April 17-20, 2008 - The Homestead, Hot Springs, Virginia, USA

List of speakers to date...

Chris Moore

Chris Moore serves as Executive Vice President of Romulus. Mr. Moore was most recently Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Trade Policy and Programs in the Bureau of Economic, Energy and Business Affairs where he oversaw the State Department's work on legislative and regulatory matters related to textiles and apparel and worked to open overseas markets and secure a level playing field for American businesses through global, regional, and bilateral trade negotiations.

Prior to joining the State Department in October 2005, Mr. Moore served as Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) for Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). In that capacity, he successfully secured regional approval for a comprehensive anti-counterfeiting and piracy initiative and advanced U.S. positions in ongoing WTO negotiations. While with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Mr. Moore also served as Senior Advisor to the Deputy USTR and as Director for African Affairs, participating in preparations for the first two high-level meetings of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade, building African support for the launch of the WTO Doha Development Agenda, and implementing the African Growth and Opportunity Act.

From 1999 to 2001, Mr. Moore served in the U.S. Department of Commerce, where he led the agency's work on market access negotiations in the U.S.- Chile Free Trade Agreement and the Free Trade Area of the Americas. Prior to entering government service, Mr. Moore was a government relations advisor with the U.S.-based multinational legal firms of Shearman & Sterling and Shaw Pittman, providing advice to a range of government and private sector clients on international trade and tax matters - including the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Mr. Moore is a graduate of Emory University (B.A.) and the London School of Economics (M.Sc.).

Dan St. Louis

Dan St. Louis is employed by Catawba Valley Community College, Hickory, NC, (1990 - present) as the Director of the Hosiery Technology Center. The Hosiery Technology Center has two locations: Randolph Community College in Asheboro and Catawba Valley Community College in Hickory. The HTC provides services to the hosiery industry in the areas of technician training, ecommerce, testing, web development, proto-typing and market development. Married for 25 years to wife Sandra and has three children in college.

The Blink Team: Dina Dunn

Dina's roots are in the apparel industry and throughout the textile supply chain. For more than a decade, Dina has exploited her unique niche of "ingredient branding" to successfully grow her clients' market share throughout their targeted industries. She has developed and executed marketing and communications plans for a diverse group of companies across numerous industries, including: Oeko-Tex, Dickies, The Dow Chemical Company, Bali, StainMaster, Remington ELSAG, N.C. State University and University Mall in Chapel Hill. Since founding Blink in 2003, Dina has been a featured speaker for Chico's, StainMaster, the International Swim and Activewear Market and the AATCC, among others. Dina earned her BA from Colgate University and her MBA from Duke University.

Janet Labuda

Janet Labuda, a native of Brooklyn, New York, has been with U.S. Customs and Border Protection for 28 years. She began her career as an inspector at John F. Kennedy International Airport in 1980. Prior to that she taught high school history for five years in New York. Currently, she is the Director, Textile/Apparel Policy and Programs Division, Office of International Trade, Washington D.C. Her responsibilities include oversight of the textile/wearing apparel area including enforcement of quota, illegal textile transshipment activities, trade agreements for textiles and operational policy development and implementation. In addition, Ms. Labuda is the Chairman of the Textile Working Group that determines U.S. Customs and Border Protection policy regarding the importation of all textile products. She participated in the negotiation of the Singapore, Australia, and Morocco Free Trade Agreements and works on a continuing basis with her foreign counterparts to ensure maximum compliance of this industry with U.S. laws and regulations.

Before her current assignment, Ms. Labuda was an International Trade Officer with the Office of Strategic Trade and the Director, Revenue Enforcement Division with the Office of Regulatory Audit. Other assignments have included Senior Program Manager, The Interdiction Committee; Senior Customs Representative, Office of Investigations, The Hague, Netherlands, Customs Zero Tolerance Ombudsman and Program Manager, Office of Inspection and Control. Ms. Labuda graduated with a B.A. degree in History from St. Joseph's College, Brooklyn, New York, and a M.A. degree in European History from New York University. She has attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government and is a Senior Executive Fellow. She is a member of the Board of Directors for the American Friends of the Kigali Public Library that is spearheading efforts in the United States to help build the first free public library in Rwanda.

Jerry Cook

Jerry Cook is vice president of International Trade/Government Relations for Hanesbrands, Inc. Hanesbrands, Inc.'s leading brands include Hanes, Hanes Her Way, Bali, Champion, Just My Size, L'eggs and Playtex with sales of $4.5billion annually..

Cook joined Hanesbrands, Inc. in 1987. In his current strategic role as VP of International Trade/Government Relations, Cook overseas the various trade, government and DHS/Customs programs and account manager for Hanesbrands, Inc. Cook serves as a Department of Commerce ITAC-13 Advisor for textile and apparel related products. Cook is intimately involved in the trade related agreements and the development of key strategic relations with the US government, US Congress, state governments, WTO, WCO as well as other nations. He is a Board member to key trade and business groups.He has been appointed to the Cotton Board, US Treasury Advisory Committee for Customs Commercial Operations and a member and founding group to Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT) with the US Customs and Border Protection. Cook is a licensed US Customs Broker. Cook was recently named the Chair of the United States Chamber of International Business Customs Committee. Jerry is a graduate of Auburn University, married with two daughters in college.

Lindsey Parker

Lindsey Parker is an associate with Romulus Global Issues Management, a Washington, DC-based firm that manages complex global campaigns to resolve issues facing corporations and their associations. Lindsey joined the Romulus team in September 2007 with a background in external affairs, public policy management and business development strategies within the international marketplace.Prior to joining Romulus, Lindsey worked for Dutko Worldwide, a political consulting firm, serving as an associate on the International Affairs and U.S. Federal Affairs teams. While at Dutko, Lindsey helped manage corporate, institutional and public sector clients. Her work for clients focused on facilitating international investment access in the emerging markets, including projects in South Asia, Eastern Europe and South America. In Washington, Lindsey has worked on a number of government affairs projects, including client strategies within the labor, trade and transportation issue areas. Lindsey graduated from Yale University with a degree in Political Science.

Marshal Cohen

Marshal Cohen is currently the Chief Industry Analyst for The NPD Group, Inc. In addition to overall retail sales, he specializes in apparel, footwear and accessories, focusing on sales, trends, and forecasting. Marshal realigned his internal role as Co-President to a more external role to focus more on the analytics and applications of data to help clients and the industry learn how to use the data to unearth the vast opportunities within the industries that NPD tracks. By utilizing this uniquely combined consumer and point-of-sale tracking service coupled with his vast experience in the market place ranging from Manufacturing, Retailing, and Marketing, Marshal is able to offer unique insights into data application and industry topics. Marshal brings a unique blend of management skills, hands on sales experience, data usage and development, coupled with the ability to present it in such a way that organizations seek his presentations to ignite the audience large and small.

Marshal has been frequently seen on NBC's Today Show discussing current apparel trends. He has also appeared on ABC's Good Morning America, The CBS Morning News, CNBC and CNN. In addition, Marshal has been extensively quoted on retail and fashion trends in Fortune Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Time Magazine, Business Week, Women's Wear Daily and many other publications. Marshal speaks frequently to industry associations and conferences amongst the leading CEO's and high level executives within our industries. Additionally, Marshal recently released his first book entitled, "Why Consumers Do What They Do" through Mc-Graw Hill.

Mike Davis

Mike Davis has been an attorney in the Bureau of Consumer Protection at the FTC since 2001. He has litigated cases in federal court and, for the past year, worked on the FTC's program relating to environmental advertising claims. In additon to eco-marketing issues, Mike has focused on Internet, telemarketing, and billing practices. Before joining the FTC, Mike was a corporate associate at a large law firm in New York City. He holds degrees from the University of Illinois and the University of Virginia.

Dr. Nancy Cassill

Dr. Nancy Cassill is Professor, Professor and Interim Department Head of Textile & Apparel Technology and Management, College of Textiles, North Carolina State University. This appointment follows 15 years of experience in university education at The University of North Carolina - Greensboro and the University of North Texas. She holds degrees from Purdue University, Indiana University, and the University of Tennessee - Knoxville. Dr. Cassill currently teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in international textile trade, international textile marketing, strategic product management, and textile market research. Nancy works closely with industry and government personnel in developing and teaching training programs related to international textile marketing issues. In 1995, Dr. Cassill was awarded the Outstanding Teaching Award, School of Human Environmental Sciences, University of North Carolina - Greensboro.

Dr. Cassill's research expertise is global textile marketing, international textile trade, textile product development, strategic analysis, and textile consumer research. She has published several articles in research and trade journals and speaks to academic and industry groups on textile marketing and consumer issues. Cassill directs textile marketing research studies with graduate (master's, doctoral) students. Dr. Cassill served as President of the International Textile and Apparel Association (1997-1998) and currently serves as Managing Editor, Journal of Textile and Apparel Technology and Management (JTATM).

Sally Kay

Sally Kay is president and CEO of The Hosiery Association. During her 16-year tenure serving the Association, Kay has taken a proactive role in leading the legwear industry through extraordinary change. In addition to setting the agenda and managing day-to-day operations for the Association, Kay is an energetic leader responsible for influencing consumers, media, government, legislation and retailers. Sally is a respected industry advocate who is regularly quoted in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Women's Wear Daily, Glamour, Allure, Ask Heloise, The Charlotte Observer and Southern Textile News. She has been featured on Fox News and NBC's "Today Show." Sally is also author of The Hosiery Association's Centennial: Keep in Step with the Industry for a Hundred Years. Sally is a graduate of Clemson University and resides with her family in Charlotte, NC.

Matthew Priest

Matthew Priest, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Textiles and Apparel will oversee programs and strategies to improve the domestic and international competitiveness of the U.S. fiber, textiles, and apparel industries. Mr. Priest will also serve as Chairman of the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA), which determines when market-disrupting factors exist in the domestic fibre, textiles and apparel marketplace. Previously, Priest served as Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Import Administration at the Department of Commerce, where he advised the assistant secretary on textile and trade issues. Prior to joining the Department of Commerce, Priest served as Legislative Director for Representative Sue Myrick of North Carolina, where he was an advisor in the areas of textiles, trade and economic development. Mr. Priest earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from North Carolina State University in Raleigh. He lives with his wife and daughter in Springfield, Virginia.

Scott Quesenberry

Special Textile Negotiator, Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR)Mr. Quesenberry is responsible for supervising US trade negotiations involving textiles and apparel while working to expand American industry access to overseas markets. Prior to coming to the USTR, Mr. Quesenberry worked for Senator Elizabeth Dole, most recently as the Legislative Director and before that as the Chief Counsel and the Policy Director. In those capacities, he was responsible for advising Senator Dole on all trade and manufacturing policy issues. Prior to this position, he served as the Issues Director for Elizabeth Dole's 2002 senatorial campaign in North Carolina. Before joining Senator Dole, he was a government affairs counsel in the private sector and worked for a variety of campaign committees.

Mr. Quesenberry is a 1993 graduate of Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire and received his law degree in 1996 from Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia. He is married to Mrs. Heather Quesenberry, has a daughter and is a native of Lexington, North Carolina

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