Here are all of the speakers for CardCon @ FinCon 2018!
Clark Howard – Clark.com
Opening Keynote
Bio: Save more and spend less is more than just a motto for money expert Clark Howard; it’s a way of life. Clark and his crew — Team Clark — are on a mission to empower people to take control of their finances by providing money-saving tips, consumer advice, hot deals and economic news to help everyone achieve financial freedom.
Clark spearheads two free resources — Clark.com and ClarkDeals.com — to encourage consumers to save more, spend less and avoid rip-offs. Clark is a nationally syndicated radio talk show host and a consumer reporter for television stations around the country. His podcast,
The Clark Howard Show, receives more than one million downloads each month and is a hub for listeners to get valuable advice on-demand any time. In 1993, he opened the Consumer Action Center helpline to provide the community with free advice on money and consumer issues. After retiring at the age of 31, the “consumer champion” dedicated his life to teaching people how to keep more of the money they earn and make better financial decisions.
He worked his way through night school in college and became a successful lifelong entrepreneur, media star and #1 New York Times best-selling author through hard work, penny-pinching and a genuine love of saving money! Clark also believes in giving back. His charitable work has ensured that more than 150,000 Atlanta foster children had presents under the tree on Christmas morning through the Clark’s Christmas Kids campaign. He and his wife have also sponsored 74 Habitat for Humanity homes for families in need and dedicate these houses to caring local citizens.
John Ulzheimer: President, The Ulzheimer Group, LLC
Keynote speaker
Topic: How the recent regulatory rollbacks will affect your credit.
Bio: John Ulzheimer is an expert on credit reporting, credit scoring, and identity theft. He has written four books on the topic and has been interviewed and quoted thousands of times over the past 10 years. With time spent at Equifax and FICO, Ulzheimer is the only credit expert who actually comes from the credit industry. He has been an expert witness in over 230 credit related lawsuits and has been qualified to testify in both federal and state courts on the topic of consumer credit.
Gary Leff – View From the Wing blog
Moderator: Panel discussion on What goes into planning and launching a new products
Bio: Gary Leff’s ViewFromTheWing.com blog, which he’s written since 2002, is visited millions times each month. Gary also co-founded InsideFlyer.com, a community of over 150,000 members where frequent flyers meet and learn to improve their travel.
He is Chair of Nominations and emcee for the Freddie Awards, which recognizes the best in airline, hotel, and credit card loyalty programs through the votes of more than 4 million consumers each year. Gary was named one of the world’s top travel specialists by Conde’ Nast Traveler for his award booking service, BookYourAward.com (2010-Present).
He’s been called an “Air Genius” and “an airline industry brainiac, who you might think of as the Nate Silver of his domain.” He has also been called “sagacious” by legendary business travel writer Joe Brancatelli and “the godfather of the [frequent flyer] hobby” in Rolling Stone. Gary has been named one of the world’s top travel specialists by Conde Nast for his award booking service, BookYourAward.com (2010-Present).
Stephanie Harris – CEO of Partner Centric
Moderator: Panel Discussion on the state of credit card affiliate marketing.
Bio: Stephanie Harris is the owner & CEO of PartnerCentric, the largest woman-owned performance marketing agency in the US. A veteran of the space, Stephanie got her start as an award-winning affiliate program manager, personally managing at one time some of the largest programs in the PartnerCentric portfolio today. Her tenure in the industry, and philosophy that in order to lead you have to know how to do every role, has given her a comprehensive view of the industry as well as the ability to propel it forward with vision, talent and drive.
Jeff Richardson – VantageScore Vice President and Group Head – Marketing & Communications
Moderator- The Credit Crystal Ball: What does creditworthy look like in the future?
Description – Technology has disrupted everything from our home thermostats to taxi cabs. But what’s on the horizon when it comes to credit reporting and credit scoring? Look into the crystal ball with a panel of experts on the front lines to learn what technologies and influences are shaping how we determine a borrower’s creditworthiness.
Bio: Jeff Richardson is the Vice President and Group Head – Marketing & Communications, for VantageScore. Jeff joined VantageScore in 2011 as Vice President of Public Relations, but he has been involved with the company since its launch in 2006. In his capacity as managing director at Starkman & Associates, he served as public relations counsel for the introduction of the VantageScore 1.0 model and the launch of the company. Since joining the company full-time, Richardson has spearheaded media-relations strategy for the VantageScore 3.0 model and taken over management of all company communications programs, including advertising, digital outreach, and social media as well as public relations. Richardson is a graduate of West Virginia University.
Jesse Leimgruber – Co-founder Bloom Protocol
Panelist -The Credit Crystal Ball: What does creditworthy look like in the future?
Rod Griffin – Director, Consumer Education and Awareness, Experian
Panelist -The Credit Crystal Ball: What does creditworthy look like in the future?
Miranda Marquit – Student Loan Hero – Roundtable Discussion leader
Topic: How to write credit card reviews that aren’t boring: Tips for injecting interesting details into your reviews so that they aren’t just templated and dull.
Bio: Miranda Marquit is a freelance journalist and the senior writer at Student Loan Hero. She has been writing about finances for more than 11 years. Her work has been featured by NPR, Forbes, Entrepreneur, Yahoo! Finance, and AllBusiness. Miranda has been a guest on various TV shows, radio shows, and podcasts to talk about money.
Farnoosh Torabi – Farnoosh.tv
Roundtable Discussion leader
Bio: Farnoosh Torabi is one of America’s leading personal finance authorities — hooked on helping Americans live their richest, happiest lives.Farnoosh is a sought-after speaker and bestselling author. Each year she speaks at numerous events, companies, organizations and schools. Recent engagements have included SXSW, Tedx, The PA and MA Conferences for Women and The Simmons Leadership Conference. She’s written multiple books, the latest entitled When She Makes More: The Truth About Love and Life for a New Generation of Women. She is the Financial Ambassador for Chase Slate. Farnoosh’s work and advice have been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Forbes, Time, Marie Claire, Glamour, Redbook and USA Today. She appears on major news and talk shows. Highlights include the NBC Today, CNN, MSNBC, Good Morning America, Dr. Oz, The View and Live! With Kelly and Michael.
Tim Devaney – Personal Finance Writer at Credit Karma
Roundtable Discussion leader
Topic: Creating valuations for credit card points and miles.
Bio: I’m a personal finance writer for Credit Karma, where I write about credit cards, banks, mortgages, and loans. Previously, I was a politics reporter for The Hill newspaper in Washington, D.C., where I covered government regulations. I also helped report on elections. Before that, I was a national reporter at The Washington Times, where I covered finance, banking and the economy.
Ben Luthi – Writer, Student Loan Hero
Roundtable Discussion leader
Topic: Writing about credit and credit score without confusing everybody.
Description: Credit scores and credit are insanely complex topics, so when you’re writing about them, it’s important to know what to include and what not to. I’d discuss different scenarios and how to keep things simple but informative.
Bio: Ben Luthi is a staff writer at Student Loan Hero and a freelance writer. While he specializes in credit cards and consumer credit, his experience also extends to insurance, investing and general personal finance. Before Student Loan Hero, Ben spent two years at NerdWallet, including a year on the company’s advisor team. During that time, he worked with consumers one-on-one to provide personalized financial advice. Ben’s writing work has been featured in Time, USA Today, Success Magazine, The Deseret News and more.
Jeanine Crooks – Client Services Manager at Awin Global
Roundtable Discussion leader
Topic: Managing Merchant Relationships – how to be the best affiliate for your merchant.
Bio: As the Publisher Acquisition & Development Manager with Awin US, Jeannine works closely with many of their largest programs such as Etsy, HP, Missguided and Gymshark. She is a frequent speaker at numerous events including Affiliate Management Days, TBEX and Affiliate Summit. Jeannine works with all types of publishers, especially bloggers, helping each to maximize their affiliate marketing earnings.
Darin Namken – Founder and President of Bulldog Media
Roundtable Discussion leader or Panelist, TBA
Bio:Co-founded Bulldog Media Group in 2000. He serves as President, steering the mission and providing the future direction of the core vision of the company and specializing in new business development. For over 18 years, Mr. Namken has worked closely with Financial Institutions (FI) consulting on product and building strategic customer acquisitions for mostly the sub & near prime unsecured market. From not only understanding marketing channels, but also understanding the compliance and profitability of the lifespan of the consumer for the FI.
Bulldog Media Group, is a leading performance marketing company that specializes in online customer acquisition for clients in the financial services industry. Since 2000, we have focused on financial services digital marketing as our core niche. We take an innovative, strategic approach to our relationships, with the goal of delivering solutions that are tailored to meet each client’s needs. This approach has delivered long-lasting relationships and over one million new customers for our clients each year.
John Henson- VP, Head of Compliance and Assistant General Counsel at Lending Tree
Roundtable Discussion leader or Panelist, TBA
Bio: I am Head of Compliance and Assistant General Counsel for LendingTree. I partner with our business verticals to ensure compliance with laws and regulations affecting the Company and its various businesses. As the Head of Compliance, I manage a team of compliance professionals to monitor the company’s mortgage licensing, marketing compliance, consumer privacy, and other compliance issues around such regulations as TILA, RESPA, FCRA, and FCPA. I also have the opportunity to lead the compliance due diligence process and analyze compliance risks during M&A projects.
I am actively involved in the risk management function throughout the company via in-depth risk assessments from a consumer compliance risk and an enterprise risk viewpoint. Leading our company’s ERM efforts, I take a companywide view and identify potential risks. I work with various leaders in the company on risk management to help mitigate those risks.
I work with our Network Partners to help their understanding of how our consumer lending compliance and corporate compliance programs work to add value for their businesses. I have had the opportunity to speak on panels at the American Bar Association Business Law Annual Meeting, Federal Trade Commission’s Lead Generation Workshop, and other events.
Louis DeNicola – Freelance writer and credit expert
Bio: Louis DeNicola is a personal finance writer who works with Fortune 500 financial services firms, FinTech startups, and non-profits to help promote financial literacy. He covers a variety of personal finance topics but especially likes writing about credit cards and credit scoring.
Description: The National Consumer Assistance Plan (NCAP) was a response to a settlement between the three major credit bureaus—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion—and 32 states’ Attorneys General in 2015. Some of the resulting changes made headlines, such as the removal of civil judgments and tax liens from credit reports, while others went into effect relatively unnoticed.
Louis will share an overview and timeline of the credit reporting changes that have taken place because of NCAP, how the changes could impact consumers’ credit scores, and whether the changes will also impact underwriting.