WoCS Chicago x Rod Cherkas: Book Launch

About the Event

Renowned industry author, Rod Cherkas, is bringing his newest book The Chief Customer Officer Playbook for the AI Era to Chicago, fresh off its September 9th release, and he's giving every attendee a free signed copy.

A year ago, most post-sale teams were still figuring out where AI actually fit. Now the question is: what did we actually change, and did it work? Rod Cherkas, CEO of HelloCCO and author of the best-selling The Chief Customer Officer Playbook and REACH: A Framework for Driving Revenue Growth from Your Existing Customers, has spent the last year collecting honest answers to that question from CS and post-sale leaders across the country. Now, he's bringing his book tour to Chicago.

Join Women of Customer Success, with support from Chicago's Customer Success Community, CUSP, for an evening built around that conversation. Rod sits down with Elizabeth Blass, CCO of Karbon and former CCO of TrustArc, to talk through what actually changed on her team over the past year: what they tried, what worked, what didn't, and where the real work changed versus where things just got faster. From there, we'll break into small table discussions so you and your table can work through the same questions with your own answers, before the evening opens up for networking.

This is a book launch celebration, a fireside chat, and a networking opportunity all in one evening and we'd love to see you there.

Light bites and beverages will be served 🍽️

Fireside Chat Speakers

What We'll Dive Into

• What actually changed, one year in: the concrete things teams are changing because of AI, not the hypotheticals
• The results, good and bad: what they measured, what they learned, and what surprised them along the way
• Faster versus different: where AI sped up existing work without changing it, and where the work itself actually changed
• What they expected that didn't happen, and what they'd do differently if they were starting over tomorrow
• What didn't work: honest talk about the things they tried that fell flat
• The strategies behind the book: how a few of the core ideas in The Chief Customer Officer Playbook for the AI Era played out in Elizabeth's own organization at Karbon

What You'll Take Away

• Every attendee gets a free signed copy of The Chief Customer Officer Playbook for the AI Era, straight from the author
• A guided table discussion built around the same one-year check-in: what's one thing your team does differently now, where did you actually change the work versus just make it faster, what didn't work, and what would you do first if you were starting over tomorrow
• A firsthand look at how a post-sale leader like Elizabeth is applying these ideas inside her own organization
• New connections with other Chicago-area post-sale leaders and individual contributors navigating the same one-year mark

Who This Is For

• Customer Success leaders and CCOs who want a real, one-year-in read on what AI changed, not more theory
• Aspiring CS leaders and post-sale professionals figuring out what to do with AI in their own day-to-day work

This event is hosted by Women of Customer Success, the leading community for women in tech and post-sale roles. While the above is who might find this event most beneficial, this event is open to everyone.

How to Access the Event

This event is being hosted at the Fulton East building, 215 N Peoria St, Chicago, IL 60607. Once you arrive, navigate to the 8th floor (Drive Capital office) and check-in at the Front Desk.

About Rod Cherkas

Rod Cherkas is a trusted advisor to Chief Customer Officers and post-sale executives. He spent over 20 years leading customer-facing teams at companies like Intuit, Gainsight, Marketo, and RingCentral before founding HelloCCO to help post-sale leaders grow revenue, scale efficiently, and adopt AI with confidence. He is the Chair of the AI in Post-Sale Council and the author of The Chief Customer Officer Playbook, REACH: A Framework for Driving Expansion Revenue from Your Existing Customers, and his newest release, The Chief Customer Officer Playbook for the AI Era, out September 9. His insights reach more than 6,500 newsletter subscribers and 14,000 LinkedIn followers, and he is a sought-after keynote speaker.

About Women of Customer Success

We are the leading community for the best and brightest women in post-sale roles and leadership. Our mission is to connect, educate, and empower women to thrive in their careers and lead the way forward. With over 10 chapters worldwide, we are cultivating the next generation of women shaping the future of customer experience.

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