SPEAKERS

Rev Ciancio is a New York City restaurant owner and knows exactly how hard it is to operate and brand a hospitality business. He is a hospitality marketing consultant, customer and technology evangelist at Branded Strategic Hospitality, with more than 20 years experience in B2B digital marketing and business development, specializing in hospitality marketing, content, local SEO, reputation management and demand generation. He helps technology companies, brands and restaurants to acquire and retain more customers. Rev is known as an “expert burger taster,” pens hospitality and marketing tips on his Instagram @revciancio, as well as his LinkedIn Profile and hosts the Restaurant Marketing Podcast. He believes that Pizza is a religion.

Michael is a next-generation restaurant marketing leader, with two decades of experience overseeing growth and marketing for some of the world’s most celebrated brands. As SVP & Head of Marketing at Smalls Sliders, Michael leads the charge in guest experience, digital & integrated marketing, menu innovation, brand strategy, storytelling, and communications—all while fueling the brand’s explosive nationwide growth.

An expert in AI-driven customer engagement and loyalty, Arun A V honed his data science skills as Principal Data Scientist at Starbucks, architecting their 'Deepbrew' personalization engine. Leveraging deep experience in machine learning and large-scale data systems from roles at global tech brands, he now pioneers solutions as Founder & CEO of both Qubriux (AI-powered restaurant loyalty) and Skellam AI (bespoke enterprise AI). Arun focuses on building technology that transforms complex data into tangible customer engagement and business results.

Ladd Biro is the proud founder and leader of the best damn PR & Digital Media agency in the business. Prior to launching Champion in 2002, he cut his marketing teeth at American Airlines as Director of Worldwide Sales Promotion, then served as Senior VP of Marketing & Member Communications with the National Association of Manufacturers in Washington, DC. He is a strategic thinker, brand builder and hands-on team leader. An award-winning publicist, Ladd was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing and is a two-time national Fantasy Football Writer of the Year.

Brandy Blackwell is a seasoned marketing leader with over 17 years of experience driving brand growth, digital innovation, and off-premises strategy across some of the restaurant industry's most well-known brands—including Tijuana Flats, McAlister’s Deli, Dunkin’, Jimmy John’s, Another Broken Egg Cafe and &pizza. She is an active voice in the industry, serving on FSR’s NextGen Casual Council, the Women in Restaurant Leadership Council (WIRL), the National Restaurant Association’s Marketing Expert Exchange (MEG), and Brand Innovators Innovation Council. Brandy’s contributions have earned her industry recognition, including FSR Magazine’s Rising Stars: Top 20 Under 40, Lunchbox’s Top 30 Women in Food (2024), and ClearPath Solutions’ Rising Stars.

Before joining Networld Media Group as Vice President of Events, Cherryh Cansler spent several years as VP of Editorial managing the Networld’s nine B2B publications. Throughout her 20-year career as a journalist, she’s written about a variety of topics, ranging from the restaurant industry and technology to health and fitness news. Her byline has appeared in a plethora of newspapers, magazines and websites, including Forbes, The Kansas City Star and American Fitness magazine. She also serves as the managing editor for FastCasual.com.

Tom Carr is the Chief Marketing Officer for Chicken Salad Chick. He has brought to the Chick Family nearly 30 years of experience as a strategic, creative, and innovative marketing executive across a diverse range of industries. This includes entertainment, apparel, restaurants, consumer products, and media. He was twice named “marketer of the year” within the cable television industry. Tom hails from New Orleans, a city whose culture he credits for his unique take on brand storytelling.

Digital marketing, eComm and loyalty leader with 20+ years’ experience at Domino's and Tropical Smoothie Cafe. At Tropical Smoothie, Melissa led Loyalty, CRM, 3PD and Digital Listings, growing loyalty by 50% in one year and leading MarTech strategy. She crafted promotions that drove the highest sales days in Tropical Smoothie’s history and drove the app to #1 in Food. At Domino’s, she oversaw one of the largest loyalty programs and implemented the largest A/B testing wins in the brand’s history. Melissa also led store tech, including the self-driving pizza delivery test, ordering & check-in kiosks and digital menu boards.

Melissa Dimayuga brings an incredible amount of passion and commitment to all of her clients. Sought out for her strategy and business knowledge, she has spent the last 15 years guiding and directing a number of clients at the local, regional and national levels, including Olive Garden, Yard House, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Smalls Sliders, California Pizza Kitchen, Another Broken Egg and McAlister’s Deli, to name a few.

Alec Dimmig is the Marketing Manager at Cousins Subs, overseeing local store marketing, sports partnerships, catering development, and brand activations. He also contributes to email and SMS marketing efforts, as well as the brand’s loyalty program strategy. Alec plays a key role in executing community-focused promotions and strategic partnerships that strengthen the brand’s presence and growth across Wisconsin and Indiana. He also manages relationships with third-party ordering vendors to ensure seamless integration and revenue growth across digital platforms.

Alicia DiStefano is InMarket’s VP, Practice Leader for the QSR and Dining verticals. Alicia has worked in media and advertising for over 15 years, with experience in location marketing, data as a service (DaaS), programmatic, and self-service media. She previously worked in the restaurant vertical for 10 years, and has shared conference stages with brands like Panera, Subway, KFC, McDonald’s, DoorDash, and more. In 2018, Alicia oversaw the team, campaign, and submission to win the I-COM Data Creativity Award for a cost per visit campaign for Outback Steakhouse. Alicia is based in Atlanta, GA.

As the Senior Manager of Guest Insights and Off-Premise Strategy at Eggs Up Grill, Haley Hendrix leads the brand’s efforts to enhance the digital and off-premise guest experience. With a passion for leveraging data to drive actionable insights, she develops strategies that connect the brand with guests—wherever and however they choose to engage. Haley specializes in optimizing online ordering, third-party delivery, and catering, ensuring a seamless and enjoyable experience for guests. She also spearheads guest behavior initiatives, using real-time data to uncover trends and inform strategic decisions across marketing, operations, and technology. Her ability to translate analytics into meaningful insights has helped franchisees and brand leaders create guest-centric solutions that drive both revenue and loyalty.

Stacey Kane has more than 25 years of experience working with multi-unit restaurant chains as a Head of Marketing and Marketing Consultant. She has worked with such brands as California Tortilla, Think Food Group, Subway and East Coast Wings. Known for her incredible creativity and obsession with data she was one of the pioneers of using social media in the restaurant space and has been named a Top 20 Movers and Shakers by Fast Casual Magazine five times. Her passion is leading emerging brands as they scale for growth. Currently, Stacey is a fractional CMO for several fast casual brands including Fresh Baguette, Garden Catering, HCK Hot Chicken, Mahana Fresh and Mamoun's Falafel. Kane is passionate about the industry. She has been a National Pro-Start Judge for 3 years and after serving as a consultant, she was asked to sit on the board of CORE:Children of Restaurant Employees in 2022. CORE’s mission is to provide short-term financial relief to food and beverage service employees with children when navigating a qualifying circumstance.

Abhinav Kapur is the co-founder and CEO of Bikky, a Customer Data Platform (CDP) built exclusively for multi-unit restaurants. Bikky integrates across all in-store and off-premise channels to help brands understand how marketing, menu, and operational decisions impact guest frequency and lifetime value. This empowers everyone from the C-Suite to the marketing team to make better, data-driven decisions across the guest experience. Bikky powers data-based decisions for brands like MOD Pizza, Dave's Hot Chicken, SPB Hospitality, Krystal, and Eggs Up Grill, and thousands of other locations across the U.S.

Erin Levzow is a 20 year veteran and dynamic motivational speaker having worked in multiple industries. Most recently she was the Chief Marketing Officer for Musuem of Ice Cream. Prior to her MOIC role, she was the Vice President of Marketing Technology for Del Taco Restaurants. Recently Erin was awarded Top 25 Future is Female Award by Advertising Week New York as well as in 2023 CMO of the Year, 2023 MarComms Most Influential and Global MarTech Leader of the Year Awards. Prior to Del Taco, Erin was the CMO for Marcus Hotels & Resorts. Levzow has served as vice president of customer relationship marketing (CRM), loyalty and marketing for Hathway in Austin, Texas, a customer service experience company specializing in helping billion-dollar brands develop mobile-first strategies. Levzow’s extensive marketing and digital experience also includes serving as senior director of digital, social, CRM and e-commerce for Wingstop Restaurants in Dallas, Texas.

John Ludwig has worked on restaurant brands around the country including Yard House, Mission BBQ, Paris Baguette, Smalls Sliders, Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux, The Capital Grille, Cinnabon, McAlister’s Deli and many more. This experience led him to define the agency’s focus on the food and beverage industry, recognizing that the agency’s true strengths live in delivering truly amazing brands that create equally amazing experiences.

Toni Martinez has years of experience in the direct mail industry and a genuine passion for helping businesses grow. Toni and the team at direct2you specialize in connecting businesses with the right customers at the right time, leveraging data to craft tailored marketing strategies that drive success and elevate brand impact.

Courtney Mazzella joined Champion in 2011 and since then has established herself as a dynamic leader within the agency and a trusted, "invaluable partner" to many of Champion's clients. As Vice President of Client Services, Courtney is passionate about immersing herself in her clients' brands to become their strongest advocate and strategic ally. Her expertise spans media outreach, influencer marketing and strategic planning, and she has been the driving force behind several high-impact initiatives. Courtney also leads Champion's proprietary Local Restaurant Marketing practice, a cornerstone of the agency's offerings. In this role, she helps brands create buzz, build awareness and generate goodwill at the local market level. Over the past decade, Courtney has overseen more than 2,000 grand openings across the country for powerhouse brands such as Raising Cane’s, Dog Haus, Logan’s Roadhouse and many more.

As Executive Director of Client Partnerships at Imaginuity, Evan is responsible for leading client partnership and media teams in driving integrated marketing strategies and execution across integrated traditional and digital media channels. Evan has 40 years of advertising and marketing experience leading restaurant and CPG brands such as Taco Cabana, Pollo Tropical, Whataburger, Joe’s Crab Shack, Dave & Buster’s, Tabasco® and Sara Lee. When he’s not in the office, Evan is either on his way to the golf course, heading to the beach, or hanging out with his wife and two daughters.

Zack Oates is an author, husband, father, entrepreneur, and hot tub aficionado (but not in that order, necessarily). He grew up in restaurants before getting into startups. He was voted Top 100 Entrepreneurs, rang the NASDAQ bell, won the world’s biggest business competition, has been to 50 countries, and started 3 companies. He went on over 1,000 dates before he got married and wrote a book, “Dating Never Works…Until it Does.” He currently is Founder and CEO of Ovation, the no. 1 restaurant feedback platform in America, voted Top 50 Most Influential Supplier by Nation’s Restaurant News, and host of “Give an Ovation: A Podcast for Restaurants.”

Evan Pardue is the Director of Brand & CX at Condado Tacos, one of the fastest-growing brands in the Next Gen restaurant space. Under his leadership, Condado has earned national recognition—named to the Inc. 5000’s Top Private Companies, Chain Store Age’s Breakout Retailers, and FastCasual.com’s Top 100 Movers & Shakers (#53). Pardue has tripled the brand's loyalty program, earning top industry honors including PAR Punchh’s 2024 All Star Loyalty Program and the 2023 Digital Innovator Award. Before joining Condado, he led digital marketing strategy for Chick-fil-A operators across the Houston metro, while consulting owner-operators navigating multi-unit expansion. Outside of hospitality, he contributes as a guest critic for PaperCity Magazine, covering museum exhibitions outside Texas.

Adam Reed is a seasoned marketing leader with over 15 years of experience in the restaurant industry, driving brand awareness and business success for high-growth companies. He blends strategic vision with operational execution to lead impactful marketing initiatives that align with both brand identity and business goals. Throughout his career, Adam has shaped marketing strategies for major brands like Raising Cane’s and Chipotle during their growth phases. He brings deep expertise in restaurant operations, brand positioning, and customer engagement. As a mentor and leader, he has built and guided high-performing teams, fostering collaboration and professional development. From spearheading omnichannel campaigns to securing high-profile partnerships, he thrives in dynamic environments where creativity meets results. As Champion’s Vice President of Strategy, Adam applies his experience to support a portfolio of the nation’s most recognized restaurant brands.

Katie Reed is an experienced field marketing leader with a proven track record of building and scaling localized marketing strategies for multi-unit restaurant brands. With almost 20 years in the industry, she has partnered with both established chains and emerging fast casual concepts to create impactful programs that bridge the gap between corporate strategy and in-market execution. Her work spans national and regional campaigns, local store marketing activations, and operational marketing support. She’s collaborated closely with brands like Capriotti’s and Mahana Fresh, helping drive engagement, traffic, and sales through customized, market-level efforts. Known for her organized approach, creative problem-solving, and deep understanding of franchise systems, she is passionate about elevating brand presence at the local level. Currently, she serves as a fractional field marketing partner for several fast casual concepts, working directly with operators and leadership teams to bring national marketing to life in local markets.

Rosa Romero is the co-founder of SANGUICH™, the celebrated Cuban sandwich shop that has set the standard for authentic Cuban cuisine. With over 17 years of experience as a legal professional, Rosa made the bold decision to leave her corporate career and partner with her husband, Daniel Figueredo, to create a Cuban sandwich concept rooted in tradition and authenticity. Together, they envisioned a dining experience that would capture the spirit of Cuba—combining rich flavors, vibrant culture, and a sensory atmosphere that engages sight, sound, and taste. Rosa played a crucial role in the development and growth of Sanguich, applying her sharp business acumen and attention to detail in every aspect of the venture. From perfecting the menu to overseeing operations, Rosa's leadership has been instrumental in the brand's success. Since opening their brick-and-mortar location in 2017, Sanguich has earned numerous accolades, including three Bib Gourmand awards, solidifying its place as a gold standard in the Cuban culinary scene.

After coming to Push from the Disney Food Blog, Kylie Selvage has helped the agency's powerhouse brands it works with, including Darden, American Social Bar & Kitchen, Paris Baguette and Keke's Breakfast Cafe, evolve and flourish in today's social landscape. Her expertise in creative storytelling, algorithm fluency, and a community-first approach drives strong, measurable growth both on and off the screen.

Brian Siemienas is a seasoned marketing professional with over 25 years of experience in the restaurant, hospitality, and entertainment industries. As the Vice President of Restaurant Solutions at Nift, Brian is passionate about driving customer acquisition and enhancing restaurant traffic. Before Nift, Brian’s tenure included leading marketing for brands like Darden, Margaritaville, and Hard Rock. Most recently, he was the CMO at IMCMV, overseeing 28 Margaritaville and Landshark Bar & Grill restaurants across the United States. Brian orchestrated a symphony of brand strategy, communications, partnerships, advertising, creative development, public relations, loyalty programs, and digital/social media in this role. Brian’s fingerprints are all over the success of these iconic establishments.

A noted serial entrepreneur with many successful businesses across the hospitality and F&B space, Jason Sobocinski brings over 25 years of entrepreneurial experience to the team. Born and raised in New Haven, he also carries a Master’s degree in Gastronomy from BU. At Haven Hot Chicken, Jason is a thought leader in hospitality and guest experience, which impacts all facets of the business, from training, operations, branding, and culture. Jason also leads real estate expansion efforts for the team.

Matt Sommer spearheads the development and integration of innovative software products and Generative AI technologies, driving technology vision and strategy. He’s involved with all aspects of the Imaginuity’s technology efforts, from hands-on software engineering leadership to strategic implementation of emerging technologies to ensure the agency and agency clients remain at the leading edge of the ever-evolving marketing landscape.

Steve Tschosik is a veteran advertising technology sales leader with over 20 years of experience building and leading high-performing sales teams. As VP of Sales at Azira, he leads efforts to help clients and agencies harness Azira’s solutions to deliver stronger, data-driven advertising outcomes. Throughout his career, Steve has held key leadership roles at leading ad tech companies, including ValueClick, OwnerIQ, and Inmar, consistently driving growth and maximizing client success.

Mark Unger is an amazing creative leader as well as an incredible business advisor. His work for Olive Garden, Paris Baguette, Handel’s Ice Cream, Keke’s Breakfast Cafe, Sonny’s BBQ, The Capital Grille, Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux and Smalls Sliders keeps these and other brands at the top of their category. Mark’s innate ability to turn strategy into actionable ideas and execution ensures that the brands he works on constantly stay relevant and in demand for even the most discerning of customers.

Julie Wade currently leads marketing efforts for Taziki's Mediterranean Cafe, a 100-unit elevated fast-casual brand headquartered in Birmingham, AL. As the head of marketing since 2000, she oversees brand strategy, customer experience, and marketing campaigns across all channels. Prior to Taziki's, Julie held leadership roles at Yogurt Mountain, Huddle House and a large franchisee of Blockbuster Video, driving product development, franchise relations, and field marketing initiatives. She also brings entrepreneurial experience as the owner of Retail Connections Consulting and Vestrain Consulting. Throughout her career, Julie has consistently demonstrated a strong ability to build brands, foster customer loyalty, and achieve business growth.

Kathleen Wood is the Founder of Kathleen Wood Partners (KWP), an innovative, award-winning growth strategy firm committed to scaling businesses for success for over two decades. Kathleen and her team specialize in transforming visions into reality through strategic growth solutions, business optimization, competitive sales building, and leadership development. Kathleen's work spans across various industries, focusing on transforming small companies into national brands. She is a nationally recognized strategist who has scaled businesses into market leaders and billion-dollar brands. Kathleen also authored Founderology, a guide for improving workplace dynamics. Kathleen has extensive leadership and operational experience as the former President and COO of Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers and executive roles with MasterCard, TGI Friday’s, and the Educational Foundation of the National Restaurant Association.