Schedule

 

Friday April 30th

TIMES IN EDT

 

8:50: Welcome from William Keep, Dean Kathryn Jervis, TCNJ School of Business; Douglas M. Brooks

9:00 – 9:30: Keynote: FTC Commissioner Noah Joshua Phillips

9:30 – 11:00: Regulatory Perspectives: An International Panel

Moderator: William Keep, PhD (Professor of Marketing, TCNJ);

Andrew Smith (United States, former Director, Bureau of Consumer Protection, FTC);

Gabriella Muscolo (Italy, Commissioner, Competition Authority);

Paul Hanna (Ireland, Deputy Director, Competition and Consumer Protection Commission);

Russell Jutlah (Canada, Assistant Deputy Commissioner, Competition Bureau);

[Q&A: Douglas M. Brooks]

11:00 – 11:10: Break

11:10 – 12:30: Federal and State Enforcement Perspectives

Moderator: Douglas M. Brooks (attorney);

Peter Vander Nat (FTC, retired);

Kathleen “Kati” Daffan (FTC);

Joseph Kanada (Office of the Attorney General, State of Washington);

Ben Brysacz (Office of the Attorney General, State of Washington)

Jacob Gilbert (Office of the Attorney General, State of Illinois)

[Q&A: Máire O Sullivan, PhD]

12:30 – 1:00: Lunch

1:00 – 2:20: Academic Panel: MLM Research:

Moderator, Máire O Sullivan, PhD (Munster Technological University);

Stacie Bosley, PhD (Hamline University);

Claudia Groß, PhD (Radboud Universiteit);

Heidi Liu, PhD (University of Pennsylvania Law School);

Andrew Stivers, PhD (FTC)

[Q&A: William Keep, PhD]

2:20 – 2:30: Break

2:30 – 3:50: Journalist and Social Media Content Creators

Moderator, Sarah Casteel (social media and law student);

Casey Bond (Huffington Post);

Jane Marie (The Dream podcast; formerly National Public Radio);

Liz Day (The New York Times; formerly with HBO’s Last Week Tonight);

Lisette Voytko (Forbes)

[Q&A: Stephen Barrett, MD]

3:50 – 3:55: Adjourn

4:00 – 5:00: Facilitated group discussion for attendees

 

Saturday May 1st

TIMES IN EDT

 

9:00: Welcome

9:05 – 10:30: What is MLM?

Moderator, Peter Vander Nat (FTC, retired);

Robert Fitzpatrick (author and consumer advocate);

Bruce Craig (Office of the Attorney General, Wisconsin, retired);

D. Anthony Miles, PhD. (author and marketing consultant)

[Q&A: Máire O Sullivan, PhD]

10:30 – 10:40: Break (10 min)

10:40 – 12:05: How do MLMs recruit and retain participants?

Moderator, Douglas M. Brooks (attorney);

Steven Hassan, PhD. (consultant and author);

Eric Scheibeler (author, former Amway Emerald distributor);

Elizabeth Villagomez, PhD (consultant and researcher);

Máire O Sullivan, PhD (Munster Technological University)

[Q&A: Stephen Barrett, MD]

12:05 – 12:35: lunch

12:35 – 2:00: How do MLMs silence critics?

Moderator, William Keep, PhD (The College of New Jersey);

Peter Skolnik (attorney);

Joshua Koltun (attorney);

Alanda Carter (social media content creator)

Joe Mullin (Electronic Frontier Foundation)

[Q&A: Douglas M. Brooks]

2:00 – 2:10: break (10 min)

2:10 – 3:35: Product and Earning claims and the true number

Moderator, Robert Fitzpatrick (author and consumer advocate);

Hannah Martin (writer, Talented Ladies Club);

Laura Smith (general counsel, Truth in Advertising);

Stephen Barrett, MD (consumer advocate, Quackwatch)

[Q&A: Stacie Bosley, PhD]

3:35 – 3:45: Wrap up and next steps

4:00 – 5:00: Facilitated group discussion for attendees