Here’s What You Missed at CX Elevated 2018!
Last week, we wrapped up what has gone down in the books as our best conference yet! From kickoff on February 26 to the closing remarks on March 1, every minute was filled with valuable content and conversations that kept customer experience at the center.
This year’s theme, “From Insights to Intelligence,” focused not only on what you can learn from your data, but what you and your organization can do with that knowledge to gain real customer intelligence that impacts your business. If that sounds like something you’re interested in, here’s a quick recap of what you missed at CX Elevated 2018:
1. Our Vision for the Future of CX
Pearl-Plaza’s CEO, Andrew Joiner, talked about the vision that has been guiding our company and product innovation, and it all comes down to this: in order to get where we want to be, we need to move from surveys to intelligent conversations, from metrics to meaning, and from insights to intelligence. It’s not about asking more questions, but changing the way we ask, enriching the data we already have, and prioritizing the insights that create the most impact so we can drive real action and change.
2. Innovative Product Announcements
One of the most exciting parts about CX Elevated is being able to unveil the innovations we’ve been working on in the past year. We had many demonstrations and developments this year, one of the most exciting being the new Customer Experience Intelligence Cloud (CXIC). This new platform is a SaaS-based, highly intelligent solution that focuses on jobs to be done for customer experience optimization. Additionally, we announced a variety of self-service capabilities as well as updates to our award-winning Discover product.
3. Malcolm Gladwell on Puzzles vs. Mysteries
This year, our keynote speaker was the incredible Malcolm Gladwell, New York Times bestselling author, one of TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential people, and Foreign Policy’s top global thinkers. Malcolm’s speech truly showed why he is regarded as one of the most innovative thinkers today; he discussed what happens when people collide with data and how that creates a need to think of problems not as puzzles, but as mysteries to get the best answers.
4. Executive Track Sessions with CX Experts
This year’s executive track sessions were nothing short of ground breaking. We brought in clients, partners, and fellow CX innovators to share their knowledge and experiences with our attendees in a few exclusive sessions. CX executive, author, and professor JC Quintana shared seven essentials for building customer relationships, while Victoria Bough (Customer Experience Expert at McKinsey & Company) outlined six hallmarks of best-in-class CX leaders. Ora Zutler from Banner Health discussed the quest for transformational customer obsession, while John Wompey from long-time Pearl-Plaza client Foot Locker discussed the CX leadership that leads to true transformation.
5. Forrester Analyst on a Human Experience with Technology
Forrester analyst and author of “Digital Disruption: Unleashing the Next Wave of Innovation,” James McQuivey talked to us about the way our lives are enriched by the technology around us. Where it may seem that sometimes our lives are made more hectic by technology, he emphasized that it is the way we choose to partner with technology that matters. When we create new innovations, James suggested that it is important to “stay true to what is fundamentally human” to make products that better our lives.
6. Thought Leadership Sessions on Best Practices
This year, we had more than 10 thought leadership and client-led presentations to attend! Whether the speakers were Pearl-Plaza employees, CXPA executives, or brands like Westar Energy, Caesars Entertainment, and Tiffany & Co, each and every session shared groundbreaking best practices that gave attendees real-world advice from people who have been there, done that, and done it well.
7. Lots of Insights and Lots of Fun
It’s true, we take pride in the excellence of our content, but we also believe that all work and no play makes for a very dull conference. This year we opened CX Elevated 2018 with Casino Night, showed attendees what Salt Lake City has to offer with a dinner at the local Squatters Pub Brewery, and then, of course, there was our legendary Snow Day. On Wednesday CX Elevated guests took to the mountains for skiing, snowboarding or snowmobiling, and even enjoyed some shopping, curling, or a day at the spa. We wrapped it all up with a beach-themed-bash to add a little sun to Snow Day.
This year’s CX Elevated conference was truly an excellent opportunity to take a deeper dive into the world of customer experience, the products that inform it, and where the industry is headed (with a little fun thrown in here and there). Thank you to all who were able to come out and join us!
