Meet the SF Awards Judges: True Value, Vitamin Shoppe, Denny’s, Chamberlain Group & WPP | The Store

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The circle is complete. We’ve rounded out the full panel of judges for Street Fight’s Innovator awards (Pro tip: today is the last day to apply).

Collectively, they represent:

15,350 business locations
150,986 employees
$25+ billion in annual revenues

But who are they? Funny you should ask:

Gwen Morrison

CEO, The Americas, The Store | WPP

Gwen’s career has been devoted to helping companies create growth through more meaningful customer engagement. At The Store, Gwen is responsible for extending WPP’s leadership in commerce and retail innovation. She supports global resources for WPP group companies across the Americas. Gwen serves on the editorial board of Journal of Brand Strategy, where she has published regularly and has written for HBR. Gwen is a frequent speaker at NRF and numerous other international conferences including CES. She is a guest lecturer at Northwestern University, U of C, and U of A. Gwen also serves on the Advisory Board of Fashion Group International.


Jason Breazeale

Architecture and Technology Innovation, Denny’s

Jason spent the first 17 years of his career in various technology positions at large food retailers across the eastern US. He provided thought leadership for the early adoptions of virtualization, mobile devices, and enterprise data science. At one large global retailer, he built from the ground up an innovation practice for the incubation of emerging and mobile technologies that changed the way customers shop with augmented reality, mobile applications, and a patented frictionless checkout solution. Since moving to the restaurant and hospitality industry, he is driving an innovation culture with key initiatives towards cloud-based POS, progressive mobile evolution and frictionless curbside, and next-generation service platform offerings for Denny’s and its franchisees.


Dave Elliot

SVP, Marketing, True Value

Dave has been SVP Marketing at True Value since 2017, focusing on leading a radical digital-first marketing transformation across the business. Prior to joining True Value in Chicago, Dave held sales, marketing procurement, and retail marketing leadership roles based in New Zealand, Singapore and Bangkok with experience working across Africa and Asia/Pacific geographies. Dave was the New Zealand Marketing Association Marketer of the Year in 2016.


Andrew Laudauto

EVP, CTO, The Vitamin Shoppe

Mr. Laudato began his career as a computer programmer and has been a Chief Information Officer for close to two decades. For the past two years, Mr. Laudato was Chief Information Officer at Brookdale Senior Living where he was a member of the executive leadership team with responsibility for all aspects of technology including back office, sales and marketing among other areas. Prior to that he spent 15 years as Chief Information Officer at Pier 1 where he led several key initiatives including creating and executing a comprehensive IT and corporate strategy and led an enterprise-wide process efficiency initiative. From 1990 through 2000, he was Director, Systems Development at Jo-Ann Stores and held the same role at LBrands earlier in his career. Mr. Laudato was past Chair of the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) CIO Council. Additionally, in 2016 he was recognized by the NRF for his outstanding contributions to the retail industry. He has a B.S. degree, Computer Information Systems from DeVry Institute of Technology and a Certificate in Leadership Excellence from Vanderbilt University.


Douglas Manning

Manager, Digital Experience, Chamberlain Group

Doug has 15+ years’ experience planning and executing interactive experiences across all the digital channels with national brands such as HP, Worldpay, DISH Network, Ford, Chevrolet, Audi, Nissan, Jeep, Coke-Cola and Bush Brothers. A native of Detroit now living in Chicago, Doug has a never-ending passion for combining creative ideas and innovative technology to deliver best-in-class user experiences. Doug is currently Manager, Digital Experiences with CGI brands Chamberlain and LiftMaster.


Applications have been open for the past month and will run through end of day today. So, get your applications in if you haven’t already. We’re excited to continue the process and acknowledge champions and innovators driving success in local media, advertising, and commerce.

Contact us with questions and stay tuned for more. Meanwhile, further details, award categories, contest rules, and application forms are here.

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Mike Boland has been a tech & media analyst for the past two decades, specifically covering mobile, local, and emerging technologies. He has written for Street Fight since 2011. More can be seen at Localogy.com