“The best damn conference on planet earth, probably.”
— Somebody, most likely.
What's Ecomm Forum all about?
For the eighth year running, Ecomm Forum is back on October 6th, 2022, and this year we're going in person. Join us at Hutton House in Minneapolis (or on our live stream around the globe) for an exploration of the world of ecommerce best practices, new technology, trends, and expert information. Join us and our host of speakers, panelists, and sponsors as we dig into how your website can drive your business forward. It’s the best damn ecommerce show out there (or at least the most fun).
Laura Boyd is a leader, speaker, leadership coach, and author. She has over 25 years of experience working with organizations to help them develop sustainable growth as organizations and the people within. She has been a leader on executive teams for large companies, emerging companies and non-profits, as well as, a business owner. She believes Leadership is the ultimate Delta for change, strategy and growth in an organization. She is now taking her years of experience helping businesses become high performance organizations through personal leadership development.
Laura has her Masters in Organizational Leadership, certification in change management and is a certified enhanced coaching practitioner. Laura recently authored Words that Work for Leaders: 31 Days of reflection, Motivation, and Goal Setting. It is an inspirational book excellent for business leaders who want to grow and achieve their full potential through intentional leadership.
When Laura is not working with her clients, she enjoys spending time with her family, volunteering with the Empower Leadership Academy for youth, teaching Entrepreneurship and Leadership classes, and going to the gym.
Robert Gilbreath is the GM of Auctane’s ShipStation, the trusted leader in shipping software that helps online sellers scale their businesses and deliver exceptional customer experiences. Gilbreath has been part of the team for nearly a decade but spent a larger portion of his professional life in online retail as part of what was once the new world of ecommerce. Like ShipStation, he’s based in Austin, Texas. When not getting ship done, he enjoys time outdoors with his wife and three children.
Jill Barle is the founding leader of Evereve.com and the Product Director of Digital Commerce at EVEREVE. With over 20 years of experience, Barle is credited with building EVEREVE's digital channel and growing to the retail powerhouse it is today. Barle is an ecommerce expert with intense focus on the user experience. In the early years of her tenure at EVEREVE, she set the creative foundation of site design, production, content strategy and marketing. Today, she continues to drive ecommerce strategy and product development with record breaking year-over-year growth.
Greta Brooks is the Director of Digital Marketing at Minnesota Wild, successful direct marketing professional with 12+ years of experience in marketing, ecommerce, and project management. Areas of expertise include leading and managing digital and traditional marketing initiatives, working with cross-functional teams, and competitive analysis.
Prior to Minnesota Wild, she led Gopher Sport, Consumer Demand Marketing at Jostens, and managed Loyalty and Mobile Marketing at Walgreens. Greta builds breakthrough experiences and great relationships, while bringing successful and sustainable digital initiatives to life.
I've been an analyst, product manager, agile champion, consultant, sales engineer, and occasional SQL jockey. I'm passionate about bringing order to chaos, and finding the best solution to a problem.
Mostly I ask a lot of questions.
Having spent 5 years as a Shopify Plus Launch Engineer, Matt has helped nearly 300 merchants migrate from existing e-commerce platforms to Shopify. A 15+ year journey in e-commerce has resulted in numerous roles from Photography to Web Admin and everything in between. Matt also works with local Universities and Colleges in “Build a Business” style workshops and competitions, helping mentor the next generation of entrepreneurs. Matt resides in Montreal with his wife and two boys.
As Director of Alliances for Attentive, Eric Feuerstein has nearly a decade in the ecommerce space helping create and accelerate high-performance partnerships between platforms, practitioners and end-users for the likes of Microsoft, eBay, Magento, Adobe and Attentive. When he is not focused on work, you will find him spending time with his wife and children in the greater Chicagoland area.
Jason Hammerberg has been fostering his love for high-quality menswear since he was a teenager working at a men’s retailer. A fashion industry fixture and unapologetic innovator, he learned early on that the clothes really do make the man.
Something as deceptively simple as finding the perfect shirt can turn a man into the most confident version of himself… and Jason is the go-to guy for that kind of shirt.
Leveraging a lifetime of industry experience, he partnered with Europe’s most respected fabric mills to launch a brand that would deliver on designer quality at an accessible price point. In 2009, Hammer Made was born.
Lizzie Andrew (previously Lizzie Nirenberg) is Klaviyo's Senior Manager of Ecosystem Marketing and joined the company in October of 2018. In her four years at Klaviyo, Lizzie has been responsible for designing the Agency Partner Program, executing hundreds of co-marketing activities, and launching several scalable partner marketing initiatives. Lizzie is a creative at heart and has spent the entirety of her career in either partnerships or brand roles (or a combination of both) in the technology industry. She loves finding unique ways to promote the value of an ecosystem to customers, partners, and industry experts. When she’s not coming up with content or creative ideas for the next co-marketing initiative, Lizzie loves trying new recipes in the kitchen and spending time outdoors with her chocolate lab, Maisie.
Tom Arehart – Manager, Strategic Alliances – eComm & Payments joined Avalara in 2020. Tom’s team manages Avalara’s partnership relationships with technology, platform and Digital Agencies across the eCommerce space. Prior to Avalara he worked a digital agency that specialized in creating custom business software and enterprise ecommerce experiences. During his tenure, Tom served as the Partner Manager where he managed partnerships for strategic commerce platforms and technology partners. Tom resides in Grand Rapids, MI area with his wife, two sons and dog. When not working, Tom enjoys golfing, entertaining and being outdoors.
Nancy Korsah is the founder, president and CEO of Black Business Enterprises (BBE), an
international nonprofit with over 72,000 members in every U.S. state and 32 countries that
seeks to achieve greater societal equity by accelerating Black entrepreneurship.
Born in Italy to Ghanian parents, Korsah first moved to the U.S. in 2001. When several African
American students defended her and her brother against racist attacks at their high school,
Nancy decided to dedicate her life to helping Black people move forward together. After
learning that people of color in the bank call center where she worked earned $10-12 less per
hour than their white counterparts, she formed BBE in 2015.
BBE’s mission is to give minority entrepreneurs access to capital and other critical resources
they often lack — including financial literacy, business planning, technology, marketing and
mentorship — so they can start, grow and sustain successful businesses. Her goal is to reach
1 million BBE members and raise $4 million to provide large grants and make an even greater
impact.
In addition to BBE, Nancy owns a home care agency with her family; performs diversity, equity
and inclusion (DEI) and anti-racist behavior training for businesses; is a popular one-on-one
coach and mentor for entrepreneurs; and hosts the popular Black Business Enterprises
podcast.
Susan Ojo-Fati is a small business trailblazer, DC born and Twin Cities raised she launched her family centered home-based businesses. Wrapped In My Roots, a fashion accessory line and Comfortem, a maternity clothing line. Susan’s strong healthcare and tech background pushed her to venture into entrepreneurship. Her brands have both been modeled and worn by everyday people. She believes in improving the lives of others, one small business at a time.
Agenda
2:00 - 2:10 P
Welcome
Darin Lynch opens the show with some bagpipes and a (short) introduction to Ecomm Forum
2:10 - 2:35 P
Opening Keynote
A non-ecommerce focused keynote to set the stage for leadership, company culture, and personal growth.
2:35 - 2:35 P
Industry Spotlight - ShipStation
Robert Gilbreath - 'TED Talk' style presentation, deep-diving into one ecommerce topic
2:45 - 3:25 P
Build Panel
Speakers Jill Barle (EVEREVE), Greta Brooks (MN Wild), and Aaron Sheehan (BigCommerce), focused on building a powerful new ecommerce channel.
3:25 - 3:35 P
Industry Spotlight - Shopify
Matt Hickey - 'TED Talk' style presentation, deep-diving into one ecommerce topic
3:35 - 3:40 P
Break
Refill Your Whiskey
3:40 - 4:20 P
Grow Panel
Speakers Eric Feuerstein (Attentive), Robert Beaman (HDUSA), Jason Hammerberg (Hammer Made). Focused on growing an existing ecommerce channel to new heights.
4:20 - 4:30 P
Industry Spotlight - Klaviyo
Lizzie Andrew - TED Talk' style presentation, deep-diving into one ecommerce topic
4:30 - 4:40 P
Industry Spotlight - Avalara
Tom Arehart - 'TED Talk' style presentation, deep-diving into one ecommerce topic
4:40 - 5:20 P
Hustle Panel
Nancy Korsah and Susan Ojo-Fati. Up and coming entrepreneurs discuss how ecommerce has accelerated their business.
Sponsors
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