[[{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/09\/25\/the-future-of-customer-engagement-and-experience\/#Article","articleBody":"The brain processes images 60,000 times faster than it does text.\nNow ask yourself: what if those images are saying over and over and over that a woman isn\u2019t capable of being a scientist, or a professional, or a leader, or an executive, or a president?\nWhat if those images are telling people of color that they cannot achieve what others have? And what if the images are telling the differently abled that they scarcely exist within professional settings? And what if those images are telling women that once they\u2019ve reached the age of 40, they\u2019re done with their careers?\n \nClosing the gender pay gap: How to become an equal pay employer\n At the current rate, closing the gender pay gap would take 100 years. But there's a workbook to help employers close it, STAT. All the info is in this post. \nIf a picture is worth a thousand words, what\u2019s the value (or damage) of the words left unsaid?\nIn 2017, I was profoundly moved by the words of a co-worker when she said, \u201cWe need role models to kill that unconscious bias that we all have\u2026we need affinity programs to remind women that they can be leaders, too. Women don\u2019t imagine themselves going beyond a level, because they don\u2019t see women there.\u201d\nThose words lead to a very, very uncomfortable path of self-reflection in relation to this site: an inventory of the images was harrowing. Indeed, even here, on a site created and run by women, cognitive bias against women, people of color (POC), and the differently abled was rampant. The few images of women featured were usually in stories about retail shopping. There were less than 20 images featuring POC, and zero of the differently abled.\nThe images of women in leadership positions were nil, and when I started looking for some, that proved challenging as well.\nI wrote, \u201ceven in the land of staged images where\u00a0equality could easily reign (it is pretend, after all), the majority of images and illustrations available feature white men.\nIf you\u2019re looking for images with people of color, good luck. If you\u2019re looking for images of professional women that aren\u2019t sexualized in some way, be prepared to spend plenty of time searching.\u201d\nI considered the world around us, where women still haven\u2019t advanced equally \u2013 or been paid fairly \u2013 and realized that politely waiting for change just wasn\u2019t going to cut it anymore. Hence began the mission of creating a thought leadership site that was truly inclusive, diverse, and representative of all.\n \nHold the door open: To achieve workplace gender equality, women must help women\n In order to smash the glass ceiling, we first need to reach it. Fortunately, the entryway to this barrier is in plain sight: To achieve gender equality in the workplace, women must hold the door open for other women. \nThe stats don\u2019t lie: The business case for diversity and inclusion\nWith the ideals of equality in mind, we began to reconsider the look and name of our site. While those creative concepts were in the works, I began the tedious process of replacing images on older posts, swapping out the stereotypes of the past with the hope for the future.\nAlmost immediately, the results of this effort were clear: Readers were clicking on more posts, and engaging with more content. Our bounce rate is the stuff of dreams \u2013 less than 1%. I know that number might seem made up, but I swear it\u2019s not.\nThe time on site increased by over a minute to nearly nine minutes, and 99% of our archives are viewed each day. It turns out that once people can see themselves within different roles, and how they can fit into the organization, they become more engaged.\nMost importantly, I think of what a site like this will mean to future generations. A few times a year, I\u2019m asked to talk to students interested in the field. I imagine them looking at the site now and seeing every possibility open to them, no matter what they look like, or who they are.\n \nWomen\u2019s Equality Day: No glass ceiling in sight from the edge\n It's Women's Equality Day 2021, but it'll be 135.6 years before women and men reach parity on a range of factors, versus the 99.5 years cited in 2020. \nThe future of customer engagement and experience includes all of us\nOur new logo incorporates the theme of diversity and inclusion, and that color palette will be featured across the site as a visual reminder that each of us matters:\nThough evolutionary adaptation once required humankind to make quick decisions in order to survive, we aren\u2019t living in those times anymore. In order to change the power structures and status quo, we\u2019ve got to evolve and make conscious decisions not rooted in bias, but rooted in what is fair, and what is right.\nOnly by imagining a future that is better for all of us can we begin to build a world that is inclusive of each of us.\nWelcome, my friends, to The Future of Customer Engagement and Experience. It\u2019s our most sincere hope that you know you\u2019re all welcome here.\nCome run with the best. SAP is hiring!","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/09\/25\/the-future-of-customer-engagement-and-experience\/#Article_Person","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/09\/25\/the-future-of-customer-engagement-and-experience\/#Article_Person_ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/JennVandeZande_Profile_Pic_2018-1-150x150.jpg"},"name":"Jenn Vande Zande","sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/jennvzande","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jennvandezande"],"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/jenn-vande-zande\/"},"dateModified":"2021-09-01T01:18:27+00:00","datePublished":"2019-09-25T18:58:22+00:00","description":"If a picture is worth a thousand words, what\u2019s the value (or damage) of the words left unsaid? Thought leadership should be inclusive and represent all.","headline":"All are welcome here: Welcome to FCEE","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/09\/25\/the-future-of-customer-engagement-and-experience\/#Article_ImageObject","height":"630","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/FCEE-1200x630.jpg","width":"1200"},"mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/09\/25\/the-future-of-customer-engagement-and-experience\/","name":"All are welcome here: Welcome to FCEE","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/","additionalType":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q1193236","description":"Relevant, timely information & analysis on commerce trends, both consumer-facing and B2B.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/themes\/hybris_foc\/assets\/images\/layout\/logo-new-2x.png?_=1","height":"96","url":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/themes\/hybris_foc\/assets\/images\/layout\/logo-new-2x.png?_=1","width":"500"},"name":"The Future of Customer Engagement and Experience","sameAs":["https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/a-call-for-a-better-experience\/id1479742201","https:\/\/twitter.com\/FutureOfCEC","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/groups\/4844282","https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/feed\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/"},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/09\/25\/the-future-of-customer-engagement-and-experience\/#Article"},{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org","@type":"Organization","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/themes\/hybris_foc\/assets\/images\/layout\/logo-new-2x.png?_=1","height":"96","width":"500","@id":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/themes\/hybris_foc\/assets\/images\/layout\/logo-new-2x.png?_=1"},"name":"The Future of Customer Engagement and Experience","sameAs":["https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/a-call-for-a-better-experience\/id1479742201","https:\/\/twitter.com\/FutureOfCEC","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/groups\/4844282","https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/feed\/"],"additionalType":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q1193236","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/","description":"Relevant, timely information & analysis on commerce trends, both consumer-facing and B2B.","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/"},{"@type":["Article"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/09\/25\/the-future-of-customer-engagement-and-experience\/#Article","@context":{"@vocab":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","kg":"http:\/\/g.co\/kg"},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/09\/25\/the-future-of-customer-engagement-and-experience\/","publisher":[{"@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/"}],"author":[{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/09\/25\/the-future-of-customer-engagement-and-experience\/#Article_author_Person","sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/jennvzande","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jennvandezande\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/jennvzande"],"image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/09\/25\/the-future-of-customer-engagement-and-experience\/#Article_author_Person_image_ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/JennVandeZande_Profile_Pic_2018-1-150x150.jpg"}],"name":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/jenn-vande-zande\/","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/jenn-vande-zande\/"}],"subjectOf":[{"@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/09\/25\/the-future-of-customer-engagement-and-experience\/#Article_subjectOf_FAQPage","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/09\/25\/the-future-of-customer-engagement-and-experience\/#subjectOf_FAQPage_mainEntity0","name":"If a picture is worth a thousand words, what\u2019s the value (or damage) of the words left unsaid?","acceptedAnswer":[{"@type":"Answer","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/09\/25\/the-future-of-customer-engagement-and-experience\/#subjectOf_FAQPage_mainEntity0_acceptedAnswer_Answer","text":"In 2017, I was profoundly moved by the words of a co-worker when she said, \u201cWe need role models to kill that unconscious bias that we all have\u2026we need affinity programs to remind women that they can be leaders, too. Women don\u2019t imagine themselves going beyond a level, because they don\u2019t see women there.\u201dThose words lead to a very, very uncomfortable path of self-reflection in relation to this site: an inventory of the images was harrowing<\/a>. Indeed, even here, on a site created and run by women, cognitive bias against women, people of color (POC), and the differently abled was rampant. The few images of women featured were usually in stories about retail shopping. There were less than 20 images featuring POC, and zero of the differently abled.The images of women in leadership positions were nil, and when I started looking for some, that proved challenging as well.I wrote, \u201ceven in the land of staged images where equality could easily reign<\/a> (it is pretend, after all), the majority of images and illustrations available feature white men.<\/span><\/span>If you\u2019re looking for images with people of color, good luck. If you\u2019re looking for images of professional women that aren\u2019t sexualized in some way, be prepared to spend plenty of time searching.\u201dI considered the world around us, where women still haven\u2019t advanced equally <\/a>\u2013 or been paid fairly \u2013 and realized that politely waiting for change just wasn\u2019t going to cut it anymore. Hence began the mission of creating a thought leadership site that was truly inclusive, diverse, and representative of all \u2013 a site not only customer engagement<\/a>, but also about the people who are the customers."}]},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/09\/25\/the-future-of-customer-engagement-and-experience\/#subjectOf_FAQPage_mainEntity1","name":"The stats don\u2019t lie: The business case for diversity and inclusion","acceptedAnswer":[{"@type":"Answer","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/09\/25\/the-future-of-customer-engagement-and-experience\/#subjectOf_FAQPage_mainEntity1_acceptedAnswer_Answer","text":"With the ideals of equality in mind, we began to reconsider the look and name of our site. While those creative concepts were in the works, I began the tedious process of replacing images on older posts, swapping out the stereotypes of the past with the hope for the future.\"the\"futureAlmost immediately, the results of this effort were clear: Readers were clicking on more posts, and engaging with more content. Our bounce rate is the stuff of dreams \u2013 less than 1%. I know that number might seem made up, but I swear it\u2019s not.The time on site increased by over a minute to nearly nine minutes, and 99% of our archives are viewed each day. It turns out that once people can see themselves within different roles, and how they can fit into the organization, they become more engaged.<\/span><\/span>Most importantly, I think of what a site like this will mean to future generations. A few times a year, I\u2019m asked to talk to students interested in the field. I imagine them looking at the site now and seeing every possibility open to them, no matter what they look like, or who they are."}]},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/09\/25\/the-future-of-customer-engagement-and-experience\/#subjectOf_FAQPage_mainEntity2","name":"The future of customer engagement and experience includes all of us","acceptedAnswer":[{"@type":"Answer","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/09\/25\/the-future-of-customer-engagement-and-experience\/#subjectOf_FAQPage_mainEntity2_acceptedAnswer_Answer","text":"Our new logo incorporates the theme of diversity and inclusion, and that color palette will be featured across the site as a visual reminder that each of us matters:\"theThough evolutionary adaptation once required humankind to make quick decisions in order to survive, we aren\u2019t living in those times anymore. In order to change the power structures and status quo, we\u2019ve got to evolve and make conscious decisions not rooted in bias, but rooted in what is fair, and what is right.Only by imagining a future that is better for all of us can we begin to build a world that is inclusive of each of us.<\/span><\/span>Welcome, my friends, to The Future of Customer Engagement and Experience. It\u2019s our most sincere hope that you know you\u2019re all welcome here."}]}]}],"image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/09\/25\/the-future-of-customer-engagement-and-experience\/#Article_image_ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/FCEE-1200x630.jpg","width":"1200","height":"630"}],"mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/09\/25\/the-future-of-customer-engagement-and-experience\/","articleBody":"\n The brain processes images 60,000 times faster than it does text.\nNow ask yourself: what if those images are saying over and over and over that a woman isn\u2019t capable of being a scientist, or a professional, or a leader, or an executive, or a president?\nWhat if those images are telling people of color that they cannot achieve what others have? And what if the images are telling the differently abled that they scarcely exist within professional settings? And what if those images are telling women that once they\u2019ve reached the age of 40, they\u2019re done with their careers?\n\n \n Closing the gender pay gap: How to become an equal pay employer\n \n \n At the current rate, closing the gender pay gap would take 100 years. But there's a workbook to help employers close it, STAT. All the info is in this post.\n \n \n\nIf a picture is worth a thousand words, what\u2019s the value (or damage) of the words left unsaid?\nIn 2017, I was profoundly moved by the words of a co-worker when she said, \u201cWe need role models to kill that unconscious bias that we all have\u2026we need affinity programs to remind women that they can be leaders, too. Women don\u2019t imagine themselves going beyond a level, because they don\u2019t see women there.\u201d\nThose words lead to a very, very uncomfortable path of self-reflection in relation to this site: an inventory of the images was harrowing. Indeed, even here, on a site created and run by women, cognitive bias against women, people of color (POC), and the differently abled was rampant. The few images of women featured were usually in stories about retail shopping. There were less than 20 images featuring POC, and zero of the differently abled.\nThe images of women in leadership positions were nil, and when I started looking for some, that proved challenging as well.\nI wrote, \u201ceven in the land of staged images where\u00a0equality could easily reign (it is pretend, after all), the majority of images and illustrations available feature white men.\nIf you\u2019re looking for images with people of color, good luck. If you\u2019re looking for images of professional women that aren\u2019t sexualized in some way, be prepared to spend plenty of time searching.\u201d\nI considered the world around us, where women still haven\u2019t advanced equally \u2013 or been paid fairly \u2013 and realized that politely waiting for change just wasn\u2019t going to cut it anymore. Hence began the mission of creating a thought leadership site that was truly inclusive, diverse, and representative of all \u2013 a site not only customer engagement, but also about the people who are the customers.\n\n \n Hold the door open: To achieve workplace gender equality, women must help women\n \n \n In order to smash the glass ceiling, we first need to reach it. Fortunately, the entryway to this barrier is in plain sight: To achieve gender equality in the workplace, women must hold the door open for other women.\n \n \n\nThe stats don\u2019t lie: The business case for diversity and inclusion\nWith the ideals of equality in mind, we began to reconsider the look and name of our site. While those creative concepts were in the works, I began the tedious process of replacing images on older posts, swapping out the stereotypes of the past with the hope for the future.\n\n\nAlmost immediately, the results of this effort were clear: Readers were clicking on more posts, and engaging with more content. Our bounce rate is the stuff of dreams \u2013 less than 1%. I know that number might seem made up, but I swear it\u2019s not.\nThe time on site increased by over a minute to nearly nine minutes, and 99% of our archives are viewed each day. It turns out that once people can see themselves within different roles, and how they can fit into the organization, they become more engaged.\nMost importantly, I think of what a site like this will mean to future generations. A few times a year, I\u2019m asked to talk to students interested in the field. I imagine them looking at the site now and seeing every possibility open to them, no matter what they look like, or who they are.\n\n \n Women\u2019s Equality Day: No glass ceiling in sight from the edge\n \n \n It's Women's Equality Day, but it'll be 135.6 years before women and men reach parity on a range of factors, versus the 99.5 years cited in 2020.\n \n \n\nThe future of customer engagement and experience includes all of us\nOur new logo incorporates the theme of diversity and inclusion, and that color palette will be featured across the site as a visual reminder that each of us matters:\n\nThough evolutionary adaptation once required humankind to make quick decisions in order to survive, we aren\u2019t living in those times anymore. In order to change the power structures and status quo, we\u2019ve got to evolve and make conscious decisions not rooted in bias, but rooted in what is fair, and what is right.\nOnly by imagining a future that is better for all of us can we begin to build a world that is inclusive of each of us.\nWelcome, my friends, to The Future of Customer Engagement and Experience. It\u2019s our most sincere hope that you know you\u2019re all welcome here.\n Come run with the best.\nSAP is hiring!\n\n\n\n\t\n ","dateModified":"2022-03-29T18:39:23+00:00","name":"All are welcome here: Welcome to FCEE","datePublished":"2019-09-25T18:58:22+00:00","headline":"All are welcome here: Welcome to FCEE","description":"If a picture is worth a thousand words, what\u2019s the value (or damage) of the words left unsaid? 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