ThinkTank US Speakers - Awin

Joining Awin and ShareASale as President, North America in February 2024, Adam is an experienced leader with 20+ years in online marketing and advertising. A prominent figure in the affiliate and performance marketing industry, he excels in driving vision, roadmap development, client relations, building high-performing teams, and strategic direction to deliver budget and sales goals. 

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Andrew Shapiro founded Tomahawk Shades with his twin brother, Ryan Shapiro, as a senior college project In 2012. The goal to create and finish a project turned into a goal to create a sunglasses company that was affordable but also had the materials used by top-of-the-line industry leaders.  

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Al Ryrie is the CEO and Founder of Help Me Choose A.I., a product quiz and zero-party data platform that helps turn more store visitors into happy, confident customers.For the past 12 years Al has worked at the intersection of artificial intelligence (A.I. not Al) and ecommerce. Specializing in intelligent product recommendations and helping customers find their way to a confident purchase decision.Working with hundreds of brands internationally, including HP, Canon and Samsung, this has given Al a unique and deep insight into how buying journeys and Customer Experience can be enriched, enabled and optimized with A.I. tools. As a long time participant and a current active partner of the affiliate industry, Al is a huge believer in the access to innovation that affiliate marketing can enable, and is keen to share his experience and insight with ThinkThank. 

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David joined Awin & ShareASale in January 2022, having previously been General Manager for Alibaba Group in the UK, Netherlands and Nordics. David brings international digital expertise after 15 years in leadership roles at Alibaba and Google. At Alibaba David helped hundreds of European businesses to launch their digital operations in China, while establishing and growing the teams in Northern Europe; at Google, among other roles he led the UK Retail & Technology sales and operations teams. With overall responsibility for the Awin Group's relationship with its customers, David's focus is on ensuring that all customers, of all sizes, enjoy success and sustainable growth as they work with both platforms. 

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As the VP of Growth & Partnerships at Today's Business, Joe Sanfilippo has been in the digital marketing industry for nearly a decade. Joe was selected as a Top 30 US Partnership Marketing Changemaker in 2023 for his work growing affiliate programs primarily in the fashion, food, and wellness categories. Joe has a unique perspective on partnerships as he often sits on both sides of the negotiating table. Joe is a Co-Owner of Tomahawk Shades, so he has insights on how the affiliate marketing landscape operates from the standpoint of a brand owner. He is also an NFL agent who negotiates both on-field contracts and marketing endorsements for professional football players on the Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Bears, and many more, allowing him to view affiliate marketing deals from the lens of an influencer and talent manager. He utilizes these experiences to create partnerships that are mutually beneficial for all parties involved, leveraging his understanding of both brand objectives and influencer needs. 

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Kerry Curran, a seasoned business growth leader with 25+ years of experience, is the Founder of Revenue Based Marketing Advisors. Prior to Revenue Based Marketing Advisors, Kerry served as Chief Growth Officer at Gen3 Marketing, where she drove a double digit revenue increase and triple digit lead growth. And before her time at Gen3 Marketing, Kerry's unique skills and expertise were invaluable at companies such as GroupM Nexus, Xaxis, and Catalyst Digital –where she drove double-digit growth and client retention. A thought leader in marketing, Kerry contributes to podcasts, speeches, and articles, and holds an MBA from University College Dublin and a BA from Boston College. She resides in Newton, MA, with her husband and two children.  

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Max Willens is a senior analyst on EMARKETER's digital ads and media desk. His primary focus is on media related to commerce, including paid social and retail media, as well as affiliate. Prior to joining EMARKETER, he spent eight years covering media and technology as a reporter and editor, most recently at Digiday, where he served as senior editor of research and features. In 2022, Martech Record named him one of 22 people to watch in affiliate marketing. 

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Nicole Phillips-Bastian is the Co-founder and CEO of Qatch, which generates interactive, hyper personalized content via SMS that simplifies product discovery and amplifies product marketing. Qatch leverages machine learning and AI to qualify and connect high intent shoppers with products and brands based on aggregated browsing data. Nicole is a licensed attorney in New York and Massachusetts and worked with retail and fashion brands advising them on complex contractual issues. 

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Rachel Tyrer joined Awin as an Account Develop Executive for legacy brand Affiliate Window in 2013. Responsible for day-to-day management of program support for accounts operating on our US network, Rachel flourished within the team, rising to her current role of Partnership Development Director, US, for Awin in 2022. As Partnership Development Director, Rachel and her team develop and deliver program strategies for clients, devising innovative and new account management ideas to produce competitive and successful affiliate programs for brands and agencies operating on Awin and ShareASale. Furthermore, in 2017, Rachel secured the ‘Best Managed Affiliate Program (US)’ award at the International Performance Marketing Awards for her work and strategic oversight of Superdry’s US affiliate program with Awin.

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Rob has been working at Awin for over a decade and is currently the company’s Global Head of Content, and well as co-host of Awin-Win Marketing Podcast. In his role as Global Head of Content, Rob oversees the platform’s published content in a variety of formats. From presentations and articles to whitepapers and webinars, he explores the evolving digital advertising industry and its implications for affiliate marketers.  

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Samantha Sherer has worked in the affiliate industry since 2017, currently serving as the Global Marketing Strategist for Awin and as co-host of Awin-Win Marketing Podcast. As Global Marketing Strategist, Sam’s remit covers planning, developing and implementing marketing strategies, communications and PR for Awin's North American operations. She also takes an active role in driving large scale, global initiatives like Awin’s annual Power 100 publication.  

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With 20 years of experience in the affiliate and partnership marketing space, Sarah Beeskow Blay currently serves as Vice President North America for the global affiliate & partner marketing agency, Silverbean. Prior to joining the agency, she was VP at ShareASale where she held a variety of roles throughout a decade+ tenure.  Sarah speaks regularly on the topic of performance marketing, contributing to several industry publications, was recognized in PerformanceIN's inaugural list of Top 30 US Changemakers in Partnership Marketing, and currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Performance Marketing Association. 

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Scott Brinker, dubbed the "godfather of martech" by AdAge, has been analyzing marketing technology and its impact on marketing organizations for more than 16 years as the editor of the chiefmartec.com blog. He serves as VP Platform Ecosystem at HubSpot, helping to grow and nurture the company's community of technology partners. He also authored the best-selling book Hacking Marketing and co-authored the recent best-seller The New Automation Mindset.

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Will Hansen is a senior publisher success manager at Awin and ShareASale. He works with publishers to generate new advertiser partnerships, as well as optimize current ones, to boost their overall affiliate performance. Prior to joining the Awin Group, Will worked at a marketing agency managing affiliate and programmatic campaigns. 

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