It is always one of the highlights of the year for seeing and hearing about the latest industry trends and new technologies, in what can be described broadly as the customer interactions and experience sector. I am referring to the annual Interactions event held in Indianapolis by Contact Center Solutions Community host, Interactive Intelligence.
This year’s INTERACTIONS 2014 event, which will be held June 2-5 at the JW Marriott, has published its agenda, and it certainly commands attention. Open to Interactive Intelligence customers, partners, and other pre-approved guests, the global conference will feature keynotes from Aron Ralston, whose autobiography, “Between a Rock and a Hard Place,” was the subject of the film “127 Hours”; and Jay Baer, social media expert and New York Times best-selling author of the book, “YOUTILITY: Why Smart Marketing is About Help Not Hype.”
Bigger and better than ever
“This year we expect our annual conference to draw more than 2,000 customers, partners, prospects, analysts, consultants and media from around the world,” said Interactive Intelligence chief marketing officer Joe Staples. “In addition to our popular tracks covering the full range of communications and customer service topics, we’ve got loads of special sessions, which include several new panel discussions that will give attendees unique insight into the next generation of customer service.”
Highlights of this year’s events, along with the keynote speeches, will include:
Interactive Intelligence founder and CEO Dr. Donald E. Brown presenting the company’s vision for the next evolution in cloud computing and communications;
More than 160 sessions focused on contact center automation, unified communications, business process automation, cloud communications, multichannel/omnichannel communications, social media, mobile customer service, workforce optimization, speech analytics, and more. Vertical sessions will include tracks focused on accounts-receivable management, government, healthcare, insurance and utilities;
An interesting panel discussion, “Meet Your New Customer,” during which CMO Staples will query a group of millennial-aged consumers about their communication preferences and what they expect from a service experience;
The always-popular “Insight from the Experts” session, which will delve into how to prioritize technology deployments, what technologies are being overhyped, and more.
There is more
In addition to the regular event, collocated this year is a new educational event called CX Hot Trends Symposium. Produced by Technology Marketing Corp. (TMC), the symposium is non-vendor specific and is open to any customer-service professional. It includes presentations from industry experts from firms such as Forrester Research, Frost & Sullivan, Gartner, IDC, and others, addressing the nine hottest technology trends shaping the customer experience.
An added attraction to INTERACTIONS 2014 is that Interactive Intelligence will share the results of its annual Customer Service Experience primary research, which is designed to give insight into what customers want from a service experience and the technologies behind it.
Discounted early bird registration for INTERACTIONS 2014, which is open to Interactive Intelligence customers, partners, and other pre-approved guests, is available now through April 4. To register, click here.
Discounted early bird registration for CX Hot Trends Symposium is available now through Feb. 28. You can register here, and attendees can register for CX Hot Trends Symposium sessions at no additional cost when they register for the main conference.
As the saying goes, “knowledge is power.” INTERACTIONS 2014 is going to be a terrific place to get extremely knowledgeable. I look forward to seeing you there. In fact, by all means stop and say hello.