What an amazing COHESION 2022!

We kicked things off on October 17 with our welcome party at the Ritz Carlton’s Parallel 37 restaurant. Attendees had the opportunity to connect with like-minded professionals and mingle with some of their favorite customer support reps and Simpplr execs. 

Simpplr CMO Paige Leidig kicked off the keynote by sharing his insight on the state of IC, a hint of our exciting Simpplr advances, and a preview of thought leadership that participants could expect during the highly anticipated sessions led by industry leaders waiting in the wings to present! 

CEO Dhiraj Sharma followed, sharing his inspiration to create better workplaces delivered through an AI-powered employee experience platform––one where employees can feel connected and flourish.

He emphasized the power of gratitude and how it significantly impacts overall company health and success. Dhiraj shared his observation that leading organizations consistently focus on EX year-round, and their enviable industry standing is a direct result of these efforts.

Sujay Rao, our Chief Product Officer, then took the stage, sharing the future of the Simpplr platform and its ambitious purpose – to support employee experience leaders in creating the digital workplace of tomorrow. They recognize that EX leaders are asked to accomplish more than ever before, and will likely be tasked with overcoming even larger challenges in the future. And Simpplr executives are on it. They have a vision and have revolutionized Simpplr to accelerate EX success. 

And this was just the beginning, with an agenda full of insightful sessions following––each offering new ways to empower participants’ EX.

COHESION 2022 sessions recap!

During our session on Intranet, employee comms, and the rise of digital employee experience, Forrester Researcher, Cheryl McKinnon prepared us for 2023 by sharing key trends around intranets, employee comms, and the rise of digital employee experience. 

Specifically, Cheryl expanded on how modern EX leaders are spearheading a new direction to support evolving modes of “anywhere-work”––and how modern intranets, employee communication tools, and innovation work collaboratively to achieve this lofty goal. 

During the Simpplr roadmap preview, Matt Aaronson, Sr. Director of Product Marketing, and Sean Coleman, Principal Product Manager, shared a sneak peek of our evolving and cutting-edge advancements in user experience, personalization, analytics, and AI—with a special focus on our upcoming Recognition offering. 

Ditching the desktop and moving to mobile

We had an incredibly timely session on Ditching the desktop: Connecting employees through mobile. In this interactive session, Hannah Bolte,Director of Marketing and Communications for Lozier Corporation, shared why engagement for deskless workers is more important than ever and how her manufacturing company is connecting with employees where they are—through mobile devices with a mobile-first strategy. 

During the Q&A portion, Hannah shared how teaming up with Simpplr helped her develop an advanced mobile endeavor that has been fundamental to her success. Her team now supports workers wherever they are, creating an informed and empowered ecosystem offering two-way communications with management. This has truly “democratized” internal information for deskless teams––and inspired them as well.

Transform your tone: How to identify the right tone for your employer 

Katherine King, Head of Global Internal Communications at Etsy emphasized the importance of defining the individual leadership voices within your corporation (from CEO to IT). The right tone breeds familiarity and trust; helps amplify messaging; and is key to building your leadership brand. 

Katherine took the attendees through a series of examples demonstrating how different degrees on the voice and tone spectrum dramatically influence the impact of messages. And this applies to both written and vebal communications.

COHESION also featured innovative sessions on the company’s latest offerings, including Employee Listening and supercharging employee communications using Employee Newsletter. We covered:

• New ways to curate the employee experience and engage workers in a hybrid world.
• Next level tips on identifying the right tone of voice for employer personas.
• How IT and IC can work together to ensure intranet success. 

There was much more, including customer panel discussions, but we’ll let the pictures below do the talking —and invite you to check out the agenda to see what you missed!

Humanity, humor, and networking

We ended the day with a keynote from two celebrity speakers, Jennifer Aaker, General Atlantic Professor at Stanford Business School, and Naomi Bagdonas, Lecturer at Stanford Business School. Jennifer and Naomi teamed up to explain how to harness the power of humor in business and in life, in their session, A New Type of Leader, one defined by humanity and humor. 

Jennifer and Naomi shared inspiring stories and tactics to instantly bridge the trust gap with humanity and humility, while creating a culture of levity, and unlocking agility in the face of change. 

Their insights were entertaining and resonated deeply with other IC leaders eager to guide their companies toward a new way of being. Tomorrow’s leadership is focused on uniting teams around a purpose, while leading with empathy and understanding––which was a recurring theme throughout the day. This served as an apt closure, leaving attendees with inspiration to move forward and connect tomorrow.

Though, we weren’t done for the day yet.

We wrapped up COHESION 2022 with a sunset cruise around San Francisco Bay to enjoy the gorgeous views of the city, iconic bridges and Alcatraz island, along with fun activities and “party rocking in the house” on the dance floor!

Wrapping up COHESION 2022

On Day Two, we focused on networking opportunities and strategic sessions designed to challenge norms and reflect on shifting employee experience needs.

These networking opportunities are invaluable to both attendees and Simpplifiers, as we strive to create genuine connections between Simpplr and its innovative customers. It’s a symbiotic relationship. 

We help them capture and create transformative employee experiences and they help us shape our strategic direction by identifying new opportunities for industry growth. It’s a path that requires a flexible approach, and one that we keep clear to lead clients through to the cutting edge of tomorrow, so they can incorporate the best EX capabilities into their workflows, sometimes even before they’ve identified the need. 

Overall, COHESION 2022 was an inspirational event for all participants. The curated sessions, networking opportunities, and most importantly, fun! We’re confident that each attendee left with actionable insight to enhance their organization’s EX––and ultimately, their ROI. 

Thank you to everyone who attended this year! We look forward to connecting again soon!