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Compference 2026

Compference26

Free Virtual Event | September 15-17

Compensation intelligence is here. At Compference26, you'll gain the strategies, confidence, and tools to unify compensation decision-making across your entire organization — from recruiting to finance to management.

You'll walk away with actionable frameworks backed by fresh data and proven practices, plus the clarity to drive compensation intelligence across every decision, role, and stage of your compensation journey.

Register here:
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Why attend Compference?

The labor market risk

The challenge: A cooling labor market means employees stay put—for now. But disengagement is building quietly, and when the market turns, organizations without strong pay strategies face a talent exodus.

At Compference

Learn data-backed strategies from practitioners to stay ahead of pay and keep employees engaged before the market shifts.

AI redefining talent

The challenge: CHROs are now central to AI transformation, yet 62% of organizations lack the job architecture foundation to reskill and redeploy effectively as work changes.

At Compference

Discover how leading organizations scale compensation intelligence and adapt talent strategies as AI transforms work.

Everyone decides, but on bad data

The challenge: 68% of exec leaders view compensation as strategic, but recruiters, finance, and managers make decisions using different data at different times—causing misalignment and slower offers.

At Compference

See how to unify everyone around the same number at the same moment with connected, defensible data.

Compference26 Agenda

Over three days, we'll guide you through the compensation intelligence journey: Benchmarking for fresh market data, job management to align your organization, and comp planning to execute defensible strategies — plus much more.

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3

Tues. Sept. 15th

8:30am–8:45am PT
Opening remarks

Compference Vision

How to optimize your Compference experience

Lexi Clarke
Chief Business Operations & HR Officer, Payscale
Ruth Thomas
Chief Compensation Strategist, Payscale
8:45am–9:45am PT
keynote

To be announced

9:45am–10:45am PT
Breakout SessionS

From back-office function to strategic advisor: redefining compensation's role

The most strategic teams don't just manage pay — they shape business outcomes. Learn how to use data and insights to drive business decisions, prove comp's impact, and earn a seat at the strategy table. Walk away with a new playbook and a new perspective on what comp can do.

Breda Hurley
VP Customer & Product Marketing, Payscale
Tori Prince
Senior Compensation Manager
9:45am–10:45am PT
Breakout SessionS

How CFOs and CHROs align on pay strategy

Budget season shouldn't feel like a negotiation you lose before it starts. Hear how compensation and finance leaders align on pay investments, communicate tradeoffs, and build business cases executives actually approve. Walk away with talking points you can use with your own leadership team.

Philip Watson
Chief Finance Officer, Payscale
Lexi Clarke
Chief Business Operations & Business Officer, Payscale
11:00am–12:00pm PT
Breakout SessionS

See what's new: a first look at Payscale Ascent

Benchmarking has never worked like this. Payscale Ascent is compensation intelligence in action — built for faster decisions, real-time market context, and alignment across every team touching pay. Get your first live look at what's new and see exactly what this platform can do.

Alicia Nogrady
Senior Director, Product Management, Payscale
Robin Dean
Senior Product Manager, Payscale
11:00am–12:00pm PT
Breakout SessionS

The market moved. Did your compensation data keep up?

Your market moved. Your comp data didn't. This session shows you exactly what real-time market data, skills intelligence, and labor demand signals can do — and how adding fresh, continuous data to your comp strategy helps you make smarter decisions all year long.

Sara Hillenmeyer
VP of AI and Data Science, Payscale
Carrie Stevens
Data Intelligence GTM Director, Payscale

Wed. Sept. 16th

8:30am–8:45am PT
Opening remarks

Compference day 1 recap

Lexi Clarke
Chief Business Operations & HR Officer, Payscale
Ruth Thomas
Chief Compensation Strategist, Payscale
8:45am–9:45am PT
keynote

To be announced

9:45am–10:45am PT
Breakout SessionS

Stop updating job descriptions once a year. Here's what to do instead.

Job descriptions shouldn't be a once-a-year scramble. Learn why continuous job updates are the new standard for comp strategy and how to keep them current without adding work to your plate. Walk away with a smarter approach to one of HR's most neglected assets.

Brian Calhoun
Lead, Compensation, Total Rewards & People AI, Payscale
Kelsey Cerullo
Senior Compensation Analyst, Payscale
Bob Lazenby
Senior Director, Total Rewards, Hays
9:45am–10:45am PT
Breakout SessionS

Pay transparency in job postings: What's working (and what's backfiring)

Explore the real business case for pay transparency on job postings, and hear from companies doing it successfully.

Brittany Gleitsman
Director, Talent Acquisition, Payscale
Ruth Thomas
Chief Compensation Strategist, Payscale
Angela Zachary
Compensation Consultant, The Inside Track Career Services
11:00am–12:00pm PT
Breakout SessionS

Meet JobNav: the smarter way to manage, update, and connect your jobs

Most comp teams are working from job data they can't fully trust. JobNav fixes that. See a live demo of JobNav and JobNav Recruiter — one authoritative job library, built-in governance, AI with a paper trail, and comp priced against how roles exist today. This is job management, reimagined.

Allie Skidmore
Outbound Product Senior Director, Payscale
Patti Redding
Senior Solutions Consultant, Payscale
11:00am–12:00pm PT
Breakout SessionS

Keep your job descriptions compliant and strategic through change

Navigate the compliance landscape and build a job strategy that holds up when business shifts fast.

Lauen Fortin
Program Manager II, Payscale
Amit Bhatia
Chief Business Officer, Payscale
Eternity Grosset
Compensation Manager, Extra Space Storage

Thurs. Sept. 17th

8:30am–8:45am PT
Opening remarks

Compference day 2 recap + closeout

Lexi Clarke
Chief Business Operations & HR Officer, Payscale
Ruth Thomas
Chief Compensation Strategist, Payscale
8:45am–9:45am PT
keynote

To be announced

9:45am–10:45am PT
Breakout SessionS

How to make pay transparency a competitive advantage

Pay transparency is a trend that keeps growing around the world. Making it work so that it increases retention and engagement rather than just being a compliance item is the holy grail. Our panelists will discuss the benefits and challenges with turning transparency into a competitive advantage.  

Vicky Peakman
Founder/Director, Fair Pay Partners
Kimberly DaSilva
Vice President, J. Arthur Tradeau Memorial Center
Amber Castelli
Associate Director, Compensation, Bio-Rad Laboratories
9:45am–10:45am PT
Breakout SessionS

Your compensation review season playbook

Get a practical 5-step framework you can use for your next comp review so you avoid the costly mistakes other organizations made.

Lauren Hein
Head of Total Rewards, Payscale
Zach Jamieson
Director, People Partners & Opersations, Payscale
Tarik Bazzy
Compensation Manager, SC Johnson
11:00am–12:00pm PT
Breakout SessionS

How leaders at every level can have confident compensation conversations

Managers have pay questions. Most don't have answers because the data, visibility, and tools live somewhere they can't access. See how Paycycle gives managers and senior leaders real-time compensation intelligence: program oversight, budget visibility, and the confidence to have transparent, data-backed pay conversations. All year round, not just at review time.

Simone Stewart
Principal People Business Partner, Payscale
Charlotte Rooney
Senior Product Manager, Payscale
11:00am–12:00pm PT
Breakout SessionS

Build your 12-month roadmap to compensation maturity

Figure out where your organization stands in comp sophistication and get a concrete roadmap—with tools to support each step—to reach the next level.

Jenny Walling
Senior Manager, Compensation Services and Benchmarking, Payscale
Allie Skidmore
Outbound Product Senior Director, Payscale
Meaghan Morris
Director of Global Compensation, Assurant

Compference26 Speakers

Brian Calhoun
Lead, Compensation, Total Rewards & People AI, Payscale
Lexi Clarke
Chief Business Operations & HR Officer, Payscale
Ruth Thomas
Chief Compensation Strategist, Payscale
Peh Teh
Chief Product Officer, Payscale
Olivia Sedler
Senior Product Manager, Payscale
Geoffrey Ziobro
Product Manager II, Payscale
Caroline Burgess
Principal Product Manager, Payscale
Philip Watson
Chief Finance Officer, Payscale
Victoria(Tori) Prince
Senior Compensation Manager
Breda Hurley
VP Customer & Product Marketing, Payscale
Carrie Stevens
Data Intelligence GTM Director, Payscale
Sara Hillenmeyer
VP of AI and Data Science, Payscale
Eternity Grossett
Compensation Manager, Extra Space Storage
Amit Bhatia
Chief Business Officer, Payscale
Lauren Fortin
Program Manager II, Payscale
Brittany Gleitsman
Director, Talent Acquisition, Payscale
Bob Lazenby
Senior Director, Total Rewards, Hays
Kimberly DaSilva
Vice President, J. Arthur Tradeau Memorial Center
Vicky Peakman
Founder/Director, Fair Pay Partners
Charlotte Rooney
Senior Product Manager, Payscale
Lauren Hein
Head of Total Rewards, Payscale
Zach Jamieson
Director, People Partners & Opersations, Payscale
Jenny Walling
Senior Manager, Compensation Services and Benchmarking, Payscale
Angela Zachary
Compensation Consultant, The Inside Track Career Services
Allison Skidmore
Outbound Product Senior Director, Payscale
Alicia Nogrady
Senior Director, Product Management, Payscale
Robin Dean
Senior Product Manager, Payscale
Meaghan Morris
Director of Global Compensation, Assurant
Tarik Bazzy
Compensation Manager, NA, SC Johnson
Kelsey Cerullo
Senior Compensation Analyst, Payscale
Simone Stewart
Principal People Business Partner, Payscale
Patti Redding
Senior Solutions Consultant, Payscale

What people are saying about Compference

“Compference is for everyone.

From the experienced HR executive to the early career specialist, you walk away knowing that you'll hear great speakers, receive tons of free advice in the chat and feel empowered to bring your insights back to your organizational leaders.”

“There is great value in Compference.

We essentially got to attend an amazing conference with knowledgeable experts to discuss compensation trends from around the country for free.”

“Compference keeps me up-to-date.

[It has] everything needed to make sure my organization is staying ahead of the competition and ahead of all the newest compensation trends.”

Ready to activate your compensation intelligence?

Join leading compensation professionals for conversations that matter.

Register now