About

What is CX Forums?

CX Forums is the next evolution in professional meetings and events for the CX industry created by CX practitioners for CX professionals. Live, local, in-person and online events to connect the customer experience community.

Fo-rum: noun: “A place where ideas and views on a particular issue can be exchanged.” 

There is tremendous value in hearing from others about the barriers and challenges that they face and learning from those who have overcome them. At CX Forums, CX practitioners share stories, ideas and ways they really made a difference for their companies, employees and customers.

CX Forums organizes full-day regional meetings across the USA in unique venues. . Speakers and topics are guided by local advisory boards. The Experience Summits are designed to help create connections, share new ideas and showcase topics for senior-level CX executives.

Experience Summits: Speakers and panelists share stories on a wide range of CX topics that contribute to creating great customer experiences. Participate in small group discussions and roundtables on your choice of CX topics.

Workshops: Learn how to improve your CX skills with four 90-minute CX Forums Hands-On Virtual Workshops and the new Half-Day Immersive Experience Workshops.

CX Forums is supported by sponsors, participants and leading CX related associations. We invite you to participate in CX Forums events as a delegate, volunteer, speaker or sponsor.

For more info, contact producer Mark Michelson anytime. mark@cxforums.org

Connect. Learn. Get Inspired.

CX Forums Experience Summits are regional events that are organized by CX veterans to connect and inspire CX professionals. At CX Forums Experience Summits, real people share real share stories and ideas to inspire and improve customer and employee experiences.

Each local market Experience Summit features 6 hours of programming and up to 5 hours of networking time.  The agenda features six 15-minute talks, 4 workshops, two keynotes and one panel.

  • Learn from featured CX industry leaders
  • Network with CX experts and leaders, before, during and after each summit
  • Join group discussions on your choice of specific CX/UX topics and how to apply best practices for your business
  • See the latest tools and resources to help your CX practice
  • Participate in workshops to build your CX skills
  • Reinvigorate your CX senses hearing real-life stories and engaging in conversations with your peers

There’s Nothing Like Being There

No more boring pre-recorded webinars or zoom meetings. CX Forums brings people together in local markets to meet face-to-face in unique and fun venues.

“High tech/high touch is a formula I use to describe the way we have responded to technology. What happens is that whenever new technology is introduced into society, there must be a counterbalancing human response – that is high touch – or the technology is rejected. The more high tech, the more high touch.” – John Naisbitt, Megatrends (1982)

 

Call for SPEAKER PROPOSALS and SPONSORS is Open for All Markets

Don’t miss your opportunity for 15 minutes of fame on the stage at CX Forums! Send your speaker proposal today!

Our Mission

Our mission is to bring senior-level CX professionals together from a wide variety of disciplines and industries to connect, learn and share what each of us know about the growing customer experience profession.

 

How CX Forums Started

CX Talks was conceived by Mark Michelson in 2016 as a CXPA event for their annual CX Day. During this 3-hour event, 10 speakers gave 10-minute TED Talks style presentations to an audience of around 100 attendees. The meeting was held at Macquarium in Atlanta.

Following this event, Carlos Pimenta, CEO of Macquarium approached Mark with the idea to bring together various associations in Atlanta who represent different CX disciplines, including Store Design, Technology, UX, CRM, Marketing Research, Mystery Shopping, Call Centers and more. Carlos and Mark invited 18 associations to meet and co-create what became known as CX Talks.

Our format, which was initially built around the idea of TED Talks, features short talks (15-minutes of fame) on a wide range of CX related topics from Design Thinking to VOC. Essentially, we expanded the TED Talks concept into a full-day meeting with networking for business professionals.

From the first event in Atlanta, CX Talks offered a chance to network face-to-face with local CX professionals and learn from leading CX visionaries without having to travel. 

Hundreds of attendees have attended talks on a range of topics, including culture and employee experience, design thinking, content marketing, new technologies, and more. Year over year, CX Talks had expanded its geographic footprint to include Dallas and Chicago. 

When the COVID pandemic required postponing our in-person events, we decided to explore new opportunities for connecting local CX professionals.

There are many formats that fulfill our original mission of bringing professionals together for networking and growing their CX Skills. After considering the growing demand for CX content, we decided to divide and conquer to provide more programming opportunities for our attendees. 

Mark is now managing the CX Forums brand full-time. The CX Talks brand continues under Carlos’ stewardship with a focus on Atlanta events and online programming.

CX Forums Team

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Mark Michelson

CEO/Producer, CX Forums
Founder/Principal, Threads Marketing Research

Mark Michelson is the CEO/Producer of CX Forums. He is responsible for the day-to-day management of all CX Forums events.

In addition to managing CX Forums, Mark is the principal of Threads Marketing Research, which focuses on customer experience research using online focus groups, mobile ethnography and online surveys.

Mark’s experience as a market researcher includes 35+ years of developing and implementing strategic marketing research studies involving store design, UX, journey mapping, and experience auditing for many of the world’s leading brands in a variety of industries including technology, food service, healthcare, retail and CPG. His work has taken him to 70+ countries and 49 states in the course of his career.

Mark is the founder/co-founder of several international marketing research trade associations including, the Mobile Marketing Research Association (MMRA), the Social Media Research Association (SMRA), The Mystery Shopping Professional’s Association (MSPA) and has served on the board of the Qualitative Research Consultants Association (QRCA) as well as helping to plan and manage events for the Atlanta LNE of the Customer Experience Professional’s Association (CXPA)

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Audrey Birnbaum

Creative Director, CX Forums
Founder, Increase Your Auds, LLC.

Audrey serves as Creative Director for CX Forums.  In addition to the creative space of copy and design, Audrey works with Mark to help execute his vision of CX Forums: Connext Live and CX Forums Executive Symposiums returning in-person in 2021.

Audrey is the founder of Increase Your Auds, a consulting & creative company specializing in bringing ideas, events and company growth to life.

Audrey’s 16 years of thinking-outside-the-box experience includes event production, communications & design, project management, sales management, behavioral science and more.  Producing sold out events for music enthusiasts at private country clubs and 5-Star, 5-Diamond resorts, Audrey knows that the customer experience connection is paramount to success at every level.