Ann M. Ackerman, CMD

Ann M. Ackerman, CMD With more than 20 years of experience in marketing management for outlet centers and shopping malls, Ann Ackerman, CMD is the CEO and founder of Elevate Branding and Marketing. She has been responsible for launching several of the world's most successful outlet centers, including Fashion Outlets of Chicago, which was awarded the Best Outlet Center in the World by MAPIC. Her current clients include Leeds Retail’s outlet center, The Outlet Shops of Grand River near Birmingham in which she is in charge of their marketing and social media programs. She also works for CBRE which she is responsible for the marketing of the Fashion Outlets of Santa Fe, NM. Ms. Ackerman also worked for Magnitude Development and completed the marketing and branding for the company and of Gran Plaza in Calexico, CA, Magnitude LAX in Hawthorne, CA and Magnitude NOHO in North Hollywood, CA.

Prior to opening her own consulting firm, Ms. Ackerman was Vice President for Nextness, Marketing, Magic and Wizardry for AWENEXT working on outlet centers in Las Vegas, New Mexico and Puerto Rico. Before joining AWENEXT, she served as Vice President, Outlet Marketing for Macerich, where she managed the company’s existing outlet portfolio and worked to develop outlet projects in San Francisco and Philadelphia.

Ms. Ackerman has also served as Vice President and Director of Marketing at AWE Talisman. Her extensive background in tourism and marketing resulted in the successful redevelopment and rebranding of Fashion Outlets of Niagara Falls, Fashion Outlets of Las Vegas and Fashion Outlets of Santa Fe. Prior to her tenure at AWE Talisman, Ms. Ackerman served as Regional Vice President of Marketing for Prime Retail in which she grand opened 23 outlet centers and Group Marketing Director for the Cafaro Company.

Ms. Ackerman is honored to have received several national and international awards for marketing and tourism excellence and the Gold and Silver ICSC MAXI awards for excellence in marketing, public relations, social media, grand opening and cause-related marketing. She currently serves on the VRN Planning Committee and is on the board of DOC&R. She is an ICSC MAXI Judge and often acts as a roundtable leader and panelist at major ICSC events. Previously she served as an ICSC Professional Development class auditor and instructor.  

With her wealth of experience, passion and creativity, Ms. Ackerman is deeply committed to helping her clients identify opportunities that will build new business as well as increase profitability at existing outlet properties.

Ms. Ackerman will present  ""A" is for Adaptable:  How to be a Versatile, Fleixible, and Adjustable Candidate in Today's Work Environment," on Wednesday, May 24,  9:00 - 9:30 am in the Talent Development Pavilion.

Gayle Aertker, CLS, CRX

Gayle Aertker, CLS, CRX is currently Senior Vice President of Real Estate Development and Asset Management for Burlington Stores.   She was previously Senior Vice President of Real Estate and Store Development for Dollar General Corp, Managing Member for Millennium Retail Partners, LLC, EVP Real Estate Development for Office Depot, VP Real Estate Toys R Us and Price Club (now Costco).  Her career in retail real estate acquisition and development spans over 30 years specializing in large scale growth and development strategies and execution programs for national retailers. Additionally, she is a Past Trustee for ICSC and previously served at Retail Chair for the State of Tennessee.  She currently holds ICSC's CLS and CRX designations.  

Ms. Aertker will be available for individual mentoring sessions.

Jen Augustyn

Jen Augustyn is an advertising professional with 17 years of experience in brand strategy, account management and digital media. As a Partner at The Dealey Group in Dallas, Jen sets the foundation for all the strategic efforts developed at the agency including initiatives for JLL, CBRE Global Investors, DLC Management, Peterson Companies, RPAI, Northwood Retail, Rappaport, Vestar, and Plaza las Americas. Jen’s ground breaking work in social media has been documented in publications such as Adweek, Brandweek, Wall Street Journal and Retail Traffic.  

Prior to joining The Dealey Group in 2007, Jen was with Young & Rubicam New York and Saatchi & Saatchi New York. At both agencies, Jen managed integrated teams to develop and execute multi-million dollar marketing campaigns for some of America’s most loved and trusted brands such as Walkman (Sony), Cheerios (General Mills), Campbell’s Soup, AT&T and Old Spice (Procter & Gamble).

Ms. Augustyn will present  "You Can't Hide:  How Shopping Centers Use Your Mobile Data for Marketing and Leasing," on Tuesday, May 23, 1:00-1:30 pm in the Talent Development Pavilion.

Alan J. Barocas

       
 Alan J. Barocas is Senior Executive Vice President, Leasing, for GGP in Chicago. Prior to joining GGP, Mr. Barocas was the principal of Alan J. Barocas and Associates, a retail real estate consulting group he founded in May of 2006, specializing in assisting retailers, developers and investment groups with growth and investment strategies. His client list included Under Armour, Calvin Klein, Fossil, New York & Company, Vornado Realty Trust, Advent International and Abbell Financial Investments. Prior to May of 2006, Mr. Barocas spent 25 years with Gap Inc., where he was instrumental in leading its three divisions (Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy) in developing and executing their real estate growth strategies. In January of 2007, Mr. Barocas was named to the board of directors of Stage Stores Inc., Houston, Texas. Mr. Barocas is a past trustee of ICSC and a graduate of University at Albany with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.

Mr. Barocas will be available for individual mentoring sessions.

Joe Beck

Joe Beck is Vice President of SRS Real Estate Partners in Denver. Joe joined SRS Real Estate Partners in 2010 with over 14 years of real estate experience in retail leasing and sales, specializing in Tenant Representation and Landlord Representation. Joe has completed over 400 deals with a combined value of approximately $150 million. 

Joe is a past Colorado/Wyoming State Director for ICSC and has held numerous leadership positions within the organization. Presently, he is an ICSC Ambassador. He has also worked closely with the University of Colorado Real Estate Council and remains an alumni advisor to CU’s Kappa Sigma Fraternity. He has a degree from the University of Colorado - Boulder.

Mr. Beck will be available for individual mentoring sessions.

Alison Beddard

Alison Beddard is Senior Director, Office and Investment, Cushman & Wakefield Commerce, as well as being the CREW Network President. Beddard has been committed toCREW Network and its local chapter, CREW Utah since she first joined in 2008,advocating its mission and value to the commercial real estate industry. She is utterlydedicated to the success of the organization and its more than 9,500 female and maleprofessionals within CREW's 70+ local, North American chapters.

She served as CREW Utah's 2012 President, as well as its Sponsorship Committee Chair, Membership Committee Chair, and as a Director of CREW Utah's Board for three years, liaising between CREW Network's national organization and local chapters in Phoenix, Tucson, Las Vegas, Denver, Northern Colorado, Minnesota, Omaha, St. Louis, and of course Utah. Under her leadership, the chapter's annual sponsorship and membership increased by 80 percent. 

As President, she serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of CREW Network. She deals with decision makers to discuss their vision of advancing women in  commercial real estate and how CREW Network can help them achieve that goal. She and the board of directors visit CREW’s 74 local chapters, meeting with chapter leaders to offer member support and advancement opportunities. She works with CREW members with world-class leadership training, business networking opportunities, career growth, and cutting edge industry research and in other important issues affecting women's advancement in the industry. 

Beddard began her career with Cushman & Wakefield | Commerce in 2005, having since built a profitable brokerage practice, representing regional and national companies and non-profit organizations and institutions in all aspects of commercial brokerage, including acquisitions, dispositions, build-to-suits, land acquisition and leasing and sales, closing over $73 million in transactions between 2010 and 2015. 

Beddard also serves on the Advisory Board of Zions Bank Women's Financial Group and Salt Lake City Downtown Master Plan Advisory Group as its commercial real estate liaison. She is a 2013 Honoree of Utah Business Magazine's Forty Under 40.

Ms. Beddard will present  "10 Tips for Getting your CRE Career Started," (Hosted by CREW Network) on Monday, May 22, 10:00 - 11:00 am in the Talent Development Pavilion.