Ruling the printer/scanner roost

Bet you didn’t know that Epson, known for its printers and scanners, began life as a watchmaker – Seiko Corporation – in 1942 in Nagano, Japan. Odds are you also weren’t aware that Epson and its parent company are responsible for multiple technological innovations over the years: from creating the first handheld digital printer and scores of manufacturing robots to rolling out augmented reality smart glasses and a brand-new smart streaming laser projector.

Learn more about Epson and its history by reading my profile on the printer giant, my latest article for The Costco Connection magazine, available here.

Still Jonesing for adventure 4 decades later

In Cineversary podcast episode #36, host Erik Martin is joined by James Kendrick, Baylor University film professor and author of Darkness in the Bliss-Out: A Reconsideration of the Films of Steven Spielberg, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the greatest action/adventure movie of all time, Raiders of the Lost Ark. Together, Erik and James explore deep and dark caves, pits, tombs, and catacombs of conversation in their analysis of Raiders, examining why the film is worth celebrating all these years later, its cultural impact and legacy, what we can learn from the film in 2021, and more. 

James Kendrick

To listen to this episode, click here or click the "play" button on the embedded streaming player below. Or, you can stream, download or subscribe to the Cineversary podcast using Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Castbox, Pocket Casts, PodBean, RadioPublic, and Overcast.

Learn more about the Cineversary podcast at anchor.fm/cineversary and email show comments or suggestions to cineversegroup@gmail.com.

Hub how-to

Consult Gartner’s glossary and you’ll learn that a customer engagement hub (CEH) is an “architectural framework that ties multiple systems together to optimally engage the customer,” one that allows for personalized, contextual customer engagement, either via a human, artificial agent, or sensors, across all channels. 

Industry experts, on the other hand, equate a CEH to a personal butler for every customer the moment they walk in your store or visit your site.

Whatever the definition, CEHs have become increasingly popular for a simple reason: They centralize all customer interactions in a single, simplified customer experience, enabling synchronization across sales, marketing, and other departments to optimally engage patrons. Put another way, a well-planned and executed CEH is meant to make your old-fashioned contact center obsolete.

Learn more by reading my latest article for Destination CRM, available here.