My friend and I were having one of those crazy conversations that ambled between a pity party and a gratitude gab fest. We compared notes on how horrendous the year had been in some ways but thanked heaven for the roof over our head, the friends to lament with, and the family to love. It [...]

It’s not rocket science to know that employee engagement is one of the main influencers of your customer’s experience. But today, facing negative news almost constantly, companies are retaining employees for all the wrong reasons. Employees are chomping at the bit, waiting for the economy to improve so they can find the next job. The [...]

I’m sorry, 2009, it’s just not working out. It’s time for us to move on. I’m already flirting with 2010. Why? Well, lots of reasons, really. You didn’t live up to my expectations. You left people scared and skittish. And some other reasons, too, including: Some of my favorite clients were shifted around from role to [...]

A concert at Chicago’s Symphony Center got me thinking. It was the 15th annual Welcome Yule celebration. A full choir, children’s choir (including my niece and nephew) and orchestra provided a great celebration for Christmas in Chicago. I was sitting next to a 5 year old  (my own) and each time I thought we were [...]

Last week, I introduced my Follow Friday Fourteen. It was a random selection of some of my favorite people to follow. This week, I decided to highlight some of the rockstars from Chicago. I’m sure many of you are already following some or most of these people, but for the few that aren’t – start [...]

Yesterday I spent a great day with loads of smart people at Supergenius, the Word-of-Mouth (WOM) conference hosted by Gaspedal. After attending 11 amazing sessions, I decided to share my Top 11 Ideas here. One thing to note – many of the speakers were consistent in messages. So while I give credit here to these [...]

I enjoy getting the mail this time of year. I really enjoy seeing how my friends’ kids have grown, hearing from family far away, and getting a nice card from those I wish I could see more often. I am not a fan, however, of the holiday newsletter. Occasionally, I get one that’s unique, funny [...]

In the spirit of sharing instead of dumping for #followfriday, I decided to share 14 people to follow on Twitter here. These are just the tip of the iceberg, for sure. I follow lots of people because there are so many fascinating, amazing, inspirational people out there.  If you think you should be on the [...]

So I’m here to announce that I’m on my own, staring at the great unknown and very excited about what lies ahead.  There are a few things I’ve done that are starting to come together in ways nobody could predict just a few years ago. I’m helping companies tap into the power of engaging employees [...]

By Jeannie Walters, Founder of 360Connext Whenever I tell people that 360Connext is focused on the customer experience, I hear about someone’s last bad experience as a customer. I would say about 80% of the time, it’s related to an employee at the company. (The other 20% is reserved for inexplicably complicated – or just [...]