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The Foundation Hosts Game Changer Casino Night

The Foundation Hosts Game Changer Casino Night

At the DSA Annual Meeting in June, nearly 300 executives and suppliers played their cards right and joined the Foundation for its first Casino Night Fundraiser. Attendees enjoyed black jack, craps, roulette, music, food, drinks and fun, raising more than $70,000 to help DSEF advance understanding of the direct selling channel at universities across the country.

The party included a CEO Blackjack Tournament where executive-level players tested their mettle against one another. A dozen other tables of popular casino games were filled with excited contenders.

The evening was emceed by Crayton Webb, CEO, Sunwest Communications, and Ruth Todd, SVP Public Affairs, Nu Skin, who added their spot-on commentary to the excitement and drama of the intense competition on the gaming floor.

Angela Loehr Chrysler, President & CEO, Team National and incoming DSEF Chair, called the event fabulous. “It was terrific to connect with other executives while supporting DSEF in their mission to educate others and share the positive impact of direct selling,” she says.

The event’s success will help the Foundation to continue to expand its work to reach tens of thousands of students every year with accurate information about the direct selling channel.

DSEF would like to thank our Presenting Sponsor Nu Skin and Event Sponsors Amway and Jenkon. Thanks also to sponsors Planet Payment, Smart Office Solutions, Inc., Luci powered by Retail Success, Gig Economy Group, Strategic Choice Partners, LLC, Bartha, CUTCO/Vector Marketing Corporation, Harland Clarke, Thatcher Technology Group, LLC, ACN, Inc., Vantiv, Regal Ware, Inc., Club Med Resorts, MGM Resorts International, and Disney Destinations.

News / Newsletter

DSEF Fellows Offer Insights at DSA’s Annual Meeting

During the DSA’s Annual Meeting in June, a group of exceptionally accomplished Fellows, Dr. Victoria Crittenden, Professor & Chair, Marketing Division of Babson College; Dr. Haya Ajjan, Associate Professor of Management Information Systems of Elon University; Dr. Anne Coughlan, Polk Bros. Chair in Retailing & Prof. of Marketing of Northwestern University; and Dr. Robert Peterson, John T. Stuart III Centennial Chair in Business Administration at University of Texas at Austin, shared new insights on how to empower a salesforce during a panel discussion titled “Your Distributors as Social Media Agents, Skilled Professionals and Emerging Market Entrepreneurs.”

This all-star panel covered how positive and negative sentiments exchanged on Facebook through “likes” and “shares” affect sales performance and satisfaction; which types of turnkey technology, training and communication are empowering direct sellers in emerging markets; and the 14 professional skills gained through the direct selling experience and how to use them to market and recruit.

News / Newsletter

Dave Wentz Awarded DSEF Circle of Honor 

Dave Wentz Awarded DSEF Circle of Honor 

Dave Wentz, outgoing DSEF chairman, was presented with the Circle of Honor award at the 2018 DSA Annual Meeting in San Diego. The Circle of Honor award recognizes those individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to the Foundation. “It was extremely moving and meaningful to receive DSEF’s Circle of Honor award,” Dave says. “To be included with such an amazing group of past award winners is truly an honor and I am proud to have been able to make a contribution to the great work of the Foundation. I learned a great deal and more importantly had the chance to work with great people who are making a difference.”

DSEF Executive Director Gary Huggins credits Dave with helping the Foundation transition into a new direction. “We are excited to add Dave to DSEF’s Circle of Honor to celebrate his long history of supporting and contributing to the work and success of the Foundation,” Gary says. “Dave has also been a driving force in developing and implementing a bold new vision for the Foundation to mainstream direct selling by partnering with academics to produce industry validating research and reach tens of thousands of students every year with educational content on the channel.”

News / Newsletter

Dr. Elizabeth Davis Named DSEF Educator of the Year 

Dr. Elizabeth Davis Named DSEF Educator of the Year 

Dr. Elizabeth Davis (Liz), Dean of the School of Management at the University of San Francisco, was recognized as the DSEF Educator of the Year. The accolade is given to educators who demonstrate outstanding service to the Foundation through leadership, personal involvement, teaching and research. Liz has been instrumental in fulfilling DSEF’s mission of education and validation.

“Liz has made tremendous contributions to DSEF’s work to partner with university professors throughout the country to achieve our goal of reaching more than 60,000 students per year through DSEF events, curriculum and content,” said DSEF Executive Director Gary. “She has been a highly-valued strategic advisor to the Foundation through her service on the board as well as a founding member of the Foundation’s Academic Advisory Council.”

Liz says she was honored to receive the Educator of the Year Award from the Foundation. “My time with the direct selling industry has given me the opportunity to work with professionals who are rewriting the business landscape in new and creative ways,” she says. “I will continue to enjoy my ongoing association and work with the Foundation and DSA as they chart their future and blaze a path forward.”

News / Newsletter

Dr. Vicky Crittenden Leads Fellows Workshop

At DSA’s Annual Meeting in June, 29 DSEF Fellows joined the Foundation for a Learning Journey to discover firsthand the challenges and topics important to the direct selling community.

To kick-off this academic learning experience, DSEF Academic Advisory Committee Member and DSEF Board Member, Dr. Victoria Crittenden, Professor and Chair, Marketing Division, Babson College, lent her leadership in a workshop before the conference began that illustrated the opportunities of the DSEF Fellows program.

Dr. Crittenden explained, the importance of having it for the Fellows in attendance. “The DSEF Fellows Workshop is always a great event at the DSA Annual Meeting. This year, we heard from eight Fellows about how they are bringing direct selling to their college campuses, individual classrooms, and research.” she said. “It was especially exciting to hear how some of our newest Fellows are already active in their engagement with direct selling executives and with the DSEF. In addition to the workshop, the conviviality among the Fellows was dynamic this year. Not surprisingly, several of the Fellows took that dynamism to the Casino floor, which was great fun.”

Dr. Crittenden planned and moderated the workshop designed to demonstrate how Fellows can collaborate with DSEF on research, campus events, experiential learning projects, etc. and inspire Fellows to become active, productive partners. These workshop interactions often lead to new teaching content that will ultimately reach 60,000 students a year, channel-validating research to help the industry counter misconceptions and executive visits to university campuses, to share real-world business experiences with students.

Newsletter

DSEF Welcomes Its Newest Fellows 7/31

DSEF Welcomes Its Newest Fellows 7/31

DSEF launched the Fellows Program to support educational and research efforts to foster a deeper understanding of the direct selling channel and its impact. We now have more than 130 Fellows around the world from a wide range of disciplines – management, marketing, economics, entrepreneurship, sales, consumer studies – and provide them a rich offering of benefits and opportunities.

DSEF warmly welcomes our newest Fellows:

Dr. Jessica Hurst
Iowa State University
Associate Professor in the Apparel, Events, & Hospitality
Management Department

Dr. Liang “Rebecca” Tang
Iowa State University
Associate Professor in the Department of Apparel, Events, & Hospitality Management

Dr. Jennifer Zarzosa
Henderson State University
Assistant Professor of Marketing

Mr. Zachary Moore
The University of Louisiana-Monroe
Doctoral Candidate and Instructor of Agricultural Business
Agricultural Business Program Coordinator

Ms. April Kemp
Southeastern Louisiana University
Doctoral Candidate and Instructor of Marketing and Supply Chain Management
Marketing Internship Coordinator

Dr. Scot Squires
Central Michigan University
Professor and President of the Union of Teaching Faculty

Dr. Ellen Bolman Pullins
The University of Toledo
Professor of Marketing and International Business

Dr. Ying Liao
East Carolina University
Associate Professor in the Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management

Dr. Anne Balazs
Eastern Michigan University
Interim Dean

Dr. Mohammed Shaki
Saint Leo University
Assistant Professor of Management in the Donald R. Tapia School of Business

Uncategorized

NCPW 2018

In celebration of National Consumer Protection Week’s 20th Anniversary, the Direct Selling Education Foundation (DSEF) asks anyone seeking to gain a deeper understanding of their rights as a consumer, so that they can make even better-informed decisions, to download the DSEF Consumer Protection 101 toolkit.

The toolkit – developed in concert with the Direct Selling Association – provides consumers with a one-stop-shop of information to help them avoid fraud and scams in the marketplace.

For more information, visit consumer.ftc.gov to learn more about National Consumer Protection Week 2018 and the Federal Trade Commission. #ConsumerProtection #NCPW2018

DSEF Consumer Protection Tookit 2018

News

DSEF Welcomes Its Newest Fellows

DSEF Welcomes Its Newest Fellows

DSEF’s academic partnerships serve to inform and educate students – highlighting direct selling as a go-to-market strategy and pathway to entrepreneurship and micro-entrepreneurship.

DSEF warmly welcomes our newest Fellows:

 

Dr. Can “John” Uslay
Associate Professor of Marketing
Director of Special Projects
Co-Director for the Center for Market Advantage
Chair, Entrepreneurial Marketing SIG, AMA
Rutgers Business School at Newark and New Brunswick
Rutgers University

 

 

 

 

Dr. Fabian Eggers
Associate Professor of Marketing and Entrepreneurship
Menlo College

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Abdul Ali
Associate Professor of Marketing and Entrepreneurship
Faculty Director, Division of Marketing
Babson College

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. William “Bill” Johnson
Student Success Navigator
Life Design Catalyst Coach and Facilitator
Instructor and Coleman Fellow of Entrepreneurship
School of Health and Human Sciences
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro

 

 

 

 

Dr. Olivier Rubel
Associate Professor of Marketing,
Graduate School of Management
University of California – Davis

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Dustin Bluhm
Assistant Professor of Management
College of Business
University of Colorado – Colorado Springs

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Mark Peterson
Professor of Marketing
College of Business Department of Management & Marketing
University of Wyoming

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Lisa Spiller
Distinguished Professor of Marketing
Joseph W. Luter, III School of Business
Christopher Newport University

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Chris Hopkins
McLain Family Professor
Raymond J. Harbert College of Business
Auburn University

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Karen Flaherty
William S. Spears Chair in Business Administration
Professor of Marketing
Spears School of Business
Oklahoma State University

 

 

 

 

 

Karen Hopkins
William S. Spears Chair in Business Administration
Professor of Marketing
Spears School of Business
Oklahoma State University

 

 

 

Dr. Theresa Clarke
Professor of Marketing
Wampler-Longacre Eminent Scholar
College of Business
James Madison University

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Rajesh Srivastava
Associate Professor of Marketing
Jennings A. Jones College of Business
Middle Tennessee State University

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Bo Dai
Assistant Professor of Marketing
College of Business
Georgia Southern University

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Lori  Long
Baldwin Wallace University
Associate Professor
Chair, Marketing and Entrepreneurship

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Chen Liu
Assistant Professor of Finance
Assistant Professor of Business
Trinity Western University

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Nathalie Duval-Couetil
Associate Professor of Technology Leadership, and Innovation
Director for Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program
Associate Director, Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship
Purdue University

 

 

 

 

Dr. Sara Cochran
Entrepreneurial Programs Manager  for the University of Missouri System
University of Missouri

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Adam Bock
Lecturer in Management
University of Wisconsin-Madison

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Art Sherwood
David Cole Professor of Entrepreneurship
Director of the IDEA Institute
Western Washington University

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ms. Joanne Cao
Assistant Professor of Marketing
The University of Southern Mississippi

 

 

 

   

 

Dr. Mark T. Schenkel
Jack C. Massey College of Business
Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship
Belmont University

News

Winners of the DSEF-Sponsored USASBE-MWE SIG Best Paper Awards

Winners of the DSEF-Sponsored USASBE-MWE SIG Best Paper Awards

DSEF, in partnership with the U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship’s (USASBE’s) Minority and Women Entrepreneurship Special Interest Group (SIG), sponsored a paper competition on the direct selling channel of distribution and micro-entrepreneurship opportunity.

One of DSEF’s key priorities is to fund and develop research and case studies that advance understanding of the direct selling channel. We achieve this goal through our partnerships with Fellows and academic organizations and are gratified that seven out the eight authors of these winning papers are DSEF Fellows.

It is with great honor that we announce the 2018 winners of the DSEF/MWE SIG Best Paper Awards:You can view these working papers through the links below:

BEST EMPIRICAL PAPER

Direct Selling in South Africa: Empowering Women Entrepreneurs

*Dr. Victoria L. Crittenden, Babson College

*Dr. William Crittenden, Northeastern University

*Dr. Haya Ajjan, Elon University

BEST CONCEPTUAL PAPER

Entrepreneurial Environment and Culture in Direct Selling Entry Decisions Of Hispanic Entrepreneurs: An Acculturation Approach

*Dr. SherRhonda R. Gibbs, The University of Southern Mississippi

*Dr. Caroline Glackin, Fayetteville State University

BEST TEACHING CASE

Traci Lynn Jewelry: Maximizing Shining Opportunities

*Dr. Caroline Glackin, Fayetteville State University

BEST DEVELOPMENTAL PAPER

Exploring the Entrepreneurship Ecosystem of Marginalized Direct Sellers: Needs of Military Spouses

*Dr. Tracey Mays, Minot State University

*Dr. Art Sherwood, Western Washington University

Dr. Lyzona Marshall, Seton Hill University

*DSEF Fellow