"It was my first year, but won't be my last."

I first attended eTail just this summer in Boston at eTail East 2015 when I was invited as a panel of speakers. But I wasn’t alone, several of my co-workers at Gilt (who I was with at the time) were also attending – So it was great to be able to swap notes with them afterwards.

"The facilitated networking at eTail is very unique. The connections I made are now becoming friendships."

I was bowled over by the conversations I was able to have with other retailers and the overall on-site experience. Why? Because at eTail, I was surrounded by peers that were in similar situations but each had a unique perspective to share, which I found fascinating. So much so that I was compelled to reach out to one of the speakers I met, Sharon Klapka at Adore Me, to discuss ideas. This connection has grown to a friendship that includes regular meet-ups to bounce ideas and discuss strategies.

"I won the gameshow panel!"

One of my most memorable experiences was being involved in the Gameshow Panel, where participants were asked questions related to eCommerce strategies in a gameshow format. I actually won the rapid fire round of questions! But more than that, I came away from the experience with a whole bunch of questions about the eCommerce operations at Gilt. It helped me open my eyes to the different possibilities of collaboration with other co-workers which was huge.