October 17-18, 2026: Tampa – Tampa Convention Center – Ballrooms A-D

Eric Missbrenner, Director of Franchise Development for The Entrepreneur’s Source®, brings decades of expertise in guiding brands toward strategic growth. With a deep understanding of both national and international markets, he helps franchises maximize their potential and position themselves for long-term success. A Chicago native now based in Colorado, Eric is a former semi-professional hockey player, avid traveler, and the eldest of five brothers. Above all, he is passionate about empowering others to reach their full potential and takes pride in being a catalyst for personal and professional success.

Franchising has been Robert Mitchell's world for nearly a quarter century. Across that time, he has worked with brands and prospective franchise owners spanning business-to-business (B2B) services, consumer-facing retail, food and beverage, professional services, and concepts operating both nationally and internationally. Few categories of the franchise landscape are unfamiliar territory.

Jenny is a franchise consultant and owner of FranNet of Greater Tampa Bay. Jenny consults people through the franchise discovery process. She works with them to identify if a franchise makes sense for them and helps them find the right one that will meet their professional and personal goals.

Jenny started with FranNet as a client who had a vision of owning her own business. When the opportunity presented itself to become a FranNet consultant, she jumped at the chance to help others become entrepreneurs by coming one herself. Prior to joining FranNet, Jenny spent more than 15 years in the Corporate Marking arena. She has a vast understanding of the franchise world since both of her formor employers were also franchise organizations. Jenny and her family currently reside in north Pinellas County. She is a rare Florida native and a proud graduate of the Universort of South Florida.

Widely accepted as one of the top franchise consultants in the United States, Britton helps you figure out how to do what most people only dream about. ​Britt has spent more than 25 years as a franchisee, entrepreneur, franchise executive, and franchise consultant working for and owning franchises such as Kiddie Academy® Childcare Learning Centers, Molly Maid®, Sylvan Learning(SM) Centers, and SYNERGY® HomeCare.

​Britt has captured her franchise expertise as author of a top-selling book on entrepreneurship titled, The Franchisee Workbook. Britton will teach you the tools and techniques to help you find your ideal match far beyond your expectations.

Ms. Shelton has been counseling Franchise / Business Opp. clients for over 25 years. She especially enjoys working with small business owners assisting them to "Expand their Brand®". Since starting the law firm, she has been focused on providing the “Missing Piece” with legal services to small and emerging businesses. Her business savviness combined with her belief in mentorship is the backbone of the law firms slogan, “Your Outsourced In-house Counsel”. Ms. Shelton focuses on ensuring clients are offered individualized service while handling Franchise Disclosures, registrations, legal creation and vendor distributions within a clients business. Ms. Shelton has published many articles and has even written a book. She has been married for over 25 yrs. and has one son and a sponsored daughter from Haiti. In her spare time she teaches leadership development in third world countries to future colleagues and volunteers at her church.

Chris Conner has spent the last twenty years working in the franchise development field working primarily with startup and emerging franchise systems. Mr. Conner's work covers a variety of franchise categories including strategic planning, franchise operations, franchise training system development, franchise marketing and franchise sales. In 2009, Mr. Conner founded Franchise Marketing Systems based out of Atlanta, Georgia which today has grown to a team of 34 team members located in markets across the United States and Canada. Franchise Marketing Systems has developed over 700 franchise brands and supported clients in selling over 8,000 franchise units in North and South America, Asia, the Middle East, Canada and Southeast Asia. Franchise Marketing Systems has worked with a variety of well known brands and significant franchise systems including Baxter Healthcare, Anytime Fitness, Costco, Ford Motor Company, Delta Airlines, UPS Stores, European Wax Center, Junk King and others.

Mr. Conner’s vision was to develop a model that allowed for efficient, effective and performance based franchise development work to be completed for new and emerging franchisors. The combination of providing consulting and franchise development support along with the franchise sales and marketing model for new brands created more opportunities to more brands to scale and grow through franchising. Chris Conner holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing from Miami of Ohio and an MBA in Finance from DePaul University in Chicago. He is married to an amazing wife, Dr. Alaina Conner and has two great kids, Ashton and Jameson.

Page Nicol. FranNet Southern California owner/consultant since 1997. Page has helped 1000's of individuals start their own business. UPS Store multi unit owner and master developer for San Diego. From 1987 to 2007 developed and supported over 65 UPS Store locations. Currently owns a StretchLab assited stretching franchise in San Diego with his wife.

Frank Closurdo is an insightful, entrepreneurial, idea-driven business leader with more than 25 years of experience in building brands across a diversity of sectors — consumer packaged goods, business to business, franchise consulting and management consulting for life sciences.

He possesses a broad range of commercial and marketing experience in both Fortune 100 and entrepreneurial start-up organizations. His deep marketing expertise spans a company and product lifecycle – driving insights into early company/product development, managing product portfolio, designing brand strategies for company/product pre-launch/launch, and maximizing business growth for existing brands. Throughout his career, Frank has worked on an array of brands ranging from small niche brands to some of the world’s most recognizable brands – Tylenol, Motrin, Johnson & Johnson. Throughout his career he has held positions of increasing responsibility with such companies as Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Pillsbury.
Frank received his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration – with a specialization in marketing – from Wayne State University. He has guest lectured at Villanova University, teaching marketing strategy. Frank brings a strategic perspective to SMB and clients who need a fresh idea for their brand.

Robert H. Cohen is a professional consultant with The Perfect Franchise, dedicating his expertise to helping professionals transition into business ownership. Robert’s insights are backed by over two decades of corporate executive leadership at global organizations like Siemens Medical Solutions and GE Healthcare, followed by a highly successful 12-year tenure as a PrideStaff franchise owner. A former U.S. Army Captain and Aviator, he combines operational discipline with real-world entrepreneurial experience, making him uniquely equipped to guide candidates through the psychological and practical steps of the franchise discovery process.