WOW! WHAT AN EVENT!
HIGHLIGHTS
Safe to say AMA Europe ’24 was one of the BEST Advocate Marketing Academy events we’ve ever held!
Inspirational speakers, engaging workshops, insightful industry trends, meaningful network opportunities… It. Had. It. ALL!
An enormous THANK YOU to everyone who attended and presented – Cristina Sartori Errico, Jan Stoetzel, Jeannine Boot, Michael Johnson, MBA, Ivana Gaspic, Nisha Prabhakar, Tobi Demuren.
Advocate Marketing Academy is nothing without our wonderful, talented customer advocacy community!
If you didn’t make it this time; see video highlights video on the right and the images below.
To see what happened at previous Academies, check out more video highlights here, plus presentations and session videos in the knowledgebase.
NOT ANOTHER DULL HOTEL CONFERENCE
Bad acoustics, a temporary stage, the same round tables, dodgy lighting, and a carpet that could provoke migraines. Sound familar? These have no place at Advocate Marketing Academy!
AMA Europe ’24 was back at Norden Farm Centre for the Arts, with a fully-equipped theatre, separate studio and an 18th century barn for workshops, and two other mingling spaces. Immersive and creative.
c. 100 of your peers from across the globe, wonderful presentations, hands-on workshops, good food, and even better company. Another great AMA day to remember.
SPEAKERS
CISCO
Cristina has more than 17yrs of B2B cybersecurity experience, building a vibrant global community of more than 1,000 engaged cybersecurity advocates over the last five years. Read about their superpowers in Cristina’s Security Heroes blogs via the LinkedIn #SecurityHeroes hashtag. She has won two awards in 2023: The Base “Top 100 Customer Marketing & Advocacy Influencers,” and “The Ones to Watch in 2023″ by the CMAA.
Art and Science Unite: Six Inspiring Tactics to Unlock the Hidden Treasures in Your Customer Case Studies
This session unveils a consolidated approach invented by Cristina to maximize the potential of customer case studies and engage with a challenging audience when you have limited resources. If you’re under the impression that promoting your case studies should only begin in post-publication, you might miss out on attracting unique visitors to your case study webpage. Discover how Cristina transformed a conventional success story into a grand opportunity to lay a robust foundation for continuous advocacy and how she measures these results in an impactful way.
RED HAT
As Senior Customer Reference Manager, Michael has spent five years at Red Hat helping a variety of stakeholders tell stories about open source technology.
In his current role, Michael helps define content strategy for Innovators in the
Open, Red Hat’s customer advocacy program, with a focus on how unique personas interact with customer stories as well as data and analytics for the program.
Data-driven insights drive modular customer storytelling at Red Hat
Red Hat marketing is in the midst of a data-driven transformation, with renewed customer focus at the center of our strategy. To support this journey, the Red Hat customer reference team has been redefining what it means to be a customer advocate. From new content types, to new ways of injecting content into marketing across the business, customers are core to the Red Hat story. In this session, Michael Johnson, Senior Customer Reference Manager, Red Hat, will discuss the intersection of data and creative focus that guides our reference strategy. He will cover how the team moved from mainly creating in-depth case studies, to a wide library of content, how we enable customers to learn from each other through advocacy events, and how the entire package contributes to customer success for Red Hat. Michael will also outline how data and performance help the team learn lessons and grow as they plan and implement these strategies across a large, cross-functional marketing organization
QLIK
Jeannine is the Global Director Customer Marketing at Qlik and has been a Qlikkie for more than 13 years. Since 2015, she has been part of the Customer Marketing Team at Qlik and has built solid relationships with many customers for various customer advocacy programs, projects, campaigns, and activities. In her current role, she leads the Global Team for Customer Marketing which includes Customer Advocacy, Evidence, and References.
When partners and customers “Qlik”: working with partners and customers to achieve advocacy success
A number of Customer Advocacy Programs have been built at Qlik over the years, including the Qlik Luminary Program, Executive Advisory Board and the Partner Ambassador Program. These programs are highly recognized internally at Qlik, and also externally by Qlik Partners and customers, with an influx of nominations every year when the programs refresh. In this session, Jeannine will share how Qlik built these programs, what the selection and adoption process is, and how both Qlik, customers, and partners benefit from these programs.
SAP
Ivana is a marketing comms and customer advocacy leader with 15+ years of B2B technology experience. She is a champion of customers as the ultimate brand advocates and a passionate storyteller. As a Flagship Customer Program lead at SAP, Ivana works with the company’s strategic customers on multifaceted, long-term advocacy plans. Ivana spent six years at AWS where she established the EMEA CRP and held workshops on writing at Amazon
It’s live! Now what? Tips and tricks on extending case study life beyond the website
LINKEDIN
Tobi leads global strategy and activation of agency partnerships for LinkedIn Marketing Solutions (LMS). He is passionate about creating brand-engagement-enhancing experiences, increasing customer loyalty, and driving customer acquisition. With >15 years of marketing, bizdev, and technology experience, Tobi has a proven track record of building long-term relationships, understanding challenges/opportunities, and delivering solutions.
Captivate & Convert: The Art of Advocacy
Join us for an exhilarating session with Tobi Demuren, the acclaimed Global Head of Advocacy Marketing at LinkedIn, as he unveils the secrets of transforming customers into evangelists. Dive deep into Tobi’s treasure trove of real-world examples from LinkedIn, and leave inspired with groundbreaking insights. Don’t miss this transformative talk!
FUJITSU
Jan is a storyteller and change maker, with a 15-yr background in managing sales teams and another 15+ yrs in regional/global bizdev and marketing mgr roles.
Jan unites the two as Global Head of Customer Advocacy Programs at Fujitsu, creating customer stories which resonate globally.
Outside of work, he has interests in travel, technology
and the arts.
The science of measurement beyond clicks and likes
In today´s competitive business environment, it´s essential to measure and analyze the results of marketing campaigns to determine what´s working (and what´s not). Marketing automation tools and google analytics tell us something about the quantitative side of metrics.
We can also measure the quality of assets through feedback from internal and external audiences. But the ultimate measurement of success is customer content being used to influence sales, and customers using our assets for their own purposes.
SALESFORCE
With 17 years of international sales and marketing experience in the technology sector, Nisha currently leads Customer Marketing & Brand Engagement within Salesforce EMEA for the Financial Services sector and two strategic Sports Marketing Partnerships. In this role, she designs and executes strategic marketing programs with customers to showcase top brands and visionary
thought leaders.
INEVIDENCE
Melissa has been a customer advocacy specialist for 19 years. Her focus has been on working with global technology organizations to build strategic, robust, and accountable advocacy programs. For the last 3 years, Melissa has expanded that knowledge to customer loyalty, support clients in the creation of customer communities that tie directly into advocacy activities.
INEVIDENCE
Robin (aka referencegeek) delights in helping some of the world’s biggest brands activate their happy customers; closing more business, more quickly. He has worked both client and agency-side; after seeing the business impact of advocacy Robin has spent the last 18 years helping to drive the discipline forwards. Robin’s infectious enthusiasm makes him a regular conference speaker.
WORKSHOP / SESSION LEADS
INEVIDENCE
Peter is a writer, interviewer and editor with 30 years of content creation experience. In that time he has worked across newspapers, television, live radio and events. For the past 13 years, Peter has been editor -in-chief at inEvidence. He has worked with inEvidence clients all around the world, interviewing customers in person, online, on stage and in front of camera.
INEVIDENCE
Verity has 16 years of advocacy experience, working alongside global tech brands to help bring their stories to life. She has spent 9 years working as a video producer, interviewing customers across the globe and coordinating shoots, onsite and remotely. Verity coordinates the inEvidence video, editorial and design teams, helping to transform innovative ideas into impactful stories.
FAITH
A Creative Director at faith and VCCP London, Ben is also a gamer / VR nerd. His passion is to bake human perspective into tech. Projects include building The O2 in Fortnite, and 100% Army Fit, a fitness app helping future British soldiers pass physicals. Recently, Ben has been developing generative AI models for Sage and Virgin Media O2 with the aim of accelerating human creativity and imagination.
FAITH
Peter is Innovation Director at faith, VCCP’s AI creative agency, and he also helps to drive thought leadership and connect technology partners into VCCP through its Curious programme. Peter has previously worked at agencies, corporate, and startups, on projects for Amazon, Facebook, Google, Coca Cola, Diageo, and Disney. He is an author and regular conference speaker.
INEVIDENCE
Alex has been a copywriter, content creator and all-round communications professional for many years. She’s worked in newspaper publishing, academia and across the charity sector – and produced content for print, radio, short film, and animation. Alex has been a writer and interviewer at InEvidence for just over a year, capturing stories online and in-person around the world.
THEME: ART MEETS SCIENCE
Advocate marketing is a mix of both Art and Science. What roles do creativity and emotion play within the increasing push for measurement in an A.I.-impacted future?
WORKSHOPS
We got ‘hands-on’ in the Studio or the Theatre. Lots of new thoughts and contacts.
ART – A Comedy of Errors (or, the art of the customer interview)
You’ll get involved with the creation of a customer story video, where not everything goes to plan. Working together, can we spot and fix the obvious errors, and make the video even better than the brief?
Pantomime season may be over, but active participation and shouting out is encouraged (“oh no it’s not!!”)
SCIENCE – Generative A.I. – Effective prompts
Just as with an actor that has a bad memory, effective prompts are everything. It’s therefore apt that participation in this A.I-focussed session requires treading the boards on the main stage.
AGENDA
| Time | Session | Where | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 08:20- 08:50 | Arrival, Registration & Mingle It's an early start for an intense and fun-filled day. We'll have coffee, pastries etc. Come and see everybody! | Foyer | ||
| 08:55 - 09:30 | Session One: Robin Hamilton - inEvidence Art Meets Science | Theatre | ||
| 09:30 - 10:10 | Session Two: Jeannine Boot - Qlik When partners and customers “Qlik”: working with partners and customers to achieve advocacy success | Theatre | ||
| 10:10 :10:20 | Interlude: Special Film The Art of Storytelling | Theatre | ||
| 10:20 :11:00 | Session Three: Jan Stoetzel - Fujitsu The science of measurement beyond clicks and likes | Theatre | ||
| 11:00 - 11:20 | Elevenses Chat, stretch your legs, and network | Foyer and Bar | ||
| 11:20 - 12:00 | Session Four: Cristina Errico - Cisco Art and Science Unite: Six Inspiring Tactics to Unlock the Hidden Treasures in Your Customer Case Studies | Theatre | ||
| 12:00 - 12:05 | Interlude: Anatomy of an Edit | Theatre | ||
| 12:05 - 12:40 | Session Five: A Chat with Salesforce Hear more about customer storytelling at Salesforce | Theatre | ||
| 12:40 - 13:30 | Networking Lunch: Catch up with friends new and old over lunch and sweet treats. Grab the presenters to ask all those questions you wanted to earlier. | Foyer, Bar and Barn | ||
| 13:30 - 14:25 | Session Six: Workshops: Get hands-on | Theatre | ||
| SCIENCE workshop: Effective A.I. prompts Just as with an actor that has a bad memory, effective prompts are everything. It's therefore apt that participation in this A.I-focussed session requires treading the boards on the main stage. | Theatre | |||
| ART workshop: A Comedy of Errors (or, the art of the customer interview) You'll get involved with the creation of a customer story video, where not everything goes to plan... | Studio | |||
| 14:25 - 15:05 | Session Seven: Michael Johnson - Red Hat Data-driven insights drive modular customer storytelling at Red Hat | Theatre | ||
| 15:05 - 15:25 | Afternoon Tea Time for a cuppa and a natter | Foyer and Bar | ||
| 15:25 - 16:05 | Session Eight: Tobi Demuren - LinkedIn Captivate & Convert: The Art of Advocacy at LinkedIn | Theatre | ||
| 16:05 - 16:45 | Session Nine: Ivana Gaspic - SAP It’s live! Now what? Tips and tricks on extending case study life beyond the website | Theatre | ||
| 16:45 - 16:55 | Session Ten: Melissa Talbot - inEvidence A quick review and wrap of the day | Theatre | ||
| 16:55 - 17:30 | Mingle in the bar It's the last chance to chat before we all head our separate ways. Drinks and canapes. Until next time.. | Foyer and Bar | ||
LOCATION
We were pleased to bring the Academy back to Norden Farm Centre for the Arts. Altwood Road, Maidenhead SL6 4PF
Traffic:
- Our venue is super, yet was also surrounded by schools and bad weather, so everyone had to allow a little additional time in order to not miss any of our feature-packed day
By car:
- We had plenty of free parking, and Maidenhead is in the middle of the UK’s silicon valley, the M4 corridor.
By train:
- From Paddington: Maidenhead station was only 26 minutes away on the fastest train, 38 minutes on the slowest
- From Heathrow: Maidenhead station was approx 45 mins away, with one change at Hayes and Harlington
By taxi:
- From Maidenhead Station: Norden Farm was too far to walk, a station taxi was around £12
- From Heathrow: depending on the time of day, an Uber would take approx 40 mins and cost c. £50. A black cab will take the same time and cost more
ACCESS
All performance and workshop spaces at Norden Farm providd total accessibility for those with disabilities. There were lifts throughout the venue, as well as ramped access and adapted toilet facilities. There was also an infra red system in the Courtyard Theatre for participants with hearing difficulties.
Personal assistants accompanying disabled attendees receive a complimentary tickets; those requiring a wheelchair seat could be accommodated.
WHY ATTEND AN AMA EVENT?
Invest in yourself and your career, meet old friends, make new ones, and gain inspiration for 2024
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Advocate Marketing Academy brings together such a diverse group of customer advocacy professionals. I truly appreciate that I am exposed to so many different people, at different points in their professional journey, all of whom educate and inspire me to be a better customer marketer.
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Thank you for inviting me to speak at this year’s Advocate Marketing Academy. It was a wonderful day spent with peers on one of my favorite topics – customer marketing, customer advocacy, and the voice of the customer. If you haven’t been, it was one of the best customer advocacy conferences I’ve attended – I highly recommend it.
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Advocate Marketing Academy gave me an opportunity to learn from other industry peers, network and have fun while doing this. I can’t wait to sign up for the next event!
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The variety and quality of the speakers at Advocate Marketing Academy USA was very impressive. Well worth the time and money spent to attend. I learned so much!
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It was an honor to have been a speaker at this year’s Advocate Marketing Academy US conference. It was a phenomenal experience, from the venue selected to the networking opportunties. I like how intimate the conversations were, and how you get to hear from so many passionate marketing professionals. This was my first time at AMA and it will definitely not be the last!
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What a conference!! I’ve heard really positive feedback from many of our team, especially regarding the content – nice job curating!! Thank you for sponsoring and bringing us all together. The event was a big success and really valuable for our team.
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The value of AMA Europe is sharing best practices, realising that many of us are facing the same challenges and sharing ways to approach those challenges and where other programmes are being successful
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The customer reference community should definitely see Advocate Marketing Academy as a very valuable. It’s a way to meet new people, network, share similar successes and challenges that we are having and help each other out
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I’ve been coming to Advocate Marketing Academy for some years now, and it really is the highlight of my year. The quality of the speakers combined with the research that we see every year, really sets me up for the year
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AMA is a great event, the content is great, the pace of the event is super, I am really enjoying it. I believe AMA is a great place to be, a great opportunity for people that are working in customer marketing, customer programmes, references, advocacy. So I am really happy I attended.
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Wow! Advocate Marketing Academy 2020 was a triumph! Not only for the lessons, ideas and inspiration… but for the opportunity to connect with my amazing peers from across the tech sector! It was a pleasure to hang out with folk who share my passion for customers, innovation and storytelling. Kudos to inEvidence for making me feel inVigorated!
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Thank you for inviting me to speak at this year’s Advocate Marketing Academy. It was a wonderful day spent with peers on one of my favorite topics – customer marketing, customer advocacy, and the voice of the customer. If you haven’t been, it was one of the best customer advocacy conferences I’ve attended – I highly recommend it next year.