Lou Carbone
Founder & Chief Experience Officer | Experience Engineering, Inc.
Hailed as the thought leader who launched the customer experience movement, Lou Carbone is an expert in experience value creation. He has been a leader in the experience management revolution for over two decades. His writings on the subject have appeared in business magazines and academic journals since 1994. His 2004 best seller, Clued In, How to Keep Customers Coming Back Again & Again (recipient of Fast Company Reader’s Choice Award), is in its seventh printing, and considered a must read for anyone hoping to understand the discipline. He is in demand as a speaker and lecturer worldwide.

Jim Knight
Former Training & Development Executive | Hard Rock International
A training and development veteran for 35-plus years, Jim Knight cut his teeth in the training field through the hospitality industry. He eventually became the head of the School of Hard Rocks, running point on all global training and development functions for Hard Rock International, where he was recognized by Training Magazine as representing one of the Top 125 training companies in the world. Jim’s role at Hard Rock involved many facets of organizational training, including creating/managing all staff and management training materials and programs, facilitating its corporate university, overseeing management training locations, producing training DVDs, directing company e-learning initiatives, facilitating leadership transitions and traveling to property locations to deliver on-site classes and measure standards.

"I am thrilled to be returning to the Retail Customer Experience Executive Summit, this time as a keynote speaker,” he said. “Between being in one of my all-time favorite cities and at my old brand stomping grounds, this event is going to rock! My specific session, ‘Service That Rocks,’ is geared toward highlighting best practices to revolutionize a company's service approach. It's going to be high-energy and chock-a-block full of ideas, stories and examples, all while immersed in the spirit of rock 'n roll. I can't wait to be together and I hope you come hear what all the noise is about."

Jeff Fromm  Executive Vice President | Barkley
Fromm is EVP at Barkley, an ad agency whose clientele includes Applebee's, Quiznos, On the Border and Krispy Kreme. He has 25 years of brand marketing experience and led the Millennials research partnership between Barkley, The Boston Consulting Group and Service Management Group. Fromm is the founder of Barkley's Millennial Marketing Conference, www.sharelikebuy.com, the lead editor of their Millennial trends blog, www.millennialmarketing.com and co-author ofMarketing to Millennials: Reach The Largest and Most Influential Generation of Consumers Ever.

Chris H. Petersen, PhD.
Founding Senior Partner/CEO | IMS Results Count
Petersen has three decades of experience as a strategic retail consultant who has built a legacy of facilitating performance improvement for both retailers and Fortune 500 consumer products companies. He is the founder of IMS Retail University, a series of strategic workshops focusing on the critical elements of competing profitably in the increasingly complex retail marketplace for both manufacturers and retailers. Over 15,000 "graduates" from 37 countries have now attended an IMS Retail University workshop. Chris holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology and Measurement.

Petersen had a rare opportunity in 2012 to travel around the world working with a wide variety of technology retailers and vendors. His session will provide a comparative overview of retailing best practices from a variety of countries and continents, including Africa, Asia, Australia, India, Middle East, South America and Europe. The session will employ a diverse collection of store photos to illustrate the retail trends, challenges and retailer dynamics on each continent.

“I’m extremely excited to be a speaker at my first Retail Customer Experience Executive Summit. I’m looking forward to sharing first-hand retail experiences from around the world. No boring theories. Come find out what rocks customer experience from Seoul, Singapore, Sydney … to San Paulo. You won’t want to miss this photographic expose of the smallest retail shops to the biggest stores on the planet. We’ll discuss both challenges and success factors across the diverse world of retailing.”

Micah Solomon
Author & Consultant
Solomon is a top keynote speaker, author, and consultant on customer service, 21st-century marketing, company culture, and more. To quote Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, “Micah Solomon conveys an up to the minute and deeply practical take on customer service, business success, and the twin importance of people and technology.”

Solomon's presentation will be based on his latest book, High-Tech, High-Touch Customer Service: Inspire Timeless Loyalty in the Demanding New World of Social Commerce, which explains how to build customers for life in this age of social media, self-service, global competition, and endless distractions. It includes hands-on experiences, best practices, and culture-building insights from Apple, Google, The Ritz-Carlton, Zappos, Four Seasons, and more. Solomon is legendary for engaging his audiences through his sincerity, his genuine passion for his clients’ success, and his unique visual presentation style -- no stock photos here, just real life examples.

James Tenser
Principal | VSN Strategies
Tenser is an author and consultant specializing in shopper-centric business strategy, research and analysis for the retail, services and consumer goods sector. Since 1996 he has maintained a particular focus on Shopper Media, Category Management, In-Store Implementation, service practices, multichannel retailing, and related technology, and he has authored two books in the field. He is director of the In-Store Implementation Network, and the author of its 2008 working paper. His blog, TensersTirades.blogspot.com, grew out of a distinguished 20-year career as an editor, analyst and commentator covering consumer goods retailing and marketing. He has developed numerous white papers on in-store media, retail price strategy, promotion and category management for retail technology clients.

Tenser is considered an authority on retailing, brand marketing, consumer trends and Internet strategy. He is frequently quoted in national and international media and trade publications and he contributes to periodicals such as Advertising Age, RetailWire, CPGmatters.com, Progressive Grocer, Supermarket News, Marketing@Retail, Brand Marketing and Chain Store Age.