Thursday, July 26
All events except lunch take place in room 13.106/13.107. Lunch will take place in the Solarium.
8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Welcome Breakfast
A delicious breakfast buffet awaits you. Grab your plate and join colleagues to catch up and make new connections before our program begins.
9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Legal Developments and Recent Major Independent Contractor Decisions
Independent contractor status is vital to the direct selling industry. Recent several important legal decisions have challenged long-held standards. Hear about those settled and pending cases that will impact your company and its salesforce.
Jeremy Smuckler
Vice President and General Counsel, Corporate and Global Market
ACN, Inc.
John Webb
Senior Legal Counsel for Policy, Advocacy & Compliance
Direct Selling Association
William Flanagan
Partner
Hogan Lovells US LLP
10:00 a.m. – 10:10 a.m.
Break
10:10 a.m. – 11:10 a.m.
Proselytizing, Non-Solicitation Trends and Other Contracting Issues
The critical independent contractor relationship between the individual direct seller and the company starts with a well written, enforceable contract. Hear from legal experts about key contract provisions on proselyting, non-solicitation, arbitration and other key provisions your company should consider.
Matt Dorny
Vice President, General Counsel
Nu Skin Enterprises
Douglas Bracken
Partner
Scheef & Stone, LLP
Dana Mehrer
Former General Counsel
Silpada Designs
11:10 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.
View from the U.S. Department of Labor
Hear from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) on the key issues the Trump administration is focusing on to improve and protect the labor market in the United States.
Nicholas C. Geale
Chief of Staff
United States Secretary of Labor
11:45 a.m. – 12:45 p.m.
Networking Lunch
1:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: Updates to the Tax Code and Implications on Independent Contractor Status
The historic Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has made major changes to areas of the tax code and may have an impact on your company's independent contractors. Hear from a leading DC expert about what your salesforce should know now and for next year's filings.
Patrick Hollrah
General Counsel
Coalition to Promote Independent Entrepreneurs
1:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Legislative Approaches to Clearly Define Direct Sellers
DSA leadership and member company executives have been working for decades at the federal and state level with legislators and regulators to ensure that individual direct sellers are correctly classified as independent contractors for various purposes including unemployment compensation, workers compensation and wage and hours. Hear about those efforts past, present, and future and how they will protect the status.
Kerry Tassopoulos
Vice President, Public Affairs
Mary Kay Inc.
Brian Bennett
Senior Director, Public Affairs & Advocacy
Direct Selling Association
Josephine Mills
New Avon LLC
2:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Independent Salesforce Monitoring – How, Why and Who
With millions of direct seller independent contractors representing companies, monitoring their activities for compliance with company policies, the DSA Code, and other legal issues is a huge task. Learn solutions for how to actively monitor your salesforce.
Jonathan Gilliam
Chief Executive Officer
Momentum Factor
Eric Marchant
Vice President Compliance-Assistant General Counsel
LifeVantage Corporation
2:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Independent Contractors and the Use of Social Media
The advent and prevalence of social media have provided many great opportunities to expand how individual direct sellers communicate the opportunity and products. Learn how companies can encourage proper use of social media by your salesforce.
Meghan Rissmiller
Partner
Hogan Lovells US LLP
3:00 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.
Break
3:15 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.
Can I tell my Independent Sellers What to Do or What Not to Do?
Controlling the independent contractor salesforce, always a fine line between enough to ensure their compliance and not too much to appear as an employee. Hear how to walk the fine line on the proper amount of control.
Gary Pears
Corporate Legal Counsel
Southwestern Advantage
Paul Matheson
Legal Affairs Manager
CUTCO/VECTOR Marketing Corporation
3:45 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.
Who Owns the Downline?
Companies think they do and leaders think they do. Hear from experts on how to understand and maintain a dynamic downline structure that is controlled, ultimately by the direct selling company.
Jane Fergason
Partner
Foley & Lardner LLP
4:15 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Networking Reception
Take this last opportunity to engage with your peers on the topics shared during today's program while enjoying hors d'oeuvres and cocktails.