Latest / The DEX Show: A Show for IT Change Makers / Experience Everywhere Pregame Special w/ Paul Gentile

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Experience Everywhere Pregame Special w/ Paul Gentile · The DEX Show: A Show for IT Change Makers

0:01
Welcome it changemakers to the Deck Show with Tim Flower and Tom McGraw. Let's
0:07
get into it. Hello, everybody, welcome to a very special edition of
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the Deck Show. And that's because it's a It's an episode dedicated to the
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upcoming Experience Everywhere twenty twenty three World Next Think Tour. It's not really a
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world tour, but it is a fantastic tour that touches upon four amazing cities
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starting what will now be I believe next week. Next Think is going to
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be meeting customers and prospects and partners and analysts in London on October tenth,
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then in Paris on October the twelfth, in Boston for our flagship show over
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twenty fourth and the twenty fifth, and then finishing things off in Munich on
0:52
November the seventh. It's always a hugely, hugely exciting time of year,
0:57
and the big news here on the Deck Show is that the deck Show is
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going to be there. We're going to be live on stage and I have
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with me as ever Tim Flower to sort of celebrate and announce this. Tim,
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how's it going. How you feeling about our return to Experience Everywhere?
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I couldn't have been looking forward to this episode more to have both you and
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our great colleague Paul Juntela will bring in as well. But I was thinking
1:23
back on the history of Experience Everywhere it actually started. We've been doing the
1:27
conference almost since I got here in twenty fifteen twenty sixteen, but they started
1:33
a lot like other tech conferences, started as a bit of a user group,
1:37
kind of regional in the US. I know that Pedro had been doing
1:41
one in Europe as well. It was called Analytics. The product was called
1:45
Analytics, the conference was called Analytics. I think we had a tough time
1:48
getting a draw into both the product and the conference because no one really connected
1:53
with what that analytics thing meant. But to now have it as decks,
1:57
to have it happening in the Experience Everywhere, happening in four countries around the
2:01
world, and to get an audience like we've got, and now to have
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our deck show up on stage, which I'll also give you a little history
2:08
on the podcast. Idea actually generated from a round table that we had on
2:15
stage one year and we said this would make a great podcast, And you
2:20
know, it took maybe six months to a year and then We've got a
2:23
rolling so I'm psyched to get it, get it live on stage. I
2:28
know me too, and it's we have since the foundation of this podcast,
2:32
we've been kind of entwined with experience, of course, haven't we've. We've
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hosted it now twice this year, we have our live gig on stage,
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and let me now invite our special guest, Paul Genteel. He's VP for
2:47
Product Marketing and Sales Enablement at Next Think and a key organizer of VC's global
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events series. Let me just bring him on to ask him, Paul,
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was this a demotion from the from the host to the live slot? I
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mean, tell us, frankly, we're between friends. Nobody, nobody can
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hear what we're saying. Not a chance, man, But jeez, am
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I am. I also just as excited and fired up to not only be
3:17
at the event, but to be here with you guys and to see you
3:20
all do your special thing while we are at the events. I think it's
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going to be absolutely energizing. I think it's going to be exciting. There's
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so many great speakers and so many great sessions that we have planned that is
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going to make this this particular experience Everywhere world tour, as you said a
3:38
few moments ago, extra extra special. But by no means would this ever
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be a demotion. This is a huge opportunity. Man. I'm always glad
3:49
and excited to grace the stage virtually or in person with both of you,
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handsome gentlemen. Okay, man, I'm kind of reassured by that you and
4:00
I also shared the stage in what was at four Cities at our company kick
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off. We were around the world doing our thing up on stage. I'm
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psyched to to kind of, you know, have you here to help us
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go through a bit of the agenda, you know, work together to help
4:16
spread the word you know, we've got. This is actually the first time
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too, that the conference has reached the place in the US where we can
4:25
do two days right Boston. It's not the case with the other cities,
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but in Boston, we're really focusing on the customer community and making sure that
4:36
coming to this conference is valuable for them. So we've got some instructor led
4:41
training, three specific learning tracks, with training some user groups in the afternoon.
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So if if folks are listening to this podcast and are thinking about coming,
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come for the full two days and sit in on some some of that
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instructor led train as well as the user groups that first day. It's going
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to be a great value add to the whole thing. Yeah. Absolutely,
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And if you, you know, think about the evolution of where the company
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and the event started, as you gentlemen just said a few moments ago,
5:16
to think about sort of where we are now and where we're headed. This
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thing is going to keep going, It's going to keep getting better, it's
5:25
going to keep getting bigger, and to that end, right not only for
5:29
the Boston event, but for each one of the cities across the globe that
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we're doing it. There's a reason that we're calling it smarter. This the
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theme this year is smarter, and that's really what it starts to unlock.
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And as this thing starts to grow, just as the podcast has grown,
5:43
and as we've brought on more and more true, true individuals and organizations that
5:48
have gotten religion around what Decks is and what it can do and what it
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can ultimately enable or unlock from a smarter instance in making your organization achieve that
6:00
much more. There's no reason that this thing has grown to there's a particular
6:04
reason this thing has grown to where it is, and there's no reason not
6:08
to think that it won't keep getting bigger, it won't keep getting smarter based
6:12
on the inputs and collaboration that we have with all of these massive organizations that
6:17
have decided to go on this dex journey with us. Pretty it's a great
6:20
point too. We've got some really great, really great customer names. I'm
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I'm gonna hesitate to put any maybe verbally here, but great Logo is actually
6:30
the specific to the deck show. Honeywell and Toyota North America joining us on
6:36
stage along with a few others in the afternoon. The agenda those starts with
6:42
Mary Bath, our VP of General manager of the US. She always does
6:46
a fantastic job getting us excited and kicked off at the at the outset a
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bit of a keynote from her, she's titling it welcome to Beantown, which
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I love being in Boston for this one kind of grown up in the in
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the northeast East. Boston has always been my home away from home, so
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love that we're in Boston. And then flowing right into Pedro's keynote, which
7:08
is on its own is always outstanding. Pedro he shared with me a couple
7:12
of weeks ago in Boston. I have lost track of the actual number of
7:15
years that he's had this product in production when he actually brought it to market.
7:20
But he said to him this nineteen years this year, and I said,
7:23
Pedro, we're gonna have a big blowout next year when we hit twenty.
7:27
But his vision. To see his vision, to hear him talk up
7:30
on stage, this is his baby that he's nurtured for nineteen years. I'm
7:34
so proud to be a part of it still and help help the whole company
7:40
get this thing really rolling. And to hear him on stage is great.
7:43
And then he always has a fantastic back and forth and love hearing from Sam,
7:47
our chief product officer, about his vision. He's done tremendous work over
7:51
the last three years bringing us to the cloud, getting Infinity up and running,
7:55
and the possibilities now of what Sam and his teams can do is is
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end. Listen. Can't wait to hear from him and see what's going on
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for everybody. Yeah, yeah, absolutely, And I'll drop a few other
8:07
a few of their speaker names, right, a couple. Yeah, Well
8:13
you think and if everyone is more interested, even if you're hesitating, Do
8:16
not hesitate. Get here. We're actually starting to run out of space,
8:20
but there still is an opportunity to get there and to really enjoy the entire
8:26
show. Take best practices that you're going to hear from people on stage and
8:30
and apply them in your own organization, but to hear from some of the
8:33
great folks at Deloitte and what they've done to continue to build additional momentum.
8:39
We've got Guy Freude, their chief Technology support officer, who has been instrumental
8:45
in everything that they've achieved with with their deck strategy going on. I've been
8:50
working personally with Greg Giles from PayPal. He is his his title Distinguished Platform
8:58
Architects, and he has really done some unique, amazing things with what they've
9:03
sort of transformed on the service desk side of things, leveraging next thing and
9:07
what they've been doing with their entire his vision on implementing a digital employee experienced
9:13
strategy in a really, really meaningful way. He'll be sharing some other great
9:18
lessons learned, pitfalls to avoid, So just to name a few who we
9:22
have coming up on stage and where you're going to be able to learn in
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addition to many many others, So a huge opportunity to learn, share,
9:31
and also have a little bit of fun, because that's part of what you
9:35
do when you go to these these types of professional development sessions and events,
9:41
as I did close to fifteen plus years consecutive going to conferences, ten years
9:48
straight in Vegas, a bunch of years straight down in Orlando, Florida.
9:52
And you know, I made the mistake early on, and I probably made
9:54
the mistake later on too, of having maybe a little bit too much fun.
9:58
So it's always always a risk in Vegas to have a little bit too
10:03
much fun. But I think the bigger thing, the bigger takeaway from me
10:05
was my career and what I was able to do for my employer at the
10:09
Hartford was so much more amplified having the ability to go see what other people
10:16
were doing and shamelessly steal from them and make it my own and then start
10:22
implementing where I'm at. Right, you never want to start with technology like
10:26
you're recreating the wheel and your start from scratch. There's no better way to
10:31
get things really accelerated than to learn and collaborate with what others have. Collaborate
10:37
with others and learn from what they've done. Absolutely, there's no doubt about
10:43
it. I mean, it's face to face is always better when it comes
10:46
to those types of things. And there's a little bit of that, you
10:48
know, that air quille water cooler conversation when you do get to be in
10:54
a moment, whether it's Vegas or whether it's Boston, London, wherever it
10:58
might be right sharing in the stories, breaking bread with people, having a
11:01
little bit of fun while still sort of anchored around what is most important to
11:05
you and what you've got to accomplish it at work. Because so many people
11:11
care about the impact they're making, there's no doubt that these are the kind
11:15
of events that can really really help you get there and then also make make
11:18
lasting relationships but also make lasting impact and a footprint on what you want to
11:24
achieve with own with your own career. So well, very well set,
11:28
sir, and looking around the conference itself, but what does experience everywhere facilitate
11:35
or offer in order to facilitate those connections and that kind of social and learning
11:41
dimension besides just sitting there in the conference and syking up a keynotes. Well,
11:46
for one thing, we're going to have you gentlemen there to help orchestrate
11:50
some things and have felt a little bit of fun come near us in person.
11:52
Everybody, Okay, do you know do you know what approached Tim and
11:56
I? Okay, he's going to be present and just just a warning people
12:01
get a little excited. Uh you know what, though, you know what
12:05
the I think it was Ralph, Well though Emerson, I might be mistaken.
12:11
Mistaken here who who spirit of this quote? But attitude is contagious,
12:16
right, Attitude is everything. I know that that that's not the right author
12:18
of that, but it doesn't matter. That is that matter that does is
12:22
meaningful for people interacting with both of you, gentlemen. But anyhow, Tom,
12:26
back to your back to your question. I was looking up your quote.
12:30
Actually emisent right, Okay, I'm pretty I misquoted it, but the
12:35
actual of the spirits I don't think it was em But that's cool. It
12:41
was very cool, said it's full name, very confidently. I enjoyed the
12:45
spirit of what I What I was saying there absolutely rings true, especially when
12:48
it comes to both. I heard a rumor too, I'm gonna spread a
12:52
little bit of a rumor. Two. I heard Taylor Swift was going to
12:54
be in the audience in Boston. She's never gonna gonna miss it. Maybe
13:01
maybe one day, maybe that will be next year, maybe we'll be able
13:03
to do that when I haven't had mentioned of yet. Pool is is around
13:09
analyst presence, I mean we well represented. There come people here from the
13:13
best most influential analysts in the land. This year is experienced Boston. Absolutely,
13:20
we will have both Andrew Hewitt from Forrester who will be help helping us
13:26
out and be featured as a keynote for what it takes to sort of continue
13:31
to accelerate your own personal text transformation based on all of the interviews and the
13:35
conversations that he that he has had with enterprise organizations across the globe. He's
13:41
always a delight to have in UH. And then we're also gonna have Tory
13:48
Polman, who is the senior director analyst at Gartner. So we've got both
13:52
the big dog analysts that will be there really helping to sort of lay out
13:58
the landscape and what you need to be aware of was it relates to really
14:01
doing meaningful decks work. So really excited to see Tory on stage. I
14:07
have interacted and seen her presented present once, but really looking to see what
14:13
she brings to the table here for everybody that is in the EUC landscape.
14:16
I still her present down at Gartner or out at Gartner in San Diego.
14:20
She does a great job. She co hosted the session. I forget the
14:24
gentleman's name that she was up there with, but they did a great job.
14:26
But really looking forward to seeing her on stage and kind of get the
14:31
Gartner perspective. Forrester released their wave last year. I think they do it
14:35
every couple of years. Looking forward to Gartner getting their Magic Quadrant out next
14:39
year. You know, we're leading the pack with Forrester and every expectation that
14:43
we're going to be big leading the pack with Gartner as well. But as
14:46
an attendee, you not only want to hear from the vendor, who you
14:50
know, quite frankly, is a little biased, but we've got some great
14:54
stuff to share, but you also want to hear from the less bias,
14:56
you know, the more more practical folks, from the from the analysts and
15:01
the customers. So really looking forward to them getting on stage. Where do
15:05
you guys think the what do you think the analysts are going to bring to
15:09
the show us? Yet, Like, what do you think the general emphasis
15:13
is at the moment as they're looking at the decks industry, either respectively altogether.
15:18
Where do you think that they're going to be pointing in terms of the
15:22
imminent future? Director? Yeah, I think they keep at high level and
15:24
they talk about the evolution of end user compute. Right, it's no longer
15:28
electronic inventory and electronic software distribution and the kind of the basics those are the
15:33
table stakes. EUC is evolving and it's almost as if this concept, and
15:39
it's really an odd concept anymore, this discipline of decks is starting to overtake
15:45
the traditional ITSM and systems management of UC. And I think they're going to
15:50
talk about what the future brings in terms of managing employees and their experience versus
15:54
managing the devices themselves, and the impact and the output can get from from
16:00
employees. I think they're going to weave in a little bit about AI and
16:03
where that you know, human intelligence meets artificial intelligence and how to make people
16:11
smarter with AI and and not so much AI taking over, but but making
16:15
people smarter. Uh, And that's why are our conference is kind of themed
16:19
that way. I don't know, Paul, where you're where what you're thinking
16:22
they might bring Oh man, I think you just nailed it, absolutely just
16:26
nailed it. There's a I'll even to give a sneak peek to Tories.
16:30
The headline of Tories session changed today to change tomorrow. Right. So it's
16:34
it's the reality that if you do not have a true deck strategy or aren't
16:41
thinking about it, that you're going to be left behind. That there is
16:44
a that this type of revolution is going to it is here, and that
16:51
you need to get on board and start to really embrace what's happening in order
16:55
to stay out ahead of things, because the amount of data that is out
16:57
there and making it meaningful for the end users and leveraging that type of data
17:03
is paramount in order for your organization to not only stay strategic but to be
17:07
successful. And we know that we've gotten the religion, we understand what is
17:11
happening there. But it's really really exciting to know that the analysts are helping
17:15
lead the charge on that front. Whether they're going to try and paint a
17:18
picture for why that's so critical on how you're going to start to implement that,
17:23
or if you have sort of to implement that, what the next step
17:26
on that journey or the vision is over the next two three pluses, and
17:30
you get left out in a couple of different regards. Right, it's your
17:33
existing IT people and their ability to do their job. It's the productivity and
17:40
efficiency of your employees. But it's even bigger than that. It's the now
17:45
the competition to not just retain but attract new talent in it give people better
17:51
job satisfaction, better career paths, and the ability to attract and retain employees.
17:56
On the business side, it's there's so many factors it where they're go
18:00
into it in the adoption of huge enterprises around around the country and around the
18:07
world are a testament to the fact that people are starting to realize that totally,
18:12
totally and gentlemen, we've we've you know, we've given a pretty good
18:17
overview of the definitive Digital Employee Experience event. We we've spoken about viets,
18:22
some of the customers who are going to be there, some of the analysts
18:26
who are going to be there, some of the podcasters who are going to
18:27
be there. But focusing purely on Boston, we have still left out perhaps
18:33
the most exotic and fascinating of all the guests who are going to be on
18:37
stage that day, and I'm not talking about tim flower ladies and gentlemen.
18:41
I am talking about the mind bending mind reader Leo Shuhad the mentalist, or
18:48
tell us about tell us about the mentalist, the master mentalist himself, Leo
18:53
is going to be Therefore, if people don't know the mentalist, uh yeah,
19:02
we're gonna bring We have him there to try and straighten timidly not just
19:07
uh no, folks, if you have not had an opportunity to have the
19:11
Leo experience, this is truly your your best opportunity to do so, and
19:18
you will not be disappointed. Leore is a well known, understood all right,
19:25
maybe I shouldn't say understood well respected untilists as Tom just said, who
19:30
does all sorts of different predictions and mind reading moments. As he as he
19:37
helps us on stage, will be interacting with the crowd and really bring the
19:41
idea of as we said earlier, smarter to an entirely different level where he
19:47
will potentially break some minds, blow some minds, and really add a little
19:51
bit of excitement to what we've got going on. We did a couple of
19:55
different as a as a sidebar here, we did a prep session with him,
19:59
and I had seen him on YouTube. I had seen him on some
20:00
of the late late shows, actually a few other YouTube clips. If you
20:06
do get a chance, you should look him up. If you're at all
20:08
wavering on this, he alone is worth the price of admission. And he
20:14
will absolutely just make you smile. He will. He will absolutely blow your
20:19
mind, as they say, because of the just unique approach and pieces that
20:26
he brings to the to the table on how he is out there trying to
20:30
make you think twice. So let's tell that you think. Let's tell that
20:33
little bit of the behind the scenes. He brought up to his iPhone on
20:36
camera with us in this prep session, he flipped through a list of the
20:40
top hundred companies in the world. You know, the big ones are up
20:42
to x on Mobile, Coca Cola. He's got a listen and they're all
20:48
numbered one through one hundred. He flips through it. He turns it back
20:51
around. He calls on you, Paul, He says, Paul, pick
20:52
a number from one to one hundred. Do you remember the number you pick?
20:56
I picked seventy eight or seventy nine. He scrolled, turns up phone
21:00
back to the camera, scrolls down to seventy eight, and number seventy eight
21:03
is next thing. Oh my god. We all had some theories about how
21:10
we might have done it, but it didn't make it any less oppressive to
21:11
know that, to kind of have our mind blown, even just on a
21:15
prep call. Yes, that's what you wish. I wish I was on.
21:19
I didn't have my camera on because my job literally had dropped, and
21:22
I had dropped. Pull it back. I felt. I felt like the
21:26
cartoon rand use my fingers to pull my mouth, pull my mouth back shot.
21:30
And you did mention their, Paul, you said the price of admission
21:34
alone. I feels probably worth honing in on that, on that particular phrase,
21:38
because I don't think the price of admission is so very much, is
21:41
it, Paul? Is it is not? It is? It is a
21:45
very good price, the price of free price. As long as you can
21:48
get as long as you can get here, it is going to be an
21:53
absolutely awesome, amazing time, and not only will you be entertained, but
21:59
going back to we said earlier, sharing best practices and being there right,
22:03
it is just part of getting here and being taking part in the amazing event
22:07
that we're gonna be putting together, I mean incredible, and we will of
22:11
course mention how you can get hold of tickets even at this late stage at
22:15
the end of the show. But before we get there, Pool, maybe
22:18
just one last thing. If you're listening, why should you come to Experience
22:22
Everywhere and who is it but you fundamentally want to see and meet there?
22:29
What a great question. The second part of that for me, I think
22:33
it's an opportunity for anyone that's going to be in attendance to make an outsize
22:40
lasting impact as they travel back and get back to their own organizations. The
22:45
you know, it was my first Experience Everywhere last year, I went to
22:48
all four of them, but just the stories that were shared, the opportunities
22:52
to connect with people and learn different things. Even though I'm not an EUC
22:56
practitioner, I'm not an EUC engineer who tend to be the majority of the
23:00
folks there, as well as directors, vps and in true C suite folks
23:06
that are in these organizations. What was shared I was able to implement on
23:10
my own and try different strategies and tactics to help me be more successful in
23:15
my day to day job. So I can't even imagine as it was those
23:18
folks that tend to be practitioners as strategists in this particular space in their own
23:22
organizations. The return has got to be absolutely phenomenal. Who do I want
23:29
to see there? All the folks that I just mentioned, right, but
23:30
really those those people that I'd love to challenge, the people that are potentially
23:37
unsure about taking the big leap and deciding yes, we're going to go all
23:41
in on what we need to get done from a digital employee experience standpoint,
23:45
those are the folks that I'd love to see there. Those are the folks
23:48
that I'd love to interact with. Those are the ones that I hope can
23:51
come get a feel for all the different successes that these organizations are having,
23:56
these enterprise organizations are having across the by partnering with Next Thing, by implementing
24:02
a deck strategy so they can again get religion around this and be even more
24:07
successful in their day to day And that's and I'll just build on it briefly.
24:11
I know we want to probably wrap this thing up to but you know,
24:15
after twenty eight years in it, this is why I came to Next
24:18
Thing to spread the word. I love talking with our customers you know,
24:22
our existing customers already have seen the light. They already get it. I
24:27
I like interacting with people that are trying to figure it out. You know.
24:32
The big thing about this conference that is that it's not just a user
24:36
group. It's not just the user community. It's for non customers as well.
24:41
Right, a lot of our listeners on the podcasts are not all customers.
24:44
If you're not a customer, but you want to come find out more
24:47
what this thing is all about, come to the conference, talk with our
24:49
executives, talk with our product people, but most importantly, talk with our
24:52
customers, and get a better sense from them of what the kind of that
24:57
art of the possible is and what you can do with it. I think
25:02
that it's worth highlighting that this is not just a customer conference. This is
25:07
for anybody and everybody that wants to know more. Yeah, I love that
25:11
the Art of a Possible tim I think that describes what you hear on stage
25:14
really really well. And I'm just going to add to that that it might
25:18
will be my fourth experience, and the atmosphere is always fantastic, That people
25:22
are always lovely. You do hear from a lot of fascinating people you will
25:26
learn a lot, but you will have a good time as well. Not
25:30
only at the social events, but even in the conference room you can hear
25:33
an absolute pin drop, even as the day is closing. You know,
25:36
people are absolutely wrapped. They are dialed into what's being said because what's being
25:40
said on this stage it's stuff they can take home and make themselves more successful,
25:45
more effective professionals with do you know what I mean? And I think,
25:48
I think if you have that opportunity to visit Boston or Paris or Munich
25:52
or London over the next few weeks, please please please do so guarantee you
25:57
won't regret it. I was any kidding earlier when I said don't approach to
26:00
him and I we actually see only chance we actually get to meet a pretty
26:06
happy when people come and say hello, please do pull How can people get
26:11
hold of a ticket? Where can they get hold of a ticket for any
26:14
of these events? And obviously in the showing nights it will be there,
26:17
But if they're listening, I want to hop online right this second? Where
26:18
do they go? Very very easy? Next think dot com backslash experience brings
26:26
you right there, gives you all the information that you need including the agenda
26:30
and overview of the event, the themes, the objectives, and a right
26:33
smack dab in the middle I'm sorry, right smack dab at the top,
26:37
as well as the right our registered now links all you need to do and
26:41
then we will follow up and get you ready to rock and roll and take
26:45
place in this amazing event. And the best things in life really are free.
26:49
Ladies and gentlemen when it comes to experience everywhere, be sure to connect,
26:53
learn, collaborate and see at experience across. I'll say it one last
26:56
time London, Paris, Boston, Munich across October and November. We will
27:03
see you there, Tim and I will see you there. Paul will see
27:04
you there, and we can't wait to see you there. Paul, thanks
27:08
so much for coming and we wanted to have that chat about experience and it
27:11
was good to see you back on the back on the deck show mate.
27:15
Always a pleasure, always a pleasure, and I can't wait to see you
27:18
gentlemen face to face next week in London and at each one of the events,
27:22
So thanks again and hope to see all of you listening there as well.
27:26
To make sure that you never miss an episode subscribe to the show in
27:30
Apple podcasts, Spotify your favorite podcast player, and if you're listening on Apple
27:34
podcasts, make sure to leave a rating at the show. Just have the
27:38
number of stars you think the podcast deserves. If you'd like to learn more
27:41
about how next Think can help me improve your digital employee experience, head over
27:47
to nextthink dot com. Thank you so much for listening. Until next time.