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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?

This week, I filmed from Frisson Espresso on 44th Street in the heart of New York City. Grab your coffee - our topic today: Trends in business travel, with a little fun as we throw in some "bleisure" and Broadway, too.

I have the ultimate work-life balance quote for you: “Don’t get so busy making a living, that you forget to make a life.” — Dolly Parton 🎶 I’m taking Dolly’s words to heart today...

I had the pleasure (and honor) of being asked to host/emcee the 2025 Incentive Marketing Association (IMA) Awards Ceremony earlier this week.

I am excited to speak on Monday, July 14, 2025, at the Incentive Marketing Association Summit in Austin, TX, as the guest speaker at the Incentive Gift Card Coalition session. 

I’m in the UK this week visiting our Head of UK and Euro Accounts, Kelly Hinds, and catching the buzz at MAD//FEST. But the topic for this week’s coffee chat is about our team training at NeoCurrency on CQ (Cultural Intelligence)—led by our summer intern, Parker -- as a way to help grow our global rewards business.

This week’s Coffee Chat is a little “inside baseball” for those of us in the incentive industry. As co-chair of the Incentive Gift Card Coalition Communications Committee, I’ve been in Incentive Marketing Association mode with the IMA Summit happening in Austin July 14–16. I wanted to give a personal sneak peek at this special industry event.

A few weeks ago, on June 2, the Incentive Marketing Association announced its nominees and shortlisted candidates for the 2025 IMA Awards. This is a quick thank you to the Incentive Marketing Association for naming me one of two finalists for the 2025 Incentive Industry Influencer of the Year Award.

This week’s Coffee Chat is a special one - I’ve got a guest...my daughter, home from college and proudly repping GenZ, joined me for a post-Father’s Day chat about gifts, dads, and what gifts feel the most meaningful from her 20-year-old point of view. As a GenX dad, I loved hearing how she thinks about showing love and appreciation. According to her, the best gifts check these four boxes: Make it personal. Keep it simple + heartfelt. Make it useful, e.g. gift cards. Prioriti

Many of us have had them…Jobs that never made it to the résumé. Roles that don’t quite “fit” our career narrative. Positions that got left off LinkedIn—not because they weren’t meaningful, but because they didn’t align with our so-called professional brand. This week, I’m sharing one of those stories. In my late 20s, I took a six-month job that had absolutely nothing to do with incentives, gift cards, loyalty, or payments. I worked at Bredenbecks - a Bavarian bakery.

We’re in the middle of a Payments War…and the consumer is losing. This week, I dive into the chaos erupting at checkout counters across America, where 34% of merchants (per J.D. Power 2025) are passing along the 3% credit card swipe fee directly to customers.

I am celebrating my 33rd anniversary in my longest-standing loyalty program (I signed up for it my freshman year of college) and reflecting on how gift cards and loyalty are a match as good as peanut butter and jelly.

Want to Change a Habit? Start Small and Reward Yourself. I'm live from the Mall of America / Minneapolis this week. We all have habits we’d love to break—or build. But change is hard… unless there’s perhaps a little incentive involved. This week, while I’m on the road as a speaker at the Gift Card Education Forum, I will share how I’m using a personal reward to kick a nagging habit—and you’re welcome to join me...

I'm excited to speak at the Gift Card Education Forum hosted by Best Buy and sponsored by IGCC and RGCA. I'll join Elizabeth Forsberg from Best Buy's Financial Services team to co-present "B2B Innovation Pitches: Understanding Risks and Benefits of New Programs and Use Cases."

I'm live from St. Louis this week at the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) conference. With market research on the mind, this week I ask the question: What makes a great research incentive? Hint: It’s not toasted ravioli. The Answer: An incentive that includes the "3 M's"...