WASHINGTON — The real Siskel and Roeper may not be present at Shop.org's Annual Summit next month, but their infamous thumbs up/thumbs down rating will still be put to good use. Shop.org will offer afternoon "Critics' Corner" sessions in which different e-commerce experts will candidly discuss and review their opinions of the effectiveness of real-life Web sites. Shop.org's Summit will be held September 15-17 at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
The eight sessions, designed to include audience interaction, will take place the afternoons of Tuesday, September 16 and Wednesday, September 17. Discussion topics will include email copy, search vs. branding, merchandising innovations and multichannel strategy. Featured tracks and experts for the sessions include:
Tuesday, September 16, 3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Track 1: Avoiding the Dreaded Unsubscribe: Tricks and Tips from the Email Experts
Speakers - Austin Bliss, president, FreshAddress, Inc; Jeanniey Mullen, executive vice president and chief marketing officer, Zinio and VIV; founder, Email Experience Council
Track 2: So You Think Your Site Can Dance? SEO vs. Branding and Conversion Speakers - Stephan Spencer, founder and president, Netconcepts; Amy Africa, chief imagin-8-tion officer, Eight By Eight
Track 3: Analyzing the Customer Experience
Speakers - Jay Shaffer, vice president Worldwide Sales and Marketing, PowerReviews; Alison Jeske, director of product management, Drugstore.com
Track 4: Merchandising Trends in 2008
Speakers - Doug Mack, vice president and general manager, Hosted and Consumer Solutions, Adobe Systems Incorporated; Sally McKenzie, consultant
Wednesday, September 17, 3:45 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.
Track 1: High-Tech for Digital Retailers: How to Measure What Matters
Speakers - John Lovett, senior analyst, Jupiter Research; Eric Peterson, CEO and principal Consultant, Web Analytics Demystified Inc.
Track 2: Is There a Role for Social Media in Modern Retailing?
Speakers - Jason Billingsley, co-founder and vice president Innovation, Elastic Path Software; Paul Miller, president, Paul Miller Consulting
Track 3: The A-Ha Moment: Creative Out-of-the-Box Marketing Concepts by Retailers
Speakers - Pinny Gniwisch, executive vice president, Marketing, Ice.com; Jacob Hawkins, senior vice president, Overstock.com
Track 4: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Seriously!)
Speakers - Brett Hurt, founder and CEO, Bazaarvoice; Matt Corey, vice president of Marketing, Golfsmith International
In addition to these sessions, the Shop.org Summit will feature educational sessions and keynotes from leading retail companies including George Jones, President and CEO, Borders Group, Inc., and Toby Lenk, President, Gap Inc., Direct.
