Dan is the founder and CEO of The Pontefract Group, a firm that improves the state of leadership and organizational culture. He is the best-selling author of four books: LEAD. CARE. WIN. How to Become a Leader Who Matters, OPEN TO THINK, THE PURPOSE EFFECT and FLAT ARMY. A renowned speaker, Dan has presented at four different TED events and also writes for Forbes and Harvard Business Review. Dan is an adjunct professor at the University of Victoria, Gustavson School of Business and has garnered more than 20 industry awards over his career.

Alison Circle, Chief Customer Experience Officer (CXO) for Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML), has more than 25 years marketing experience. As CXO she leads the library’s experience strategy through all channels of the organization and has developed CML’s award-winning Customer First Philosophy which drives CML’s customer-facing approach. She also leads programming, experience and design for the library’s new building program (14 libraries), including the Main Library. In 2017 she was chosen for a Global Impact Award from the Customer Experience Professional Association; she is a CCXP (Certified Customer Experience Professional) and, in 2018, was elected to the international board of the CXPA.

This year the Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA.org) announced a new and exciting award program for CX Emerging Leaders. The first 5 winners of this award – Gloria Gupta, Alec Dalton, Branden Schlosser, Laura Tramm and Danielle Wipperfurth join me for a lively session about their career journeys, lessons learned and future opportunities for growth in the CX profession. I’m joined by Derik Iverson of the CXPA who is the lead staff member for the award. Derik also shares an update on happenings at the CXPA.

Nancy Porte is the Vice President of Global Customer Experience for Verint. She focuses on bringing the voice of the customer into the organization and developing strategies to increase customer satisfaction, loyalty and retention. She has experience in developing differentiated customer experience through cross-functional collaboration and employee engagement programs. She is a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) and, as a customer experience thought leader, is a primary contributor to the Verint blog and a regular speaker at industry conferences.

Heart of the Customer founder Jim Tincher is a noted speaker, internationally recognized customer experience expert, and author of How Hard Is It to Be Your Customer? The definitive guide to customer journey mapping that helps companies drive customer-centric action to boost loyalty, satisfaction, and revenue.

Karen Black has more than two decades of experience providing leadership development services to businesses in such key management areas as assessment, executive coaching, team building, and conflict resolution. Since 1991 Karen, through her company Insight Edge, has worked with multiple businesses and organizations to help them increase their overall organizational effectiveness, and substantially contribute to bottom line improvement. As both a coach and mentor to business leaders and executives, and management teams, Karen has consistently demonstrated that improved communication within companies is often the single most important feature of truly successful organizations.

Sarah Bridges, Ph.D. and M.B.A., is the founder and leader of Bridges Consulting, with 25 years of experience as a psychologist, executive coach, speaker, writer, and leadership advisor. Dr. Bridges is known for offering challenging, yet practical, solutions to help people break through their own assumptions, discover their potential, and build cohesive teams. Dr. Bridges received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Wesleyan University, her Doctorate in Psychology from the University of Minnesota, and an M.B.A. from Benedictine University.

Stefan has been a leader in Fortune 500 companies and an advisor to multinational organizations for more than 20 years. His passion and expertise have helped improve the experiences of millions of citizens, half a billion customers and hundreds of thousands of employees around the globe. As a thought leader and advisor, Stefan helps government entities and global organizations in B2B and B2C become more customer centric and more employee centric. As the president of the Customer Institute, Stefan and his global board of directors set the gold standard in customer experience and provide the recognition for excellence in the world of customer centricity.

Rick King was reappointed to the Metropolitan Airports Commission by Governor Tim Walz in July 2019, at the same time being named Chair of the MAC board. He was first appointed to the Board in 2011 by Gov. Mark Dayton, who reappointed him in 2015. King is also past chair of both the MAC's Management and Operations Committee and the Planning, Development and Environment Committee.

Lou Carbone is the founder, president, and chief experience officer (CEO) of Experience Engineering®, Inc., a Minneapolis based consulting firm dedicated to customer, employee stakeholder experience optimization. He is the Author of Clued In: How to Keep Customers Coming Back Again and Again (Prentice Hall). Established in the late 1980s, Experience Engineering® has evolved the science of experience management to help some of the world’s largest organizations discover what really makes customers tick and offers solutions to help them increase customer advocacy, satisfaction, loyalty, and price elasticity.