Speakers


Emily Anderson

Emily Anderson

Global Growth Strategy Manager, Creator Marketplace, TikTok

Emily Anderson is a Global Growth Strategy Manager for TikTok's Creator Marketplace. Since joining TikTok in January 2021, she's worked on key projects to educate the industry on how to work with creators, including TikTok World and the Cannes Lions Festival. She has also worked on TikTok's Global Business Marketing Team, where she co-launched the Global Trends team. Prior to joining TikTok, she worked in creative strategy at The Washington Post and The Atlantic.

Jennifer Barron

Jennifer Barron

Director of Information & Analytics, Infillion

Award-winning marketing leader with a unique blend of analytical and creative thinking. Wizard at translating raw numbers into clear, concise and compelling stories. Connects the dots between cultural trends, industry changes, brands and data to turn insights into revenue. 20+ years experience at top-tier media companies and agencies in research, strategy, advertising, marketing and promotions.

Henry Chavez

Senior Agency Performance Manager, Google

Henry Chavez is a digital marketing leader helping advertising agencies and brands understand how to partner with ad tech platforms to drive business growth. His previous experiences at Meta, Amazon and currently at Google have helped shape him into a guru when it comes to understanding how to creatively solve business marketing challenges with the latest tech. In his current role as a Senior Performance Agency Manager, Henry advises Google’s largest advertising agency partners on how to maximize their Google investment to drive business outcomes for clients. He’s a big picture thinker that has an itch for figuring out how to use tech to empower people.

Kirsten Flanik

President & CEO, BBDO New York

Kirsten is the President and CEO of BBDO New York. In her role, she shapes the direction of the agency, with a focus on people, “The Work” and innovation that drives client growth. Kirsten has 30+ years of advertising experience and has spent 15 of those years with BBDO. During that time, she has been named an Ad Age “Woman to Watch,” one of the “100 Most Influential Women in Advertising” by Ad Age, a “Woman of Influence” by the New York Business Journal and one of the top “female disruptors” in advertising and tech by Adweek, among other accolades.

Steve Hall

Senior Lecturer, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Steve Hall has always been hard-wired to help shape the advertising industry in a passionate, positive, impactful way with his service as an educator, leader and volunteer. As a Senior Lecturer in the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising at the University of Illinois, Steve helps shape the future of the advertising industry by teaching, mentoring, advising and connecting students, alumni and professionals in an array of industry immersion initiatives, activities, programs and events.  

Steve Pacheco

Steve Pacheco

President & CEO, American Advertising Federation

Steve Pacheco is the President/CEO of the American Advertising Federation. Pacheco is tasked with designing a future-forward organization consistent with the changes impacting the advertising landscape. His role will span evolution of the AAF’s programs, services and membership; volunteer engagement; and serving as the voice of the advertising industry through advocacy and lobbying on key issues from free commercial speech to the advancement of diversity and inclusion.

Dawn Reeves

Dawn Reeves

EVP, Member Services & Programs, American Advertising Federation

Following two decades of volunteerism to the organization, Dawn Reeves joined the American Advertising Federation in 2018, as vice president of club services, membership and programs. In addition to managing the nationwide grassroots network consisting of 250+ collegiate, young professional and professional chapters, she serves as the liaison to the Council of Governors, National Education Executive Council and the Executive Directors Network.

C. Lee Smith

CEO, SalesFuel

C. Lee Smith is the CEO and founder of SalesFuel, a Columbus, Ohio-based firm specializing in comprehensive marketing research for the advertising industry. He is the creator of the AdMall intelligence platform, which is used by hundreds of agencies and media sales teams across the U.S. Lee is the author of the Amazon bestseller, "SalesCred: How Buyers Qualify Sellers.” He has been named to Selling Power magazine’s global list of Leading Sales Consultants every year since 2018. Lee was also recently featured on the cover of the Fall 2023 special issue of Sales and Marketing Management magazine.

Ted Rones

Ted Rones

Senior Manager, Agency Development, Amazon Ads

Ted has been in Ad Sales his entire career, admittedly, accidentally falling into it college! Prior to Amazon he was at NBC for two and a half years, CNN/Turner Broadcasting for five years and prior to broadcasting, spent time with print publications. At NBC and CNN he was predominantly focused on digital ads/digital video and mobile.  These combined efforts and experience set the stage for future success at Amazon.

Michelle Tang

Global Chief Growth Officer, McCann, North America

An advertising industry veteran, Michelle currently serves as the Chief Growth Officer of McCann, one of the most preeminent creative agencies in the world. Since her arrival, Michelle has orchestrated partnerships with global brands such as Prudential and Smirnoff. With nearly two decades of experience driving growth leading agencies, her ability to find the intersection between client challenges and agency strengths has enabled her to successfully deliver business impact at a variety of agencies from creative to digital to media.

Scott Witthaus

Professor and Recruiter, VCU Brandcenter

I am a teacher, a guide and a mentor at the Brandcenter at VCU. There is nothing more satisfying than seeing students create and accomplish things they never thought possible at the beginning of a semester. I am a storyteller, video editor and post-production producer. I craft stories from a wide variety of media into impactful stories for my clients. I am an inventor, innovator and entrepreneur. I hold a US patent for a security product that is looking for a licensing partner. I have started several companies and run several others. Building a great team of talented people focused on a clear vision is incredibly satisfying. And I can't wait to see what's next!