Michael Tchong
Founder & Trend Analyst
Ubercool Inc.
Michael Tchong is a transformational catalyst who inspires audiences globally with spellbinding insights into a changing consumer culture. His trademark roller-coaster rides through the "landscape of now" reveal the myriad of opportunities that major market trends provide. He developed his ability to ride emerging waves early at advertising agency icons DDB and Chiat/Day, and then leveraged his talents to help pioneer such emerging trends as desktop publishing, personal communication, Internet research and online marketing. Now he has combined branded entertainment and social media in an ubercool start-up that aims to reinvent America. His Web site is http://www.ubercool.com.

Nikki Baird
Managing Partner, RSR Research

Nikki Baird is Managing Partner at Retail Systems Research, an industry market intelligence firm specializing in the impact of technology on the extended retail industry. She focuses on trends impacting the consumer-retailer relationship, along with their supply chain and marketing implications. She has written research and articles on topics ranging from in-store marketing and technology, store performance management, supply chain and multi-channel fulfillment, retailer-manufacturer collaboration, merchandising, and loyalty and promotions management. She has been quoted as a subject matter expert in The Economist, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and National Public Radio.

Nikki brings perspective from all sides of the retail technology equation: she served in technology roles at both a large and a small retailer, and she has provided advisory and consulting services for Fortune 500 retailers, distributors, and manufacturers. Prior to co-founding RSR, Nikki was an analyst at both Forrester Research and Retail Systems Alert Group, where she covered extended retail industry topics like supply chain, RFID, retail operations, POS, and in-store management. Prior to that, she was director of marketing for StorePerform, a store execution management software provider, now RedPrairie, and director of product marketing for Viewlocity, a supply chain software provider focusing on adaptive supply chain execution and exception management. Nikki came to Viewlocity from PwC Consulting, now IBM Global Services, where as a senior manager she led IT strategy consulting engagements for retail and CPG clients.

Nikki has an M.B.A. from the University of Texas, Austin, focusing on operations and IT. She also holds a bachelor of arts in political science and Russian, with a minor in physics, from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Beth T. O'Rorke
Vice President of US Retail Systems and Shared Services
Staples, Inc.

Beth O'Rorke is the Vice President of US Retail Systems and Shared Services for Staples, Inc. based in Framingham, MA. Beth is a results-driven, energetic, and strategic leader with over eighteen years experience in management, relationship building, and delivering business technology solutions.

 
Beth is responsible for leading several US application, technology, and shared resource teams focused on accelerating business value through technology solutions. Her focus is to partner and advise Senior Management of US Retail and cross-channel Marketing and Merchandising functions as well as advance project execution in the US through Project Services and Shared Application Services teams.

Prior to joining Staples in 2004, Beth held executive level business and IT positions at several financial services and insurance companies. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Providence College, Master of Business Administration from Bentley University McCallum Graduate School of Business, and several Executive Leadership Certifications.

Pete Hogan
Vice President, e-Commerce
Brown Shoe

Pete Hogan is Vice President of the e-Commerce division of Brown Shoe Company, Inc. (NYSE: BWS, www.brownshoe.com). He joined the organization in August 2008.

Hogan is responsible for managing strategic and technological development for Brown Shoe's e-commerce sites: (shoes.com, famousfootwear.com, naturalizer.com, viaspiga.com, lifestride.com, carlosshoes.com, drschollsshoes.com, fergieshoes.com, shoesteal.com and skatestyles.com,). In addition, he oversees order management, home delivery, quality assurance, testing automation and enterprise-wide corporate usability.

Hogan has an extensive background in building and maintaining technological infrastructures in the financial and retail industries. Prior to joining Brown Shoe, Hogan served as Vice President with MasterCard, where he successfully led development and design efforts for the company's portal system and managed the technical responsibility and expansion of MasterCard's global extranet. Hogan has also held senior positions at CitiGroup, Technology Partners, and MetaMatrix, and has served as a technical consultant on internet architecture design and security for several companies.

Hogan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from St. Louis University. He also serves on the board of directors for the St. Louis Children's Advocacy Center.

About Brown Shoe
Brown Shoe is a $2.3 billion footwear company with global operations. Brown Shoe's Retail division operates Famous Footwear, the over 1,100-store chain that sells brand name shoes for the family, approximately 300 specialty retail stores in the U.S., Canada, and China under the Naturalizer, Brown Shoe Closet, FX LaSalle, and Franco Sarto names, and Shoes.com, the Company's e-commerce subsidiary. Brown Shoe, through its Wholesale divisions, owns and markets leading footwear brands including Naturalizer, LifeStride, Via Spiga, Nickels Soft, Connie and Buster Brown; it also markets licensed brands including Franco Sarto, Dr. Scholl's, Etienne Aigner, Carlos by Carlos Santana, Fergie branded footwear, and Vera Wang Lavender Label Collection as well as Barbie, Disney, Fisher-Price and Nickelodeon character footwear for children. Brown Shoe press releases are available on the Company's website at http://www.brownshoe.com.

Kelly Phillipps
Chief Information Officer
Backcountry.com Inc.

As the Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Backcountry.com, Kelly Phillipps is the guy behind the behind-the-scenes at the successful outdoor gear etailer. As the company's big boss engineer, Phillipps oversees a talented staff of more than 80 constantly innovating engineers, developers, and information specialists. Always a proponent of courageous thinking and the fresh ideas that result, Phillipps believes that success comes from empowering highly skilled, passionate people to do what they do best in support of the company's mission. Along those lines, Phillipps will proudly tout his "inner geek" and claim technology as a passion. Thankfully, he also enjoys adventure motorcycle riding, squash and skiing. Prior to joining Backcountry three years ago, Phillipps earned his chops in C- and director-level positions at companies such as OC Tanner, Vintella, Center 7, and Franklin Covey.

Andrew Koven
President of E-Commerce and Customer Experience

A serial entrepreneur, mobile and marketing visionary, Andrew "Drew" Koven has been an e-commerce guru for over 15 years, literally since people started buying things on the web.

 

As president of e-commerce and customer experience for fashion-forward footwear and apparel icon Steve Madden, Koven is the force behind double digit growth for the online business. He has built the mobile, marketing, technology, service and fulfillment foundations that solve the 5 prong go-to-market strategy a multi-channel retailing manufacturer faces and leverages all the hottest new technologies and analytics, including social media, mobile and viral recommendations and retargeting techniques that engage audiences of all ages throughout the entire enterprise.

Andrew is also co-founder of Geoff and Drew's, an online food gifting site and previously was head of e-commerce and CMO at Fresh Direct, an online grocer. Koven's acumen and accomplishments were recently recognized when he was featured and subsequently named as an Advisory Board Member to Apparel Magazine. He was inducted into the Boston business hall of fame in 2008, named entrepreneur of the year by Virgin Atlantic and was a recipient of the 40 under 40 award.

Stanley L. Payson
Vice President, Interactive Technology & New Business Integration
David's Bridal Inc.

Stan Payson is the Vice President of Interactive Technology & New Business Integration for David's Bridal, the nation's leading bridal authority. The company is known for outstanding value, fashionable designs, and the ease of one stop shopping. Nearly fifty percent of all brides in the US choose to shop one of the 300 plus stores located across the US and in Puerto Rico. He is primarily responsible for all ecommerce related systems strategy, development, operations, and support.

Stan has over twenty years of technology and retail experience, having worked in executive or management level positions for Benchmark Brands, After Hours Formalwear, Fleming Companies, The Home Depot, and Accenture. His areas of experience include Ecommerce, Distribution and Supply Chain, Merchandising, CRM and Contact Center Technologies, International, Finance, Strategic Business Planning, and M&A.

Mr. Payson holds a degree in Computer Science Engineering and an MBA in Manufacturing and Production from Cornell University.

Michael Merhab
Vice President of E-Commerce
CBS Interactive/CBS Sports

Michael oversees and manages over 200 online stores, over 80 auction sites, and all e-commerce related ventures for CBS Sports and CBS College such as the NCAA Official Store, CBS Sports Store, CBS Sports auction site, and school stores such as Notre Dame, Alabama and USC. Michael’s role includes negotiating agreements with university partners and vendors; overseeing all internal and external marketing programs; overseeing platform management, upgrades, and implementation; and managing a full time staff on online account managers. Michael has over ten years experience in E-Commerce with over twenty years of experience in the marketing, sales, and licensing fields, at the senior management level.

Philip Thompson
Vice President, Marketing & Operations, E-Commerce
Fossil Inc.

Philip’s background has been deep-rooted in ERP and ecommerce technologies since the mid 1990’s. As a consultant in the late 90’s - early 2000’s - Philip served as a chief architect developing integrated ecommerce platforms and software products, while consulting with hundreds of small, medium, and large Fortune companies through the integrated transition of business online. In 2004, Philip co-founded one of the fastest growing digital agencies in the country, based out of Irvine California. Serving as CTO, his hands on approach helped many customers including Panasonic, Northwest Airlines, Cadbury Brands, Wells Fargo, and many others. In 2008, Philip’s agency began working with FOSSIL on several projects including redeveloping Fossil.com, and later joined FOSSIL in the summer of 2009 to assist in the building of a world class global ecommerce business supporting all of FOSSIL Inc’s brands. FOSSIL holds the accessories license for many top brands including Armani, Adidas, Burberry, Callaway, Columbia, Diesel, DKNY, FOSSIL, Mark by Mark Jacobs, Michael Kors, Michele, Relic, and Zodiac.

Giri Durbhakula
Vice President and Chief Information Officer
Charlotte Russe Holdings

Giri Durbhakula is the Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Charlotte Russe Holdings, a 500+store mall-based specialty retailer of fashionable, value-priced apparel and accessories targeting young women in their teens through early thirty's.

Giri has over twenty years of technology experience, having worked in senior and executive level positions at companies such as IBM, Ernst & Young LLP, Gateway and Intuit previously. He has industry experience across many verticals including Retail, High-Technology, CPG, Finance and several others. His experience spans from across Applications, Infrastructure and Service areas of the technology spectrum. He also has international work experience in Europe, Asia and Central America.

He has written many articles and has also spoken at many different forums in his career on topics such as Analytics & Business Intelligence, Maximizing IT and Business Stakeholder Alignment, and Customer Centricity. He has an undergraduate degree in Engineering and a graduate degree in Management from Washington University in St. Louis, as well as Executive Business Management courses from Stanford University.