Description

In this episode, Trent Oliver shares her insights on how and why interactives will enhance guests’ visits. Learn more about what goes into creating interactives that achieve our goals and take our customers beyond. 

Episode Highlights: 

• A better way to think about ‘interactive media’
• How briefing programs approach if ‘interactive media’ is a good fit for their centers
• Who should briefing teams collaborate with inside their companies
• What should programs make sure not to do in their spaces
• New tools we can consider for more meaningful interactive experiences
• How should programs be viewing creating these experiences in the short and long term
• Key lessons learned

Guest Thought Leader:

Trent Oliver
Managing Director & Principal,  Blue Telescope

With a vision to use technology, stories and interaction to expand the human experience, Trent created Blue Telescope. BT creates location based interactive experiences for Executive Briefing Centers, Museums, and Brand Experiences. Trent combines a thirst for learning with a questioning spirit -- and a desire to blur the lines between reality and technology in honor of the good. She has led BT to be both respected and lauded, guiding an in-house team that has won over 100 awards for creativity for their engaging boundary-pushing media and interactives. Trent serves as the Eastern Board President for the Themed Entertainment Association, as well as presenting sessions at many of their conferences.  As a supplier member to the ABPM for over a decade, Trent attends and presents at conferences and workshops to continue learning about the briefing industry and share her unique perspective on how briefing programs can think differently about how they engage at many different levels with their customers. 

In this episode, Pam Evans shares her insights on staffing strategies for success. Learn about how to evaluate and define what staffing resources we need in the new normal.

Episode Highlights:

• How briefing teams have been affected related to staffing
• Key things that programs need to consider around staffing for the near future
• Key “new positions” and “skills” that programs are looking to add to their teams
• Tips for briefing teams looking to hire
• How briefing teams can approach management to talk through their changing needs
• 3 lessons learned

Guest Thought Leader:

Pam Evans
Consultant, Benett Communications

Pam is an industry thought leader and transformation agent. She has led the development and operations of industry leading Briefing, Customer Experience and Marketing programs at six enterprises including Oracle, Siebel, NetApp, SAP, Polycom, and Palo Alto Networks. Pam is an active member of ABPM, enjoys leading conference workshops and has served on the ABPM Advisory Board in the past.  She received the 2014 ABPM President’s Service Award and in 2021 was one of the honorees of the ABPM Hero Award for her leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic. As of June 1, 2021, Pam became a consultant with Benett Communications and is excited to transfer her knowledge to briefing professionals. She has the skills and experience to guide programs at every stage of their development – from launching a new program to benchmarking and accelerating current programs.

In this episode, Tim Larson shares his insights on designing centers. With programs looking to reopen their centers, there are many elements to take into consideration for experiences now and the future across live, virtual, and hybrid experiences

Episode Highlights:

• Positives came out of briefing programs/centers during COVID-19
• The benefits of wellness rooms and how they work
• Where  briefing teams should start in the process
• Key areas to focus on when dealing with remote attendees
• Touch screens and voice recognition
• Real time translation and self-guided experiences
• Think more comfortable, less formal
• Leveraging multiple screens and gallery views for in-room participants
• How people can stay informed on these technologies
• Lessons for having programs ready-to-go

Guest Thought Leader:

Tim Larson
Design Principal, Downstream

Tim has been a leading innovator in the field of designing emerging experiences, sensory networks of augmented and mediated human experience and interaction in architectural environments for more than 25 years. As the Design Principal for Downstream, Tim has led the firm’s work in experiential design and user-activated environments, pioneering new approaches in corporate innovation labs, corporate visit centers, retail stores, sports and entertainment venues and public space communication technology. Tim is currently leading teams to develop tools to harness user behavior data in physical spaces to enable mediating synergies between objects and environment; between humans and objects; and between humans and environment. He has led numerous award winning projects including the Autodesk Galleries, Microsoft’s Redmond and Brussels HQ, The Boeing Collaboration Center, The AT&T Foundries, the Verizon Innovation Centers, Telstra Discovery Store Sydney, TCS Experience Center Mumbai and many others. Tim has also been a thought leader within the ABPM Community for many years often presenting sessions that look to the future of design technology by showcasing new trends and approaches. He serves on the ABPM Advisory Board and along with his team produces the ABPM Gala Award Ceremony each year during the Spring Conference.

In this episode, Karen Bintz shares her insights on training discussion leaders for virtual briefings and beyond. Whether it’s virtual or in person briefings, learn how to empower discussion leaders to continue delivering engaging sessions that provide real value, build trust for long term relationships, and close business.

Episode Highlights:

• Why discussion leaders are such an important part in the success of briefings
• Training discussion leaders for virtual briefings
• Some positive outcomes from shifting to virtual briefings
• How annotations and tools can help
• Key skills that BPM have and what should they focus on
• Future of hybrid working
• The facilitators partnering with discussion leaders – how can that partnership lead to make sure folks that are virtual are not left out
• How program managers can go about identifying and approaching folks who may need more training
• How soft skills are just as necessary as hard skills

Guest Thought Leader:

Karen Bintz
Account Executive, Senior Trainer and EBC Consultant, Mandel Communications

Karen began her career in sales at IBM.  She also spent over 15 years building and leading the global executive briefing program at BMC Software.  She and her team achieved the highest honor in the briefing program industry, Association of Briefing Program Managers (ABPM) “Program of the Year” in 2008, 2011, 2012, and 2015 (more frequently than any of the 100+ member companies).  Karen was also the inspiration and first recipient of the ABPM President’s Service Award for her contributions to the briefing profession. ABPM subsequently invited Karen to serve on their advisory board to further the advancement of briefing programs across the globe. Karen has been a certified Mandel Communications trainer since 2011.  She has empowered people from 30+ countries with the skills to become better communicators professionally and personally.  She is in high demand as a motivational and instructional speaker for global sales teams, industry events, and conferences. Karen has a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and an MBA, both from Texas A&M University.

In this episode, Joe Perry shares insights and information on how to strategically reposition your briefing program to showcase your program's value company-wide by instilling the right changes that drive transformation. 

Episode Highlights:

• How to audit the existing program and prioritize the right kinds of changes that  drive transformation
• Audit how your program is perceived by internal stakeholders
• A highlight of the Autodesk Customer Briefing Program
• How to prioritize the steps to take in implementing a briefing program
• Incorporating survey tools, real time dashboards, program assets, and reporting
• Creating a utilization model for forecasting program capacity 
• Tips for facilitating briefings both in person and virtually
• Helpful tools like VisitOps and Salesforce
• Leveraging marketing to help create reports and support sales reps
• How to course verbal and budget support
• Become a student of your company, the structure, and account segmentation

Guest Thought Leader:

Joe Perry
Senior Manager, Global Customer Briefing Program, Autodesk

Joe is a Global Senior Information technology and Client Experience Leader with a strong track record of experience in developing global executive briefing center customer experience programs. Joe has experience in the technology sales cycle, and an understanding of how leveraging Executive programs can help accelerate the sales cycle. He has extensive experience in executive engagement programs, strategic partnerships, sales and consulting with an operational savviness, and a keen ability to prioritize and work on multiple projects simultaneously, keeping a laser focus on execution and delivering results consistently. As an effective business strategist, Joe began his career in the Air Force where he embraced the importance of being a lifetime learner, teamwork, building his expertise in business, technical, and innovation ecosystems and earning a BA, MBA, and MS in Law & Policy. Joe spent 20 years at IBM in various customer-facing roles, including leadership roles in theSoftware Executive Briefing, Innovation Center, and Watson Experience Center programs, and ~18 months ago moved to join Autodesk. He’s responsible for the Global Customer Briefing Program, which includes virtual, offsite, and onsite locations in Boston, San Francisco, Toronto, Birmingham, UK locations.

In this episode, David Walford gives us a crash course on briefing tools as a foundational element for any briefing program and how a centralized place to manage operations can help increase team efficiency and productivity.

Episode Highlights: 

• How data helps briefing program managers tie initiatives together
• What types of APIs can drive interactive experiences and engagement
• Building speaker agendas
• Creating a speaker’s bureau
• Easing calendaring and scheduling tasks
• New features, like tying into virtual rooms
• Working closely with sales for better enablement programs
• Tips for getting buy-in and budget approval 
• When evaluating briefing tools:
  • Get as many demos as possible
  • Look for features that address current and future needs for your program

Guest Thought Leader:

David Walford
CEO & Managing Member, Echovision LLC

With an MSA Degree in Computer Multimedia, David started developing apps in 1994. His first app was a sniper script for eBay auctions (sharing apologies to those who lost auctions in the final seconds of bidding). He has extensive experience working in the briefing industry having been part of 3 briefing programs including Silicon Graphics (SGI), NetApp and most recently Citrix. His role as a Briefing Center Technical Manager and Infrastructure Architect allowed him to understand the strategic importance of briefing programs as well as the tools that are needed to support briefing teams in offering flawless experiences for their customers while providing greater efficiency and increased productivity. In 2007, David formed EchoVision LLC with his first product called EZ-Scheduler, an app for Events. In 2013, the BriefingSource scheduling tool was introduced to service global briefing programs and has most recently offered an upgraded platform to their customer base in 2020.

In this episode, we discuss with Ellen Barnes Pfiffner what lessons learned and elements we can leverage for future briefings across team management, staffing, content management, executive support - and identify new ways teams can work together to orchestrate the most impactful customer experiences. 

Episode Highlights: 

• Using the past to help us shape and respond to unplanned and unexpected occurrences beyond our control in future customer briefings
• How programs have pivoted to address virtual and other needs as they arise
• Revisit the ABPM world class characteristics AND  the new whitepaper from the hybrid task force
• Leverage community-driven resources
• Put an emphasis on working together globally
• Schedule an updated workshop on facilitation
• Budget and update to support in-person briefings
• Consider ‘serial briefings’ and keep it brief
• Create a ‘virtual center’
• If you’re not ready for prime-time … wait
• A nice example on innovation - Elizabeth Simpson has been reactive and visionary during these times and aptly facilitates a community, webinars, articles, and broadcasts to enrich the member experience. 

Links to ABPM assets

• Resources Page
• Processes & Tools
• Revisit the ABPM Characteristics of a World Class Briefing Program PLUS the Updated Considerations for Reopening Centers provided by the ABPM Task Force for Reopening Centers
• Review the New Staffing to Support New Briefing Models (May 2021 - auto download) and New Considerations for Hybrid Briefings provided by the ABPM Task Force for Hybrid Briefings

Guest Thought Leader:
Ellen Barnes Pfiffner
Consultant, EBP Business Consulting
Ellen is a Management Consultant with over 20 years of business experience spanning sales, marketing, operat

In this episode, Stacey Milligan addresses demonstrating the strategic value your briefing program brings to your company and identifying what data you need to provide and present as part of your program’s identity.

Episode Highlights: 

• How to create a great experience when you don’t actually have a facility
• Look for support from executive staff
• Assess your own team and their level of engagement, talents, development efforts etc.
• For headcount, show what it takes to run a successful program and the impact you’re having
• Speak in numbers - dollar values are always impressive
• Tips for creating an executive engagement plan
• Create a master plan/deck
  • Select slides and adjust for different audiences
• Continually update and refine your program 
• Understand the mix of customers to partners
• Use a briefing tool to help you manage information and pull necessary data
• Plan for now and plan for the future
• Most importantly, when creating value: identify the need, illuminate the risk if the need is not fulfilled, then present the ‘ask’

Guest Thought Leader:

Stacey Milligan
Director, Executive Briefing Program, Cohesity

Stacey is the Director, Executive Briefing Program for Cohesity, a late stage start-up based in Silicon Valley.  In this role she is building their EBC program from the ground up and has already doubled their capacity in the last year.  Prior to Cohesity, she managed the global Executive Briefing program for Hitachi Vantara, where she relaunched their program and built their headquarters EBC facility in Santa Clara, CA.   With more than twenty years of experience in the EBC industry, Stacey has also led customer engagement programs and built multiple EBC facilities at Brocade, Facebook, Andreessen Horowitz, McAfee, Symantec and Veritas.  She is passionate about driving exceptional, data-driven programs and leading high performing teams.  

In this episode, Tom Sullivan walks us through the technical journey for hybrid and virtual briefings as we discuss the technical elements programs can evaluate and implement for the current and future state of how we deliver customer experiences.

Episode Highlights: 

• The ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity to design a corporate experience center from the ground up
• Working cross functionally with marketing, technical, operations and logistics teams
• Using physical/touch components in your center
• Insights when performing a virtual program audit
• Leveraging augmented reality and apps to create in-home experiences
• Performing live demos to virtual customers
• Using robotics to physically represent a digital audience
• Incorporating tri-directional communication
• Thinking about scalability, 2 -3 years out
• PTC’s 80/20 strategic approach to digital/in-person
• Using pre-brief surveys - even while conducting business virtually
• Using webcasting and web conferencing tools independently

Follow these steps to take a virtual tour of the PTC Corporate Experience Center utilizing their Matterport technology

1. Go to www.ptc.com
2. Click "Why PTC"
3. Click "Visit PTC"
4. Click "Take a Virtual Tour

Guest Thought Leader:

Tom Sullivan
Director, Corporate Experience, PTC

Tom is currently leading PTC’s Corporate Experience program. He has a background in Mechanical Engineering and has a passion for innovative technology. He spent the first few years at PTC in their CXC as a Senior Engineer developing technical demonstrations using PTC’s software. He has met with hundreds of customers to demonstrate the technology to them. He then went on to build out a technical team of engineers that he managed for a year and a half before ultimately taking on a new position this past October to lead the overall Corporate Experience program. PTC is a global company headquartered in Boston where the CXC is also located. The CXC provides global coverage for their customers for both virtual and in-person briefings. Tom joined his first ABPM session last Spring and then presented in the Fall Workshop on the “Customization of Virtual Briefings”. He is a new member to the ABPM community and is excited to bring a technical perspective to the conversation.

In this episode, Stacy Cummings addresses cultural and technological elements that the team at Verizon have identified as part of their global strategy for virtual and hybrid experiences across 5 locations. 

Episode Highlights: 

• Briefing programs as a strategic tool to build and drive relationships
• Incorporating voice of customer
• How briefings have influenced Verizon’s webinar program
• Understanding that no matter the success of your program, you’re not immune to ups and downs
• Partnering with with sales to build what engagement should look like
• How to manage tech support in/during briefings
• Creating best practices guides
• Setting up a ‘series briefing’
• Using demos as a standalone session
• Creating hubs as part of a go-forward strategy
• Being mindful of a slow return to the office
• Embracing virtual and live demonstrations
• Leveraging BlueJeans video conferencing

Guest Thought Leader:

Stacy Cummings
Director, Marketing Events and Customer Programs, Verizon

Stacy is a 27-year Veteran of Verizon with extensive leadership experience in marketing, customer programs, corporate and executive communications, event and video production. Today, Stacy leads Enterprise Marketing and Customer Programs for Verizon Business Group. Her team is responsible for marketing and customer engagement for Verizon’s largest customers across multiple customer touch points including Verizon’s Executive Briefing & Customer Advisory Board Programs, Marketing Events and Experiential Opportunities. These programs focus on opportunities to grow our relationships, drive opportunities, collaborate, innovate and gain feedback from some of Verizon’s most important customers. Prior to this role, Stacy held positions leading Verizon’s Customer Advisory and Executive Briefing Programs. Under her leadership these programs grew into a world-class industry recognized element of Verizon’s customer engagement strategy. Stacy holds a BA in Communications from American University and is an active participant of the Association of Briefing Program Managers Board of Directors.