2024 Schedule

 

Thursday May 2nd

TIMES IN EDT

 

9:30am Welcome from William Keep, Dean Tammy Dieterich, TCNJ School of Business.

9:35 – 10:00: Keynote: Kati Daffan, Assistant Director, Federal Trade Commission, Division of Marketing           

10:00 – 11:00: Session 1: FTC Rulemaking Process

Erin, John & Maddy will discuss the Federal Trade Commission’s rulemaking process, rule proposals that may affect multilevel marketing conduct, and how rules can shape the conduct of consumers and businesses.

Erin Witte, Consumer Federation of America

John Breyault, National Consumer League

Maddy Gitomer, Democracy Forward

11:00 – 11:15: Break

11:15 – 11:45: Session 2: Opportunity Costs: Deceptive MLM Earnings Claims

Bonnie Patten, TINA.org 

11:45 – 12:30 Session 3: Recent Academic Publications

Presenters will share recently published MLM-related research in the fields of psychology, marketing, media studies and sociology

Lucas Dixon, PhD, The University of Queensland

William Keep, PhD, The College of New Jersey, Emeritus 

12:30 – 1:30: Lunch

1:30 – 2:15: Session 3: Recent Academic Publications (cont.)

Mara Einstein, PhD, City University of New York

Jessica Pearce, PhD, University of Louisiana, Lafayette 

2:15 – 3:00: Session 4: Words: Industry word use and misuse

Presenters discuss striking and disturbing examples of how MLMs manipulate consumers via language

Máire O Sullivan, PhD, Munster Technological University

Marco Moukhaiber, Social Media Activist

3:00 – 3:15: Break

3:10 – 4:00: Session 4 (cont.)

Gina Marie Longo, PhD and Frankie Mastrangelo, PhD, Virginia Commonwealth University

Jane Marie, award-winning journalist and author

4:00 – 4:30: Q and A

 

Friday May 3rd

TIMES IN EDT

 

9:30 – 10:30: Session 5: Recent Cases Against MLM Companies

Presenters cover successful cases in the US and Poland, public and private

Dariusz Lomowski, Director at Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, Gdansk, Poland

Jonathan Ware, Federal Trade Commission

Jason Jones, Assistant Attorney General 

10:30 – 10:45: Break

10:45 – 11:15: Session 6: Neora Decision

A chosen path conflicting with the historic thrust of pyramid scheme case law

Peter Vander Nat, PhD, Senior Economist, FTC, retired 

11:15 – 11:45: Session 7: The Potential Impact of Fake Reviews

The creator of www.fakereviewwatch.com will address the problem of sellers promoting their products and services through the use of fake reviews and potential regulatory solutions

Kathryn Dean, Fake Review Watch           

11:45 – 12:45: Lunch

12:45 – 1:15: Session 7: The Potential Impact of Fake Reviews

Kathryn Dean, Fake Review Watch                           

1:15 – 2:30: Session 8: The Roles that Coercive Control and Undue Influence Play in Multi-Level Marketing

Kat Garcia-Benson, RDN, CSSD, Social Media Activist

Julie Anderson, Social Media Activist

Kalika Kanitkar, Social Media Activist

Alanda Carter, Social Media Activist

Brandie Hadfield, Social Media Activist

Gladys, AKA MLM Exit, Social Media Activist

Melissa Henry, Social Media Activist

Megan Williams, Social Media Activist

Chris Shelton, Social Media Activist

With Support From: Roberta Blevins and Michelle Carpenter, Social Media Activists

2:30 – 3:00: Q and A

3:00: Close conference