The 2013 SOCAP International Symposium started off its first day of content discussions bright and early Monday morning, April 29th, with a Keynote Address by Jer Thorp, Former Data Artist in Residence, The New York Times and Co-Founder of Office of Creative Research, NYU. The subject, “Data and Human Experience.” Jer Thorp discussed the intersection between data and human experience. He spoke and gave visual depictions of a number of projects he ran involving a large amount of data sets, including the 770,000 words in the Shakespeare Folio, astronomical measurements from NASA, text from nightly news broadcasts, and real time air traffic reports. He demonstrated how by framing data in a human context, we can use it more effectively, and ultimately foster better practices for industries involving information.
What followed over the course of the next couple days were a healthy mix of breakout sessions, panel discussions, networking and meetings. And, of course, some great New Orleans dinners with some great people and SOCAP members each night followed by the post-dinner walk to Bourbon Street for a nice dose of live music! The Bourbon Street Blues Company seemed to be the most popular rallying point for all.
At the close of the General Session of the conference, we were all treated to an excellent final Keynote from Kaplan Mobray, award winning author and personal branding expert, entitled “The 10Ks of Personal Branding.” He really delivered some insightful messages and takeaways for all in attendance through his discussion, attendee involvement and exercises which proved many of his points in terms of how you create an identifiable personal brand that conveys who you are, how you want to be remembered and how you stand out from the crowd.
And, Linnea Johnson, Senior Director of Unilever and current Chair of SOCAP International, did a phenomenal job from start to finish as the official conference MC and ensuring that the entire event was a success!
ABOUT SOCAP INTERNATIONAL
Purpose:
Founded in 1973, the Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals in Business (SOCAP International) represents a thriving global profession of best-in-class customer care experts across all industries. SOCAP is a member-driven organization committed to promoting customer care and customer engagement as a competitive advantage in business. The Association’s members include vice presidents, directors, managers and supervisors of customer care and consumer affairs from top Fortune/Forbes 1000 companies as well as hundreds of business partner organizations. SOCAP provides the educational tools and professional resources to help its members drive business transformation within their companies. Additionally, SOCAP’s exclusive network gives members access to thousands of customer care experts across the globe.
SOCAP International Mission:
Develop experts who drive successful business strategy through customer engagement.
SOCAP International Vision:
SOCAP International promotes an integrated approach to customer care that drives successful business strategy and elevates its global community of customer relationship experts.
SOCAP International Core Values:
- Customer care must be integral to the execution of successful business strategy.
- Education and networking are fundamental to developing effective customer relationship experts.
- Member involvement is essential to the success of the association.
- Collaboration and partnerships play an important role in SOCAP’s Strategy.
- Fiscal responsibility is vital to long-term success.
- Strategic diversity and inclusion build connected, diverse and integrated networks of customer relationship experts.
