Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert and the Chief Amazement Officer of Shepard Presentations. He is a
New York Times and
Wall Street Journal bestselling author and has been inducted into the National Speakers Association Hall of Fame for lifetime achievement in the speaking profession. Shep works with companies and organizations who want to build loyal relationships with their customer and employees. His articles have been read in hundreds of publications, and he is the author of
Moments of Magic®,
The Loyal Customer,
The Cult of the Customer,
The Amazement Revolution and
Amaze Every Customer Every Time. He is also the creator of
The Customer Focus™, a customer service training program which helps clients develop a customer service culture and loyalty mindset. (Now available as an online/web-based training program!)
In 1983 Shep founded Shepard Presentations and since then has worked with hundreds of clients ranging from Fortune 100 size organizations to companies less than 50 employees. Some of his clients include American Airlines, AAA, Anheuser-Busch, AT&T, AETNA, Abbott Laboratories, American Express - and that's just a few of the A's! Shep Hyken's most requested programs focus on customer service, customer loyalty, internal service, customer relations and the customer experience. He is known for his high-energy presentations, which combine important information with entertainment (humor and magic) to create exciting programs for his audiences.
David Burkus is a best-selling author, an award-winning podcaster, and management professor. In 2015, he was named one of the emerging thought leaders most likely to shape the future of business by Thinkers50, the world’s premier ranking of management thinkers.
His latest book,
Under New Management, challenges the traditional and widely accepted principles of business management and proves that they are outdated, outmoded, or simply don’t work — and reveals what does. He is also the author of
The Myths of Creativity: The Truth About How Innovative Companies and People Generate Great Ideas. David is a regular contributor to
Harvard Business Review and
Inc magazine. His work has been featured in
Fast Company,
the Financial Times,
Bloomberg BusinessWeek, and
CBS This Morning.
David’s innovative views on leadership have earned him invitations to speak to leaders from a variety of organizations. He’s delivered keynote speeches and workshops for Fortune 500 companies such as Microsoft, Google, and Stryker, in-demand conferences such as SXSW and TEDx events, and governmental and military leaders at the U.S. Naval Academy and Naval Postgraduate School. He’s also the host of the award-winning podcast Radio Free Leader.
When he’s not speaking or writing, David is in the classroom. He is associate professor of management at Oral Roberts University, where he teaches courses on organizational behavior, creativity and innovation, and strategic leadership. In 2015, David was named one of the “Top 40
Under 40 Professors Who Inspire.” He serves on the advisory board of Fuse Corps, a nonprofit dedicated to making transformative and replicable change in local government.
David lives in Tulsa with his wife and their two boys.

SOCAP has invited back our friends at Gallup for a special general session at our 2017 Symposium. Gallup will lead an important panel discussion on ways to Build a Strengths-Based Culture. Through its extensive research, Gallup has found that there is infinite potential in developing what is right with people versus fixing what’s innately “wrong” with them. Join Jeremy Pietrocini of Gallup—along with a panel of SOCAP members—to learn how you can better develop the talents of your staff team and help improve your overall organizational effectiveness by applying Gallup’s proven strategies.