As part of the Augeo Luminaries Speaker Series in conjunction with the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota, Augeo CMO Ken Greer recently interviewed one of his childhood friends—renowned New York Times columnist and three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Tom Friedman. Tom’s career spans four decades and has carried him from the Arctic to the Amazon. He’s covered wars, famines, the COVID-19 pandemic—everything that brings him to the edge of stories.

In the first podcast from Entertainment® Rewards & Incentives, Augeo CEO David Kristal shares his perspective on the evolution of loyalty and engagement—and what he believes lies ahead for the industry in a post-COVID world.

The Minnesota Star Tribune's featured article focuses on how the pandemic prompted an increased demand for e-commerce. Major retailers with established e-commerce models share their wins and the journey to success they have experienced and benefited from during the pandemic. Supermarkets in particular have witnessed astronomical growth as a result of an increased demand for online ordering and shopping. This shift in consumer buying has created a vast amount of opportunity for these companies as we look ahead to the coming year and begin planning for the unknown. As featured in the article, Augeo CEO, David Kristal shared insights into how companies can leverage this time to retain and fuel growth within their respective industries.

And so the game begins. The game of call, punt, follow-up call, punt, timeout to level set, finger pointing, punt, call, move on to something else, lagging sales, and eventually "We talked about this six months ago, why don't we have it ready?".

As a part of the Augeo Luminary Speaker's Series highlighting disruptive thinking – in conjunction with the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota – Augeo COO, Scott Moore, had a discussion with Kimmy Scotti, a venture capitalist focused on advancing women entrepreneurship. See what she has to say about being brave versus being fearless.

As we head into the last several days of the year it's once again time to ask ourselves, "How did it go?" "Did I accomplish what I had hoped to?" "Did I adapt to challenges appropriately?" Most companies do the same thing. They review metrics, assess progress and draw conclusions. Some do annual engagement surveys with customers or employees to make sure they remain connected to their most important constituencies.