At last, it’s spring. Even here in Boston, the bloom is on the forsythia — finally. And that means it’s time to announce the confirmed list of speakers for our biggest event of the year: Forrester's Forum For Customer Experience Professionals in New York (CXNYC), June 16th and 17th. We’ve got a doozy of a show on tap this time around.

This year’s event features more guest speakers, from a wider range of industries, than ever before. As your host for this forum, I’m thrilled to share such a strong lineup:

  • Raul Leal, CEO, Virgin Hotel Group.
  • Charlie Hill, distinguished engineer and CTO for design, IBM.
  • Beth Ann Kaminkow, CMO, Westfield Group.
  • Rasesh Patel, SVP, customer experience, DirectTV.
  • Rachel Shechtman, founder and CEO, Story.
  • Adam Weber, SVP of marketing, Dollar Shave Club.
  • Mark McCormick, SVP of customer experience, Wells Fargo.
  • Melody Lee, director, brand and reputation strategy, Cadillac.
  • Blaine E. Hurst, EVP, chief transformation and growth officer, Panera Bread.
  • Chris Brown, executive director, guest experience, New York Mets.
  • Kit Hickey, cofounder, head of experience, Ministry of Supply.
  • Parrish Hannah, global director, human machine interface, Ford Motor.
  • Scott Zimmer, head of design and innovation, Capital One.
  • Liz Crawford, CTO, Birchbox.

Why these folks?  Because CXNYC 2015 is all about transformation. Each one of our guests has taken on the formidable task of reinventing a business, redesigning a service, or guiding an iconic brand into new territory. We’ve got innovative practitioners galore, each working on profitable, sustainable change. And all have embraced CX as the driving force behind their strategies for growth.

In addition, Forrester analysts will be sharing their latest research on essential topics. Harley Manning, who founded Forrester’s CX research practice (and who foolishly hired me way back in 1999), will be presenting what promises to be a controversial analysis of the business value of CX. Is it legit? Or just a fad? 

Anjali Lai and Megan Burns will address the role that emotion plays in delivering the best experiences. Allegra Burnette will describe the evolving world of design methods in the age of the customer. Tony Costa will be showing us how drastically innovation efforts have changed in open, networked, and rapidly evolving markets, and Leah Buley will explore the leadership required to guide customer-obsessed organizations. 

I know I’m biased — after all, I’m the host. But I really do think this is the strongest lineup we’ve had in many, many years.

I look forward to seeing you in NYC . . .  

Best,

John