Expo takes flight with early-bird rate

From the pages of In Business magazine.

I think we can all agree that we live in a digital age, with new technologies changing the way we communicate with our clients. From email to video conferencing to social media, technology has revolutionized how we interact with our customers. However, one thing has stayed constant throughout the years: customer service remains the backbone for any growing business, and hiring and developing good people within your team is still extremely vital for any customer-service strategy.

Nationally there is one company that typically comes to mind when people think of excellence in customer service — at least over the past few decades — and that company is Southwest Airlines. Whether or not you have flown with Southwest, I’m sure you’ve heard stories about their top-notch customer experience and the culture the company has created for both employees and passengers.

With this in mind, I’m extremely excited to announce our keynote speaker and topic for the 6th annual IB Expo and Conference on Oct. 19, at the Alliant Energy Center. This full-day business expo will kick off with a keynote presentation by Jason Young, a former senior-level manager at Southwest Airlines, titled “The Southwest Way: Successful Practices of a Market Leader.” Young was a key driver in creating Southwest’s legendary customer-service and leadership-training programs.

Southwest has given businesses of all shapes and sizes proof that providing great customer service and maintaining high employee morale in a low-cost environment is possible — and profitable — in today’s corporate world. Registration is now open for both this keynote presentation and the IB expo at MadisonBusinessExpo.com. You will notice while you are on the expo site that we’ve built our event this year around this flying theme and the tagline “Where business takes flight!” I’ll have more details on this theme and several exciting expo features as we get closer to Oct. 19. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, I recommend locking in your spot at the keynote presentation before July 1 so that you can take advantage of our early-bird keynote rates. Individual tickets are currently $25 or you can purchase a table of eight for $150, a $50 savings. It’s important to note that the rest of the expo events are free to attend, but you’ll definitely want to sign up by June 30 — before the keynote ticket price increases.

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