The 2022 agenda has been released!
Meet the speakers from Mars Wrigley Confectionery, Aromyx, Firmenich, Citromax, The FCA, The NPD Group, Orchidia Fragrances, Flavorchem, and more!
More speakers are being announced daily. Join the mailing list to stay current on the 2022 releases and updates!
Expert in Retail Customer Behavior and Analytics - I tell stories using data.
Specializing in Customer Loyalty Data, Retail POS Analytics, Behavioral Data Analysis to move beyond "data" to truly actionable insights.
As a futurist, Mikel is charged with maintaining an awareness of the future through monitoring issues that are happening in the market, industry, and world to identify simultaneous developments on the fringe and recognize patterns as they materialize into trends. Working as part of an internal futures team, Mikel offers guidance to Firmenich customers by providing transparency into the process of foresight. His job is not to arrive at a final answer, and just deliver it, but one of holding doors open, or opening windows - always listening for signals and considering the implications of scenarios and strategies. Mikel’s aim is to improve confidence in facing uncertain futures by providing inspiration and instilling clarity of vision.
Knowing what’s ahead still requires people who can listen, analyze, and make connections. To future effectively requires not just a curious mind and good communication skills, but a framework of tools and practices that users can access to develop and deepen coherent but creative understandings of future possibilities, large and small. As a Global Creative Director at Firmenich, Mikel has been using them successfully, in engagements all over the world, for over twenty-two years.
Bio coming soon
Eric Dowd is a Senior Manager with responsibility for managing a team of scientists and research programs within the Global Science & Technology team for Mars Wrigley. Mints, Nuts and Flavor are essential ingredients for Mars Inc., and Eric is focused on the development and delivery of strategies which assure a high-quality supply of these ingredients and enable new innovations. Eric joined Mars Wrigley in 2002 after having spent over 8 years in the flavor industry. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Chemistry degree from Kalamazoo College and has held positions in Product Development, Project Management, Gum Formulation Technology and Science & Technology.
Jacquelyn Wenskus, director and fragrance category analyst within The NPD Group’s Beauty practice, is an expert in the prestige fragrance category. Her extensive background in data analytics, combined with her knowledge and passion for the industry, enables her to provide relevant and actionable insights for brands and retailers across the fragrance market.
Jacquelyn joined the Beauty team in 2013, working with both emerging and established beauty brands to deliver value through strategic analysis, client education, and data activation. Prior to that, she held NPD roles focused on the company’s retailer partnerships, and over the course of six years worked with leading retailers in the beauty, footwear, and apparel industries.
Rebecca Shurhay is the Marketing Analyst at Flavorchem, a global company specializing in the creation and manufacturing of flavor and color solutions for the food, beverage, and nutraceutical industries. She conducts market research and works with Flavorists, R&D, and Sales to help food and beverage brands innovate and create new product concepts based on the latest trends. Rebecca authors a monthly column focusing on the hottest topics in the industry and has presented webinars based on these findings. She was on the speaker panel at Flavors and Fragrances Online 2020 Conference and the Midwest IFT Symposium along with being featured on FoodNavigator¬ USA’s podcast. Rebecca earned her bachelor’s degree in Advertising from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
