Tuesday, April 9th, 2013

11:30am – 1:30pm

Many organizations face the challenging conundrum of increasing revenue while reducing merchant fee expense. Learn about the strategies Delta Air Lines is using to reduce its largest distribution expense while focusing on the needs of a global customer base.

Brian Ficek | General Manager of Online Agency & Form of Payment Strategy – Delta Air Lines

Brian is the General Manager of Online Agency & Form of Payment Strategy in the Distribution Strategy Department for Delta Air Lines.  He is responsible for the Online Leisure, Corporate Agency and Travel Metasearch relationships within North America for Delta and the Joint Venture (KLM, Air France and Alitalia).  Brian also manages Delta’s UATP credit card program and forms of payment strategy.

Brian began his airline career with Northwest Airlines in 1987 and held various roles within Finance, Corporate Sales, Pricing, Marketing and eCommerce.  In 2008 Brian transitioned to Delta Air Lines as part of the merger with Northwest Airlines.  In November, 2012 Brian marked his 25^th Anniversary working in the airline industry.

Brian Ficek is a graduate of the University of North Dakota with a B.S. in Banking & Finance.

Brian lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Tuesday, March 12th, 2013

11:30am – 1:30pm

Do you know if your company’s data is safe? Do you feel comfortable with
your vendor’s use of your data? Are you sure your vendors are protecting
your data? Do you know how to keep track of all of it?

-Discuss the latest updates in Information Security Strategy and Policy Development.

-Review best practices for implementation and vendor safeguards.

-Discuss the challenges businesses face in an increasingly stringent privacy landscape.

Almir Hadzialjevic | Director of IT Compliance, Information Security & Privacy – Aaron’s, Inc.

Almir Hadzialjevic, Director of IT Compliance, Information Security & Privacy leads the information security and privacy compliance program at Aaron’s, Inc. Almir has hands on experience in developing, assessing, and sustaining IT Audit, Information Security, Privacy, Enterprise Risk Management, and Compliance programs. Prior to joining Aaron’s, Inc., Almir worked for Ernst & Young, LLP as part of their Advisory Services- Information Security Center of Excellence practice, where he helped Fortune 500 clients assess, develop, and mature their enterprise technology and security strategies, compliance and controls frameworks, & business processes. Almir holds several professional designations including Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US) and ISO 27001 Lead Implementer & Auditor.

Tuesday, February 12th, 2013

11:30am – 1:00pm

- Learn about important lessons of premium content subscriptions
- Explore several business models: B2B and B2C
- Review best practices for implementation and vendor selection
- Discuss most used value propositions, including benefits and challenges
- Evaluate practices for improving purchase throughput

Nina Woodham | Technical Product Manager, Turner Systems Global Technology and Operations

Nina Woodham, Technical Product Manager with Turner Systems Global Technology and Operations, leads platform development initiatives and consults during implementations.  Nina has over 13 years of experience in several different perspectives of ecommerce, strategic partnerships, team management, financial and payment services, and several agile software developments.

Tuesday, January 8th, 2013

11:30am – 1:00pm

Bob Gillen | Global Product Manager, UPS

Digital Commerce continues to grow exponentially around the globe as new technologies, such as mobile devices, enable consumers to directly control their shopping experience.  The result of these new technologies is an “empowered” digital consumer who can research potential purchases, buy anytime, and have goods delivered anywhere.  This rapidly changing e-commerce landscape is not only challenging the traditional brick and mortar retail model but is also impacting traditional supply-chain models.

Bob Gillen of UPS will speak about the changing e-commerce landscape from a logistics provider’s point of view.  Bob’s presentation will review recent consumer trends and outline some of the steps UPS is taking to respond to changes in the marketplace that are impacting global supply-chains.  This will include a review of a recently introduced new UPS product and how UPS blends the use of information with the physical delivery of packages to meet the needs of “digital consumers”.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012
11:30am – 1:00pm

Walt Carter | CIO, Generation Mortgage Company

Join us Tuesday as Walt discusses how companies are having to change their marketing messaging for each, very different, generation they’re marketing to, from Silent to Millennial.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012
11:30am – 1:00pm

Dr. Guido Sacchi will discuss how CIOs and corporate IT departments are facing unprecedented and often “divergent” demands: keep the lights on and bring products to market quickly, keep information assets secure and deliver compelling customer experiences, innovate and keep costs low, etc.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012, 11:30am – 1:00pm

Will Alexander is the VP of IS, Special Projects, and Logistics at RaceTrac Petroleum, Inc., discussed as retailers strive to increase profits in existing and new markets, IT departments are being asked to help lead the charge.

Jim Krall is the Director of E-Commerce for Aaron’s, Inc., a specialty retailer and lease ownership provider of residential furniture, consumer electronics, home appliances and accessories.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012
11:30am – 1:00pm

David Luther, GM North America for Distra will present how Payments are changing more now than at any point in our lifetimes. People expect immediate payments at any time from any location.