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Maximizing Your eTail Experience: Planning and Networking Tips · Talk Commerce

• Brent Peterson (00:02.584) Welcome to this special E -Tail episode of Talk Commerce. Today I have Kristin Schoenstein. Kristin, go ahead, do an introduction. Tell us your day -to -day role and one of your passions in life. Kristin Schoenstein (00:10.606) Sure. Sure. Thanks, Brent. So I am a portfolio director for the eTale US shows. I work on eTale Boston, which is coming up, and then eTale Palm Springs. And just recently got moved into a role, a chief of staff role for eTale, which means I'm sort of overseeing multiple departments and kind of just making sure everyone's collaborating and kind of looking at the overall strategy of the eTale portfolio. So we've been busy and One of my passions in life, well, I live on the North Fork of Long Island, so I am kind of in a vacation town and we do a lot of boating and fishing and that's how I like to spend my weekends. I have three kids and we're always out on the boat in the summer. So that's something that we spend a lot of time doing out here. Brent Peterson (00:59.704) That's awesome and you don't have that typical Long Island accent either. Kristin Schoenstein (01:03.88) I don't, I'm from Connecticut, my husband's from out here, but I do, am very familiar with that accent. Brent Peterson (01:09.934) And we hear lots of strong accents in Boston as well for eTale East. All right, Kristen, before we get started, you have graciously volunteered to be part of the Free Joke Project. I'm gonna tell you a joke. All you have to do is say, this, or give us a rating on the joke, one through five. So here we go. I have a friend who writes songs about sewing machines. He's a singer, songwriter. so it seems. Kristin Schoenstein (01:16.626) We do. We do. Kristin Schoenstein (01:29.851) Okay. Kristin Schoenstein (01:40.236) I like the seams part of that. Yeah, I would give that a solid three and a half. Brent Peterson (01:44.16) Okay, good, thank you. Yeah, this is new. I was asking people to tell me if it's free or if they should pay for it, but it got to be too confusing, so the rating part is much easier. All right, so if I were to rate eTail, I'm gonna give it a solid five, because I've been to a number of them now on both coasts, and they're always fantastic. So tell us a little bit about what goes, let's start with what goes into putting on a conference. Kristin Schoenstein (02:12.808) Sure, my gosh, I think you need more time than just a few minutes here, but it's a year round endeavor really for these two shows. They're some of our biggest shows in our portfolio. we're kind of year round working on the program, researching with the industry, speaking to our advisory board, coming up with the trends and the themes and we write the program, recruit the speakers. So that takes a... many weeks and then we have to kind of get it out to the market. So there's a lot of, you know, the marketing piece of it. And then of course, behind the scenes, all of the planning for food and beverage and all the fun activities on site. So a lot of people involved in the show for sure. I kind of handle the speaker wrangling content related stuff and just sort of making sure the agenda reflects what, you know, the retail industry is looking for. So. That's my world, but lots of people involved in making this show happen. Of course, sponsorship as well. We have a lot of sponsors on the show who help to kind of make it run, and they're part of our expo. So that's another piece of it too. Brent Peterson (03:21.262) Great. Yeah. So we talked about retailers and I know I think day zero or I think you call it day zero. Day one is a retailer only day and the last day is also retailer. So tell us, give us some reasoning on why it's so important for retailers to attend e -tail. Kristin Schoenstein (03:36.776) Sure, so day one is a summit day. We have three summits running concurrently that retailers can select from. And the idea here is to sort of create a more intimate setting. Two of our summits are very round table focused. They get to sit down with their peers and talk through different topics. So it's really more of an intimate day meant to kind of get the retailers to know each other right off the bat, collaborate and share ideas on that very first day. So. That is how we structure our first day. also knew this year are getting together some of our etail first timers, our etail newbies, and kind of creating a cohort for them and just letting them meet on that first day. And we have some activities planned for our etail first timers or etail newbies. So that's something new this year. Brent Peterson (04:24.174) From a retailer standpoint, what type of things would they expect to see through the entire conference and what are the things that they should be looking out Kristin Schoenstein (04:36.2) Sure. Well, I didn't really get into the first day, but those are specific themed summits. And so they can do a deep dive into like, for instance, search and performance marketing is one of our summits. The other one looks at customer retention, loyalty, and email. So those are the two themes. And then we have one that's kind of looking at the future customer journey. And so that's a really interesting one as well. So that's day one. And then throughout the rest of the show, we have different. different themes, each afternoon is broken out into three different tracks, plus a retailer only track. So really you can kind of pick and choose your direction during the show and what you want to do. But we kind of try to cover everything, e -commerce and digital marketing related soup to nuts, definitely a lot of content. So I think that's a big piece of it, but also just looking out for our other activities. have a lot themed networking breaks and cocktail receptions and tastings and private lunches. do some retailer only specific activities on Tuesday and Wednesday. We have a C -suite retreat for our C -level speakers and attendees and also our women in retail on Wednesday, which is very well received and we've been doing that for many years. Lots to do. The expo, as I mentioned earlier, is where all of our sponsors and solution providers are. So that's a great place to kind of make a plan for and figure out who you want to meet. We're also doing some pop -up, retailer pop -up shops this year, which is new, which should be fun. Brent Peterson (06:16.992) retail pop -up. love, I love that idea. And I've, I've been to some of the other conferences, like, where they actually have, you know, some pop -up actually usable pop -up shops where you go in and buy stuff and Kristin Schoenstein (06:28.722) Yep, you can buy stuff. So that's new and I think that'll be fun for our attendance. Brent Peterson (06:32.62) Yeah, that's awesome. My previous role in life, I owned a digital agency and we would go to it. We would attend eTail as a, not as sometimes, I've never sponsored, but we'd sponsored some of these events, but we also just walked the floor. why would somebody give us some reasoning on why say an agency would want to attend to try to get some insights and do things like Kristin Schoenstein (06:59.164) Yeah, I mean, I think everyone has sort of a different goal coming into the show. And some are very, are more focused on, you know, really meeting the right solution provider because they need to, you know, improve something in their tech stack, for instance. They have some specific solutions that they're looking for. So maybe that's what they're focused on. Others are coming to really kind of hone in on different content areas. Like maybe they're trying to re -platform or, you know, they're trying to improve their, their email strategy they're figuring out AI, whatever it is. think, you know, that's sort of how they might navigate the show, just depending on, you know, what their interests are. I think for this event, it's really helpful to have a group, whether you're on the agency or tech side, or if you're on the retailer or brand side, because then you can kind of divide and conquer. And I always tell, you know, people to sort of come up with a plan and then you can always regroup and kind of share your findings. And then a lot of them have to present it back to their teams. So I think it's a great kind of also retreat type of experience too, if you have your team and you can, know, cause there's less space to face time these days with people not being in the office or hybrid work, remote work. So it's a great place to sort of be on site together and kind of come up with your strategy for the year ahead. Brent Peterson (08:22.99) Yeah, and again, I can speak from experience that it is that you want to attend every one of the talks, but you also want to walk the floor. So having a group is so important that you kind of split up some of those duties, like people can pick the talks they'd like to attend. And I think, again, taking good notes in those and then sharing them with the group is important. But then also meeting all the tech partners, because there's so much that you can get out of it just by walking the floor. Kristin Schoenstein (08:32.061) Yeah. Kristin Schoenstein (08:44.893) Yes. Brent Peterson (08:52.01) and learning from what people are offering now. Every year something new comes out and there's always something new to learn and you learn just by talking to the different vendors. Kristin Schoenstein (09:02.856) for sure. And we try to structure the day so that the networking breaks are really when the expo is, you know, buzzing and that's when you can really take the time to walk the floor. And then when the, when the content is happening, you know, they can be in the session room. So they're really, you can technically do both and not, not, not miss out on either. So that's a good part of Brent Peterson (09:23.342) Again, my digital agency days are gone, but I think that right after the pandemic, we looked at sponsoring or we looked at getting a booth over Etel East and you had sold out. Like it was so popular that we missed out on that. Tell us a little bit about sponsorships and I'm assuming that Etel West isn't sold out for next year, but there's opportunities always to sponsor, Kristin Schoenstein (09:35.664) Yes. Yes. Kristin Schoenstein (09:52.208) Yes, and it's different types of sponsorship, which is nice. So it's really kind of custom depending on, you know, what you're looking to do and not everyone wants to have a booth. Maybe they want to have a speaking session or whatever it is. So it's it's kind of all custom. And in terms of, you know, when we start booking for the show, as while West is happening, we're kind of booking for Palm Springs is happening. We're booking for Palm Springs the following year. So people rebook on site and, kind of decide they want to come back and rebook. So we had a really good rebooking period for Palm Springs and also for Boston. So yeah, we're kind of securing sponsorship year round, but there's like, like I said, those two shows plus we produce other e -tail events throughout the year. So there's always an opportunity to get involved with the show. Brent Peterson (10:43.502) Why do you think eTale has been so successful in especially in the rebound after COVID? And again, I attended the eTale spring and Palm this spring and Palm Springs. And it was it was, I think one of your biggest events. And I had so much fun. It was so there was so much to do. And by the way, the food was fantastic. Thank you so much. But there was so much to do at the event that It was, I'm not going to say it was overwhelming, but it was, there was so much for everybody. Tell us maybe some things that make you, set you apart from some of the other conferences. Kristin Schoenstein (11:22.3) Sure. Well, just thinking about COVID and we did continue to produce etail through COVID. We had virtual events, so we went virtual. But I think it's about the community. It's a longstanding brand and we have a strong community and they want to be with each other in person and collaborate in person. And I think that's the magic of the show. It's just people kind of getting to come back year over year and see their friends, make new friends. So I would say community is what sets us apart. We really have a strong, strong and established community and that's what makes the event special. One of my speakers said to me, I don't know what it is about ETale, but your event has sold or something special about this show. And we've been trying to like put that into words, but you just, know when you go. I know you've been there. So it's fun, but it's also educational and it's just a great kind way to get everyone together a couple times a year. Brent Peterson (12:21.998) Yeah. So I have some thoughts to myself, but helping the attendee plan their day. Like sometimes I want to meet with as many people as I want. And I made the mistake of putting an open calendar. And then suddenly I have a 15 minute meeting every 15 minutes all day and I miss the talks and I miss walking the floor. Do you have some ideas or recommendations on how attendees should plan their days at the Kristin Schoenstein (12:48.828) Yeah, I do think you have to look at the agenda ahead of time, which will be on our app. And we kind of update that every day. But the app is like your go -to in terms of seeing, what's the schedule look like for today? You can also select the sessions that you want to go to through the app. But I think it's kind of planning out content wise, like, okay, these are the must ha, like I have to, must attends, and then kind of then scheduling your meetings when you have a little bit of a break. Although I'll have to say, Brent, we don't really do a whole lot of like. There's not lot of downtime. So you do have to kind of be a little creative with your scheduling and your plan and you can't go to everything. So that's why I say have the group. Maybe someone can be in a session while you take a meeting. It does help to divide and conquer because I do kind of pack the days. Brent Peterson (13:37.185) No, that's, mean, think the pack in the day is fantastic. I think the other thing to look for is all the partners, the sponsors typically will have a happy hour that's after your happy hour, you know, at the bar, Kristin Schoenstein (13:51.43) Yes, there's a lot of behind the scenes stuff going on, lots of parties, lots of dinners. So yeah, we typically have a reception that we put an retail reception. have, for instance, for Boston, we're doing like a summer rave party. We have a party at Yard House, which with dueling piano. So we do that. But then after that, there's usually dinners and other events. So yeah, we keep you busy. Brent Peterson (14:16.822) And that you were playing the piano and singing at the Yard House event. Is that what I heard? That's awesome. Yeah. You know, think this, you know, walking the floor and talking to the sponsors is a great way to learn. Also, like if you're not in tune with what's happening or you came in a little late learning those evening events, because there's so much fun and, and they start. Kristin Schoenstein (14:21.161) me? Yes, yes, I do both. So I'm a jack of all trades. Brent Peterson (14:43.402) They start immediately after the end of the day. depending on your age, they could go until the wee hours of the morning. Kristin Schoenstein (14:54.543) This is true, this is true. I don't go to them typically, but I have heard many things and I think I was talking to one of my speakers and she said, my gosh, I had to make this whole list on my phone of the different dinners to go to and figure out where I was gonna go because there was so much going on. So yeah, you can have a lot of fun, that's for sure. Brent Peterson (15:15.042) Yeah, I last year in Boston, I always try to put together a little bit of a running group in the morning so that we start quite Kristin Schoenstein (15:23.934) I love that. See, yeah, you have to balance the, you have to have a little wellness, right? That's for sure. Brent Peterson (15:27.854) Exactly. And we start early. that does then dictate, it gives you a great excuse if you want to step out of the party at 10 PM because, I got to go to Brent's running room at 5 AM or it's not going to be 5 AM in Boston, but it would be, you know, it's going to be a little bit early and maybe in Palm Springs it's early because we're all getting up early anyways. Kristin Schoenstein (15:34.012) Yes. Need to talk Kristin Schoenstein (15:41.874) Okay, Kristin Schoenstein (15:48.53) A lot of the East coasters are like crack of dawn in Palm Springs. They're ready to go. Brent Peterson (15:51.796) Exactly. We don't have to talk about all the fun things to do in Palm Springs and the weather in February. But I'm going to say the weather in August in Boston is typically really good. It might be a little bit warm, but hey, I'll take a little warm over. Kristin Schoenstein (16:05.64) Yes. It's good. It is. I've, we've had good, I'm knocking on wood here, but we've had pretty good luck in Boston in August and it is such a pretty city that time of year. so we're at a new venue this year. We're at the Boston Marriott Copley Place, which is kind of right in the heart of the city. so yeah, it's a fun way to kind of be in the city center and of course, lots of other things, although we keep you busy, but there are other things to do in the Boston area. that going down to the seaport. So lots of things to Brent Peterson (16:40.59) Yeah. So we have a few minutes left. I want to talk about day one, day two, day three, just maybe highlighting, feeling continued retail growth and innovation is day one. Decoding today's retail consumer, which is, think is super important because it seems like it's changing all the time, right? And then navigating the shopping experience of the future is day three, but that's, that's for retailers only. Give us the 10 ,000 foot view of each of those days. Kristin Schoenstein (16:57.832) Totally. Kristin Schoenstein (17:01.778) Yeah. Yes. Kristin Schoenstein (17:09.103) so to be honest with you, I make these kind of broad themes. Like I look at the big trends, but then we talk about so many different things each, each day. so that first day remind me what the theme was Brent, cause I forgot. Brent Peterson (17:22.888) fueling continued retail growth and innovation. Kristin Schoenstein (17:25.564) Yeah, I think growth is such a big thing because we had a lot of quick growth, especially with the DTC companies kind of growing too fast. So I think it's really about sustainable growth now and profitable growth. So we really look at that sort of what are the avenues to growth these days? Are you going into physical retail? Are you going global? You know, are you expanding your product offerings and what does that look like for your brand? So that's a big part of that. What was the other part growth and Brent Peterson (17:55.15) innovation. Kristin Schoenstein (17:56.508) Innovation, of course. mean, I think AI is going to be a big talking point under the innovation bucket. We definitely look at practical use cases for AI. think two years ago, maybe a year ago, it was just like AI. But now we can hear real actual use cases from different brands. And so that's what I'm excited about. We have a panel on that featuring Crocs. And who else do I have? I think Harbor Freight, but just different types of brands and kind of looking at what their use cases are. So that's exciting, but. Brent Peterson (18:32.728) Yeah, and like you said, you'll have the yard house reception, but there's also wine tasting with Lucidworks and there's also wine, a private wine lunch with Bloomreach. I would, those are great events to do and reach out to those sponsors to learn more about Kristin Schoenstein (18:47.334) Yes, for sure. Lots of tastings going on and in private kind of lunches. So yeah, everything's everything's happening. So that's that's the innovation day. The next day, like you said, kind of thinking about decoding the customer, there's so much going on there. And we look at, you know, what's going on with Gen Z. I actually do have a Gen Z panel, which I'm bringing back. We did it in Palm Springs. I'm very excited for that. That's actually the one with American Freight. The CMO of American Freight is going to be on that as well. The AI panel was tractor supply. I got those mixed up. But yeah, so the retail consumer is sort of thinking about, I actually love this one. We have Brompton Bicycle talking about why community is a new marketing goldmine, building a brand in the loneliness epidemic. And I was like, I love that. But I mean, there is such a change going on just with customers kind of thinking about their social media, like they're always on social media, they're dependent on technology, but like how are they really collaborating and kind of feeling that sense of community. So that's what she's gonna be talking about. We have stuff on diversity on that day. We look at sustainability, lots going on. Brent Peterson (20:08.17) And then the last day you have navigating the shop navigating the shopping experience of the future. Kristin Schoenstein (20:14.096) Yeah, I'll just point out the first panel that morning is on, we have a C -suite panel and just kind of looking at the retail organization of the future and what that looks like. So we talked about resilience and how to like thrive in uncertainty, thinking about what's going on from an environmental perspective, what's going on with in the age of conscious consumerism, thinking about how to stay on top the trends and consumer behaviors and really being adaptable. So I'm excited for that. We have four C -level speakers on that from NADAM, Bespoke Post, Ministry of Supply, and Perry Pesceau. So that's going to be a fun one. The next session's on hyper growth. So a growth one. What else do we have that day? Kind of looking at immersive experiences. Brent Peterson (20:54.392) Yeah. Kristin Schoenstein (21:04.69) And then we're gonna wrap up looking at holiday, which I think is always important in August, maybe some final tweaks that you can make before holiday. And then we're just sort of looking at predictions for the future and that'll be a fun way to sort of wrap it up. Brent Peterson (21:18.36) That's great. So as I close out, I give everybody a chance to do a shameless plug. What would you like to plug today? Kristin Schoenstein (21:27.582) Well, I've been plugging Boston and I am just going to plug Palm Springs because we are working on that heavily right now. That's February 24th through the 27th. So you get your options. You can go to the East Coast. You can go to the West Coast. So we are very excited for that one. Lots of new things coming for Palm Springs. We're building our speaker faculty now. So retailers and brands out there, if you're interested in speaking, definitely get in touch with me. We are excited for it. Brent Peterson (21:56.632) Yeah, and I would say, and you should be attending both of the events because they're both fantastic. I love both of them. Kristin Schoenstein (22:01.754) I have lots of, yes, I have speakers who are like, I want to do both. And I'm like, okay. Like in attendees. So yeah, you definitely, it's a nice kind of like bookends, right? For the year you have February of August and you can sort of plan in between and it's a good way to do it. Brent Peterson (22:20.268) Yeah. And this December and January, as you're sitting in Chicago, in New York, in Boston, you're thinking, geez, I could be golfing right now in Palm Springs. A lot of people come early or stay late as well. And it's a great little getaway in Palm Springs. Kristin Schoenstein (22:24.126) increasing. Kristin Schoenstein (22:29.49) Yes. Kristin Schoenstein (22:33.842) For sure. For sure. Because we start on Monday. You could come Friday, have the weekend, do like downtown Palm Springs. We kind of take over the whole resort. So, and there's lots of pools and golf and it's a good time. It is. Brent Peterson (22:49.57) Good time, yep. Christine Schoenstein, it's been such a great conversation. Thank you so much for being here today. Kristin Schoenstein (22:55.144) Thanks Brent, thanks for having me.