April 03, 2014

Experience 2014: Customer Experience Leadership Conference to be Held May 14-16 Announces an Exciting Speaker Roster

Register by April 11 for Ritz-Carlton venue discount; Learn, network, and share ideas at Medallia’s annual gathering of CEM thought leaders

PALO ALTO, California, April 3, 2014 — Medallia®, the global leader in SaaS Customer Experience Management (CEM) solutions, has unveiled its roster of speakers for Experience 2014: The CEM Leadership Conference, to be held May 14-16 at the fabulous Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Resort in the scenic coastal community of Half Moon Bay, California, just 30 miles south of San Francisco. The Medallia Institute will run a Customer Experience (CX) certification course in the same location May 12-14.

The two events will assemble a community of senior executives from multinational hospitality, financial services, retail, technology and other industries for a dynamic exploration of Customer Experience Management fundamentals and best practices. Attendees should register by Friday, April 11, to take advantage of deeply discounted hotel rates for the famous golf and spa resort.

“We’re excited that once again we are bringing together leading industry experts and valued Medallia customers to share strategies  and explore the future of CEM, as well as get a peek into our product roadmap,” said Michelle de Haaff, vice president of marketing for Medallia. “We’ve put together a stellar lineup of speakers and an amazing list of leisure activities at one of Northern California’s most enchanting locations. We expect Experience 2014 will be our best event yet.”

Attendees will draw inspiration from hearing real-world case studies on customer experience program ROI from such industry leaders as American Express Travel & Lifestyle Services, Macy’s, Mercedes Benz USA, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, PayPal, Cox Communications, 7-Eleven, Zurich Insurance, and many others.

Featured speakers include:

  • Hendrik “Harry” Heynekamp, general manager of customer experience at Mercedes-Benz USA will offer a behind-the-scenes view into how Mercedes focuses on delighting every customer, everywhere, every time.
  • Michael Debnar, vice president and co-founder of 7-Ventures and digital innovation team leader at 7-Eleven, will discuss “lionhearted” loyalty.
  • Chris Zane, founder and president of Zane’s Cycles, will lead an informative keynote on building enduring customer relationships.
  • Rob Markey, global practice leader of customer strategy at Bain & Company, Inc., will explore how customer-centric companies really engage their employees.
  • Borge Hald, CEO of Medallia, will give a keynote on how the future of CEM will transform to leverage new technologies and experiences.

Presentations on best practices include how to increase the financial impact of your CX program, new approaches and methods for agile concept testing, and analytics and CX program health indicators to improve program momentum. New presentations will be added to the agenda in coming weeks.

The customer experience certification course offered by the Medallia Institute will cover the broad spectrum of practices required to operate a successful customer experience program. The course is split into six units that address everything from setting customer experience business objectives and driving strategic improvements/innovations, to a complete action plan.

Participants can register to attend one or both events. In the beautiful setting of Half Moon Bay, Medallia has also arranged a variety of leisure activities to suit every attendee’s interests: golf, kayaking, biking, hiking through the redwoods, tantalizing culinary adventures, wine tasting and other surprise events.