Chip Burgard is Sr. Vice President of Marketing in the Mortgage Division of Citibank. He has almost 20 years of marketing experience, primarily in the Financial Services and Mortgage industries. His expertise is in B2C direct response marketing, using channels such as direct mail, digital marketing (SEM, Display, Lead Aggregation) and inbound/outbound calling.

 

Mona Charif is vice president of Marketing and Communications for Dell Services, driving marketing strategy, branding, internal and external communications, events, sponsorships, demand generation and sales enablement.

Prior to this role, Charif was vice president of marketing for HP Enterprise Services. In this role, Charif drove marketing for HP’s enterprise-focused industry solutions and for services across a broad portfolio including Infrastructure Technology Outsourcing, Applications Services, and Business Services. She led development, planning, and execution of global, market-facing programs, campaigns, and messaging for HP Enterprise Services.

Previously, Charif was director of Positioning, Expression, and Content, guiding the business unit’s market positioning, brand/identity, global advertising, marketing content, creative services, and overseeing the migration of the EDS brand to HP. Before that, she led EDS Corporate Marketing, Brand, and Advertising; was director of Field Marketing and Communications; and director of Marketing and Communications for Portfolio Management, the organization responsible for designing and developing all offerings and solutions.

Since 1992, Charif has worked for EDS and HP in positions of progressively increasing responsibility, supporting the largest divisions of the company with positioning, marketing, and communications strategies. After leaving EDS in 1998 to lead Global Marketing Communications for Lucent Technologies’ Power Systems division, she was recruited back to the company in 1999.

Early in her career, Charif worked for the Dallas ABC affiliate (WFAA-TV), several advertising/public relations agencies (including Tracy-Locke/Pharr), and was a drive-time classical and jazz radio personality. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master of business administration degree from the University of Texas and has completed executive development programs at Thunderbird, Wharton, and Cornell.

 

Cathy Coughlin is the senior executive vice president and global marketing officer of AT&T Inc., the world’s largest telecommunications company. She was appointed to her current role in June 2007. Ms. Coughlin oversees brand strategy, advertising, corporate communications, events and sponsorships worldwide. She leads the effort to build and strengthen AT&T's brand and reputation for service around the globe. She reports directly to Randall Stephenson, AT&T's chairman, chief executive officer and president.

Ms. Coughlin began her communications career in 1979 when she joined Southwestern Bell Telephone Company in her hometown of St. Louis. Since then, she has amassed a wide range of experience in all facets of the business, including a strong background in operations. During her 33-year career, she has held officer roles in sales, marketing, operations and advertising for AT&T.

Prior to her current role, Ms. Coughlin was president and chief executive officer of AT&T Midwest, where she led the company's wireline network sales and customer service operations in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin. 

Throughout her career, Ms. Coughlin has served the community. She currently serves on the board of directors of several organizations including Northwestern University and the Girl Scouts of the USA. She also serves on the board of trustees of the American Film Institute.

Ms. Coughlin holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Northwestern University and a Master of Science in Finance degree from St. Louis University.

 

Vikki Dunn is Chief Marketing Officer for GE Oil & Gas - Drilling & Surface located in Houston, TX. As CMO, Vikki directs the strategic marketing activities for the business and is the marketing executive leading GE’s Unconventional Gas strategy.

Vikki joined GE from Shell where she held senior strategic marketing and corporate brand and communications roles in various Shell businesses, including Services, Global Solutions and Lubricants. Prior to Shell, Vikki was the managing director for a strategic marketing consultancy and product marketing director at Compaq Computer Corporation. Vikki has over 25 years of experience delivering customer and shareholder value through strategically analyzing markets to identify and capture business opportunities. She graduated from SMU in Dallas, TX USA and from the Executive program at IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Vikki is married with 3 children and enjoys traveling, outdoor activities and fine food and wine.

 

Mr. Hamlin joined Guitar Center in June 2010 as Executive Vice President, GM, E-Commerce and Marketing. In January 2011, Mr. Hamlin became Executive Vice President, Guitar Center Brands. From 2007 to May 2010, Mr. Hamlin was Executive Vice President Chief Operating Officer of E-Miles, LLC, an interactive marketing company. From 2004 to 2007, he was Director of Marketing, Central Market Division for H.E. Butt Grocery, a fresh, specialty and prepared foods retailer. Prior to that time, Mr. Hamlin held various positions with Brierly & Partners, E-Rewards, Arista Records and The Walt Disney Company.

 

Perry Hardt is Vice President of Americas Marketing at Oracle Corporation.  He oversees a team of 40+ marketers with a responsibility that spans the  Oracle Applications product suite for all customers in all industries in North America, representing 20% of Oracle's worldwide business.  He has been with Oracle since 2000 in various online and field marketing positions, initially responsible for Oracle US Public Sector.  He holds a BA degree from the University of Pennsylvania and and MBA from University of Maryland.  Perry is originally from Israel and currently resides in the Washington DC area his wife and 3 month old son.

 

Shauna Heran is the lead for Fluor Corporation’s Marketing Communications efforts worldwide.

She is responsible for the development of Fluor’s corporate positioning, brand management and external marketing initiatives. Active across six continents, she supports Fluor’s global strategic and business development efforts to deliver many of the world’s most complex and challenging capital projects.

Heran has more than 30 years of experience in industrial sales, marketing, project management and corporate communications.

Since joining the company in 2000, Heran previously led the marketing teams for two of Fluor’s Business Groups –Industrial and the Government sector. The position required insight into both commercial and federal markets along with the coordination of multi-billion dollar proposal pursuits, communication and customer relations. 

She holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a Masters in Business Administration from the American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird), Phoenix, Arizona.

Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR) is one of the largest publicly traded engineering, procurement, construction, operations, maintenance and project management companies. Fluor is a FORTUNE 200 company with revenues of $23.4 billion in 2011.

 

Katy Keim serves as Lithium's Chief Marketing Officer, leading all strategic marketing activities for the company including branding, positioning, communications, go-to-market strategy, and customer acquisition programs.

Prior to joining Lithium, Katy was the Executive Vice President of Marketing at ServiceSource (NASDAQ: SREV), a global leader in service revenue solutions for the high-tech and healthcare industries. During her tenure, Katy was integral to the company's success in growing from $7M to $100M+ in revenues and extending its global footprint to over five service centers and 700 employees. Katy's previous experience includes Vice President of Ecommerce at Intraware, where she participated in growing the company from an early stage concept to $100M+ in revenue and ultimately, an IPO. Her team was responsible for equipping a 100+-person sales team with lead generation programs, product marketing, and training for over 50 partners, including Sun, Oracle, and IBM. Katy began her career at Bank of America, in the Technology Finance Group focused on funding emerging companies.

Katy holds an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, where she was an Austin Scholar. She also holds an undergraduate degree in history from the University of Virginia, where she was a Millfield Fellow.

 

Chris Kroeger serves as senior vice president for Sabre Travel Network®, responsible for product and customer marketing

Previously, Kroeger lead the Sabre Travel Network North America, Latin America, EMEA and Global Customer divisions, where he had responsibility for sales and service for leisure travel agencies, online travel agencies, travel management companies and corporations. He has also served as president of GetThere, the company's leading corporate travel and collaboration solution.

Kroeger started with the company 20 years ago in market research and held subsequent positions in product marketing, sales planning and regional sales.

Kroeger is active in the travel industry, having served on the ASTA Allied Marketing Council and on the NBTA Allied Leadership Council in recent years. In 2011, he was named ASTA Allied Member of the Year.

He earned both bachelor and master of business administration degrees from the University of Texas at Austin.

 

Ben Legg is CEO of Adknowledge, which unifies the digital world for advertisers. With unique ad formats, consumer data, insights, targeting algorithms and other creative approaches, Adknowledge delivers quality leads from fragmented, hard-to-reach places on the web. These include social networks like Facebook, display ads, games, mobile, apps and email. Prior to Adknowledge, Ben was COO at European Directories, a former Yellow Pages business with operations in eight European countries. He also spent time at Google, ending as COO Europe. That’s where he developed Google's online advertising strategy, business plans, processes and tools to increase online advertising effectiveness. Ben’s efforts doubled revenue to $8B in just three years. He also built Google's eCommerce consulting approach and product suite. Prior to Google, Ben was VP of Sales for Coca Cola India and also held positions at Coke in Poland and Greece. He’s also been a consultant at McKinsey and spent a decade as an officer and engineer in theBritish Army. His specialty then, as it is now, was building bridges.

 

James Meredith serves as Vice President, Head of Marketing & Communications for Cinemark USA.  He is a 17 year veteran of the Theatrical Exhibition industry.  

James is responsible for all aspects of the company’s marketing operations including the design and implementation of marketing strategies.  He leads the company’s efforts for brand management, advertising, promotional programs, digital/social media, as well as new product and business development.  He is also responsible for the company’s public relations and communications strategies.  Under his direction, Cinemark has been identified as an industry leader and the Cinemark, Century & CineArts brands have become recognized across the country for providing guests with a high-quality entertainment experience.

From 1997 to 2008, Mr. Meredith served as Vice President, Marketing for Cinemark International.  He helped develop and establish successful theatrical exhibition operations and a recognized brand in 14 countries.  Prior to joining Cinemark, James worked for the Sewell Lexus organization and held several positions in sales & marketing and customer service.

James received a BBA degree in business and marketing from Baylor University and a graduate in marketing from the SMU Cox School of Business.  James lives in the Dallas, TX area with his wife Melinda and three very active kids.

 

Brett Petit currently serves as Senior Vice President, Marketing of Six Flags. Mr. Petit has 30 years in the theme and water park industry, managing marketing strategy for more than 60 different theme parks, water parks and family entertainment centers across the country. In his role, he oversees all aspects of marketing strategy, advertising, promotions, group sales, research and online marketing. Prior to joining Six Flags, Mr. Petit served as Senior Vice President of Marketing & Sales for Palace Entertainment, an operator of theme parks and attractions with 38 locations hosting 14 million visitors. Before that, he worked 12 years as Senior Vice President of Marketing for Paramount Parks with over 12 million visitors and spent 13 years with Busch Entertainment Theme Parks as Marketing Vice President and Director of Sales.

 

Wilson Raj is the Global Customer Intelligence Director in the WW Alliances and Product Marketing Division at SAS. His responsibilities include collaborating with industry leaders, customers, alliances, sales, marketing and product teams to establish and evangelize SAS’s customer intelligence growth strategy in the market.

With 18 years of experience in diverse industries, Raj has built data-driven brand value, engagement, and loyalty through expertise in integrating traditional and digital marketing, social media, multi-channel relationship marketing and public relations. He has held global lead marketing and strategy positions for leading Fortune Global 500® companies and digital agencies such as Microsoft, Medtronic, Philips, Novell, Ameritech (now AT&T Midwest), Publicis and WPP (Y&R).

Raj holds a B.A. in English and an M.B.A. from Brigham Young University, and a Certificate-in-Education from the Institute of Education in Singapore.

 

    Davis “Dave” Ridley is Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer for Southwest Airlines, a $17.0 Billion in revenue/43,000 Employee airline. Southwest is the largest U.S. airline in terms of domestic passengers carried and has been the only airline to be profitable every year since 1973.

In his current job, Dave oversees the Marketing and Sales Department and the Revenue Management Department. He is responsible for building and maintaining the brand while maximizing Company revenues. This includes leadership and direction of Southwest’s pricing; advertising and promotion; loyalty program; and the world’s second largest travel website, southwest.com. He is also a member of the Executive Planning Committee, the CEO led committee responsible for Company strategy and policy.    

Since joining Southwest in 1988, Dave has served as Vice President, Marketing and Sales; Vice President, Ground Operations; and Senior Vice President, People and Leadership Development.

Dave graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1975 with a BBA (Honors Program) and earned an MBA from Southern Methodist University in 1981.  Prior to Southwest Airlines, Dave worked in marketing and business development capacities with three Dallas area businesses. Dave and his wife, Mary Flo, have been married for thirty-two years and have two married daughters; a son; three grandchildren.

 

 

For over 20 years Steve Rotter has been helping organizations drive business innovation with technology. Currently, Steve is the Vice President of Digital Marketing Solutions at Brightcove, the leading online video platform for web marketers and media companies.  Prior to joining Brightcove, Steve was the Director of Product Marketing at Adobe Systems where he drove the global launch of Adobe’s Rich Internet Application technologies including Flex 3, Flash Player 9 and Adobe AIR. Before joining Adobe, Steve was co-founder and VP of Marketing for venture backed startup Q-Link Technologies which was acquired by Adobe in 2004.  Prior to founding Q-Link, Steve was co-founder and President of Paradigm Research, a marketing and business strategy consultancy focused on the Fortune 500.  Steve received his MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management and has volunteered on advisory boards for several non-profit organizations including World Vision and A Childs Right.

 

Dr. Tassu Shervani is the Marilyn and Leo Corrigan Endowed Professor at the Cox School of Business at SMU in Dallas. He is also a consultant in the areas of global strategy and organization, shareholder value, business models, innovation, and business development. His clients are from the telecommunications, financial services, technology, consumer, manufacturing, and energy sectors. He has also taught executive education programs at Duke University, Emory University and The University of Texas at Austin.

Dr. Shervani has been involved in consulting and executive development at a number of major global corporations such as 3i, 3M, ABB, AT&T, Accenture, Accor, Alcoa, Applied Materials, Bay Networks (subsequently Nortel Networks), Bell Atlantic (now Verizon), CareerBuilder, Coca-Cola, Dell Computer, Deutsche Bank, Ernst & Young, Grupo IMSA, IBM, Imation, Input/Output, ING, Johnson & Johnson, Kulicke & Soffa, Lafarge, Landmark Graphics (now Halliburton), Lockheed Martin, LG Electronics, Morgan Stanley, Mitsubishi Chemicals, Motorola, Proeza, Prudential Financial, RHR International, Sequent Computer (now IBM), Unilever, Tektronix, Teradata, Texas Instruments, Turner Entertainment (Time Warner) and W.L. Gore. He has worked with the semiconductor industry consortium Sematech.

From 1991 to 1998, Dr. Shervani was a full-time faculty member at The University of Texas at Austin where he taught in the McCombs School of Business. He has published articles in the IEEE Engineering Management Review, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Market-Focused Management, Business Horizons, and the Review of Marketing. He has been awarded the American Marketing Association’s Maynard and MSI/Paul Root Awards for his research on market-based assets, the first time in the history of the Journal of Marketing that an article has received both awards. He is also a recipient of the 2006 Sheth Foundation/JM award for research that has made a long term contribution to the field of marketing strategy. Translations of his papers have been published in a number of other languages. While at The University of Texas Business School, Dr. Shervani was twice (1997 and 1999) selected “Outstanding Faculty” by BusinessWeek Magazine, a recognition of his standing as one of the premier business educators in the United States.

Dr. Shervani served on the Board of Directors of Exterprise Inc., an e-business software and services company funded by Austin Ventures, Dell Ventures and Morgan Stanley. In May 2001, Exterprise was acquired by e-markets company CommerceOne.

Dr. Shervani received his M.B.A. from the Xavier Institute, Jamshedpur, India, in 1984 and his Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Southern California in 1991.

 

Mark Simpson is Founder and President of Maxymiser, the global expert in multivariate testing and behavioral targeting solutions. Mark introduced Maxymiser’s revolutionary Customer Experience Optimization platform to the market in 2006,  which improves website and mobile conversion rates, revenue and overall brand experience for all commercial industries. Headquartered in New York and London, Maxymiser works with brands such as Finish Line, Hertz, Teleflora and Time Warner Cable, to instill cultures of conversion best practice, increase brand loyalty and improve revenues.
 
Prior to Maxymiser, Mark lead the online marketing and business development for Travelport, focusing on the acquisition and integration of ebookers, Octopus Travel, Hotel Club and RatesToGo, as well as the company’s Business Development, Search and PPC teams.  Mark is a thought leader in the conversion management market, speaking globally at conferences such as EyeForTravel, eTail, Shop.org and Ad:Tech, and is quoted regularly in the marketing press, as well has several editorial positions with publications such as HotelExecutive.com, iMedia Connection and MediaPost . He graduated with a BCom Honours degree in Commerce from the University of Birmingham.

 

Shailesh is a senior business executive, with global experience in Marketing, Customer Loyalty, Product Management, CRM, Analytics and Strategy.

In his current role, he has global responsibility for CRM and marketing analytics functions for Hilton Worldwide portfolio of brands.

Most recently, he was with Discover Financial, where he managed a line business with $300 million of EBITDA and successfully turned it around. His previous experience includes marketing and strategy consulting for six years with McKinsey & Co. and Accenture, where he helped leading organizations on a range of marketing and strategic issues, and worked in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

Shailesh has also worked as head of marketing at Realization Technologies, where he built a successful startup. His years in the Silicon Valley nurtured an inclination for entrepreneurship, which continues till date. Early in his career, he worked with a Nabisco subsidiary where he received training in packaged goods marketing and subsequently worked in marketing roles.   

He holds a PhD in marketing/statistics, an MBA and Bachelors in Technology.

 

Andrew Springate is the Senior Vice President of Marketing for the Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPS).  In this role, Andrew oversees all marketing, innovation, sponsorships, and licensing for Dr Pepper, 7UP, Snapple, Mott’s, Hawaiian Punch, and 50 other leading brands.

Andrew joined DPS in 2001 and served as Vice President of Marketing for Dr Pepper from 2004-2006.  During that time Dr Pepper led the industry in growth.  Prior to that Andrew was the Director of Innovation and led the launch of Dr Pepper Soda Fountain Classics, 7UP Plus, and Raging Cow.

Andrew started his career at Frito-Lay and also worked at Coca-Cola as the Brand Manager of Sprite.

Andrew has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from Harvard Business School.  He lives in Allen, Texas with his wife and three daughters.