Some Like it Hot! Wrap up of the Second CXPA Members’ Insight Exchange

You don’t have to be as old as me to have seen and enjoyed this film. It’s an iconic, classic comedy from 1959 starring Jack Lemon, Tony Curtis and Marilyn Munro – it’s the one where Jack and Tony escape the mob by going in-drag, and the blond bombshell gives one of her most memorable performances! And guess what? It was set at the Hotel Del Coronado, on the beach at San Diego, California.

So what’s this got to do with Vision Critical?

The Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA), is a not-for-profit association which was formed a little over a year ago by co-founders Jean Bliss (acknowledged and well-published consultant in the Customer Experience Industry) and Bruce Tempkin (ex- Forrester Analyst and now influential opinion-leader on all things Customer Experience), or ‘CX’ to coin the phrase.

CXPA has experienced rapid growth, reaching 1500 members in just one year. The historic and beautiful Hotel Del Coronado was the venue for its second Members’ Insight Exchange, held from 19-20 June, 2012.

So there’s the connection with Vision Critical!

What better place than this to get out there with Ted Chen (Senior Vice President, New Product Software Development) for Vision Critical – maybe not with quite the same impact as the curvy Marilyn, but you get the gist.

Being an ‘Insight Exchange’ the conference had a different tone than similar events. The role of the Insight Exchange was to help validate the emerging profession of Customer Experience (that’s the remit of the CXPA) and to act as a sounding-board.

Case studies and best practices were presented by a number of companies e.g. 1 800 GOT JUNK, USAA and Signature Health.

The Insight Exchange featured many providers at the vendor exhibition, including Vision Critical, and we discussed how to combine the power of CEM with the insights of panels.

It’s early days yet for the CXPA, but watch-this-space for future developments. This is sure to become an influential voice in the industry and you can be sure Vision Critical will be there as it develops and flourishes!

Gavin Winter, SVP, Business Development, Customer Experience Management
Gavin is a new member of the Vision Critical team and heads-up business development for the CEM Enterprise-Wide Feedback Management platform. Gavin has worked in the Customer Experience field for over 15 years and started at Mercedes-Benz wholesale and retail in the United Kingdom where he led their inaugural Customer-First initiative. Since then, he has worked with organizations such as Maritz Europa and Synovate where he has gained rich and deep experience in multi-national customer experience across a range of industries, particularly automotive, finance, hospitality and telecommunications. During his time at Synovate, where he was Director and SVP of Synovate’s Global Customer Experience Practice, Gavin was also responsible for Synovate’s data visualization strategy and software platform partnerships, enabling him to acquire a deep understanding and appreciation of the emerging value of SaaS applications in the Customer Experience space.

Tags: CEM, community panel, conferences, Customer Experience Management, CX