Headline Speakers

The Best Story Wins in Business and Beyond!

Wednesday | 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM
Matthew Luhn

Storytelling is the #1 business skill necessary to connect, motivate, and lead people in today’s world. Stories compel us to engage in experiences, learn lessons, and define our values and ourselves within our organization. Matthew Luhn, former Pixar story veteran, brings his experience creating and developing 10 blockbuster films at Pixar, and provides practical strategies that teach and inspire leaders how to use the power of storytelling to get their projects and idea moving forward along with keeping their teams engaged.

In this keynote, Matthew will teach you how to:

Communicate a unique and compelling story in one sentence to capture the attention of an audience.
Master the five key elements of storytelling to bring facts and figures to life.
Harness the "Universal Truths" that connect with all people.
Pitch persuasively and inspire action.
Keep and motivate your teams through authentic communication.

Use code KEYNOTE for free registration.

Matthew Luhn

, Film Director

Matthew Luhn is a film director, writer, and story branding consultant with over 30 years' experience creating stories and characters at Pixar Animation Studios, Netflix and beyond. Alongside his story work in Hollywood, Matthew also trains CEOs, marketing teams, directors and other professionals how to craft and tell stories for Fortune 500 companies, Academy Award winning movies and corporate brands. Matthew speaks to diverse audiences around the world within a variety of industries. His clients include Google, Adidas, Salesforce, AbbVie, and many more. Matthew’s story credits include Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Toy Story 3, Monsters Inc., Monsters University, Finding Nemo, UP, Cars, Ratatouille and other films and TV shows currently in development.

Embracing the Future: How Generative AI will Transform Contact Centers and Shape Your Career

Thursday | 11:40 AM – 12:00 PM
Brad Cleveland

Join ICMI founding partner Brad Cleveland in this thought-provoking address as he shares his insights on how generative AI is poised to revolutionize the contact center industry, and what it means for the careers of those working in this field. He’ll discuss developments in the context of prior disruptions, and look at emerging trends and technologies that will define the contact center of the future. Drawing on his extensive experience, he’ll outline practical steps you can take now as a leader to position your team and organization for success. Don't miss this opportunity to gain a competitive edge and stay ahead of the curve!

Brad Cleveland

Brad Cleveland is known globally as one of today’s foremost experts in customer strategy and management. He has worked across 45 states and 60 countries for clients as diverse as American Express, Apple, USAA, the University of California and the federal governments of Australia, Canada, and the U.S. Brad was a founding partner in and former CEO of the International Customer Management Institute (ICMI). His books include Contact Center Management on Fast Forward (ICMI, 4th edition 2019) and Leading the Customer Experience (Kogan Page, 1st edition 2021). Contact info: www.bradcleveland.com

Connect with Brad:

Twitter: @bradcleveland

Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/bradcleveland1

Blog: www.bradcleveland.com/blog

Courageous Cultures: Building Teams of Micro-Innovators, Problem Solvers, and Customer Advocates

Thursday | 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM
Karin Hurt

What would happen if every member of your team came to work focused on finding solutions and creating better results?

Based on ground-breaking new research in innovation and problem-solving, you’ll learn what leaders like you are doing to build more creative and solutions-oriented teams. You’ll explore the root causes of FOSU (fear of speaking up) and techniques to turn your team’s fears and frustration into innovation. You’ll also learn practical techniques to tap into the best ideas of every team member, solve important problems, and have more confidence and competence positioning their ideas.

Attendees will leave with:

Easy-to-use tools and techniques to empower solutions-thinking and customer-focused problem solving
A clear understanding of what’s blocking everyday innovation in their teams
Communication strategies to eliminate FOSU (Fear of Speaking Up) and encourage deeper dialogue up, down and sideways
A plan they can apply right away

Karin will inspire you with real examples of turnaround successes and powerful tools from her executive roles and work with companies around the world. Attendees will leave with tools and techniques they can immediately apply with their teams.

Karin Hurt

, Former Verizon Wireless Executive, and an Inc. Magazine Great Leadership Speaker

Karin Hurt helps human-centered leaders resolve workplace ambiguity so that they can drive innovation, productivity and revenue without burning out employees.

After two decades as a Verizon executive, Karin, and her husband, David, founded Let’s Grow Leaders, a training firm focused on human-centered leadership development for those determined to get breakthrough results without losing their humanity. Leaders, they found, were hungry for practical tools and leadership development that sticks.

Since 2013, Karin and David have helped grow over 10,000 leaders in 14 countries with their live leadership development programs, keynotes, blogs, videos, and books. They also provide clean water to the people of Cambodia through their Winning Wells philanthropic initiative.

Karin is an award-winning author of four books, including:

Courageous Cultures – How to Build Teams of Micro-Innovators, Problem Solvers and Customer Advocates
Winning Well – A Manager’s Guide to Getting Results—Without Losing Your Soul

She is the host of the popular LinkedIn show, Asking for a Friend, and she was recently named by Inc. Magazine as a Top 100 Great Leadership Speaker.