Jeremy Neal Blowers | Executive Director | The Ontario Regiment RCAC Museum

Jeremy Neal Blowers is the Executive Director of The Ontario Regiment RCAC Museum, and the Oshawa Aeronautical, Military and Industrial Museum. Having worked as a volunteer administrator in many museum organizations over the years, he brings a great deal of experience and new direction to the organization. Jeremy’s involvement with military museums began during his Canadian History studies at Trent University when he volunteered for two years at the Oshawa Camp X Museum. His involvement with the Ontario Regiment began in 1995 when he joined the 1913 Ontario Regiment RCAC Cadet Corps and on returning from his formal education he has been involved with the Regimental Museum and Regimental activities ever since.

Ruth Crowley | VP of Merchandise & Brand Strategy | The Hudson Group

Ruth Crowley has diverse experience across industries including Experience Design, Retail, Hospitality, Theme Parks, Entertainment, Brand Strategy, Licensing and Consulting. Ruth has worked with iconic brands including Lowe’s Home Improvement, Universal Studios, Harley-Davidson, Nickelodeon, M&M Mars and Host Marriott in the US and Global Markets. Ruth was head of Customer Experience Design at Lowe’s, a Fortune 100 Company. She has held positions across functions including Store Design, Merchandising, Brand Strategy, Product Design, Concept and Portfolio Development, Operations, Marketing and International Business Development. Currently Ruth works with Hudson Group, a Division of Dufry International, the largest travel retailer in the world.

Eric Lavinder | VP, Franchise Development | Saladworks

Eric Lavinder joined Saladworks in mid-2018 to revive a brand that had tremendous growth potential. As the VP of Development at Saladworks, Eric is responsible for all franchise, license, and corporate growth. Prior to arriving at Saladworks, he was the EVP at The Simple Greek. A startup franchise built from the ground up and funded by Marcus Lemonis the host of “The Profit” on CNBC and owner of Camping World. Prior to that Eric was the Executive Director of ML (Marcus Lemonis) Food Group, LLC, where he led the managing of Marcus’s restaurant brands purchased from the TV show to determine the true viability and plan for each brand.

Matt Levin | SVP/Chief Financial & Technology Officer | Pawtucket Red Sox

Matthew Levin currently serves as the Controller and Chief Technology Officer for the Pawtucket Red Sox. He has been with the club since January 2016 and has taken an active role in running the day-to-day operations of the Finance Department as well as developing the technology strategy for the team. A 2014 summa cum laude graudate of Boston University School of Management with a BSBA in Accounting and Management Information Systems, Matthew was hired full-time as a Business Analyst upon graduation with the Boston Red Sox. For the Boston Red Sox, Matthew focused on developing a Customer Relationship Management platform and aided in developing technologies to simplify financial processes.

MODERATORS

Richard Thompson | Sales VP, Global OEM | Zebra Technologies

Richard Thompson is the Sales VP, Global OEM within Zebra Technologies which in turn is part of Zebra’s Global Sales & Services organisation. Richard is responsible for the sales of key component technologies which Zebra manufactures and sells to a hugely diverse range of customers around the world who build these components into their own final products. He has a team of 40 specialist sales and support people around the world. Richard has worked in the IT & Telecommunications Industry for almost 30 years and has held sales, management and senior management rolls in a number of global organisations, including Elcom International, Symbol Technologies, Panasonic Computer Products, General Dynamics and Motorola Solutions.

Mark Thomson | Director of Retail & Hospitality Solutions EMEA | Zebra Technologies

As Director of Retail Industry Solutions at Zebra Technologies, Mark Thomson works closely with retailers and hospitality businesses to provide input on how to face the challenge of a new digital retail landscape, where customers are often more connected and informed than shop floor staff. Mark helps retailers focus on developing a vision for their retail business that aims to improve customer experience whilst at the same time drive business efficiencies. With over 29 years’ customer focused experience, Mark Thomson has developed in-depth knowledge of the EMEA and global retail market place and regularly speaks at industry events throughout the EMEA region including World Retail Congress, Retail Middle East, RBTE and Euroshop.