Agenda & Speakers

Jennifer Kempton, Director, Loyalty & Customer Engagement Partnerships, Choice Hotels

Jennifer Kempton brings her experience in hospitality and account management to her role at Choice Hotels where she is the Director of Partnerships and Customer Engagement.  A strong relationship builder, Jennifer’s responsibilities include managing and growing a strong portfolio of partners that enhance the value of the loyalty program for guests and bring additional value to several cross-functional departments at Choice.

A graduate of Kansas University, Jennifer has had multiple roles in her 11 years at Choice.  She started managing the Choice Privileges Co-Brand Card relationship and then was an integral part of the Brand Solutions team serving as the primary liaison between major accounts and Choice’s shared services which include Opening Services, Franchise Management, Brand Strategy and Franchise Relations.  Further, Jennifer supervised the cross-functional team that develops and hosts multiple vendor-related networking events, the largest of which is the vendor tradeshow at the Choice Hotels Convention attended by nearly 6,000 participants and approximately 300 exhibitors. 

John Flynn, Executive Director, Program and Initiative Strategy, MGM Resorts International

John Flynn is Executive Director of Program and Initiative Strategy at MGM Resorts International.  In this role, John partners with senior leaders on high-impact special programs and provides research support and recommendations to the CEO and other C-suite executives.  John provides leadership and direction to company-wide continuous improvement initiatives across several divisions at MGM Resorts. 
 
Prior to joining MGM, John developed, led and implemented strategy and continuous improvement programs in multiple roles with the United States Air Force (USAF), the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill, and most recently at the White House as a Special Assistant to the President and Senior Adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, functioning as the Vice President’s traveling Chief of Staff.     
 
John joined the USAF in 1999 and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 2012, continuing his service today in the USAF Reserves.  He was a Department of Defense Legislative Fellow for U.S. Senator Bill Nelson and, as a C-17 pilot, deployed three times in support of Operations ENDURING and IRAQI FREEDOM.  
 
John holds a BS in Psychology from the USAF Academy and a Master of Aeronautical Science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.  He resides in Henderson, NV with his wife and three children. 

Jennifer Grothe, Financial Products, Nissan & Infiniti

Jennifer was born in Portland, Oregon and moved to southern California at a young age when her father was hired by Nissan in 1990.  Following her father’s footsteps, Jennifer joined the Nissan team in 2001 as a Consumer Affairs Specialist after earning a Bachelor degree in Anthropology at California State University, Fullerton. 
 
During her tenure at Nissan, Jennifer has held a variety of positions with increasing responsibility: Marketing Representation Specialist, Dealer Communications Marketing Specialist, Sales and Customer Communication Analyst and Sr. Planner of Dealer and Consumer Marketing. 
 
Jennifer is currently the Program Manager of the Nissan and Infiniti Visa® Credit Card and Consumer Marketing for Nissan Motor Acceptance Corporation (NMAC) and Infiniti Financial Services (IFS).  In this role she recently launched the Nissan/Infiniti Visa Credit Card program and is responsible for the overall program performance, marketing and strategic vision of the program.  In addition Jennifer manages the Financial Products Marketing team within NMAC, which produces consumer-facing marketing initiatives for NMAC and IFS. 
 
In her free time Jennifer enjoys playing golf, softball and being active with her husband, 9-year old son and 3 step-children.    

Michael Rock, Sr. Director, Loyalty Program, RLH Corp

Mike has 12 years of loyalty marketing experience across airline (Delta SkyMiles, United MileagePlus), retail (Sears Shop Your Way), and hospitality (Choice Privileges and now RLH Corporation’s Hello Rewards) industries in a variety of roles. He is responsible for overseeing the growth and expansion of Hello Rewards, with particular focus on driving engagement from properties and acquiring, delighting and retaining Hello Rewards members. Prior to joining RLH Corporation, Mike played an integral role in revamping the Choice Privileges loyalty program, which then became named USA Today’s Best Hotel Loyalty Program. While with MileagePlus, Mike contributed to the expansion of reward products to include several non-flight awards offerings, including Hotel & Car Awards – the first program of its kind among domestic airline loyalty programs. Mike earned his bachelor degree from University of Florida and an MBA from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.