SCHEDULE DETAILS Information of Event Schedules
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Main Stage Session
Shop! MarketPlace 2026
SmartTalk! Session
Shop! MarketPlace 2026
Culture as a Catalyst: Elevating Performance and Consumer Experience
Exceptional consumer experiences begin before the sales floor – it starts with culture. This keynote session will explore how a two-year transformation of a regional VM team at New Balance reshaped performance, customer impact, and collaboration. Discover the importance of empowering teams, embracing strategic evolution, and fostering trust – all of which can unlock and eliminate bottlenecks. Through real-world lessons, understand how intentional culture building creates future ready organizations, ones that elevate both internal performance and the experiences delivered to today’s consumers.
Takeaways:
- Learn how culture drives performance and experience
- Discover ways to unlock team potential
- Explore strategies for building future-ready teams
Amber Bazdar
Main Stage Session - Opening Keynote
Shop! MarketPlace 2026
SmartTalk! Session: Branch 360: A Collaborative Blueprint for the Future-Focused Banking Environment (Stage 1)
As banks reinvent their branches for digital-first customers, they face challenges long familiar to retailers: Balancing technology with human connection, designing for trust, and maintaining brand consistency at scale. This session explores how financial institutions are rethinking physical spaces through evolving branch models, research backed insights and changing customer behaviors. Discover how experiential design strategies can translate digital convenience into meaningful, high-performing environments that build confidence, engagement and long-term loyalty across every location.
Takeaways:
- Learn how banks adapt retail design strategies
- Discover shifts in customer expectations and behavior
- Explore experiential tools that build trust and performance
Neil Kool
Joe Youst
SmartTalk! Session
Bryan Meszaros