publishing engine – from Web clinics to Research Journals to the blog. Prior to joining the team, Daniel was Vice President of MindPulse Communications – a boutique communications consultancy specializing in IT clients such as IBM, VMware, and BEA Systems. Daniel has 13 years of experience in copywriting, editing, internal communications, sales enablement, and field marketing communications.

Diana Sindicich
Senior Manager, Data Sciences
MECLABS Institute
LinkedIn

Diana leads a team of data scientists that assists researchers from all sections of MECLABS with the design and administration of meaningful research studies and web page tests. Her areas of expertise include experimental design, survey techniques and extracting and inferring customer behavior from website analytics data. Diana holds a Ph.D. in Textiles and Consumer Sciences from Florida State University. Before joining MECLABS, she served as an assistant professor at Kansas State University. Her research has been published in the Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management. In her free time, she enjoys playing with her daughter, helping out in her husband's comic book store, singing and playing the piano.

Erin Hogg
Reporter
MarketingSherpa
@HoggErin
LinkedIn

As a MarketingSherpa Reporter, Erin writes case studies featuring transferable principles and inspiring stories of marketers overcoming challenges, while spotlighting their successes. Before becoming a MarketingSherpa Reporter, Erin served as the sole Copy Editor for all MECLABS brands, ensuring top-notch quality in all content ranging from articles and blogs to videos and presentations. In her free time, Erin enjoys playing video games, jamming on her bass guitar and finding hidden gems on Netflix.

John Tackett
Partnership Content Manager
MECLABS Institute
@JohnTackett01
LinkedIn

As a member of the MECLABS partnership content team, John helps turn raw research into customer insights to serve business leaders. John holds his Bachelor of Arts in anthropology from the University of North Florida, where he worked in radio broadcast production. In his spare time, John enjoys hunting for antiquities to add to his 18th century ceramic figurine collection, watching UFC and spending time fishing with his wife.

Jon Powell
Senior Manager, Executive Research & Development
MECLABS Institute
@jonpowell31
LinkedIn

Jon is a testing and optimization veteran with hands-on experience gained through managing hundreds of A/B and multivariate tests for ecommerce, healthcare, financial, and educational Research Partners and clients. Jon studies prospects, products and processes to help organizations strategically write themselves in the stories of those that interact with them.

Pamela Jesseau
Senior Director of Marketing
MECLABS Institute
@pamelajesseau
LinkedIn

Pamela Jesseau builds strategic partnerships, plans promotional initiatives, and is responsible for Applied Research communication- and marketing-related activities. If it impacts a MECLABS brand, it goes through her.

Before joining the team in June 2009, Jesseau worked for seven years as a wireless marketing manager at Bell Canada, during which time she managed campaigns for the Solo Mobile and Bell Mobility brands. Her work has been recognized at Cannes, the CLIOs, and the Canadian Marketing Awards among others. Jesseau started her career as a marketing intern at Microsoft while completing her Bachelor of Commerce degree at Dalhousie University.

Selena Blue
Partnership Content Manager
MECLABS Institute
@SelenaLBlue
LinkedIn

As partnership content manager, Selena crafts various content to serve MECLABS Partners. From writing books on customer insights to building PowerPoint decks, she creates stories around the Partners' successes and experiment discoveries to aid their marketing optimization transformation. Prior to her current position, she started at MECLABS as copy editor, then moved into a writing role as reporter. Selena holds a B.S. in communications and a M.S. in integrated marketing and management communications, both from Florida State University.

Taylor Kennedy
Senior Research Manager
MECLABS Institute
LinkedIn

As a senior research manager, Taylor's day-to-day responsibilities include managing a group of research managers and analysts along with guiding major partner/project efforts. His specialties include email marketing, landing page optimization, lead generation and UX for responsive design and online testing. He has also worked on a number of projects to enhance the back-end integration of his partners and MECLABS operations. Taylor graduated from the University of Florida in August 2009, with two bachelor of arts degrees; one in Business Administration (international focus), and another in Political Science. Before working at MECLABS, he worked in the institutional financial services industry with Merrill Lynch. His other interests include surfing, running, reading and live music.

William Duke
Marketing Manager
MarketingSherpa
@drduke85
LinkedIn

William is responsible for the marketing activities of all MECLABS’ events. Prior to joining MECLABS, William worked in business development for a national public relations firm, as well as The Washington Post Company. He holds two business degrees: B.S. in marketing from Florida State University and MBA from Florida Atlantic University. William is a native Floridian who enjoys learning, traveling, sports and chess.