The agenda for the imminent Customer Experience NYC 2019 conference is now available from the Forrester.com website. Here’s our breakdown of what’s taking place. (And don’t forget that this is your opportunity to come and say hello to us as we have a Customer Thermometer booth at this year’s event!)
Pre-Forum Options
The main conference takes place over Tuesday June 11th and Wednesday June the 12th at the New York Hilton, Midtown. But there are some very interesting pre-forum optional programs that are on offer on Monday June 10th.
The 3 interesting pre-forum options available are these:
- Smarter Design: Data, AI and The Future of CX Design
- Elevate Customer Experiences Through Experience Design
- Journey Map Like A Pro.
It is worth noting that pre-registration is required for each of these options which are priced independently from the main forum event.
Tuesday June 11th
The main forum starts early on Tuesday the 11th with registration open from around 7:30am. There is an early open breakfast, hosted by Qualtrics, which is a great opportunity to meet other delegates at the event. There is also a VIP breakfast hosted by Enghouse Interactive, a widely respected, leading expert in customer communications. Be advised that if you want to attend any of the VIP events you will need to contact [email protected] to apply.
Welcome Keynote: Change the Game
The welcome keynote session entitled: ‘Change the Game’ is scheduled to take place between 8:30 and 8:45, delivered by Harley Manning, Vice President Research Director at Forrester, serving customer experience professionals.
Harley is an expert in customer experience transformation with great insight into the challenges involved, including the costs and complexities. He will set the stage for this conference event at which you will learn of new approaches to CX transformation that you can take away and apply to your specific needs.
Between 8:45am and 10:10am further keynote talks are scheduled entitled: ‘What do your customers really want? How to know – and what to do about it.’
Under this heading there are two presentations, one from Mary McDuffie, President/CEO at Navy Federal Credit Union entitled: ‘Simple, Personalized, and Transparent: Transforming Customer Experiences In Three Steps’. And the second from P.V. Kannan, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, [24]7.ai, entitled: ‘The Billion-Dollar Mystery’.
Mary McDuffie has gained a great deal of relevant and interesting experience at Navy Federal where she has served as vice president of Delivery Channels and Communications. In this role she launched Navy Federal’s mobile banking offering and developed their ‘voice of the member’ program which has enabled them to deliver award-winning member experience.
PV Kanan is the co-founder and CEO of [24]7.ai, a customer experience software and services company that effectively uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to understand customer intent. Back in 1995 his first company, Business Evolution Inc., developed the first generation of email and chat solutions. PV has long been at the forefront of customer experience technology and is a widely respected thought-leader in customer experience and global customer support.
At the end of the keynote introduction talks there is time for a coffee break between 10:10am and 11:10am, sponsored by [24]7.ai. Another great networking opportunity.
Track Meets – Day #1 AM
From 11:10am until 11:50am the multi-day, multi-program tracks are scheduled to commence. This is when attendees follow their chosen tracks from the following options.
Track 1: Customer Data Strategies
Hosted by Joana de Quintanilha, Principal Analyst at Forrester.
The first session is entitled: ‘The Art Of Combining The Right Data Sources’, presented by Raj Sivasumbramanian, Customer Experience Insights Manager at Airbnb.
Raj has a great deal of diverse experience as both a CX consultant and CX practitioner in various industries. Prior to AirBnB Raj worked for Verint where he held a number of roles including Director, Voice of Customer Strategy Practice and Director, Customer Experience Consulting Services. Before this he was Senior Manager, Global Customer Insights at eBay Inc.
Track 2: Technology
Hosted by Faith Adams, Senior Analyst at Forrester
The first session on this track, entitled: ‘People, Objective, Strategy…Then Technology: Forrester’s POST Methodology’ is presented by Faith. As an analyst at Forrester Research her focus has been in areas including customer experience measurement and customer-centric culture.
Track 3: Culture and Employee Experience
Hosted by Sam Stern, Principal Analyst at Forrester.
The first session on this track entitled: ‘Employee Personas’ is presented by Angelina Gennis, Analyst at Forrester. Angelina has a valuable background in service and product design, behavioral science, and journalism. As an analyst in the CX practice at Forrester she shares insights, tools and case studies to improve the success of CX initiatives.
Track 4: B2B Customer Experience
Hosted by TJ Keitt, Principal Analyst, Forrester.
The first session from Track 4 is entitled: ‘Building The Business Case For Focusing On B2B CX’ from TJ Keitt, Principal Analyst at Forrester.
TJ’s research focus at Forrester includes collaboration software which has looked at how these technologies are applied to facilitate interactions between companies — vendor to partner, vendor to supplier, vendor to customer.
Track 5: Public Sector Innovators
Hosted by Rick Parrish, Principal Analyst, Forrester
The first session from track 5 is entitled: ‘Measuring Public Sector CX’, presented by Rick Parrish, Principal Analyst at Forrester.
As a principal customer experience analyst Rick serves customer experience professionals primarily in the government and private sector. He helps governments overcome the unique challenges they face in developing successful and innovative customer experiences.
Track 6: CX Analytics
Hosted by Michelle Yaiser, Director, CX Analytics
The first session from Track 6 is entitled: ‘Diving Into Forrester’s Customer Experience Index’ is presented by Michelle Yaiser, Director at CX Analytics.
Michelle’s research at Forrester focuses on combining CX Index data with CX best practices to help clients identify and prioritize tactical CX initiatives, especially those that drive incremental revenue growth. She also focuses on how to use the CX Index with other CX metrics, such as NPS and CSAT.
Solution Sessions #1
The first track meet sessions are scheduled to conclude at 11:50am and these are soon followed by what are called ‘Solution Sessions’ which run from 12:00pm until 12:30pm, preceding the networking lunch break. These sessions are where you can learn about the latest in CX technologies that will help you achieve your CX goals.
Networking and VIP Lunches Day #1
The first day morning sessions come to a close at 12:30pm when it’s time for lunch. As for breakfast, there are VIP lunch options, hosted by Medallia and Usermind, for which you will need to apply in advance. Lunch time concludes at 1:30pm when it’s time again for more keynote presentations.
Keynotes: The Rise of Value-Based CX
Immediately after lunch on day #1 some keynote presentations are scheduled on the subject of ‘Value-Based CX’. These days an increasing number of customers are citing the values that brands embrace as critical drivers of interest and brand-loyalty. These presentations are aimed at revealing how brands can design their customer experiences to represent the values they advocate?
Presentations include the following.
- Designing Value-Based Experiences
- Presented by: Rick Parrish, Principal Analyst, Forrester
- Bringing Values To Life In The Customer Experience
- Presented by: Ellen Needham, Director of Customer Insights & Innovation, Patagonia
- Values-Based Consumers
- Presented by Anjali Lai, Senior Analyst, Forrester.
Solution Sessions #2
The second solutions session takes place between 2:50pm and 3:10pm. This short timeslot is to be filled by sessions including: ‘Deliver Tomorrow’s Employee Experience (EX) Today’ presented by Dave Cowing, Genpact Experience Leader at Genpact and Dave Clark, Vice President, Design Lead at Genpact.
Genpact provides a range of services including finance and accounting, customer service, IT infrastructure management and much more. They are experts in the development of intelligent software solutions that drive quality, innovation, speed, and productivity.
Track Meets – Day #1 PM
From 3:20pm until 4:00pm track meets are continued. Delegates can choose from one of the following.
Track 1: Customer Data Strategies
Hosted by Joana de Quintanilha, Principal Analyst, Forrester
In this session entitled: ‘Using Metrics To Measure Business Impact And Drive Goals’
Joana de Quintanilha will use her extensive experience and expertise in digital customer experience, journey mapping and agile methods to provide valuable guidance.
Track 2: Technology
Hosted by Faith Adams, Senior Analyst, Forrester
This session is called: ‘Beyond Surveys: The Future Of CX Measurement’ presented by Faith Adams, Senior Analyst at Forrester.
Track 3: Culture and Employee Experience
Hosted by Sam Stern, Principal Analyst, Forrester
This session is entitled: ‘Introducing The Employee Experience Index’. Presented by
Adrian Chapman, Manager, Data Science at Forrester and Sam Stern, Principal Analyst at Forrester.
Adrian Chapman’s focus has included B2B and B2C customer insights, business strategy, market research and much more. Before joining the research team Sam Stern launched and managed Forrester’s Customer Experience Council and Customer Experience Executive Program.
Track 4: B2B Customer Experience
Hosted by TJ Keitt, Principal Analyst, Forrester
This session presented by TJ Keitt, Principal Analyst at Forrester is entitled: ‘Customer Success Is The Foundation Of Good B2B CX’.
Track 5: Public Sector Innovators
Hosted by Rick Parrish, Principal Analyst, Forrester
This session from Rick Parrish is entitled: ‘Continuous Improvement In Public Sector CX’.
Track 6: CX Analytics
Hosted by Michelle Yaiser, Director, CX Analytics
This session for track 6 is entitled: ‘The Business Impact Of Improving CX Index Scores’, presented by Laura Garvin Tramm, Data Scientist at Forrester.
Laura is highly experienced in using advanced data analysis and statistical modeling techniques to evaluate and improve customer experience (CX) quality across various industries.
Keynotes: It’s Not Them, It’s You
After a coffee and networking break between 4:00pm and 4:45pm there are what promise to be some very insightful keynote presentations entitled: ‘It’s not them, it’s You’. These are focused on determining whether CX professionals are part of the problem in driving CX focus and commitment from their organisations. Presentations include:
- Reinventing The Role Of CX Professionals
- From Maxie Schmidt, Principal Analyst at Forrester
- Leading Innovation At John Hancock
- From Steve Dorval, Head of Innovation and Advice at John Hancock
Networking Reception and VIP Dinners
The final keynote sessions on Tuesday 11th of June are scheduled to complete at around 5:45pm. These are followed by a ‘Happy Hour Networking Reception’ which is a great time to meet other attendees and swap experiences from the first conference day.
Then it’s time for VIP dinners hosted by Acquia and West Monroe Partners, from 7:30pm until around 10:00pm. Remember that if you want to attend one of these VIP events you will need to apply to: [email protected].
Wednesday June 12th
The second day of the conference is another early start with registrations taking place from 7:30am. Open and VIP breakfasts take place between 7:30am and 8:20am, followed by a ‘welcome back’ message from Harley Manning, VP, Research Director at Forrester between 8:30am and 8:45am. Then it’s time for the first keynote presentations for Wednesday.
Keynotes: What Will Your Humans Do?
This collection of keynote presentations will be of interest to everyone who is considering or using automation and wants to learn more about how this will affect the role of human teams. Presentations aim to address topics including how and where to deploy personnel for greatest impact, how will the roles of staff change due to the increased use of automation, what skills are becoming more or less important. Presentations include:
- How to Ensure Humans Thrive When They Work Alongside AI
- From Sam Stern, Principal Analyst at Forrester.
- Moving From Reactive To Proactive – In Service Of Employees
- From Kevin Blesy, Head of Strategy at &pizza.
- The Value Of Time In The Experience Economy
- From Rob Tarkoff, Executive Vice President and General Manager at CX Cloud, Oracle.
Track Meets – Day #2 AM
After a coffee and networking break between 10:00am and 11:00am, sponsored by Bond Brand Loyalty, it’s time for some more track meet sessions. The track options are as follows.
Track 1: Customer Data Strategies
Hosted by Joana de Quintanilha, Principal Analyst, Forrester
This session entitled: ‘Storytelling That Powers Transformation At Your Organization’ is presented by Gabi Steele, Data Visualization Engineer at WeWork.
Gabi Steele is a data visualization expert currently working at WeWork but previously employed at the Washington Post.
Track 2: Technology
Hosted by Faith Adams, Senior Analyst, Forrester
Faith Adams from Forrester presents this session entitled: ‘Your Next Best CX Technology Investments’.
Track 3: Culture and Employee Experience
Hosted by Sam Stern, Principal Analyst, Forrester
This session entitled: ‘Are You Fit For The Future?’ is presented by David Johnson, Principal Analyst at Forrester and Sam Stern, Principal Analyst at Forrester.
Track 4: B2B Customer Experience
Hosted by TJ Keitt, Principal Analyst, Forrester
This session called: ‘Measuring the Right Things to Gauge B2B CX Success’ is delivered by Kristi Langdon, Head of Customer Experience at Daimler Trucks.
In her role as Head of Customer Experience at Daimler Trucks Kristi is responsible for leading a major customer experience transformation project focused on changing the company culture to place the customer at the center of the business.
Track 5: Public Sector Innovators
Hosted by Rick Parrish, Principal Analyst, Forrester
This session entitled: ‘Showcasing The Leading Public Sector Innovators’ is presented by Rick Parrish, Principal Analyst at Forrester.
Track 6: CX Analytics
Hosted by Michelle Yaiser, Director, CX Analytics
This session entitled: ‘CX Analytics Deep Dive’ is presented by Pete Jacques, Principal Analyst, CX Analytics at Forrester. Pete’s work at Forrester has focused on helping clients identify and prioritize relevant tactical CX initiatives.
Solution Sessions #3
Once the track meets on Wednesday have concluded at around 11:30am it’s time for the third ‘Solutions Session’ between 11:40am and 12:10pm. A noted session is entitled: ‘Orchestration NOT Personalization: The Journey To Engagement-Led Marketing’ from Ray Gerber, Chief Solutions Officer at Thunderhead.
Thunderhead are pioneering software company with their headquarters in London. They are a recognized technology leader in the realm of customer engagement thanks to their AI driven engagement hub called ONE. Ray Gerber is responsible for leading the team of over 200 engineers to launch the cloud based ONE engagement hub in 2014.
Keynotes: Put Moments to Work
Subsequent to another networking and VIP lunch opportunity between 12:10pm and 1:10pm it’s time for some more noteworthy keynote presentations. This session has the title: ‘Put Moments to Work’ which acknowledges how customer journeys are made up of many moments, some of which are critical and some are transitory. Presentations include one entitled: ‘Design for Your Customers’ Moments – Not the Customer’ is delivered by Kelly Price, Analyst at Forrester. Kelly’s work at Forrester has focused upon how to build customer empathy and develop innovative, emotionally resonant customer experiences.
Keynotes: The Coming Collision: Personalization vs Privacy
Following a coffee and networking break between 2:30pm and 3:00pm there are the final keynote sessions from the 2019 conference. Presentations include:
‘Privacy Experience: Applying Human Centered Design To Data’ presented by Fatemeh Khatibloo, VP, Principal Analyst at Forrester and ‘Humanizing The Digital Experience For Personalization And Relevancy’ from David Vasquez, Customer Care and Experience Executive at Ally Bank.
Fatemeh Khatibloo has received the prestigious Forrester Bill Bluestein research excellence award and her expert research has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and CNBC.
David Vasquez has a wealth of valuable experience gained over 10 years with Ally and previously with Bank of America, IBM, Hewlett Packard and Compaq.
Conference Recommendations
The Forrester CX NYC event attracts 1000+ customer experience professionals along with numerous CX technology and service providers. As can be seen from the schedule summarised in this post, attendees can potentially immerse themselves in CX on each conference day from 7:30am until 10:00pm and beyond. There are some great presentations from industry luminaries providing actionable insight which you can take away and immediately apply to your own CX projects.
But it’s important to be selective and choose the sessions and tracks which are of highest importance to you and your business goals. While this may mean that you miss some otherwise interesting and insightful presentations it’s better to identify your priorities and choose your tracks and sessions appropriately.
Networking, meeting people, sharing points of view and experience are key aspects of the Forrester CX NYC conference. It’s a great opportunity to meet many people in the same industry, make new friends and establish some valuable relationships.
And don’t forget to pay a visit to the Customer Thermometer booth where we will be happy to say hello and discuss how Customer Thermometer can be effectively used to support your customer experience strategies.
Why not give Customer Thermometer a try in your customer programmes. Send yourself an example here:
