Technology Revolution: The Future of Now

The buzz: "There are loads of studies which show that marketers struggle with measuring ROI from social media" (David Moth). If you're the designated social selling results "bean counter" for your company, the standardization of digital performance metrics will give you relief. How? You'll be able to measure the business impact of all digital selling performance across the organization and provide timely feedback to reinforce what's working vs what can be improved or eliminated. The experts speak. Mark Hunter, The Sales Hunter: "You don't have to be great at something to start, but you have to start to be great at something" (Zig Ziglar). Scott Santucci, Social Enablement Society: "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty" Sir (Winston Churchill). Marco Cai, SAP: "If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things (Einstein). Join us for Social Sellers' Playbook: Making It Count – Part 2.

The buzz: "Chief sustainability executives the new environmental chiefs…wield extraordinary power" (www.sustainabilitydegrees.com). More employees, consumers and stockholders expect the companies they work for, buy from and invest in to be purpose-driven. How to get on board? Hire a Sustainable Innovation Technologist to develop teams, solutions and procedures to grow efficiency, employee retention, global impact and profits, all while reducing costs. Who knew purpose could be so good? The experts speak. Dr. John Frey, HPE: "If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other" (Mother Teresa). Rob Thiele, OpenText: "Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge" (Plato). Jim Sullivan, SAP: "Do you know what my favorite renewable fuel is? An ecosystem for innovation" (Thomas Friedman). Join us for Now Hiring on Purpose: Sustainable Innovation Technologist – Part 2.

The buzz: "We will design products differently if we knew that those products were going to come back to us as manufacturers and we could extract value from them and create new products from them" (Teresa Domenech). The last 150 years of industrial evolution have been dominated by a one-way Linear Economy model of production and consumption. Goods are manufactured from raw materials, sold, used, then discarded or incinerated as waste. How to get past this unsustainable practice? Welcome to the circular economy model, which maintains products, extends their service life, and repurposes one product's waste to maintain another – reuse, repair, remanufacture. Is your company on board yet? The experts speak. Christopher Koch, SAP: "Say something once, why say it again?" (David Byrne "Psycho Killer" lyrics). Will Ritzrau, SAP: "Difficulties are just things to overcome, after all" (Ernest Shackleton). Join us for Circular Economy: Radical and Unproven or Saving the Planet? – Part 2.

The buzz: "The qualities that make Twitter seem inane and half-baked are what makes it so powerful" (Jonathan Zittrain). If your business is reviewing social media channels to determine where to focus your people and time, you may be dismissing Twitter as not a serious tool. Facebook has the most users. LinkedIn is for serious professionals. Twitter is in-between. Per the American Press Institute, 79% of its members use Twitter to get the news, 36% to pass the time, and 19% to network. But 19% doesn't mean you should omit Twitter as a social selling tool. The experts speak. Sarah Goodall, Tribal Impact: "Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm" (Winston Churchill). Kirsten Boileau, SAP: "One of my favorite things is to have a three-hour conversation over coffee with someone" (Andy Grammer). Michael LaBate, SAP: "The heart, like the stomach, wants a varied diet" (Gustave Flaubert). Join us for Insider Secrets: Twitter for Social Selling – Part 2.

The buzz: "…women are starting to gain ground as consumers and workers in a traditionally male-dominated industry, and brands should be taking note (Jose Costa, Huffington Post). Women driving the automotive industry? In 2014, Mary Barra broke the automotive industry's boys club gender barrier when she became GM's first-ever female CEO and Chairman. Women are also driving car purchase decision traffic. Our panel of powerful women in automotive will share their playbooks. The experts speak. Pamela Niekamp, Nielsen: "I think the most important thing, and the key ingredient for a woman, is to act like you belong there and believe that you belong there" (Chelsea Handler). Meg Divitto, IBM: "If you're offered a seat on a rocket ship, don't ask what seat! Just get on (Sheryl Sandberg). Ellen Sasson, SAP: "My philosophy is that losers have goals and winners have systems" (Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert). Join us for Women Take the Wheel: Transforming The Automotive Ecosystem - Part 2.

The buzz: "…there are some job perks that will make millennials consider working for less, by as much as 12 percent" (cnbc.com). Few things impact employee productivity, engagement and well-being as much as compensation. But as definitions of work and workforce change, top talent may not be interested in traditional pay-for-performance formulas. The experts speak. Dr. Gabby Burlacu, SAP SuccessFactors: "Price is what you pay. Value is what you get" (W.Buffett). Lauren Bidwell, PhD, SAP SuccessFactors: "The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place" (G.B.Shaw). John Weldon, Baylor Univ.: It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it" (Aristotle). Chris Seifert, Baylor Univ.: 'Do what you feel in your heart to be right - for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't" (E.Roosevelt). Join us for Getting Serious About Getting Paid: Your Company's Compensation Part 2.

Truth time: Do you stalk prospects to get into their Facebook newsfeed? Or are you a patient advisor in their buying journey? We continue our discussion about the do's and don'ts of Social Selling, and how you and your team "should" vs. "should not" behave in the digital world. Yes, the Golden Rule still applies. The experts speak. Barbara Giamanco, Social Centered Selling: "Words, once they are printed, have a life of their own" (Carole Burnett). Viveka von Rosen, Vengreso: "You should never view your challenges as a disadvantage. Instead, it's important for you to understand that your experience facing and overcoming adversity is actually one of your biggest advantages" (Michelle Obama). Charrele Robinson-Brown, SAP: "I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles that he has had to overcome ..." (Booker T. Washington). Join us for Mind Your Manners: Social Selling Etiquette and The Golden Rule – Part 5.

The buzz: "The strategic and financial importance of Corporate Real Estate is growing" (www.pwc.de) $10+T of the $25T in U.S. real estate assets is owned by non-real estate companies, municipalities, and institutions. Corporate real estate is often their second largest balance sheet item and operating cost. But it is not getting the respect it deserves in the C-Suite as enterprises overlook the earnings and optimization potential of capital dedicated to real estate. The experts speak. David Wilk, Colliers: "When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock … without as much as a crack showing..." (Jacob Riis). Kay Sargent, HOK: "It's important to live it, to experience things and to see things from a different perspective...also important that we move…" (John Le Carre). John Chapman, SAP: "When did Noah build the Ark? Before the rain, before the rain" (Spy Game, 2001 film). Join us for Real Estate and Your Workforce: Optimizing Space Management.

The buzz: "Those who have knowledge, don't predict. Those who predict, don't have knowledge." (Lao Tzu) Given the uncertainty, pace, and unexpected nature of today's world, there are too many unknowns for us to effectively predict the future. Reality check: A convergence across science, technology, politics, society, economics, the environment, and growing ethics discussion, has created a complex web that requires the type of system thinking that may exceed our human capacity. Do machines hold the answer? Can they predict the path of an overwhelming number of possible futures? The experts speak. Frank Diana, TCS: "We have a duty to think hard about what may be, so as to better prepare society for the changes that may come" (Richard Baldwin). Gray Scott, Futurist: "Prediction is not just one of the things your brain does. It is the primary function of the neo-cortex, and the foundation of intelligence" (Jeff Hawkins). Join us for Tech Magic or Hype: Can We Teach Machines to Predict?

The buzz: "The era of diversity as a "check the box" initiative owned by HR is over. CEOs must take ownership and drive accountability among leaders at all levels to close the gap between what is said and actual impact" (Deloitte). Diversity is an X-factor that overcomes the trappings of bias, but there needs to be a second ingredient that overcomes the tenacity of bias. Enter data. Diversity plus data empowers women beyond reactive leadership to be strong transformational leaders, anticipate and plan for change, and open new competitive doors for business. The experts speak. Shannon Platz, SAP: "It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so" (Mark Twain). Rita Sallam, Gartner: "Having courage does not mean we are unafraid (Maya Angelou). Cindi Howson, Gartner: "There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you" (Maya Angelou). Join us for The X Factor: STEM, Diversity, Bias and The Competitive Business.