The Disney Institute Customer Experience (CX) Summit has been nothing but a wonderful and magical experience. I felt it was worth highlighting. Here is a recap from August 20, 2019.
I started off the afternoon checking in to the summit at Disney’s Yacht Club Resort and received a bunch of cool swag! Besides the “usual” conference bag and name tag, we received a summit booked and also a Rocketbook to take notes and then sync to our phones. Very cool!
Once I was checked in, the anticipation started to kick in that this is going to be a fun experience. Waiting in the lobby with others from various industries that include hospitality, sports, tourism and even education, I started to realize how big this summit would be. Then all 350 people ready to learn entered the main ballroom and we were welcomed by Disney Institute staff.
The evening started off being welcomed by Jeff James, Vice President and General Manager of Disney Institute. I was excited to finally see and be able to listen to Jeff, who I always read his inspirational blog posts on Disney Institute’s social media.
Jeff has been with Disney Institute for over 20 years, and shared key insights about being a “Future Ready” Organization. One of the biggest takeaways was a shift in customer experience expectations. “Customer will increasingly place a higher value on the experience of using a product rather than on the product itself.” He also shared how the competition has changed from product or service focused to an experience focused.
Bruce Jones, Senior Cast Development Director for Disney Institute then ended the kick off with letting us know what’s in store for the next few days and how we will chart our course of learning. We then headed to our social networking event where we had a chance to meet each other from other organizations, have some great food and drinks, and meet other Disney Institute staff. I was happy to connect with Paula from Disney Institute too who is my go to person to help make magic happen to bring Disney Institute to Hawaii. It’s always fun to visit with Disney Institute staff when I visit Florida. Of course, there is always a little Disney magic, so we got to meet Captain Mickey at the social too!
It was a magical first day! The next few days would be even more awesome learning experiences. Can’t wait to share more soon!
Feel free to contact me if you want to learn more about Disney Institute.
Jensen Ball 