In just a few days, ICMI’s Contact Center Expo, A Digital Experience, kicks off under the theme of Moving Forward Together. I can’t think of a better phrase that captures the importance of coming together to share lessons learned, overcome challenges, and celebrate what’s been accomplished by contact center professionals around the world.

And, while I’m mourning the opportunity to be together in person with a group of people that feel more like friends and family than conference colleagues, I’m excited for the opportunity to still connect with them and discover what it will take for us to move the industry forward, together. If you’ve never been a part of an ICMI event, here’s a few reasons why I hope that you’ll join the 8x8 team and me in attending this year’s experience.

Learn from the contact center movers and shakers

When I attended my first ICMI conference over 10 years ago it was like a who’s who of the industry. In that first conference, I was able to learn from the people who built some of the very first call centers and established the foundations for the industry. There were award winners presenting their secrets to customer satisfaction, insider tours of contact center operations, and opportunities around every corner to meet, connect, and learn from people who experienced challenges similar to my own. And, in the decade since my first ICMI event experience, I’ve come to rely on their events to deliver high-level content from a variety of perspectives and the professionals who are truly blazing new trails in contact centers and customer experience. This year’s digital experience is no exception.

Here are some of the presenters that I’m most excited about at this year’s event:

  • Brad Cleveland, ICMI’s Senior Advisor and Founding Partner will deliver a keynote address in addition to a session on culture and leadership during turbulent times.
  • Nate Brown, Co-Founder of CX Accelerator will present a session on leading CX transformation using an eight-step model. Additionally, I have the privilege of joining Nate for the session Judge Judy, CX Edition: The Case Against NPS.
  • Carla Harris, Vice Chairman at Morgan Stanley will deliver a featured keynote on Leadership - Currency, Change, and Creating a Powerful Presence.
  • Wendy Fowler, Founder of Quality Service Solutions will present a session on 8 Tips for Developing Meaningful Customer Satisfaction Surveys.

Additionally, I’ll be delivering a session on Mastering the Art of Contact Center Coaching. We’ll dive into why coaching matters, the importance of leveraging a coaching model, and highlight the various use cases for delivering coaching. I’d love for you to join me there.

Network with peers in similar roles and industries

As I mentioned earlier, one of my favorite parts of the ICMI experience, or frankly any event, is the opportunity to network with my peers. When in-person events went away earlier this year it was also one of the things that I was most distraught about missing out on. There’s something truly special that can happen when you invest in networking as an opportunity to build your community. Well, the team at ICMI recognized that this is an important component of any event and they’ve built in plenty of opportunities for people to get connected.

Here are a few recommendations for making the most of the networking opportunities during this year’s digital experience:

  • Leverage the attendee filters to find people in your state, industry, job function, or even contact center size. They’ve even included a spot to enter custom search criteria that helps with the custom recommendations that you’ll get for people to meet!
  • Participate in one of the group chats. You can be assured that there’s going to be an active discussion and a swarm of people who are willing to answer your questions, share their ideas, or engage in some fun industry banter.
  • Hop on social media and follow the hashtags #ICMIchat and #ICMIexpo. The ICMI community is very active on social media–especially Twitter–and there’s even more opportunities to connect with and learn from people through those year-round discussions.

Discover the latest and greatest in contact center technology

An ICMI conference wouldn’t be complete without the expo hall. This year, ICMI’s digital experience makes it easy to search through the solution providers, like 8x8, and browse the product marketplace. Additionally, they’ve created a Content Zone where you can access a treasure trove of resources. We’ve included an overview of 8x8 Contact Center, customer case studies, and a few other great pieces of content. I encourage you to swing by 8x8’s virtual booth and check out all that we’ve provided.

Additionally, if you’re looking to learn more about 8x8, it’s easy to chat with us in our virtual booth or even request a meeting with a member of our team. While we may not all be together physically, we have a team that will be ready to connect with you and ensure that your ICMI experience is a great one.

The best part? Everything I’ve just described is free!

Yes, you read that right, free! This year’s Contact Center Expo - A Digital Experience is available for free for qualified contact center leaders. You can get your digital pass for free here.

Don’t wait any further! Sign up today and we’ll look forward to connecting with you there!