Wisconsin Customer Experience Symposium

Announcing the Inaugural Wisconsin CX Symposium!

We are thrilled to announce the first-ever Wisconsin Customer Experience Symposium, occurring on March 11, 2025, from 8:30am–12:30pm CST, a dynamic event focused on one of the most critical areas for modern businesses – Customer Experience (CX). Join us for a day of valuable discussions, and insights that will empower Wisconsin’s business leaders to elevate their CX strategies.

This virtual symposium will bring together industry experts, thought leaders, and CX professionals to explore best practices, trends, and innovations in customer experience management. From Culture to Competency, and Technology, this event will cover critical components of the CX practice.

Interested in registering as a team? You can use this template to submit all your registrations at once. Completed spreadsheets, and any questions you may have about this process, can be sent to Matthew Cone.

Keynote Speakers

Natalie Petouhoff

Dr. Natalie Petouhoff

Author & Thought Leader

“We can imbue technology with our hopes and dreams for a future focused on bettering humanity. We just need to understand what we are optimizing for and why.” – Dr. Natalie Petouhoff

As a Business Consultant, Natalie helps brands reduce costs and increase revenue by transforming the customer and employee experience. Many companies think she wants them to spend more for empathy to work as a business concept. She’s not advocating pizza parties or creating Kumbaya factories. Dr. Natalie is asking executives to evaluate how and on what they are spending now.

Empathy in Action means spending less, which is particularly important in this economic climate. Only with a focus on empathy will they receive increases in savings and revenue. Many are puzzled by this paradigm until they see it in action. Empathy means action, action informed by feedback from the two most important assets in a company—customers and employees.

Natalie’s career spans many years in technology and customer and employee experience, holding positions in and consulting at companies including Salesforce, Hulu, Marriott, General Motors, General Electric, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Weber Shandwick, Forrester Research, PWC Consulting, Hughes Electronics, Pepsi, Verizon, Best Buy, Procter & Gamble, Chevrolet, and Electrolux.

Tom DeWitt

Tom DeWitt, Ph.D.

Author & Educator

Tom DeWitt, Ph.D., is the Founder and Former Director of CXM@MSU, an entity designed to advance thought and practice in customer experience management through a variety of industry-facing initiatives. He is also the architect and Academic Program Director for North America’s first master’s degree in customer experience management (MS-CXM), which is housed in the Broad College of Business at Michigan State University.

Dr. DeWitt joined Michigan State University after serving 11 years at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, where he was an Associate Professor of Marketing and the founder and director of the university’s Office of Applied Learning Experiences. At the University of Hawaii at Hilo, he was twice recognized as the Delta Sigma Pi College of Business and Economics Faculty Member of the Year and by the university with its Distinguished Service Award for Improving Student Life. Before moving to Hawaii, he served on the marketing faculty of Bowling Green State University, where he played a significant role in founding the university’s Institute for Excellence in Services. Dr. DeWitt has also taught in Asia, including ten summers at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (teaching Asian consumer behavior in Seoul, South Korea) and as one of China’s first full-time foreign hospitality management instructors.

Dr. DeWitt has worked to advance the field of customer experience management by delivering workshops and consulting projects in the USA and abroad, most notably in the healthcare, financial services, and tourism industries. He earned his doctorate degree from Florida State University, where he received an award for teaching excellence. Dr. DeWitt had a long career in hospitality management, including serving as the Vice President of Business Development for Incofood Management Services in Singapore, where he earned his MBA from Nanyang Technological University.

Michelle DiTondo

Former CHRO and Principal Consultant, Avion Consulting

Michelle DiTondo is a catalyst for change and transformation within organizations and a thought leader in organizational culture and customer experience. She brings over 30 years of expertise aligning workforce strategies with business outcomes. As the former Chief Human Resources Officer for MGM Resorts International, Michelle was instrumental in shaping a customer-centric culture across a global workforce of 83,000 employees. Her strategic approach to employee engagement, leadership development, and change management has been a driving force in creating exceptional guest experiences, resulting in measurable business success.

With a proven track record of fostering innovation and collaboration, Michelle understands the critical interplay between employee satisfaction and customer loyalty, making her a sought-after advisor and speaker on creating cultures that prioritize customers at every touchpoint.

Currently serving as a Principal consultant and executive coach with Avion Consulting, Michelle continues to influence the industry by guiding organizations to unlock their full potential through effective leadership and cultural transformation. Her extensive experience across diverse sectors and her passion for customer-centric strategies position her as a dynamic and relatable voice for leaders looking to evolve their businesses. A natural storyteller and insightful strategist, Michelle’s presentations provide actionable insights into embedding customer focus into organizational DNA, making her an invaluable resource.

Panelists

Michelle Dauchy

Position title: VP of Customer Experience, Mercury Marine

Alex Paez-Gerstenhaber

Position title: Global VP of Client Experience, Hy Cite

Carrie Toth

Position title: VP of Customer Experience, Generac

UW–Madison Lightning Talks

Hear from partners across the University of Wisconsin–Madison, whose programs strengthen the next generation of CX leaders and professionals.

What to Expect:

Keynote Speakers: Hear from renowned CX leaders who will share their insights on building exceptional customer experiences.
Panel Discussions: Dive into interactive conversations on the future of CX, customer loyalty, and digital experience transformation.
Lightning Sessions: See how thinkers at our UW are leveraging data and strategy that can be used to improve customer experience, and create future professionals with relevant CX skills.

Who Should Attend:

Whether you are a CX professional, marketing leader, or business strategist, this event is designed to help you unlock the power of customer experience to drive long-term success, differentiate your brand, and deliver ROI.

Agenda

This event will take place on March 11, 2025. All times listed are in CST and are subject to change.

8:30 AM – Symposium Partner Booth Visitation

8:45 AM – Opening Remarks

9:10 AM – Keynote: Tom DeWitt, PhD

9:50 AM – Keynote: Michelle DiTondo

10:25 AM – Sponsor Briefings

10:40 AM – Break

10:50 AM – UW–Madison Partner Lightning Talks

11:10 AM – Keynote: Dr. Natalie Petouhoff

11:45 AM – CX Leader Panel Discussion

12:25 PM – Closing Remarks

Wisconsin Customer Experience Symposium: Registration

Our pricing structure is below. Your registration includes virtual participation in the live event and exclusive access to post-conference videos and materials through the end of the year.

Early Bird Pricing (December 16 – January 27)

Members: $95

Non-Members: $195

Regular Pricing (January 28 – March 10)

Members: $195

Non-Members: $295

But wait, there's more!

If you’ve made it this far down the page and still aren’t sure, let us sweeten the deal for you. When you attend this event and fill out the post-event survey (we promise it’s short!) you will receive a complimentary digital copy of your choice of these incredible books written by our keynote speakers: The Customer Excellence Enterprise by Tom DeWitt or Empathy in Action cowritten by Natalie Petouhoff.