Web Team Demo Site 3
August 06 - 09, 2026
JW Marriott, Palm Springs, CA
1.888.482.6012
Pre-Conference Summit: The Customer Acquisition Summit
The newly expanded customer acquisition summit will take a deep dive into all thing acquisition from search vs. display, SEO, SEM, retargeting, influencer marketing and online advertising. How can you get the most out of these strategies without spending too much? You’ll talk to other retailers asking these questions too– we’ll run roundtables with subject experts throughout the day, mixing in case studies and panels that get into the nitty gritty so you’ll learn not just how to acquire customer but how to convert them!
7:30 am - 8:00 am
Continental Breakfast & Registration
8:00 am - 8:10 am
Welcome Remarks & Benchmarking Study
8:10 am - 8:25 am
Keynote Chairperson's Opening Remarks
8:25 am - 8:45 am
Fireside Chat: New Customer Acquisition Strategies That Increase Conversions
Figuring out how to acquire new customers can be a daunting task, but it's absolutely essential to growing your business in a meaningful way. Hear how one brand approaches customer acquisition and what they've learned along the way. Discuss:
- Finding the right acquisition channel for your business
- Understanding you don’t have a customer base install
- Looking at getting started in customer acquisition
- Branching out into different marketing channels
- Building out customer profiles and your email list
- Moving into customer retention
8:45 am - 9:10 am
Case Study: Lessons Learned From A Mobile Strategy In Full Bloom
9:10 am - 9:20 am
Roundtable Host Introductions
9:20 am - 10:40 am
Kickoff Of Interactive Roundtables
Each table is moderated by a Sponsor Executive & Retail Client with 10 Rotations & 20 minute discussions
Table #1
Moderator: Executive Presenter, YourAmigo
Table #2
Moderator: Executive Presenter, Catalyst
10:40 am - 11:10 am
Coffee & Refreshments
11:10 am - 11:40 am
Keynote Panel Discussion: Achieving The Right Balance Of SEO And SEM
Dan Marques -
Senior Director, eCommerce & Online Marketing,
Talbots
Mark Bietz -
CMO,
FUN.com
Jeff Pape -
President,
Wrestling Gear.com
Stephen McDonagh -
Senior Manager, Growth Brands & The Digital Leadership Program,
1-800-Flowers
Looking at your current SEM and SEO strategy—Do you have the right balance? Panelists will walk you through their current strategy and the results they are seeing. Discuss ideas for:
- Examining whether you have the resources needed for effective SEO
- Evaluating your brand recognition and whether your SEO is helping to build awareness
- Creating the unique content necessary for great SEO results
- Assessing whether you are over-investing in SEM
Stephen McDonagh
Senior Manager, Growth Brands & The Digital Leadership Program1-800-Flowers
11:40 am - 12:05 pm
Case Study Remix: Playing With Your Food: America's Test Kitchen Social Strategy
Fran Middleton -
Chief Digital Officer,
America’s Test Kitchen
Claire Oliverson -
Director of Social Media & Content Strategy,
America’s Test Kitchen
America’s Test Kitchen is dedicated to finding the very best recipes for home cooks. Sixty full-time test cooks, editors, and product testers spend their days testing recipes 30, 40, up to 100 times, tweaking every variable until they understand how and why recipes work. Their social strategy is no different. Join Fran Middleton, Chief Digital Officer, and Claire Oliverson, Social & Content Strategy lead, as they walk you through:
• Translating iconic brands into digital content
• Prioritizing your Social Strategy by ROI
• How to get started with video content
12:05 pm - 1:05 pm
Continuation Of Interactive Roundtables
Each table is moderated by a Sponsor Executive & Retail Client with 10 Rotations & 20 minute discussions
Table #1
Moderator: Executive Presenter, YourAmigo
Table #2
Moderator: Executive Presenter, Catalyst
1:05 pm - 2:05 pm
Lunch & Networking For All Attendees
2:05 pm - 2:35 pm
Keynote Panel Discussion Remix: Testing New Digital Marketing Strategies To Drive Acquisition
Brian Costello -
VP, Digital Demand Creation,
Shark|Ninja
Matthew Erely -
VP, Growth,
Havenly
Which digital marketing strategies have a real impact on acquisition rates? Panelists will discuss video, social media, influencer outreach and other methods for driving acquisition and get insight into how they measure the ROI of their efforts. Panelists will talk through strategies for:
- Identifying the best digital marketing strategies that have a real impact on acquisition rates
- Using video and identifying what content will drive the most engagement
- Looking at real time engagement on social media
- Figuring out Iot market applications
- Using influencer outreach to support your strategies
- Measuring the ROI to get as big a return as possible
2:35 pm - 3:05 pm
Case Study: Upping Your Online Advertising Game
Discuss additional tactics to optimize paid search campaigns to help improve ROI.
- Using Google Analytics and Google Adwords keyword data to feed back into SEM programs; organic keywords, DSA keywords, etc.
- Text ad best practices and how to use test results to drive more text ad engagement. Run through different components to test; headlines, CTAs, etc.
- Go deeper w/extensions, i.e. locations to increase / decrease bids, review extensions, sitelink rotation, structured snippets, etc.
- How to optimize device types
3:05 pm - 3:35 pm
Afternoon Coffee & Refreshments
3:35 pm - 4:05 pm
Panel Discussion: Not Just For Your Advertising —Using Social Selling To Increase Sales
Amy Rapawy -
SVP, Marketing,
Rachel Roy
Stephen McDonagh -
Senior Manager, Growth Brands & The Digital Leadership Program,
1-800-Flowers
How are you shifting from a discovery based mindset to a sales based mindset on social platforms? In this panel, hear how brands are leveraging a variety of social platforms for selling.
Discuss:
- Utilizing image-based platforms as if they are catalogs to lead to a direct sale
- Looking at ways that commerce is happening on social platforms
- Understanding the potential for revenues coming from social platforms
- Avoiding pitfalls to ensure success
- Working through potential back-end challenges
Stephen McDonagh
Senior Manager, Growth Brands & The Digital Leadership Program1-800-Flowers
3:35 pm - 4:05 pm
Case Study Remix: Keeping Up With The Ever Changing SEO Landscape
Knowing that search algorithms change constantly, how can you stay up to speed? Discuss the importance of mobile friendliness, keywords and geographic location as well as places to go to for the latest tips from SEO experts.
- Discussing how Google algorithm updates are impacting your business
- Predicting the impact of the changes you make to your search program
- Examining whether site extensions hurt or help you
- Looking at the impact of your user experience on site engagement
4:30 pm - 4:40 pm
Conclusion Of The Customer Acquisition Summit
4:40 pm - 5:30 pm
Retailer-Only Speed Dating: Bring Your Business Cards - You'll Need Them!
Think speed dating (without the date)! This fun session lets you meet a load of new and interesting people before the main conference kicks off. Grab a glass of wine or a cold beer and get your business cards ready!
5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Welcome Reception At The New England Aquarium
Kick off your week in Boston by enjoying delicious food, cocktails and a beautiful view of Boston’s historic harbor and skyline before
heading inside for an evening full of wonder with full access to the aquarium!