In this episode Brittany Bell, Managing Director at Deeplocal, and James Chester, Managing Director at Gumband, share the unique ways that briefing programs can develop more memorable in person experiences. From initial discovery and ideation sessions to how to engineer spaces that evolve over time, it’s the ability to measure the impact of these spaces by tracking actual utilization that briefing teams need to understand. Highlights A different approach to the Ideation Process - bring Creatives and Engineers together from the start Key principles of “showing, not telling” and the concept of learning through play Keeping experiences focused on a singular message using levels known as “Wading, Swimming, Diving” Future proofing with technology - ensuring spaces can evolve over timeApplying an integrated approach for platform control and measurement Being prepared for Day 2 - the concept of installation as the starting line Strategies for working with partners - collaboration, communication, and transparencyGathering stakeholder voices, and keeping the process on track via roles, not peopleThe importance of playtesting and prototyping in the build phase - why testing design assumptions pays off A 6 step Process - from “concepting” to “install and wrap-up”Gumband design - flexible and modular to integrate numerous technologiesMeasurements including collecting, storing and displaying data on both passive and active engagements helping to determine future content strategies Resources Simon Sinek: A Bit of Optimism Podcast “Humanize with Thomas Heatherwick”The Deeplocal / Gumband Process Guest Thought Leaders Brittany Bell   Managing Director, Deeplocal Brittany Bell is the Managing Director of Deeplocal, an award-winning creative technology and experience design company. She has nearly a decade of experience in project management, interactive exhibit design, integrated marketing strategies, consumer insights, brand communications, customer experience, and events. At Deeplocal, she works with brands to create permanent interactive spaces that evoke playfulness, and build emotional connections and loyalty with their customers. As a forward-thinking business leader, she has the ability to distill complex ideas into easily understandable content and project plans. She excels at motivating large, cross-functional groups to align around a single goal and balancing multiple deadlines while maintaining an organized, yet creative, approach. James Chester  Managing Director, Gumband James Chester is the Managing Director for Gumband, an award-winning SaaS platform that allows brands to control and measure their interactive environments in real time from anywhere. With his expertise spanning architectural design, marketing and tech, he has worked on multi-million dollar building and development projects, and led the digital transformation of Samsung's global media business at Starcom. In 2021, he oversaw the launch of Gumband as a product division out of Deeplocal. Since then, Gumband has powered experiential activations and spaces for global tech and retail brands. Clients: Google, Stripe, Meta, TikTok, Museum of the Future, Activision, Linkedin, Spotify, Netflix, etc

In this episode, Jackie Haywood, former Director of the Aetna Customer Center, shares about her experience developing and managing the briefing program while staying focused on building an environment that prioritizes team and community. She reveals the guiding principles that she implemented to build a strong team while advising how today’s program leads can expand their reach and pay it forward. From Advisory Boards and Speakers Bureaus to the Voice of the Customer, Jackie highlights ways to build both internal and external community partnerships to help programs evolve and grow.  “Never underestimate opportunities that could come from very unexpected places (i.e. serve on a committee, give an opinion, be part of a project)...It could influence your future career. As managers, we must be willing to do whatever it takes to support your team for success! Never stop supporting each other and always stay in touch with your network.”HighlightsAn overview of Aetna, creating the Aetna Customer Center and teamThe importance of Executive Support and being flexible Expand your program and space to external community initiativesThe Aetna Customer Center program differentiators and best practices  Guiding principles for building a strong and motivated teamAdvice for EBC Program Directors to Pay it ForwardExpanding team member roles to align with interests and strengthsStrategies to build support from the internal Aetna Community: Advisory Boards, Speakers Bureau, Voice of the CustomerImpactful contributions that leave a legacy How to transfer skills learned in briefing programs to our future careersResources“Learning to Lead” Ron Williams, former Aetna CEO “In The Current” by Virginia Kravitz, Writer & Mentor    This blog contains inspiring posts on a variety of topics, each with universal life lessons that are both relevant and relatable. Guest Thought Leader Jackie HaywoodFormer Director of the Aetna Customer Center In her 35 years with Aetna, Jackie held multiple positions including Implementation Manager in National Accounts Sales Support before moving to the Aetna Customer Center first as the Operations Manager and then promoted to the team’s Director. Jackie managed the proposal and building process for the new Aetna Corporate Executive Briefing Center.  She was responsible for all aspects of managing the Center and team, including program development, staff, budget, marketing initiatives, internal & external communications, sales, training & experiential display elements. Jackie assembled a diverse team representing external suppliers & business partners from various professional disciplines (content writers, exhibit designers, media, construction, audio-visual) as well as company-wide business leaders and subject matter experts. She determined program specifications, design requirements, overall content and business objectives for the Center, which was the first of its kind in the healthcare industry and was LEED Silver-certified upon completion. 

In this episode, Ricken Patel, Senior Leader, Global CXC, with Cisco goes into great detail about expansion of the Cisco Experience Centers, including new models for recently opened centers in Atlanta and Paris.  He also focuses on how Cisco has applied strategies related to each of the ABPM world class characteristics  (Management, Operations, Branding/Experience and Analytics) to create a more globally unified team that moves together, celebrates together and learns together. “Democratize and evangelize your data - being more open with our data has allowed us to build tighter relationships, get access to the right people, and even get some funding out of it. The more people know about what you’re doing and bringing to the table, the better off you’ll be.”Highlights The Cisco Global CXC Program defined including locations, team member roles, demos and onsite requirementsHow to fast track the build and launch of a new regional center while implementing a new service model The importance of referencing the ABPM World Class CharacteristicsManagementFunctional organizationCommunicationMove Together Celebrate TogetherLearn TogetherEmbracing so called “Rogue Centers” Operations Vision - how to set priorities according to your “North Star”Tools & Resources - driving strategy through consistency Processes - Common vs Local Branding / Experience Consistent branding across locationsDaily communications to provide consistent experiences Analytics The motto of “share all data!” Curating self-service dashboards by personaePartner with “sister teams” for executive insights Lessons Learned including ‘Be extremely curious’, ‘Right-size advice and best practices’ and ‘Democratize and evangelize your data’! Resources“Good to Great” by Jim Collins“Turning the Flywheel: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great” by Jim Collins“Hit Refresh” by Satya NadellaGuest Thought LeaderRicken PatelSenior Leader, Global CXC, Cisco Ricken is responsible for the Global Cisco Experience Center program. He and his team are accountable for helping their sellers execute high level engagements across all 11 CXC locations. The team’s purpose is to connect their customers and partners with the best of Cisco. Ricken graduated from San Jose State University with a Bachelor's Degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering and immediately began working for CIsco. His entire professional career has been with Cisco including a number of interesting and challenging roles within the Sales organization. Having attended ABPM conferences since 2019, Ricken presented his first session at the ABPM Fall Workshops in San Diego this past October.  

In this episode, my daughter, Jaxlyn Werner, and I review the highlights of our 2023 season providing key nuggets and resources from this year’s amazing interviewees.  We introduce our 5th season which will start in January 2024 to include more conversations with global briefing industry leaders who are changing and elevating our profession with their creativity and willingness to think outside the box.  Highlights: A review of all 11 episodes of our 2023 thought leader interviewsKey topics of interest provided in each episodeImportant resources referenced by our interviewees A look ahead to our 5th season of The CXLive! Podcast  Guest Co-Host: Jaxlyn WernerArtist, Entrepreneur, Honor Student, Tinker, Athlete and a leader for our next-generation, ArtvevaJax just turned 12 and is currently in 6th grade at the same middle school I attended!  She loves math and science and is on the Principal’s Honor Roll.  She loves the arts including musical theater. She recently won 1st place in 2 drawing categories in 5th grade and has created a number of painting series including one for Ukraine relief efforts last year. Her creativity is showcased in her pop up Art Booth where she sells her paintings, bracelets, stress balls and more. She plans to start her own Etsy site very soon called Artveva.  Jax has a mechanical mind like her dad.  She’s so curious, taking things apart and figuring out how to put them back together. Thank goodness she also has a scheduling mind like me.  She is very athletic having been involved in dance, gymnastics, tennis, basketball, and volleyball over the years, now focusing on her latest passion: Karate. Jax stays informed about what is going on in the world and is defining her own voice. Needless to say, we are very proud of her and are so excited for the next steps in her journey. And her journey to the briefing world was an obvious one. Already a veteran of ABPM events, Jax attended her first ABPM Spring Conference in 2012 in Boston at 6 months old. Many of you may remember meeting her there and seeing her again at Solution Partner Showcase events when held in Santa Clara before we moved home to Redding, CA in 2016. And of course, I couldn’t resist sharing photos of her in opening slides when teaching ABPM sessions.  Thank you to so many of you for your care and interest in her life over the years. 

In this episode, Rebecca Bucher, Senior Director, Global Accounts with HelmsBriscoe, takes us along her journey from her days managing the Xerox Briefing Program to working with the ABPM team and ultimately defining a new career consulting for global events.  She shares key elements that everyone leading event teams, including those briefing programs who have taken on event teams, should know when negotiating contracts for hotels, AV, transportation, and other services.  Rebecca specifically addresses how important it is to look for and uncover hidden costs when negotiating on her clients’ behalf.  Highlights: Rebecca’s career with Xerox where she held many different positions The road to managing the Xerox Briefing Program Her introduction to and ongoing relationship with the ABPM Team How to leverage the power of global players to address clients’ needs Specific event elements Group Business clients should know when looking to secure hotels, AV, transportation and other services How to negotiate for value and avoid hidden costs Guest Thought Leader: Rebecca BucherSenior Director, Global Accounts, HelmsBriscoe Rebecca worked for Xerox Corporation for more than 20 years and held numerous positions including Manager of their Briefing Program. She has been an active member of ABPM since 2000 participating in every conference, hosting Tour Day in their NYC Center, and also served on the ABPM Advisory Board.Today, Rebecca is an associate with HelmsBriscoe, the global leader in meetings procurement.  In this role, she offers an easy and cost-free alternative to the time-consuming and costly aspects of finding and contracting a hotel for group events. Rebecca has received their President’s Club Award 11 times.  And, the ABPM staff relies on Rebecca to find, negotiate and contract hotel locations for all their conferences.

In this episode, members of the Procore briefing team including Jessica Gass, Simone Sterling and Cheyanne Faulkner share the story of how they envisioned, built, grew and continue to expand their APEX briefing program and its offerings. From the importance of understanding their unique audience to the organic evolution of a program that the whole company believes in and is proud to participate in, this is a success story that inspires!  Highlights: How the Procore briefing program began in 2020 Stages in the evolution of APEX, the Procore briefing programThe gift of Executive Buy-in and SponsorshipKnowing the Construction industry and creating unique “white glove” Procore experiences Expansion to internal, external and industry relevant engagements The power of Processes, Tools, and Solution Partners The Procore team’s vision for the coming years including international growth and formalizing the Executive Event program Resources:“Unreasonable Hospitality” by Will GuidaraGuest Thought Leaders: Jessica GassSenior Manager, Field and Executive Marketing, Procore Jess currently manages the briefing program as well as field marketing and other executive event programs at Procore.  Her previous experience includes roles in field marketing at BMC and Cloudera as well as some Marketing generalist roles at early stage startups that were acquired into those companies.  Her early career included concierge work at the Hyatt and an overnight bellman role at the Four Seasons which really spurred her interest in delighting people and not really ever being able to say no (which has been both a blessing and a curse - her team can attest). Simone SterlingExecutive Program Marketing Associate Member, Procore After graduating with a sports marketing background. She has pursued her roles in events over the last 10 years in nonprofit events, sports events, tradeshows and now executive events. Cheyanne FaulknerExecutive Event Program Associate Member, Procore With her early roles at WeWork and Zendesk in marketing events and hospitality, Cheyanne has always had a passion for making people feel welcome and connected ever since she was a kid.  Cheyanne’s first time interaction with ABPM was at the Boston 2023 conference! 

In this episode, Corey Hansen, Dynamic Delivery Coach and Trainer with GoProBriefings.com offers our Executives and discussion leaders specific strategies and frameworks for building confidence in their delivery while customizing their content. From understanding Dynamics and Foundational Principles, to implementing the 4-A Way of Dynamic Delivery, Corey provides proven techniques to elevate conversations with our customers. Highlights: Similarities of “performances” on the theatrical stage and the corporate stage Understanding Dynamics: Physical space, people, macro and micro levels Foundational Principles including clearing the distraction and getting to actionImplementing the 4-A Way of Dynamic Delivery model (reference graphic): Audience, Atmosphere, Action, Actor  Content guidance for Discussion Leaders: “Expectations Set, Expectations Met”The Importance of being prepared, not “winging it” and not ‘prejudging” Episode Resources: 4-A Way of Dynamic Delivery Graphic “Key Techniques for Dynamic Discussion Leaders” Blog “How to Act in Business: A Dialogue For Businesspeople in One Act” Book by Corey Hansen Guest Thought Leader: Corey Hansen  Dynamic Delivery Coach and Trainer, GoProBriefings.com Corey blends strategies and techniques from theatrical and corporate stages to help briefing professionals deliver their most confident and engaging performances. Corey earned his Master of Fine Arts degree in Acting at UC San Diego then earned membership in actors’ unions.  Following his passion for teaching, Corey served as Professor of Acting at the University of Washington Graduate School of Drama.While at Sprint, Corey held management positions in multiple disciplines including expanding roles in the Executive Briefing Program as Solution Demonstration Manager, Briefing Consultant, and General Manager of the award-winning Sprint Executive Briefing Program, selected as ABPM Program of the Year in 2014. Following Sprint’s merger with T-Mobile, Corey served as Senior Manager of the Executive Briefing Program. A member of ABPM since 2013 Corey has attended and presented at Conferences and hosted the 2022 Fall Workshop attendees to the T-Mobile Experience Center in Kansas City.

In this episode, Steve Deitz, CEO & Founder and Susie Tobin, Customer Engagement Advisor, both of 900lbs, share unique ways to design memorable and customized experiences that enhance the customer and employee experience.  From building in mechanisms to track metrics to utilizing ‘Practical Applications’,  Steve and Susie showcase specific examples of how to expand the value of our programs.  Highlights: The importance of ‘Customer Experience” - both Program Excellence and Center DesignKey elements to consider when creating an experience that tells your corporate story - How to Customize, Scale, and Maintain the Experience  Incorporate gathering metrics that your management cares about while building an Experience - Platforms such as Adobe Analytics and Unity Analytics New Trend - the development of “Practical Applications” with Briefing Program and other stakeholders’ use cases in mind (Royal Caribbean Safety Command Center example) How to effectively leverage the Briefing Program Customer Experiences for the Employee Experience Recommendations for “Breaking the Script” when designing memorable experiences Episode Resources: “Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact” by Chip Heath & Dan Heath“Tiffanys NYC Flagship Store Shining Brighter Than Ever” Guest Thought Leaders: Steve Deitz CEO & Founder, 900lbs In 2009, Steve founded 900lbs, a Dallas-based experience design agency. He leads a talented team (also known as a design and development Special Forces Unit) specializing in interactive customer engagement, technical software development and high-impact visual content to showcase the art of the possible.  With an arsenal of cutting-edge tools, 900lbs brings complex ideas to life driving business results for customers such as: Amazon Web Services, NTT Data, Bell Flight, Royal Caribbean, Textron Systems, Volvo, PepsiCo, Dallas Cowboys, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and Shell Oil.Steve is a 2000 graduate in Design Communications from Texas Tech. He was a 2018 honoree of Dallas Business Journal’s 40 under 40 and Dallas Innovates Future 50 in 2023.   Steve is happily married and lives in Plano, Texas. He enjoys the outdoors, traveling, technology, drawing, camping, and Da Bears!Susie Tobin Customer Engagement Advisor, 900lbsSusie brings her passion for unique and extraordinary experiences along with her knowledge of the corporate world to support all aspects of the go to market and growth strategy. Susie spent a number of years in the IT industry always with the customer top of mind. Her global experience included leading teams in building and managing briefing programs and events. She thrives when creating and developing memorable customer experiences.A graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Susie lives in Frisco, TX with her most favorite miniature schnauzer, Poppy. She loves the outdoors, golfing, and spending time with friends and family.

In this episode, Renee Niebylski, Director of Global Experience Program at Crestron, shares the importance of analyzing the data that she collects in order to craft the most relevant story to each of her distinct audiences, always driving toward her program goals. With a broad spectrum of data collection methods, she provides factual evidence that influences executive decisions ensuring long term program and team success as well as future program expansion. Highlights: Strategies for understanding a briefing program’s current story including listening to many different points of viewHow to define your program’s internal audience and key executive or group stakeholders’ care-abouts Ways to analyze your data to craft stories that align to your audience’s specific care-abouts and objectives Methodologies for reporting to achieve desired outcomes - additional resources, geographic expansion, filling the briefing pipeline at specific times, etc. How to market yourself and your program for inclusion in highly visible meetings - CMO All Hands, Sales & Marketing QBR, Regional Monthly Calls, etc. Effective ways to manage reporting tools and build a master presentation layered for immediate delivery to any audience Avoiding “Data Vomit” - ways to provide just the right amount of detail during presentations and when providing access to dashboardsEpisode Resources:  MasterClass - Neil Degrasse TysonPresentation Psychology: Proven Strategies to Truly Connect with Your AudienceGuest Thought Leader: Renee NiebylskiDirector, Global Experience Program at Crestron Over the past 16 years, Renee has held nearly every role in the briefing and experience world. From her early days as a Briefing Consultant to General Manager of global teams, she has driven strategy for well-known briefing programs including Sprint/Nextel, VMware, and Polycom/Poly. Renee is now starting a new program and leading the Global Experience Team at Crestron Electronics. A native New Yorker, Renee relocated to the DC Metro area about 25 years ago and has just moved to Maryland with her husband and 12 year old daughter to lead the Crestron team. 

In this episode, Riaz Meghji, who provided an amazing Keynote at the recent ABPM Spring Conference in Boston, offers additional insights and approaches for creating more authentic connections in our professional and personal lives. He provides specific questions we can all utilize to build trust and manifest deeper relationships. Even if you attended his Keynote, Riaz offers so many more meaningful insights during our conversation that you won’t want to miss!  Episode Highlights: How to create space for people to show up as their authentic selves instead of overwhelming them with dataKey approaches to “make small talk bigger” including asking questions in a way that prompts deeper responsesThe importance of “listening without distraction” and how to be confident in our preparation to allow for improvisationWays to “convey credibility before vulnerability”... modeling how to share imperfections which allows others to do the same Practicing “making people feel famous” through specificity, milestone moments and gratitude How  “empathetic curiosity” can ease anxiety around difficult conversations and help us show up in better waysSteps to encourage stories that evoke positive emotions - “trials, transitions and triumphs”Powerful Quotes: “Real Connection is the ability to admit imperfections.”“Efficiency is the enemy of human connection.” “Connected leaders give their people permission to get personal.”Episode Resources: RiazMeghji.comYouTube - Riaz Meghji "Every Conversation Counts" Book by Riaz Meghji Scott Shute - Changing Work (and the World) from the Inside Out "Full Body Yes" Book by Scott Shute Guest Thought Leader:Riaz MeghjiHuman Connections Speaker, Author and Executive Coach Drawing on his almost two decades of experience as a broadcast interviewer and presenter for brands such as Citytv’s Breakfast Television, MTV Canada, CTV News, and the Toronto International Film Festival, 'Every Conversation Counts' author Riaz Meghji now serves as a human connection keynote speaker, helping leaders build trust, meaningful relationships and collaborative cultures in our new world of work.His practical insights have been featured in various publications including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Financial Post.