Jenn Downs of Mailchimp presents: Empathy Cannot be Automated

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"Working at MailChimp I've seen thousands of interactions between companies and their customers. I've seen the conflict between marketing and design when trying to automate the relationship between company and customer. Marketing automation is a powerful tool that bosses and customers are starting to demand we use, but used incorrectly automation can reduce empathy for the customer or email subscriber, make them feel spied on, or completely annoy them. Using technology to manage the relationship isn't a replacement for human to human contact, you still have to talk to people and you still have to treat them with respect and dignity. You still have to think about their experience! No person should be reduced to just a number, a twitter handle, a "targeted segment", or a blip on a chart. Automation can guide you, give you data, feed you information, but it's up to you to use it to be more relevant, more human, more real."

Question & Answer session to follow. Event is limited to 50 attendees.