Speakers

David Miller is a seasoned leader in the media advertising sales arena, currently serving as Executive Vice President, Advertising Sales, Fox Corporation since January 2015. 

With over 25 years of experience at FOX, he excels in driving revenue and fostering strong client partnerships within FOX’s sports and entertainment verticals. He is instrumental in leading the Detroit, Chicago and Los Angeles sales efforts for major sports including the NFL, MLB, College Football/Basketball, FIFA World Cup 2026™, IndyCar, NASCAR, as well as FOX Entertainment’s scripted, animation and alternative programming. David’s extensive experience at FOX Sports & Entertainment solidified his reputation as a key player in media advertising.

Before joining FOX, David served as the Director of National Broadcast at Paramount Pictures for two years, where he refined his expertise in multimedia advertising strategies. 

Earlier in his career, he was a Media Supervisor at Western International Media for over four years, shaping effective media buying strategies for Walt Disney Studios.

David began his career with an internship in broadcasting sales with Major League Baseball’s San Diego Padres, where he laid the groundwork for his impressive journey in media sales.

Kelly Metz is Chief Investment Officer at Spark Foundry, where she leads global investment strategy across channels, platforms, and capabilities — ensuring clients are positioned to win in an increasingly complex and connected media marketplace. She oversees partner management, marketplace analysis, and connected media strategy, aligning client business goals with best-in-class internal and external partners to drive performance today and resilience for the future.

At the core of Kelly’s role is future-proofing investment. She is a driving force behind the adoption of AI, advanced analytics, and algorithmic learning to evolve how investment decisions are made — bringing greater intelligence, precision, and adaptability to client strategies. Her work consistently bridges innovation with accountability, translating emerging technologies into real business outcomes.

Kelly is also a deeply respected leader, known for building high-performing teams and developing the next generation of investment leaders. She champions a culture of growth, curiosity, and rigor — empowering teams to navigate change with confidence while raising the bar on strategic thinking and execution.

A recognized industry voice, Kelly has helped shape the broader media ecosystem through leadership roles on the Joint Industry Committee led by OpenAP and the CIMM/MRC Advisory. She also serves on the Netflix Client Advisory Board, reflecting her trusted perspective among the industry’s most influential partners.

Beyond Spark, Kelly is committed to giving back, serving as Honorary Chairwoman of Pencils for Kids. A Stanford University graduate, she brings intellectual discipline and a competitive spirit to everything she does. Looking ahead, Kelly remains focused on redefining modern investment — building smarter, more connected strategies that unlock long-term value for clients.

VP, Partner Solutions Group – Roundel

Stephen Docherty

Director of Trade Marketing, National & Licensed Brands – Sigma

Melissa Thompson is Vice President, Digital Media Sales at NFL

Sean Dwyer serves as Director of Retail Media Measurement, Reporting and Insights at DG Media Network (DGMN). With nearly a decade of experience across consulting and corporate leadership, Sean has built a reputation for driving data-informed media strategies that deliver measurable impact for leading CPG brands.

In his current role, Sean is passionate about transforming retail media through strategic collaboration, data innovation and thought leadership. He leads the development of closed-loop measurement solutions, partners with advertisers to optimize campaign performance and brings first-party customer data to life through AI-powered insights tools. Having joined DGMN in 2022, his work empowers partners to better understand and reach the Dollar General customer through innovative media strategies.

Previously, Sean served as Senior Analyst at Ovative Group, where he advised Fortune 50 clients on media measurement infrastructure, KPI alignment and customer-centric strategy. His contributions spanned industries including retail, healthcare and food delivery, and helped scale Ovative during a period of rapid growth.

Sean holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is currently pursuing his MBA at Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management.

Dollar General is the nation’s largest retailer by store count, with over 20,000 stores, 80% of which are in rural markets of less than 20,000 people. DGMN connects advertisers to rural shoppers across the US using their rich first party data asset.

Sr Manager Retail Media – Nestlé Health Science

Jarred Wilichinsky is Paramount’s Senior Vice President of Global Digital Ad Operations.

Paul Richardson-Owen, Chief Digital Transformation Officer in charge of the Apple account at OMD, is a results focused and tech-savvy media and marketing leader with more than 15 years of experience devising and executing best-in-class media strategies, creative solutions and new capabilities for iconic industry-leading brands including Apple, Microsoft, P&G and Adidas.

SVP of Global Growth – U Beauty

Casey Squier is a senior leader in digital advertising, currently driving growth and strategic partnerships at Quantcast, an AI-powered platform helping brands and agencies achieve measurable performance across the open internet. With deep experience across programmatic, data-driven marketing, and agency partnerships, Casey has worked closely with leading brands and holding companies to unlock more efficient, performance-driven media strategies. He is known for translating complex ad tech into clear business outcomes and helping organizations navigate the evolving landscape of AI-powered advertising.

Mike Hood is Senior Vice President, Partnership Product Sales at NBCUniversal, where he is focused on leading the growth of advertising solutions across streaming and programmatic activations. His team oversees partnerships that empower brands to target advanced audience segments and implement measurement that proves the effectiveness of their streaming campaigns. Mike is passionate about teaming up with partners to build a future where CTV advertising brings the most premium content and digital performance capabilities together. 

In his previous roles, Mike has led advertising sales and partnerships for Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, and Apple News. Prior to his time at NBCUniversal, he was a Director at Tremor Video (now Nexxen), driving demand for some of the earliest CTV private marketplace deals as well as business development for the Tremor Video DSP. Mike got his start in digital media at Yahoo, where he helped his clients navigate the rapid innovation taking place in performance media across Yahoo’s native advertising solutions, digital sponsorships, and burgeoning programmatic video.

Senior Director, Revenue & Growth – Jolt Charge

Benoit Vatere is the chief media officer of Liquid Death, one of the fastest growing non-alcoholic beverage brands. Liquid Death uses comedy and entertainment to make health and sustainability 50 times more fun. It takes low-calorie beverages and packages them into infinitely recyclable cans that compete with the fun marketing of unhealthy brands across beer and junk food. Its product lines include mountain water, soda-flavored sparkling water, iced tea, and energy. A portion of Liquid Death’s proceeds helps kill plastic pollution.

Prior to Liquid Death, Benoit founded Mammoth Media, a digital-to-retail technology company where he built and executed strategic digital media campaigns with focus on incrementality for leading CPG brands such as Pepsi, Lemon Perfect, 7 Eleven, and Siete. Before Mammoth Media, Benoit served as the CEO of mobile gaming monetization platform Playhaven and co-founded conversion optimization company magnify360.

Benoit holds a master’s degree in engineering and a marketing degree from Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Sciences Agronomiques de Bordeaux.

Cady Glaser is a seasoned marketing leader driving strategic partnerships and growth for DoorDash’s Ads business across four key areas—Retailers, Non-Endemic, Agency, and Offsite Media—collectively known as New Ventures. As Head of New Ventures, she leads the development and execution of initiatives that serve as net-new growth levers for DoorDash.

Before joining DoorDash, Cady led strategic brand partnerships at Whatnot, the Series F-funded livestream e-commerce platform. Prior to that, she spent several years at Amazon Ads, where she played a key role in building the advertising business from its early days, spanning ad tech as well as the hospitality and financial services categories.

Cady holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Stanford University and a Master’s in International Development from New York University. She currently resides in Los Angeles with her husband and daughter.

Director, Retail Media Measurement, Reporting & Insights – Heritage Grocers Group

Evan Giamanco is Group Senior Vice President, Ad Product & Revenue Strategy at Warner Bros. Discovery. In this role, Giamanco is responsible for the development and execution of Warner Bros. Discovery’s advertising strategy and ad product development efforts. He leads the expansion of Shop with HBOMax, Moments, the ad product suite and sales development. 

Giamanco plays a key role in creating a holistic sales approach across Warner Bros. Discovery’s business, which includes its entertainment, news and family verticals, focusing on its on and off-platform monetization efforts and go-to-market strategies.  

Before taking on his current role, Giamanco served as senior vice president of sales strategy and operations, where he led sales strategy and ad product development across CNN Digital. 

Giamanco was previously vice president of business operations at SimpleReach, a company that specializes in providing content creators with measurement and optimization capabilities across digital and social channels. There, he built an operations team from the ground up, while leading campaign management and marketing across the company. Prior to SimpleReach, Giamanco was vice president of Business Insider Studios & ad strategy at Business Insider, and spent over nine years of his career at People.com, where he established his digital background. 

Based in New York, Giamanco has a Bachelor of Business Administration in marketing and e-commerce from Fordham University, as well as a Master of Business Administration in marketing and e-commerce from St. John’s University.

Evan Hovorka is Vice President of Product Innovation at Albertsons Media Collective. Evan and his team focus mainly on the expansion and diversification of Albertsons Media Collective’s product mix, adtech stack and capabilities through strong collaboration and key external partnerships. By assessing market demand, Evan and his team have been able to uncover and build solutions for a variety of advertisers and consumer concerns.

Evan’s 20+ year industry experience across innovation, data, privacy and business, combined with his deep passion for finding solutions to complex problems, has allowed him to redefine what’s possible for Albertsons’ retail media offering.

Prior to his time at Albertsons Media Collective, Evan was at Target for over 17 years in various roles from Senior Data Analyst to Director of Business Development and Monetization Products for Target’s retail media network, Roundel. There, Evan managed digital media channels and drove product and partnerships, taking the retail media network from launch to its first billion-dollar year.

Evan holds an MBA and a bachelor’s degree in computer science.

Motivated by data and her sheer curiosity about the CTV/OTT landscape, Kristin Eardley is the Head of Programmatic & Revenue Partnerships at Tastemade, a leading food media brand. Each day, we connect with millions of viewers across all major streaming and social platforms. We create award-winning original series and videos that we share with our passionate and engaged community. She is responsible for the development of key programmatic partnerships, strategy, and revenue growth across Tastemade’s global streaming channels.

Prior to Tastemade, Kristin brings with her 20+ years of experience in digital client development and contributed to revenue growth for some of the world’s leading technology companies including Time Inc., Fox Interactive Media, and Yelp.

With over a decade of experience within the Amazon ecosystem, Bob specializes in bridging the gap between complex ad tech and brand growth. After a nine-year tenure at Amazon Ads spanning from grocery brand development to DSP agency strategy Bob joined Tinuiti four years ago to lead their Amazon Commerce Innovation division. Today, he focuses on high-impact initiatives like Amazon Marketing Cloud, Streaming TV, and omnichannel measurement, ensuring brands stay ahead of the curve in an evolving marketplace.  

Adam Shrout is Senior Account Executive, Lyft Ads at Lyft.

Tasha Day is the VP of Media Planning & Strategy at Exverus by Brainlabs and CampaignUS’ 2024 Media Buyer/Planner of the Year. Her teams serve Fortune 500 brands like Premier Protein, TV’s “The Chosen,” and Xponential Fitness. Tasha brings 21 years of full-funnel advertising experience from prestigious agencies and credentials from the Northwestern Kellogg School of Management.

Alex Loza is the Vice President of Enterprise Sales at TelevisaUnivision, the world’s leading Spanish-language media company. In his role, Loza is tasked with advancing how the telecom category shows up, connects and creates value. As TelevisaUnivision continues to evolve, Alex’s work centers on translating that vision into clear, strategic opportunities for brands — moving beyond transactional media toward long-term category growth. He partners with teams to remove friction, challenge legacy thinking and develop strategies that reflect where telecom and consumers are headed next, not where they’ve been.

With over 16 years of experience building enterprise partnerships across the digital landscape, Loza is a strategic digital advertising leader who brings extensive expertise in omni-channel strategies that bridge traditional linear video to emerging platforms and channels, including long form, short form, vertical, CTV, social, programmatic and beyond.

Rich Kim is the Senior Vice President of Biddable Media at Canvas Worldwide.

Jonathan is a leading expert in Retail Media and AdTech, with a track record of helping brands and retailers harness data-driven media solutions to drive growth. As Head of Retail Media at Broadsign — an advanced advertising platform that helps retailers monetize their Digital In-Store assets — he spearheads sales, strategy, and partnerships, enabling retailers to unlock new revenue streams.

Before joining Broadsign, Jonathan served as Vice President of Retail at Neptune Retail Solutions (formerly News Marketing Canada), where he led the company’s expansion in the Canadian market. Working with major retailers like Loblaw, Metro, and Save-on-Foods, he played a key role in integrating omnichannel media strategies and launching innovative retail media initiatives.

With deep expertise in in-store media, shopper intelligence, and programmatic advertising, Jonathan is passionate about helping brands and retailers create data-driven omnichannel retail media campaigns that deliver measurable impact.

Derek Gatts is the Vice President of Streaming & Digital Advertising Strategy and Innovation at Warner Bros. Discovery. A recognized thought leader in advertising innovation, he leads ad product strategy and development across the company’s expansive portfolio. Gatts is at the forefront of the industry’s shift toward contextual advertising & interactivity on Connected TV. He has been instrumental in driving the development of shoppable video formats, championing standardization across the marketplace, and leveraging generative AI to move beyond basic genre curation to unlock deeper contextual advertising signals. His work focuses on transforming the living room screen from a brand awareness vehicle into a powerful driver of direct consumer action.

Prior to his current tenure, which began in April 2019, Gatts served as the Global Head of Advertising Innovation and Operations at Bloomberg Media Group, overseeing ad product, programmatic, media planning, and client marketing across digital, linear, radio, and print platforms. At Bloomberg, he spearheaded the creation of “Ad.apt”—a suite of proprietary, data-driven display ad formats that dynamically customized creative. He was also a staunch advocate for user experience and brand protection, leading a major quality initiative that successfully cut page load times in half. Before Bloomberg, Gatts spent nearly a decade at Time Inc. in key operational, ad product, and strategy roles, executing high-impact mobile and video campaigns across iconic brands like People and Entertainment Weekly.

Beyond his extensive career in media and technology, Gatts’s early professional life was spent on the stage as an actor in New York City, performing in numerous classic musicals. He resides in Bloomfield, New Jersey, with his wife Noel and three children, Parker, Easton & Bellamy.

Benjamin Bain, Associate Director – Paid Search – AXM (Ars X Machina)

In 2012 Nicole Collins joined the founding team at ipsy, the multi-billion dollar business that is the world’s largest and most successful beauty sample subscription company. Quickly after launch, the business skyrocketed. ipsy raised $100M in 2015 solidifying itself as a Silicon Valley Unicorn and transformed the way beauty brands market to and interact with consumers. In the summer of 2023, she launched 213Deli with Corey Weiss and Jules Camposano. 213Deli is the beauty industry’s first multi-brand text-to-buy service. Customers receive weekly texts featuring the best in beauty and simply reply to buy.

A native Angeleno, Nicole finds joy in the simple pleasures of being barefoot on the beach, hiking and playing with new beauty products. She lives with her husband and their lively young twins. She’s continually inspired by fellow female founders putting their stamp on the beauty industry. 

Con más de 15 años de experiencia impulsando estrategias comerciales y de marketing en empresas líderes del sector retail y consumo masivo. A lo largo de su trayectoria, ha liderado iniciativas de transformación digital, shopper marketing y retail media, colaborando con marcas globales para conectar con consumidores en el punto de venta. Actualmente, Noé se enfoca en el desarrollo de soluciones innovadoras de in-store retail media, integrando tecnología, data y creatividad para maximizar el impacto en tienda. Es un convencido del poder del retail como medio para entender y conectar con el cliente y de la colaboración entre marcas y retailers para generar valor conjunto al consumidor.

CJ Pendleton is the Chief Strategy Officer at Matrixx CPG, a full-service, award-winning shopper marketing agency that helps CPG brands engage and win consumers at both physical and digital storefronts. Over the course of his 13-year tenure at Matrixx, CJ has helped the agency stay ahead of the curve as traditional shopper marketing has transitioned into the retail media era, building out new strategies and capabilities to help challenger brands excel at retailers like Walmart, Target, Kroger, and Instacart.

In his current role, CJ leads annual client planning with key retail media networks including agency joint business plans and has spearheaded the agency’s partnership with Skai to centralize and streamline retail media campaign management across the organization. Matrixx has also partnered with in-store media platforms such as Swiftly, Looma, Barrows and Vibenomics to add targeted, in-aisle digital signage to Matrixx’s clients’ broader retail media executions all while keeping focus on Matrixx’s core objective: driving incremental sales for their clients. His previous experience at Zico Coconut Water gave him firsthand insight into the brand-side challenges that Matrixx now helps clients solve every day.

CJ is a graduate of the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado and lives in Denver, Colorado with his wife and young son. He enjoys skiing (when the weather cooperates), gravel biking and making grocery shoppers uncomfortable by taking lots of photos while in the store.

Brittany Hershkowitz is Chief Marketing & Brand Officer at IRCODE, a computer vision AI company solving one of television’s longest-standing challenges: true attribution.
IRCODE’s patented EXACT Match technology transforms any frame of broadcast or streaming content into an interactive, shoppable experience, without QR codes, overlays, or interruptions to the viewing experience. For the first time, advertisers and networks can close the loop between what’s seen on screen and what drives action, whether that conversion happens through the television itself or a second-screen mobile device. Every scan is tracked, timestamped, and tied directly back to the content, creating a new performance channel out of the medium that has historically been the hardest to measure.
For brands, it means television finally performs like digital. For networks and streaming platforms, it unlocks a new revenue layer embedded directly in the content they already own. For audiences, engagement is entirely frictionless.
Brittany brings extensive experience building brands and businesses at the intersection of entertainment, technology, and media, with deep roots across the very studios, platforms, and content ecosystems that IRCODE is now transforming. She has developed and executed strategic campaigns and growth programs for Netflix, Amazon Studios, Fox Home Entertainment, Prime Video, BET, Crackle, Condé Nast Studios, Getty, Spotify, TIDAL, FanDuel, Pinterest, AWS, and TikTok, spanning studio launches, platform growth, digital distribution, audience development, and global brand launches across linear and streaming environments.

Co-Founder & COO – SOSHE Beauty

Dan Callahan is the Senior Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer for Spectrum Reach, the advertising and sales division of Charter Communications. In this role, Dan is responsible for all revenue generation activities at Spectrum Reach, leveraging his extensive experience to create new growth opportunities for its advertising and sales capabilities. He is an experienced sales executive with a proven track record of strategy, innovation, and transformation within the industry. He is committed to shaping the future of converged, addressable, and data-enabled TV, and will be instrumental as Spectrum Reach continues to create new growth opportunities for our advertising and sales capabilities. 

As a veteran in the media, marketing, and advertising sales industry, Dan has been at the forefront of change and innovation with a steady focus on the ‘next generation’ of advertising capabilities, notably around addressable and programmatic advertising solutions. He holds a B.A. from Wake Forest University.

Dave Coleman is the President of Ocean Media, where he’s focused on helping brands outsmart their competition and deliver advertising results that can be quantified.

As Index Exchange’s senior vice president of platform and partnerships, Catherine Patterson oversees the company’s DSP and publisher-facing teams, strengthening executive relationships, driving growth, and aligning go-to-market and product priorities with evolving customer needs.

With more than 15 years in the digital advertising ecosystem, Catherine most recently served as General Manager of Inventory Management and Operations at The Trade Desk, where she led supply strategy across streaming TV, display, audio, and emerging channels. She advanced strategic publisher and SSP partnerships and drove initiatives spanning identity, supply path optimization, and marketplace transparency. Prior to The Trade Desk, she held roles on both the demand and supply sides at Mindshare, Pandora, and Yahoo.

A Colorado native, Catherine now lives in New York.

Wendy Rubiano is the Director of Marketing at Vallarta Supermarkets, where she leads brand storytelling, retail media innovation, and digital ecosystem growth for one of the fastest-growing Hispanic grocery chains in the U.S.

With over 20 years of experience in digital marketing, she has built and scaled high-impact programs across social media, influencer marketing, and retail media driving measurable revenue growth and expanding digital audiences. Under her leadership, Vallarta’s platforms have experienced significant growth and increased engagement.

Wendy is known for blending data-driven strategy with authentic storytelling to create meaningful connections with multicultural audiences. She has led 360° campaigns and developed vendor-funded media programs that bridge in-store experiences with digital engagement.

A passionate leader and speaker, Wendy brings a unique perspective on how culture, community, and commerce intersect to shape the future of retail media.

Mark Kapczynski is the Head of Advertising Services as part of the Commerce Media Network at RE/MAX in the real estate market. He focuses on 360 partnerships for brands that help to solve challenges for RE/MAX home buyers and sellers. RE/MAX has a unique home buying audience along with over 50,000 agents in the US.

Kapczynski previously ran Kontrol Media Consultancy and served as CMO for several companies, working in executive roles at Envestnet:Yodlee, Experian, FreeCreditReport.com and Microsoft.

Erick Opeka has served as Cineverse’s Chief Strategy Officer and President since December 2020, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the company’s streaming and distribution operations, and driving Cineverse’s corporate strategy and M&A initiatives. Under his leadership, Cineverse has reached over 80 million monthly viewers and more than 1.5 million paying subscribers through proprietary brands and strategic partnerships, resulting in triple-digit growth, and positioning the Company as the largest independent streaming library and channel portfolio. 

Prior to his current role, Mr. Opeka served as EVP of the company’s Global Digital Distribution business, managing a library of over 60,000 hours of content from various partners, including WWE, Discovery Networks, and National Geographic. Before joining Cineverse, he co-founded and led the independent distributor New Video’s streaming business. Mr. Opeka transformed it into the world’s largest independent film & TV aggregator, distributing over 35,000 hours of content from more than 650 partners, such as A&E Networks, The Jim Henson Company, and Scholastic Entertainment. 

Mr. Opeka began his entertainment career at Madstone Entertainment, and prior to that, he served in the US Army infantry. He currently serves as the Vice Chairman of streaming trade organization OTT.X and on the Board of Directors of film and television production company Roundtable Entertainment. Mr. Opeka holds a BA degree from The University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from Florida State University.

Senior Director – Audience, Insights and Measurement

Jeff Coleman is a 15-year veteran of the Retail Media and eCommerce industry. He built and managed industry-leading Amazon management and Retail Media agency teams at CPC Strategy and Tinuiti, and is currently the Chief Client Officer of BirdDog Media Agency. When he’s not blazing trails in the Retail Media industry, you can catch him on the softball field coaching his daughters’ softball teams, or sailing around San Diego Bay.

Brittany joined Target in February of 2024 as Senior Director, leading Roundel’s Partner Solution Group’s discretionary business. Her organization partners with hardlines, home, and apparel & accessories vendors to drive meaningful business outcomes leveraging Roundel’s media solutions. Brittany is an action-oriented sales leader with a track record of driving large scale organizational impact with operational excellence. Prior to joining Target, Brittany spent seven years at Amazon in a variety of vendor management, sales and leadership positions across their Retail and Amazon Ads orgs.​

Prior to joining Amazon, Brittany held several roles at Procter & Gamble including analyst, program management, and sales roles. Brittany holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administrations & Economics from Illinois Wesleyan University and an MBA from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. Originally from the Mid-West, Brittany now resides in Los Angelos, California with her husband Charles and two children.

Skyler McGill is a marketing leader with over a decade of experience driving performance and brand growth across D2C, Retail, Finance, Entertainment, and B2B. At Wpromote, Skyler leads the agency’s Programmatic, Site-Direct, and Traditional media practices, overseeing 9-figure annual budgets and a 40+ person team spanning Programmatic, Retail Media, CTV, DOOH, Audio, High-Impact Display, Digital Video, and Linear channels.

Skyler is known for building agile, future-ready media programs that balance innovation with accountability. His work centers on activating and scaling emerging programmatic environments from Connected TV to Digital Out-of-Home while tying media investments back to unified measurement models like MMM. With a focus on both DR performance and long-term brand equity, Skyler brings operational rigor and strategic clarity to an ever-evolving media landscape.

Jordan Anacker is a Senior Client Partner at Snapchat. He works closely with retail media networks to help retailers and brands build and scale commerce media programs. With more than a decade of data-driven advertising experience and time spent leading sales analytics teams at Snap, he brings a blend of auction, audience, and measurement expertise to make retail media work harder and smarter. He’s also a go-to internal thought leader on where retail media and commerce are headed next.

A self-described nerd at heart, Jordan loves rolling up his sleeves to untangle complex problems with data almost as much as he loves the LA food scene (ask me for recs if you’re from out of town)! 

Nicole Meyers is a media and marketing leader with over 18 years of experience driving innovative, audience-first strategies for some of the world’s leading brands. She currently works at Publicis Imagine as EVP, Client Lead and Investment, where she specializes in integrated media investment, client leadership, and building campaigns that deliver both cultural relevance and measurable impact. Known for her strategic mindset and collaborative approach, Nicole looks to help clients and her team navigate an increasingly complex media landscape to drive value and create meaningful connections with consumers.

Nicole has spent her career on the agency-side, with prior roles at Initiative, OMG23, and Carat.

James Taylor is the Founder and CEO of Particular Audience, an AI-native retail media company trusted by leading global retailers. Founded in 2017, Particular Audience powers how products are ranked across search, recommendations, and sponsored placements—driving materially higher revenue, conversion, and relevance from retailer-owned digital shelves.

James is a recognised authority on retail media infrastructure and automated decisioning, focused on replacing manual, keyword-based ad systems with AI that maximises profit while protecting shopper trust.

Luke Stadel is Vice President of Client Strategy and Analytics at Tinuiti.

Sales and product strategy executive experienced in launching and scaling data-driven sales teams with global management experience across sales, product strategy, and account management.

Jerrold Son is Vice President, Ad Rev Ops for Xumo Advertising.  In this role, Jerrold oversees all aspects of the advertising tech stack for Xumo, a streaming platform joint venture between Comcast and Charter, including yield management, media buying, trafficking, account management, product innovation and strategy. He previously served as Executive Director, Ad Operations.

Prior to joining Xumo in 2020, Jerrold served as the Chief Revenue Officer at SuperMoney, the premier financial services comparison engine. With over two decades of experience in advertising technology and operations, he has also served as SVP of Digital Media at both ConsumerTrack and Fox Dealer and as SVP of Operations at Viant, VINDICO Group and Specific Media.

Jerrold is actively involved with industry organizations, participating in both the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC) and Comcast Advertising’s FreeWheel Council. Jerrold earned a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Master of Business Administration from USC Marshall School of Business. He also graduated from University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business’ NAMIC Executive Leadership Development Program. He resides in Brea, California with his family.

Sean Edwards is the Director of Programmatic & Retail Media at Exverus by Brainlabs, where he oversees the agency’s robust, in-house programmatic trade desk and e-commerce departments for challenger brands like Premier Protein and New Belgium Brewing. His knowledge of cutting-edge ad tech combines broad reach with precise performance and attribution data. Sean brings a decade of paid media experience from leading agencies and regularly lends his expertise to trade publications and conference stages.

Andreas Ranasen is a Creative Director and brand leader with over 15 years of experience across beauty, fashion, and entertainment. Currently serving as Head of Brand at Chief Detective, he focuses on building performance-driven creative systems that turn attention into action across paid social, email, and digital experiences. His work includes brands such as SKIMS, Hanacure, and Fabletics, as well as major global film studios.

Michael Shields is the Founder and CEO of Vica, a technology-enabled creative agency focused on making premium video advertising accessible to small and mid-sized businesses. Vica deploys cutting edge generative AI models to develop cinematic quality video advertising and deliver it across leading streaming services. With more than two decades of experience at the intersection of media, advertising, and technology, Michael has built and scaled innovative products across both startups and global organizations.

Before founding Vica, he held senior leadership roles at 21st Century Fox, Viacom, Warner Music Group, and TripleLift, where he led initiatives spanning connected TV, digital strategy, and business development. Known for identifying untapped market opportunities, Michael has consistently driven growth through innovative product development and strategic partnerships.

He holds a B.A. from Columbia University and an MBA from the University of Oxford, and is a recognized voice on the impact of artificial intelligence on the future of the industry.

Ryan Woodhatch is a Senior Director and member of the inaugural Versant Digital Platforms and Ventures team, where he leads advertising sales and data partnerships across Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow and GolfPass.

With more than 30 years building brands across every major shift in modern media, Christopher Donovan is one of the most versatile creative marketing executives working in Los Angeles today. His career spans legacy broadcast and cable to streaming, digital, and social, encompassing Super Bowl campaigns at BBDO, league launches at Fox Sports, the ground-up creation of The CW Television Network, creative leadership across two cable networks at NBCUniversal, and streaming-era work for HBO Max, Netflix, FX, and Discovery+. He has built and led departments, managed eight-figure budgets, and produced work recognized by Cannes, Clios, London International Awards, GEMA, and the New York Film Festival. Today, as co-founder and principal of Upstart, a full-service marketing and brand strategy practice, he brings that same caliber of creative leadership to small and medium businesses, pairing brand strategy with performance marketing to build companies ready to compete at a higher level.

Janell Smith is a Martial Arts Master, business leader, and media executive. She is the Founder and Owner of IDTVFLIX, a global streaming platform focused on independent films, original series, and live sports content. Grounded in the discipline, resilience, and leadership principles of martial arts, Janell has built and led multiple ventures, combining storytelling, technology, and empowerment. Her work bridges combat sports, film, and digital media while creating opportunities for creators and brands to reach millions of viewers.

Founder & CEO of The Darl | Host of Coffee Nº 5 Podcast

Lara Schmoisman is the Founder and CEO of The Darl, a premier full-service marketing agency where she leads global growth strategy for brands in the beauty, wellness, and lifestyle sectors. With a career spanning radio and television, Lara specializes in bridging the gap between high-level creative vision and rigorous technical execution, ensuring clients are positioned to win in an increasingly complex and connected digital marketplace.

A recognized authority in entrepreneurship, Lara was named to the Forbes Next 1000, a list of entrepreneurs and self-made businesses with the potential to redefine their industries. Her leadership and impact have further been recognized as a finalist for the LA Times Inspirational Women Awards, reflecting her influence as a visionary leader and mentor in the global marketing landscape.

Lara’s influence extends into academia, where she has served as a Lecturer at Cal Poly Pomona and a specialized instructor of Digital Marketing for the Fashion Industry. This academic background informs her commitment to intellectual discipline and her role in developing the next generation of marketing leaders, bringing a unique blend of pedagogical rigor and real-world application to her strategic consulting.

At the core of Lara’s approach is a focus on future-proofing brand discovery and leveraging the “halo effect” to build cohesive, high-impact brand ecosystems. As an early adopter and strategist in Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), she is fascinated by the evolution of AI-driven search and how it reshapes consumer behavior. By anticipating how Large Language Models (LLMs) and AI agents interact with brand data, she empowers her clients to secure a strategic advantage—focusing on building “algorithmic trust” and structured data foundations that drive both performance and long-term resilience.

Through her podcast, Coffee Nº 5, Lara has helped shape the global conversation around brand building, success, and the mechanics of scaling within a modern digital ecosystem. With over 1 million downloads and a consistent ranking in the Top 30 Entrepreneurship podcasts on Apple, the platform serves as an influential space for unfiltered dialogue with industry icons and experts. Lara utilizes the show to demystify the complexities of legacy brand evolution, providing a strategic roadmap to empower a global community of founders and leaders.

Lara is also a deeply respected specialist in international market entry, recognized for guiding brands from Australia and Latin America through the cultural and operational shifts required for a successful United States launch. She provides the strategic infrastructure and market foresight necessary to navigate global expansion with disciplined precision and operational excellence.

Committed to the intersection of strategic rigor and transformative innovation, Lara navigates the complexities of the modern digital landscape with an unwavering focus on long-term value. 

Allison McGuire is a marketing executive and advisor with deep expertise in ecommerce growth, digital strategy, and multi-channel marketing. During her 10-year tenure as Vice President of Marketing at Paper Mart, she led initiatives across paid media, affiliate, email, and SMS that drove record revenue and the company’s most profitable years. She now advises companies and executives on digital growth, commerce media, and marketing strategy.

Albert is a seasoned e-commerce strategist with over 15 years of experience driving digital growth and innovation. As the founder of FoxSignal, they specialize in helping brands navigate the intersection of commerce and emerging technology. A dedicated community builder and AI advocate, Albert focuses on empowering brands to leverage artificial intelligence tools for deeper consumer connections and streamlined operations.

Chris Hannan serves as Head of Sports at Trailer Park Group, the industry leader in culture-shaping marketing across entertainment, sports, gaming, and brands. He is responsible for building and executing the company’s strategic expansion into the sports industry—developing partnerships with top properties, delivering world-class creative and production, and driving operational excellence across the division. 

Hannan’s expertise spans social media, digital content strategy, and business development, helping leading sports organizations expand their reach and impact. Previously, he held senior executive positions in sales, marketing, and communications at FOX Sports, Endeavor, and the Big3 Basketball League.

In addition to his executive work, Hannan is an adjunct professor at Syracuse University, where he teaches the Sports Media Pitch course for the Newhouse School’s Los Angeles program.

Brett Whelan is Co-Founder of Forma Media, a company built by media agency and sales leadership veterans to help organizations move from AI curiosity to real implementation. With 25+ years of media agency leadership at Initiative, Canvas Worldwide, and Publicis, Brett built his career across investment, strategy, and cross-channel planning on major accounts including The Home Depot, Dr Pepper, Amazon, and Hulu, and was named an AdWeek LA Media Star. 

Today he works with teams at companies like Fox, Spotify, AETN, and Televisa Univision to build AI into the workflows that actually drive their business. Brett sits at the intersection of media and marketing experience and hands-on AI deployment, giving him a rare vantage point on how AI is reshaping the buyer-seller relationship across the advertising ecosystem.

An Ex Verizon, Warner Bros, National Hot Rod Association and Disney leader, Pam Allison is currently a Venue Technology Consultant at the world’s leading sports and entertainment company AEG.

Justin is a commerce media leader with 15 years of experience across media strategy, investment, performance, and operations, with deep expertise in CTV, retail media networks, and creative-driven growth. As former VP of Media & Creative Strategy at Monks, he led integrated strategy for General Motors and major global brands, blending brand storytelling with measurable performance. He played a key role in launching Albertsons Media Collective, helping build and scale a retail media network grounded in performance rigor. His background spans automotive, CPG, alc/bev, ecommerce, tech, luxury, and entertainment, with experience leading major product launches, Super Bowl campaigns, and high-profile initiatives like YouTube’s Sunday Ticket.

Heather Ruiz an award winning marketing leader who builds iconic brands. Over a 20+ year career with Fortune 50 companies including Verizon, T-Mobile, DISH, and Sling TV, she has driven large-scale, omnichannel campaigns that connect culture, community, and performance.

Known for her ability to translate consumer insights into bold, results-driven strategy. She operates at the forefront of media and marketing evolution. She currently serves as a Fractional CMO in San Diego, partnering with brands to elevate visibility, engagement, and long-term growth.

Abbey Thomas is an industry recognized CTV/Video Expert and AI Enthusiast who works with early stage companies to accelerate adoption and drive rapid growth. As Chief Commercial Officer at Anoki AI, Abbey is helping usher in a new wave of FAST 2.0 aimed at PII compliant and personalization for experience and advertising harnessing multimodal contextual intelligence. Previously Abbey served as Chief Revenue Officer at OpenAP, the platform uniting the television ecosystem’s advanced advertising business across NBC Universal, Paramount, Warner Brothers Discovery, and others. Her responsibilities for driving the company’s Holding Company Enterprise MSA’s included oversight of Platform Sales, Client Strategy, and Client Success. As the first Enterprise Sales hire, Abbey built the company’s revenue practice from the ground up by driving buy side adoption of TV’s advanced advertising platform, growing OpenAP’s portfolio of clients to hundreds of advertisers and scaling the company north of $1B in total platform sales. Under Abbey’s leadership, OpenAP established strategic partnerships with leading holding companies.  Prior to OpenAP, Abbey served as Chief Marketing Officer at Tremor Video, overseeing creative, PR, product and sales marketing functions; and representing the company internationally across the industry’s largest stages at Cannes, Mobile World Congress, and Ad Week. She led various sales teams at Tremor Video including the Entertainment Vertical, as well as founding the Categorical practice at the organization, over her ten year tenure.  Previously, Abbey was responsible for the west coast digital ad sales business at Entertainment Weekly. Abbey began her career at MTV working alongside the industry’s brightest females in early digital advertising beginning in 2000. She has served on the Advisory Board at the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and ThinkLA Entertainment organization. Abbey is a cum laude and early graduate from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Journalism specializing in Advertising, one of the most recognized programs in the country aimed at developing top tier ad talent. Abbey lives in Venice, CA where she resides with her two daughters.

Hiram Norman is a digital media executive and product leader known for building
and scaling streaming, technology, and monetization platforms. As former
Executive Vice President of Digital at The CW Network, he led the network’s
mobile, CTV, and online businesses, overseeing product, marketing, distribution,
and operations.
Norman incubated The CW’s digital business while serving as Senior Vice
President of Digital Marketing at Warner Bros., laying the foundation for one of
the industry’s leading AVOD platforms. As EVP, he scaled digital revenue and
drove over 100 million app downloads and channel installations, while pioneering
FAST channel strategies and non-linear viewing experiences for a digital-first
audience.
Previously, Norman held leadership roles at AOL and ABC and is a recognized
industry voice, having spoken at SXSW, NAB and NATPE.
Norman is the founder of digital strategy practice HTN Advisory and a co-founder
of Upstart, a full-service marketing and brand strategy practice, where he brings
his operator mindset to small and mid-sized businesses to help companies scale,
compete, and unlock their next phase of growth.

Executive Advisor – McKinsey & Company