VENDO Media

VENDO Media is a leading innovator within Canada’s OOH industry. Not only were we the first company to launch a Digital Outdoor board in 1999, but we have taken seemingly everyday spaces like elevators, walls, windows, and doors and converted them into fully engaging and impactful ad spaces. 
 

As a fiercely independent media company, innovation, creativity and doing things differently are at our very core.

Senior Account Executive

Postmedia Network Inc.

SearchKings®

SearchKings is a digital advertising agency that focuses on lead generation campaigns for small and mid-size businesses. Our key areas of expertise include home and professional services with a large portion operating under a franchise or a dealer network.

WHAT MAKES US UNIQUE?
We offer limited but high quality services
We think and operate with scalability in mind
We make it simple and easy for our customers to advertise online
We provide our customers with complete visibility and transparency into their data and funds
We don't ask for a long-term commitment as we believe in our ability to continuously earn our customer’s trust

Account Executive

MaxTV 

We Replace old bulletin boards with digital interactive screens in your elevators, lobbies and common areas.  Ask me how to reach vertical communities with continuous video messaging.

STUDEO

The world needs a new kind of digital experience - one that’s powered by the power of interactive stories. Landing pages need to evolve into landing books. Studeo makes digital storytelling easy - with just a few clicks, drags and drops you can be on your way to creating amazing content like this in just minutes.

Yellow Pages / Pages Jaunes – Canada

Award winning outside sales executive in touch with the latest in marketing technology and trends and best converting practices.  I enjoy offering top producing solutions as well as professional advice for small and medium sized businesses across Canada.

Feel free to reach out to me at anytime.

Business Sales Executive - Premise Channel

Senior Sales Manager - Advantage Channel

Today’s digital world is complex and rapidly changing. It can be challenging for busy business owners to keep up with it. We’re here to help. When you choose YP, you get personalized advice on the right digital marketing solutions to reach more customers.

Senior Sales Manager - Call Centre Acquisition

Yellow Pages Group

Manage print and digital media advertising accounts across Ontario on behalf of Yellow Pages Group.  Print Ad creation, advanced analysis of performance, managing and updating online profiles across many companies and departments on behalf of clients.

Media Account Manager

Synergy Marketing

Managed the Business gifts, promotional products and event giveaways for small to medium sized businesses across North America

Account Manager

Woodbine Entertainment Group

Line Cook

T.R.O.M Entertainment

Executive Producer

For the last 10 years. I've made a living working with small to medium-sized businesses, helping with advertising strategy, planning, and execution. I've sold everything from pens and steak knives to digital marketing products, and now I sell larger-than-life billboards across Canada.

As a lifelong fan of advertising, I've been fortunate enough to work with Canada's largest SMB agencies, including The Yellow Pages, Postmedia, and Searchkings. The switch from helping customers stand out online to helping them stand out in the real world on large screens has been a blessing.

With the emergence of AI, learning all new skills while in the advertising space, and combining years of account management, leadership, new client acquisition, and campaign planning helps me be a true weapon to my clients on a regular basis.

I always look forward to conversations and debates on advertising and best practices!  And I'm always excited to learn more and chat with new people every day!

Leslie Stoute

This is the time of year where I love talking to clients.

It's all optimism and optimization. How do we reach the right people, what do we say to them?

I remind them that this is the only time of year when everyone is looking to buy things. People are mostly in a good mood and your offer is what makes them choose you. 

Be found and be exciting, land a can't miss offer, then start relationships with new people while thanking your loyal supporters. 

At the end of the day, this is the season of giving! Or as I like to call it, the playoffs in advertising! 

P.S I didn't tell ChatGPT to make me a cartoon this time and this is scary! it's getting better! 

#BlackFriday #Holidays #Playoffs #Billboards

Leslie Stoute 

Senior Account Executive @ VENDO Media | Digital Marketing Pro

It's the most wonderful time of the year. 

Unless you're running ad campaigns. 

CPM, CPC, CPV are about to skyrocket.

CTR, CR and ROAS about to go way down.

The largest companies in the world are increasing budgets, which means that it will cost more to be seen and you're competing with companies with massive budgets. 

Businesses will blame their agencies and fire their marketing teams, but that's not the problem. 

Paid digital is a pay to play game, biggest budgets will win, surge pricing will apply for your reach and every year it takes businesses by surprise.

But, here's the thing about OOH that big brands know, surprise and surge pricing don't apply, because you book your space well ahead of time. 

When the holidays come, you change your creative. Then guess what, CPMs go way down with people actively looking for you and your products and offers while on the go. CPC and CPV all go down because your cost doesn't increase. 

ROAS, CTR and cost per acquistion all go down because more people are looking and shopping and buying, but you aren't paying any more to reach them, there are just more people looking to buy and seeing your offers in the same place you've always been advertising.

Staying consistent in cost to the business and awareness for your customers. But during this time of year, they're counting on you to be on that board with an offer they can't refuse. 

Another reason that I'm all in on OOH!

#holidayshopping #holidayadvertising #paidadvertising #surgepricing #OOH

Quick holiday shopping story for you.

I'm looking for a new golf bag. Saw a bag that may be perfect in a Facebook ad.

Do my research, and it's perfect. But I've never heard of the company before. 

I'd have to pay shipping, and I have no idea if I would be scammed. So I go to a brand I do trust, that ships for free and has the exact same item for sale, Amazon, and make my purchase.

I want to support the local brand, but I also want to do business with a brand I trust to deliver. And, like that, Amazon takes a cut, and a sale that their marketing team earned is now attributed to Amazon.

The lesson is simple. Brand awareness matters; ROI can't be measured in dollars in and dollars out. 

When you increase your brand awareness, your win rates, revenue per customer, and referral rates increase, and you see higher lifetime value per customer and customer growth. 

Once your target audience knows who you are and how you can help. Use offers to reel them in and tell them to tell their friends about you as well. 

Billboards are great at this; they help to get people talking about your brand, so when they see it at the store or online, they remember!

#brandawareness #billboards #OOH #trust

Sam Gupta

Consultant

ElevatIQ

With the vendor-agnostic, independent approach to business transformation, ElevatIQ is a boutique analyst and consulting firm specializing in enterprise software research and advisory, whether you need help building a roadmap for your business transformation strategy, procuring enterprise software systems or selecting SIs/VARs/ISVs, acquiring decision support benchmarking data, optimizing current business processes, managing change, or rescuing struggling projects.

ElevatIQ helps define enterprise architecture using systems such as CRM, ERP, HCM, WMS, TMS, P2P, MES, eCommerce, or BI produced by major technology vendors. ElevatIQ is nationally ranked among the top 5 independent software selection consulting firms and is the only strategy consulting firm (without vendor affiliations) with hands-on implementation experience across multiple systems and technologies.

You can count on ElevatIQ whether you are a new executive needing help with a digital roadmap or a seasoned executive who needs external support for your current digital initiatives.

If you would like to get briefed on these capabilities, don't hesitate to give me a shout at sam.gupta@elevatiq.com.

Founder and CEO

WBSRocks

WBSRocks is a community focused on digital transformation, eCommerce, ERP, Supply Chain, and Industry4.0. It runs several initiatives including a podcast, LinkedIn live series, happy hours, slack, and LinkedIn communities. 

Our current community initiatives:
☑ WBSRocks Podcast
☑ WBSRocks LinkedIn Live ERP Technologies Review Series - Every Tue at 5:30p ET
☑ WBSRocks LinkedIn Live eCommerce Technologies Review Series - Every Wed at 5:30p ET
☑ WBSRocks LinkedIn Live Digital Transformation Panel Discussion Series - Every Thu at 5:30p ET
☑ WBSRocks Happy Hour - Every Fri 4:30p ET
☑ WBSRocks Slack Community
☑ WBSRocks LinkedIn Group

To learn more, check the following links:
☑ https://wbs.rocks/
☑ https://podcast.wbs.rocks/


Get in touch with us today at hello@elevatiq.com if you want to be part of our community.

Host, Community Builder, and Founder

Thinkers360

Serving as an ambassador for the ERP category as part of the Thinkers 360 ambassador program. Responsible for promoting the awesomeness that Thinkers360 brings to the community of thought leaders, analysts, and influencers.

Check the full list of ambassadors here. One of the most talented (and influential) folks in the world: https://lnkd.in/gutD__wi

Get involved. Work with an expert. Share the love.

Ambassador

RevGenius

RevGenius is a group of revenue-generating sales and marketing professionals brought together to learn, share, support, and grow with each other.

Keyush Consulting Limited

KCL is an SAP Silver Partner aligned with selling SAP products including Business ByDesign and S4HANA along with traditional SAP offerings. Our offerings include end-to-end implementation services for most SAP product lines with the primary focus on SMEs. Our team has over 20 years of experience in SAP ecosystem delivering over 100 SAP implementations successfully.

Sales - SAP Products

QuintilesIMS

Mar 2016 - Dec 2016, Q2 Metrics, which was acquired by QuintilesIMS.

- Responsible for driving sales opportunities in over 200 new accounts to drive sales of healthcare solutions built from patient claims big data analytics product offerings
- Acquired up to five new logos successfully per quarter consisting of healthcare companies ranging from fortune 500 to startups and created new engagements successfully
- Sold healthcare solutions successfully to VP of sales/sales ops and marketing  to  Pharma, MedTech, Healthcare Insurance, Providers, and Health Services  companies
- Partnered with strategy consulting companies and QuintilesIMS consulting group to drive adoption of real-world data offerings
- Responsible for close and managing the relationship/identifying new opportunities post close
- Contributed to high-impact RFPs of up to $2M for successful commercialization of drugs and won as a team

QuintilesIMS delivers integrated information and technology solutions to drive healthcare forward.
Around the world healthcare stakeholders are working to improve real-world patient outcomes through treatment innovations, care provision and access to healthcare. For the information, technology and service solutions they need to drive new insights and approaches, they count on QuintilesIMS. With a global team of 50,000, we harness insights, commercial and scientific depth, and executional expertise to empower clients to achieve some of their most important goals: Improving clinical, scientific and commercial results. Realizing the full potential of innovations. And, ultimately, driving healthcare forward.

Sales - Big Data, AI, and CRM Offerings

SourcetekIT

SourcetekIT helps companies with their IT infrastructure needs including providing IT infrastructure in managed services delivery model, or managing their entire infrastructure including network, cables, server, storage at their premises.

Responsible for full sales cycle starting from lead generation to account management by selling IT managed services, data center, and managed security offerings.

Client Director

Independent Consultant

Responsible for consulting with several SMBs in various countries, including India, Canada, the Philippines, and the US, on digital transformation strategy, ERP and technology selection, enterprise architecture, change management, technology commercialization, and helping acquire net new business across several industries.

Marlabs Inc

Industry Focus: Manufacturing, Retail, Airlines
Group Focus: System Integration, New product development, Technology Consulting

Marlabs helps drive digital agility for our clients. We deliver innovative business solutions using digital technologies such as cloud, mobile, analytics, Internet of Things, and social. With a dedicated team of over 2,100 associates, a network of delivery centers in USA, Canada, Mexico, and India, and strong partnerships with industry leaders, Marlabs offers a wide range of IT services across industries. Through our emphasis on quality driven by CMMi, PCMM, ISO 9001-2000, ISO 27001, and SSAE 16 Type II best practices and a customer- centric client engagement model, Marlabs has achieved a dependable track record of meeting high standards of excellence in every customer engagement. This has resulted in several awards and recognitions, including being consistently ranked as one of the best places to work in New Jersey. Marlabs is headquartered in New Jersey, United States.

Senior Consultant

Tata Consultancy Services

Industry Focus: Manufacturing, Retail, Banking, Financial Services, Technology, Telecom
Group Focus: System Integration, New product development, Technology Consulting

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is a leading global provider of IT, consulting, and outsourcing services, with operations in more than 40 countries. Its offerings include business process outsourcing, data center management, IT and strategic consulting, new product development and engineering, and systems integration.

🎙 Host@WBSRocks | Top Enterprise Software Analyst & Influencer | Independent ERP & Enterprise Technology Selection Expert | Digital & E-commerce Strategist | Supply Chain Transformation & IT Procurement | The ERP Doctor

Sam Gupta has been an industry analyst and thought leader in the digital transformation space for nearly two decades. He has been involved with over 200 digital transformation strategy and implementation projects. Through his unique approach, he has successfully recovered more than 50 digital transformation projects with a net savings of over $100 million.

Sam regularly speaks at industry conferences and contributes his experiences through many popular blogs and publications. He also hosts a podcast called WBSRocks, which is focused on business growth through digital transformation and ERP, where he interviews top influencers and executives. He has reviewed over 200 enterprise software solutions and vendors that are available in the public domain on YouTube.

Key Accomplishments:
🏆 Thinker 360: 3x top 50 voices in North America, #1 in the CRM and ERP category, Among the top 10 in Digital Transformation categories, 5x among the top 125 podcasts 
🏆Solutions Review: Resident WorkTech and Enterprise Software expert
🏆Insights Jam: Co-host ERP Doctors, keynotes for annual events
🏆 Manufacturing Masters: Certified manufacturing master
🏆 Industry-leading podcasts: Appeared on more than 100 as an industry analyst
🏆 Welp Magazine: #1 in the ERP category and #2 in the business transformation category
🏆 Million Podcasts: #13 among the top 100 business growth podcasts
🏆Listen Notes: Top 1.5% of 3 million podcasts
🏆 Contributed more than 200 articles to leading publications such as Accounting Today, Manufacturing.net, Industrial Distribution, Digital Commerce 360, SelectHub, Gartner, and Solutions Review
🏆 ISM NJ: Host of "Voice of ERP" series

Links to Subscribe:
👉 https://podcast.wbs.rocks/
👉 https://www.youtube.com/c/ElevatIQ
👉 https://www.tiktok.com/@elevatiq

Key Services:
👉 Digital Transformation Roadmap Development and Enterprise Architecture Strategy (CRM, ERP, eCommerce, HCM, WMS, TMS, P2P) 
👉 Business Model Transformation and Business Case Development
👉 Business Process Documentation and Re-Engineering
👉 Enterprise Tech/Vendor Selection and Project Recoveries
👉  eCommerce Strategy and Platform Selection and Change Management
👉 IT Procurement and Contract Negotiations
👉 Enterprise Software and Consulting Companies GTM Strategy and Analyst Services
👉 Private Equity Technology Assessment, Integration, and Expert Witness

More Details: 
👉 https://www.elevatiq.com/

Sam always welcomes questions, collaboration opportunities, thought leadership contributions, and speaking engagements. He can be reached at sam.gupta@elevatiq.com.

For the first time in 30 years, ERP strategy is being rewritten — not by vendors, but by algorithms.
AI is changing how enterprise systems are designed, integrated, and even procured.

If your ERP roadmap still assumes linear processes, human-driven workflows, or static data models — it’s already outdated.

Join Sandeep Chopra from Everest Systems  and Sam Gupta from ElevatIQ for an exclusive webinar:
“Your ERP Strategy Is About to Break — AI Is Rewriting the Playbook.”

We’ll unpack:
- How AI is redefining ERP architecture and vendor roadmaps
- What “AI-native ERP” actually means for your organization
- How to realign your strategy before your system — or your budget — collapses under the shift
- Don’t let legacy thinking define your next decade.

Register now → https://lnkd.in/gF8-URmh

#ERPStrategy | #ERP | #AI

When IT Leads the Charge… and the Entire Movie Turns into a Plot Twist

Every transformation starts the same way.

The IT department steps onto the battlefield like the opening scene of a blockbuster.
They’ve done their homework.
They’ve mapped the landmines.
They’ve identified the legacy systems that should have been retired before the last two reorgs.

They bring in cutting-edge platforms that—on paper—promise “frictionless automation,” “real-time visibility,” and “next-gen operational excellence.”
They build implementation plans with milestones, KPIs, risks, dependencies, and all the right buzzwords executives love to hear.

For a moment, everyone believes the movie has a happy ending.

And then…
Six months later…
The third act begins.

The dashboards aren’t right.
The integrations don’t fire.
The business shrugs at the new workflows.
The data models buckle under the weight of real transactions.
The project plan goes up in metaphorical flames.

And suddenly, the IT heroes look less like protagonists… and more like characters trapped inside a disaster film with no stunt doubles.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth:

Technology alone never fails.
Architecture fails. Governance fails. Alignment fails.
Because no amount of “cutting-edge” software can compensate for a business that never changed how it works.

Most ERP disasters are not a reflection of bad IT…
They are a reflection of IT being forced to lead a transformation it never owned.

Real success requires one thing above all:

Cross-functional ownership of process, data, governance, and decision-making—before the first line of configuration is ever touched.

Otherwise, your project is not a transformation.
It’s a movie you’ve already seen.
And you already know how it ends.

#GuptaERP #ERP #ERPSelection

GO-LIVE: SUPERPOWERS EXPIRED.

Resistance happens for good reasons.

We talk about “change resistance” like it’s a flaw.
But sometimes it’s not resistance—it’s grief.

The veteran employee who’s spent twenty years mastering a legacy workflow isn’t being “difficult.”
They’re watching decades of hard-earned expertise lose its currency overnight.

The middle manager who used to control information flow isn’t “anti-transformation.”
They’ve lost the power that once defined their credibility.

And the senior leader who made their career through a now-obsolete playbook?
They’re not “stuck in the past.” They’re realizing the old rules no longer apply—and the new ones aren’t fully written yet.

When new ERP systems go live, they don’t just replace software.
They rewrite identities. They flatten hierarchies.
They force everyone—from the plant floor to the boardroom—to rebuild what “value” means in the new world.

So before labeling it resistance, try calling it what it really is:
Recalibration. Realignment. Rebirth.

Because transformation doesn’t just test systems—it tests people.
And that’s exactly where most projects fail.

#GuptaERP | #DigitalTransformation | #ChangeManagement

**Analysts Gone Wild: Episode 41**: a group of analysts covering enterprise software stories.

Show: Analysts Gone Wild (Every Thu) 
Format: A group of analysts providing bleeding-edge analysis and insights on enterprise software stories that practitioners in the enterprise software industry can't ignore. 

Here is a sample of the stories we plan to cover in this episode: 
Pipefy Launches a New Generation of AI Agents
https://lnkd.in/gUgBEACz
Sage Releases Its AI Trust Label to US and UK Customers
https://lnkd.in/gyZC7wax
Aquant Launches a Library of Pre-Built AI Agents
https://lnkd.in/g7TimQUs
IFS Details the Latest Release of IFS Cloud 25R2
https://lnkd.in/gmwj5J3x
Salesforce Debuts Agentforce Nonprofit
https://lnkd.in/gs-fbf8q
Salesforce and Amazon Web Services (AWS) Announce Agentforce 360 for AWS
https://lnkd.in/g5ysGdEg
Zendesk Details a Strategic Collaboration Agreement with AWS
https://lnkd.in/gGRZRCTP
Iterable Releases a Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server
https://lnkd.in/gq-gp5zq
Salesforce Completes Its Acquisition of Informatica
https://lnkd.in/gbGviVeM
Freshworks Details New Capabilities for Freshservice
https://lnkd.in/gjqECaeM
and many more! 

Watch the live stream on:
👀 LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/gvw2ZhY
👀 YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gFvmR6w

Check previous episodes: https://lnkd.in/gMFESs9d

Questions for Panelists?
🔗Sam Gupta: https://lnkd.in/gYh7rRCa
🔗Robert Kramer: https://lnkd.in/gvzkUWWQ
🔗Thomas Wieberneit: https://lnkd.in/gEEk3fEX
🔗Jon W. Hansen: linkedin.com/in/jwhansen/
🔗John Santaferraro: https://lnkd.in/gJ-e6UKP


Background Soundtrack: Away From You – Mauro Somm

#advisorrelations #analystrelations #archat

Charlie Shephard, Sam Gupta and 9 other attendees

Analysts Gone Wild | Analyzing Enterprise Software Stories | Episode 41

Excited to be part of this panel with outstanding colleagues and the rockstar moderator, Doug Shannon 🪢!

Kristian Stout, Michael Hoffman, Wayne Butterfield

Let's do this!

#AI #ERP #DigitalTransformation

🔵The final day of panels begins with a discussion on #AI, economic value, and where this technology can challenge and encourage the development of new human expertise.

Don't miss out on the insights from panelists Doug Shannon 🪢, Kristian Stout, Michael Hoffman, Noro Chalise, Sam Gupta, and Wayne Butterfield.

🌍 Online event. ⚡️Reserve your spot now!

#LinkedInWebinar #DigitalExperiences #RegisterNow

🔵 AI & Economic Value: Where AI Challenges (& Expands) Human Expertise

Ever notice how even the vendors with “complete” supply chain suites keep adding partners anyway? Makes you wonder what gaps they quietly admit need filling behind the scenes.

Infor is a great example. They already have a supply chain management platform, and in a world where volatility is the norm, that matters. But what’s interesting is their decision to partner with another company specifically to strengthen capabilities for discrete manufacturers. It signals something bigger.

They’re leaning into advanced planning, deeper what-if scenario modeling, and risk analytics that their current stack doesn’t fully cover. Predictive planning, disruption modeling, alternative simulations… all the things manufacturers desperately need when supply chains keep getting punched in the face.

Curious what you’re seeing: are customers pushing ERP vendors toward these advanced planning tools, or are vendors finally admitting they can’t build everything in-house?

Watch the full video: https://lnkd.in/g7vumDsK

Background Soundtrack: Away From You – Mauro Somm

#EnterpriseSoftware #CIO #ERP

Why ERP Contract Negotiations for Manufacturers Are a Different Game Entirely

Most ERP contracts read like they were written for service companies — not for manufacturers who live and breathe production cycles, downtime losses, and supply chain chaos.

In manufacturing, an ERP isn’t just a financial backbone.
It’s the digital nervous system that connects machines, materials, and human decisions.

That changes everything.

When you’re a manufacturer, your ERP contract isn’t just about licenses and support fees — it’s about how well your shop floor talks to your enterprise system.
It’s about whether your IoT-enabled machines can send data without latency.
It’s about whether your MES integrates tightly with scheduling, quality, and traceability.
And it’s about ensuring your supply chain orchestration doesn’t fall apart the moment you run a multi-plant scenario.

These are not line-item add-ons — they’re core to your operating model.
Yet, they’re often missing or vaguely worded in generic enterprise software contracts written for distribution or service businesses.

Every manufacturer signing an ERP agreement should ask:
- Does this contract recognize my production realities?
- Does it account for machine connectivity, data ownership, and MES handoffs?
- Does it protect me if integration between my plant systems and ERP fails?

Because here’s the truth:
An ERP built for manufacturers can transform operations.
But an ERP contract written like a SaaS license?
That’s a liability disguised as progress.

#GuptaERP | #ERPContracts | #ManufacturingERP

taplio

The Battle

Leslie Stoute

Sam Gupta

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreLeslie Stoute's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Leslie Stoute

Sam Gupta

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Leslie Stoute's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreSam Gupta's LinkedIn Performance

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Performance ScoreLeslie Stoute's LinkedIn Performance