Another Catalyst Americas has come and gone.
And this was the best one yet. This year’s enthusiastic crowd, brilliant speakers and electric energy made Catalyst Americas 2015 one of the hottest shows in the industry.
As the saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” So we’re not going to tell you about Catalyst Americas 2015 — we’re going to show you.
This was Catalyst’s first year at the beautiful Aria Resort & Casino.
And we couldn’t leave the bright colors of our logo behind — the ChannelAdvisor brand was seen all over Aria’s conference center.
Day 1: Monday, March 30
ChannelAdvisor CEO Scot Wingo kicked off Catalyst with his keynote centered on the hugely popular (okay, addicting) TV show “Game of Thrones” — but there was a catch…
…it was “The Game of E-Commerce Thrones.”
He went on to explain that the e-commerce industry is much like the TV series — several contenders partnering and fighting for the consumer’s wallet.
During his keynote, Scot invited Samsung Head of European E-Commerce Tom Clark and Jet.com CEO Marc Lore to the stage to talk about their latest and greatest moves in the e-commerce battlefield.
Following Scot’s keynote was the opening reception in the Catalyst Pavilion. 
Attendees enjoyed refreshments and brushed up on their gambling skills while networking with peers, vendors — and Stormtroopers. Shoutout to SkuVault for providing the ’Troopers with safe travel arrangements to Planet Earth!
Day 2: Tuesday, March 31
Doug Stephens opened the second day of Catalyst with an intriguing keynote explaining how Big Data is driving the retail industry.
Immediately following the Big Data discussion, attendees learned 10 useful tips for business leaders, delivered by brilliant entrepreneur Robert Herjavec — star of ABC’s Emmy-winning show “Shark Tank” and CEO of Herjavec Group.
Networking and breakout sessions filled the remainder of the day.
[Pictured left to right]
Matt Kubancik, president and founder, Street Moda
Davin Johnson, general manager, djsboardshop.com and brand manager, Framed Bikes
David Devany, global senior vice president of digital e-commerce and IT, Claire’s Accessories
[Pictured above] Sherri Wu, head of international e-commerce business development, Alibaba Group
The one and only Retail Prophet, aka Jason Goldberg, concluded day two by schooling the audience on the consumer’s ever-evolving path to purchase.
And then there was the Catalyst Party. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas — right?
Day 3: Wednesday, April 1
Back-to-back keynotes from Google and eBay got the final day of Catalyst off to a great start before attendees’ individual schedules of breakout sessions and networking opportunities began.
[Pictured above] Vineet Buch, director of product management for Shopping Search, Google
[Pictured above] Wendy Jones, vice president of geographical expansion and emerging markets, eBay
[Pictured above] Scott Hilton, chief revenue officer, Jet
Jayson Humphrey (left), strategic partnership manager, ChannelAdvisor
Nir Hollander, President, Gem Stone King
The educational portion of the conference ended with a fireside chat with Scot and Sebastian Gunningham, senior vice president of Amazon Seller Services.
To conclude the conference, Scot honored the winners of ChannelAdvisor’s annual customer awards.
[Pictured above] Savvy Retailer Award: Street Moda, a high-end apparel and footwear retailer
[Pictured above] GMV Trailblazer Award: AmaBay, an agency that represents Wisconsin Harley-Davidson
[Pictured above] Community Contributor: Sports Agency International, an auto parts retailer
And lastly the ChannelAdvisor Explorer Award was given to Seismic Audio (not pictured), a pro audio equipment retailer.
A big thank you to all attendees and sponsors for helping us power the e-commerce revolution. We couldn’t have done it without you!
See you at Catalyst Americas 2016!
Blog post by Jordan Nowlin, social media and blog manager, ChannelAdvisor
