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For this week's Coffee Chat, we’ll take a minute to talk about a simple way to spread a little extra generosity this season. According to CAF America, ~70% of adults are expected to donate to a charity by year’s end—yet 15% give only during the holiday season. It made me wonder… could we raise that 15%? We know charities love cash, but they also welcome gift cards...

I'm holiday shopping today—let's talk about taking advantage of the seasonal, holiday gift card promotions and deals. 🎁 After reviewing the National Retail Federation Top 100 and several other lists, I found that 60%+ of restaurants and retailers offer some holiday promotion on their gift cards—bonus cards, discounts, or partner incentives. And this isn’t just a consumer perk—B2B gets in on the fun, too. 

It’s Thanksgiving week — a time for gratitude, giving thanks, and…shopping for gifts and using gift cards. In this week's Coffee Chat, I unpack insights from PwC’s 2025 Holiday Outlook Report

In a panel session entitled, "Is Cash Dead - Modernizing Survey Engagement", Eric spoke at the Midwest AAPOR (American Association of Public Opinion Research) event, MAPOR, alongside Nick Bertoni, SVP of Ipsos KnowledgePanel and NPC leaders, Jamie Eichenlaub and Doug Easly.

In preparation for my speaking appearance at MAPOR, I wrote about how NeoCurrency, Ipsos KnowledgePanel and NPC are modernizing survey engagement. This is an exciting time to re-imagine incentives for the market research industry.

In 2026, after 230 years in circulation, the U.S. Mint will end production of the penny. But the digital penny is alive and well, thanks to its innovative companies, which are redefining what a penny can do. Microrewards with seamless redemption make pennies even more powerful when they’re digital — no physical friction, no rounding, and no tough choices for retailers between cutting profits or raising prices when the physical pennies run out. In this week’s chat, I demo the

It’s Halloween season — the perfect time to talk about things that send chills down every business leader’s spine. I spend a lot of time thinking about business risk: what could go wrong, how to prepare for it, and how to keep growing despite uncertainty. So, in the spirit of Halloween, here are the Top 10 Scariest Things Facing Businesses Right Now — and a few ideas for how to keep those monsters at bay.

I will be in Las Vegas on October 26 - 27 for partner and client meetings during Money20/20. Send a note if you'd like to catch up on life, happiness, and global digital rewards/gift cards.

Last week, I asked about the "The Future of Gift Cards" while on the road in Minneapolis. Thought leaders from across the gift card spectrum responded. Today's chat is a summary of the answers, comments, themes and trends that emerged.

A little help from my friends - the future of gift cards

Pushing Outside of the Comfort Zone

This week’s Coffee Chat highlights three UK events representing the very best of our industry

This week, I share how a business discussion seven months ago led me to a transformative retreat at an 800-year-old estate in Sintra, Portugal. This episode is a bit longer as I sit down with two special guests and industry colleagues, Shawna Nichol, MBA and Todd Tomlin (from Memorii Journeys), the visionaries who turned last week’s trip into reality. 

Coffee Chat #28 with Eric: The Power of Showing Up. This week, we're going to talk about the power of showing up. It started while I watched Novak break another tennis record at the (USTA) United States Tennis Association's US Open this last week, which made me think of Cal Ripken Jr.’s ironman streak with the Baltimore Orioles, which led me to think about…my high school friend, Rick Goebeler.

Did you know the average person has $244 in unused gift cards? Across the U.S., that adds up to more than $21 BILLION in unredeemed value. Let's look at what I found in my own gift card search at home.

🎁 Gift Card 101: A Crash Course with Eric Thiegs. I was the featured presenter for the August IGCC Member Education Session -- a B2B Gift Card Industry Overview. If you’ve ever wondered how gift cards work—or you’re looking to sharpen your knowledge of the B2B side of the industry—this session is for you.

The Power of Moments - Surprise & Delight using Customer Data

Eric Thiegs, a 25+ year veteran of the gift card and incentive industry, is named as one of three shortlisted nominees for the 2025 Honoured Industry Contributor Award for the GCVA Hall of Fame Awards

Incentive Gift Card Coalition (IGCC) elects Eric Thiegs to the Board of Directors for 2025 - 2026 term

Coffee Chat 25 with Eric: How Many People Use AI?