Betsy Grondy
Global Email Strategist | Lenovo
Betsy Grondy is the Global Email Strategist at Lenovo, where she leads email strategy for the consumer email marketing program in 36 countries worldwide. By focusing on best practices, evolving along the maturity curve, and developing an email program that’s rooted in one-to-one automation, she’s helped the program achieve record year-over-year growth. Prior to her current position, she was Email Marketing Manager for EMEA, based in the United States.
Having worked for many years in branding and public relations, she has a knack for email marketing and a passion for opens and clicks. Betsy balances her vast industry knowledge with her commitment to learning the latest marketing techniques and how to best present value to subscribers. Her platform experience includes Responsys, Bronto, Constant Contact, and Marketo.
In her spare time, she enjoys restoring vintage furniture, collecting toys and vintage kitchenware, and spending time with her husband, four dogs, and cat.
Jeanne Jennings
Founder and Chief Strategist | Email Optimization Shop
Jeanne Jennings is a recognized expert in the email marketing industry and a consultant who helps medium- to enterprise-sized organizations make their email marketing efforts more effective and more profitable.
She is Founder and Chief Strategist at Email Optimization Shop, a boutique consultancy focused on optimizing bottom-line email marketing performance with strategic testing. She is also Moderator of the Only Influencers community of email marketing professionals and an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University.
Her client list includes B2B, B2C, government and nonprofit clients including AARP, Capital One, Consumer Reports, Hasbro, Museum of Science: Boston, National Education Association (NEA), New York Times, UPS, U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), and Verizon.
Jeanne is based in Washington, D.C., she earned her M.B.A. from Georgetown University, and she is an avid hockey fan (Let’s Go Caps!).
Dwight Sholes
Marketing & Organizational Development Consultant | Sholes LLC
Dwight Sholes is an experienced entrepreneur and accomplished digital marketer currently serving travel companies as an independent consultant. His practice work includes formulating business growth strategies, developing digital marketing programs, managing complex marketing projects, and creating effective marketing teams and processes.
Sholes’ prior experience includes a creating successful start-up as well as working directly with major travel brands. In 2001 he founded Quotient Marketing, a boutique software company that helped leading brands like IHG, Liberty Travel, and Silversea Cruises create and sustain highly successful email campaigns. After successfully selling Quotient in 2008, Sholes established a consulting practice providing strategic advisory services to a range of clients. In 2011 he took a position with American Express Vacations as a director of marketing innovation. In 2013 email optimization company Return Path hired Sholes as its lead consultant for the travel vertical. In that role he helped leading OTAs, metasearch providers, hotels, resort companies, and a top airline optimize their email marketing strategies and execution. Sholes returned to being an independent consultant in December 2016 to lead the overhaul of a leading European tour operator’s digital marketing strategy.
Sholes has a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.I.A. in International Business from Columbia University. He speaks French, Hindi, some Turkish, and is studying Spanish. He serves as a volunteer and board member for a number of nonprofits, and currently is a member of the Email Experience Council’s Member Advisory Board.
Karen Talavera
Founder and Chief Strategist | Synchronicity Marketing
Karen Talavera is the principal and founder of Synchronicity Marketing where she is an industry-leading email marketing expert, digital marketing strategist, consultant, speaker and professional educator with 20 years' experience in data-driven marketing.
Her unique depth of digital expertise paired with her finely honed direct response mindset generates program strategy and email-driven revenue growth for thousands of marketers across leading brands in financial services, travel, entertainment, B2B, retail and software including Google, Disney Consumer Products, NASCAR, City National Bank, Foremost Insurance, Kendo Brands, Amway and many more.
Karen earned her B.A. in Communications from the University of Michigan and is presently based in the greater Miami area where, when not working or traveling, she enjoys soaking up the south Florida sun every chance she gets.