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Opening Keynote / Day 1

Carrie Ask is the Executive Vice President and President, Global Retail for Levis Strauss & Co. where she is responsible for leading all aspects of Levi Strauss & Co.’s global retail business. She oversees more than 2,800 retail stores, including franchised, company-operated mainline and outlet stores, and shop-in-shops dedicated to the Levi’s® and Dockers® brands. She works in close partnership with the global ecommerce team to grow a best in class, seamless direct-to-consumer retail business.

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Building a Digitally First Brand

  Ra’el is the Chief Creative Officer at ThirdLove. Ra’el began her career designing Mervyn’s contemporary lingerie label H&H for the retail giant Target Corp. In her seven years with the company she quickly rose through the ranks from lingerie to junior’s fast fashion, managing a team through the development and design process for the brand. She then caught the entrepreneurial bug and left to launch her own high-end lingerie line, Luv & Honey. Cohen holds an undergraduate degree in Fashion Design from The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising.

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Making the Business Case for Marketing Spend

As Chief Marketing Officer, 1-800-Flowers.com, Amit is responsible for leading a multi-channel marketing strategy for the brand across online, digital and social channels. Additionally, he manages innovation partnerships and provides strategic direction for the growth and development of mobile and social commerce across the company’s entire portfolio of brands. Amit has a proven track record for leading digital and performance marketing, while rapidly scaling user acquisition and revenue streams. He joined 1-800-Flowers.com in September 2011 to manage online, mobile and social marketing initiatives. Over the next several years, he was promoted to roles of increasing responsibility and was named Chief Marketing Officer in March 2017. Prior to joining the company, Amit held strategy and business development roles at FTD, Visiting Nurse Service of New York and McKinsey & Company. Under Amit’s leadership, the company continues to be at the forefront of implementing new and emerging technologies. To nurture and grow the entrepreneurial spirit across the company’s portfolio of brands, Amit oversees the company’s Digital Leadership Program, an incubator for young talent and catalyst for driving innovation throughout the organization. Amit is a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee for the Mobile Marketing Association. He has a master’s degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences/Liberal Studies from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts from Bowdoin College.

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Are Algorithms Killing Agencies?

  Charlie Cole joined TUMI in 2015 as the Company’s Chief Digital Officer. In this role, Mr. Cole is responsible for overseeing and developing the brands’ national and international e-commerce and digital platforms. Since Samsonite’s acquisition of Tumi in 2016, Charlie has also taken the role of Global Chief eCommerce Officer for Samsonite Corporation – which includes oversight of global strategy for brands such as Samsonite, American Tourister, Hartmann, Gregory, High Sierra and others. Mr. Cole brings a mix of entrepreneurial and institutional knowledge to the Company with success in both fields, and a focus on creating structures to empower creativity driven by energy and objectivity. Prior to joining TUMI, Mr. Cole held various leadership positions, including serving as CEO of The Line, and head of e-commerce for Lucky Brand and Schiff Nutrition, the largest acquisition of a VMS company in the history of Wall Street.

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Future of Stores: Adding Technology to Brick & Mortar Retail

Aaron Sanandres is the co-Founder and CEO of UNTUCKit, one of the fastest-growing men’s retail brands in the U.S. After graduating cum laude from Hamilton College with a double major in government and Asian studies, Aaron Sanandres earned his MBA—with honors—in 2007 at Columbia Business School. After school, Aaron worked at Pricewaterhouse Coopers for 17 years, where he was a partner and worked in transaction services and lead the compensation, tax, and accounting team for the Midwest. He joined the company full time as CEO in 2016. Aaron has since joined the Total Retail Tech Board and won a 2018 Retail Innovator Award for his data work and insights with UNTUCKit. Aaron currently lives in Chicago with his wife and two sons.

SESSION:

Finding the Amazon Strategy That's Right for You

  Sid is a business leader with 18 years of successful track record leading large organizations through a digital-first sensibility. Currently, at Under Armour, Sid leads the Global Ecommerce business which is operationalized in 30+ countries. In addition, his team is focused on digital commerce growth with emphasis on Connected Fitness monetization, integrated retail, as well as cultivating and standing up new business models. An agency veteran, Sid previously spent a decade with Razorfish, leading Omnichannel transformation for brands globally, with notable work for Target, JC Penney, Express and AT&T.

SESSION:

How Chewy uses Customer Service as an Acquisition Strategy

Kelli Durkin is VP of Customer Service at Chewy. In her position, she oversees an award-winning customer service department that provides an exceptional level of service to Chewy customers. Kelli has been with Chewy almost since day one, having been the fourth person hired when the company launched in 2011. She started as Director of Customer Service and was initially a one-man department. However, that very quickly changed. After more than six years with the company, Kelli now oversees a team of more than 1,000 in the department, including customer service training, operations and the WOW team, a division dedicated exclusively to customer engagement. A native of Central Florida, Kelli is the proud pet parent of Bruno, a five-year old French Bulldog, and Wynnie, a one-year old English Bulldog.