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In these Corona Days, we need to find something valuable and worth talking about. So today we bring you the story of Gökhan Kara, a certified CX Professional, Customer Experience Manager, Author, Keynote Speaker, Judge, Founding Network Leader, Trainer and Mentor. Wow!

Gökhan attended the first International CX Awards in 2018 and this was the first Awards International event he has ever been to:

“My company was a nominee in 2 categories and I was a nominee in Customer Experience Professional of the Year category. Even though we didn’t win any awards, it was a great experience for me. The most important thing is you can’t find that amount of CX professionals from all over the world anywhere else. That was my first impression and I was purely amazed by that.”

We’re a specialist awards company, meaning all of our efforts and expertise go into running the events that matter to you. You can participate in our events as a finalist, judge or attendee, and Gökhan had the chance to be a Chair of Judges at the International CX Awards 2019:

“It was a great experience. It’s one of the unique times that people can use their expertise. We watched great presentations and it was not easy to evaluate them. One of the best points of ICXA is, even if you’re the chair of judges, you don’t know other judges’ scores. That brings transparency to evaluation; judges can’t affect other’s opinions. I was a judge with 3 other exclusive judges including Nienke Bloem. So I learnt a lot from this judging experience too.”

By attending any of our events, you can increase your network, with the opportunity to connect with hundreds of professionals. But, it’s better if you hear that first hand so let’s find out what Gökhan thinks about networking opportunities at Awards Finals:

“ICXA has huge opportunities for networking. I remember it was the first time I met Ian Golding. It’s great to meet in person with people you’re already connected to in Linkedin. Even though it’s the first time you’re meeting in person, you feel you’re talking with your close friend. After Ian, I got the chance to met with Nienke, Kathy and so many other CX professionals in person. Also last year, at ICXA’19 I met with Gabe and Diane Magers from CXPA,  for the first time in person. These meetings are so important and you can’t always do them.”

So, have you connected with someone at any of our events Gökhan?

“Actually, I have. After we met, I talked with Ian and he came to Istanbul to deliver CX Masterclass for the first time! I had a short presentation too. We had great feedback from the participants. It might not have happened if we didn’t meet at ICXA’18 in person. Also after that event, I became a chair of judges at ICXA’19. Also, last year at UK CX Awards, I met with Greg Melia, who is CEO of CXPA, for the first time and we had a great 45 minutes chat about CX profession and CXPA.”

If you’re wondering what Gökhan’s planning on doing next, we had a great opportunity to ask him more about his next projects.

“I’m working at Pisano now, which is a CX management tool company, as a Customer Experience Advisor. Besides that, I continue my CX trainings and consultancy. I create content in Turkish such as blog posts, podcasts or webinars for improving CX competencies in Turkey. As a next step, I’ll continue producing valuable content in English for reaching more people and help to leverage this profession. Also, I’ll be working towards improving CXPA’s Local Networks, especially in Europe.”

We want to thank Gökhan Kara for taking the time to share his story with us and the rest of Awards International’s world. We hope you enjoyed reading!

If you have met someone at any of our events and something good came out of it, let us know. Contact us and we will tell your story together.

And remember: We connect people!