Session Topics

ProductCamp St. Louis session

Unlike traditional conferences, anyone interested in leading a session at ProductCamp St. Louis can submit a topic. Then, everyone in attendance gets to vote on which sessions they would like to see, and the most popular choices get on the schedule.

The 30 sessions that received the most votes got selected for the final ProductCamp St. Louis 2024 schedule and the full list of the 50+ proposed sessions is available below.

Materials from the sessions are available here: Any materials from the sessions that session leaders have elected to share are available in this shared Google Drive. This includes sessions that were not on the schedule. If you have any questions about a specific session, please reach out to the person who submitted it.

On this page:

Proposed Sessions

There are 56 sessions that have been proposed for ProductCamp St. Louis. Voting will take place between 8-8:20am on Saturday, March 9, and the 30 sessions with the most votes will make it on to the schedule. In order to vote, you must be present, and you must arrive in time to check in and vote before 8:20am.

We are encouraging — but not requiring — those who have submitted sessions to share slides or any other relevant materials in our shared Google Drive.

Session ID#:1 How To Streamline Your Marketing Strategy Effortlessly Using ChatGPT
Description: Been putting off your marketing strategy, or just throwing things at the wall and hoping for the best? In our session, we’ll cover the fundamentals of building a marketing strategy and show you how to use ChatGPT prompts to generate a wealth of content ideas that you able to execute without feeling stressed. Each participant has to have a laptop with ChatGPT setup before they attend the workshop.
Session Format: Workshop
Category: Marketing Execution
Submitted by: Pooja Arshanapally. Pooja Arshanapally the owner of The Content Repurposer, assists authors, coaches, and thought leaders in enhancing their marketing strategies by effectively repurposing content to magnify their impact in thier business and their brand.

Session ID#:2 “How I Got Into Product Work”
Description: Wondering how to break into the industry? Advancing in your product career? Somewhere in between? This panel discussion will invite 3 STL Product people at different places in their career journey (entry level, mid-Sr. level, Executive level) to answer the question “How did you get into product work?
Session Format: Panel Discussion
Category: Prod Management Careers
Submitted by: Rian Wilson. Rian is a Sr. Consultant in the Delivery Leadership practice at Slalom St. Louis. With a background of working a variety of product roles across marketing and IT organizations, he’s helped several of St. Louis’ largest organizations build, deliver and manage digital products

Session ID#:3 What Makes a Successful Pitch
Description: There’s no “one pitch fits all.” Learn how to pitch to customers to really engage & sell your product. Also learn what investors are looking for and what to include in a pitch deck. It’s an interactive session with some basic info & lot’s of time for questions, & includes a handout, as well as access to pitch practice at 1 Million Cups St. Louis
Session Format: Ask the Expert
Category: Funding/Investors
Submitted by: Mary Scott. Former NYC video producer and current Lead Organizer for 1 Million Cups St. Louis, Mary Scott knows what works in a pitch & what doesn’t. She has interviewed investors for her podcast in the FB group StartUp Business Launchpad, and been a judge for Arch Grants. Her access to resources is extensive

Session ID#:4 Predicting Success
Description: Discover how to not only predict the likelihood of your success, but the level of success you’ll enjoy.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Product Strategy
Submitted by: Dale Furtwengler. Internationally-acclaimed author of Pricing For Profit and a trilogy of books on confidence, former CPA and CFO in a variety of industries. Founder of Teaching Confidence, a firm dedicated to helping youth develop confidence.

Session ID#:5 Pricing: Minimizing Economy’s Impact
Description: Explore the economy’s impact on pricing and how to mitigate it.
Session Format: Workshop
Category: Product Strategy
Submitted by: Dale Furtwengler. Internationally-acclaimed author of Pricing For Profit and a trilogy of books on confidence, former CPA and CFO in a variety of industries. Founder of Teaching Confidence, a firm dedicated to helping youth develop confidence.

Session ID#:6 Converting Emotions Into Productive Behaviors
Description: Emotional decisions often lead to regret. Discover how to replace regret with results.
Session Format: Workshop
Category: Problem solving
Submitted by: Dale Furtwengler. Internationally-acclaimed author of Pricing For Profit and a trilogy of books on confidence, former CPA and CFO in a variety of industries. Founder of Teaching Confidence, a firm dedicated to helping youth develop confidence.

Session ID#:7 Be a 10x Product Manager by Leveraging AI
Description: AI is becoming more central to all product managers both in differentiating their product, accelerating their product development process, and making them more efficient. This session is about helping you be a 10x product manager by leveraging AI. We will cover what you can do not only to make what you do more efficient but how you can approach and leverage AI within your product for differentiation.Lots of this session will be diving into AI and learn by demonstrating so bring your laptop and follow along if interested. If not, there are still a ton of great resources and there will be a takeaway sheet shared. Note this session will cover a scenario where generative AI was pivotal for a new product offering that went from idea to alpha product with customers using in less two months.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Product Management/Development
Submitted by: Dave Mathias. Dave Mathias has 15+ years of experience leveraging analytics to build better products. He is in product @ Shipwell an Austin-based VC startup which delivers a leading-edge and fast-growing transportation management software. He authored the book “Data Storytelling and Translation: Bridging the gap between numbers and narratives.” Check out his blog at gobeyondthedata.com/blog.

Session ID#:8 Trustworthiness: The Key to Disruptive Products?
Description: The days of “move fast and break things” are long gone. To truly disrupt the status quo, your product or service needs to earn trust as much as be innovative. In this town hall session, we’ll look at several examples of trust building innovations and some great ideas that failed in part because buyers, regulators, the channel, and the public couldn’t trust them. We’ll work together on how to use trust to drive disruptive change in the marketplace.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Go-to-Market
Submitted by: Dan Reus. Dan Reus helps innovators have greater impact. He has worked with hundreds of innovators on how to best get from a hunch to mass market in consumer products and services, technology, and professional services. He’s built a highly regarded practice around building ecosystems of innovators, investors, early adopters, strategics and critics.

Session ID#:9 Could Product Management Have Prevented the Boeing 737 Max Crisis?
Description: This will be a case study of the Boeing 737 Max crisis, in which we’ll dissect critical product management mistakes that led to a disaster. Learn how the lack of communication, rushed development, and reliance on automation impacted one of the world’s leading aerospace companies, and discuss whether product management could have prevented it.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Product Strategy
Submitted by: Brendan Sullivan. Brendan Sullivan is the CPO for Dacoco GmbH and the Vice President of the St. Louis Product Management Group.

Session ID#:10 Where MVPs fail. The case for a Minimum Viable Replacement.
Description: In an age of growing customer expectations, many companies are making investments to digitally transform their business and replace outdated legacy products. The standard MVP development approach most product managers employ will not work for your organization when you attempt to meet these rapidly changing customer expectations. Changing your focus from MVPs to MVRs will better position you for success as you modernize your existing product suite.Come join a panel discussion describing how Enterprise Mobility is organized, and the process they follow, when building out MVRs for existing customer and employee products.
Session Format: Panel Discussion
Category: Product Management/Development
Submitted by: Brad Tomchek. Brad Tomchek has had a long and successful career leading large product teams at Mastercard and Enterprise Mobility. Brad is currently the Assistant Vice President of Product Management at Enterprise Mobility.

Session ID#:11 Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Description: Discover tools and techniques for gaining and maintaining a competitive advantage.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Product Strategy
Submitted by: Dale Furtwengler. Dale Furtwengler is the internationally-acclaimed author of Pricing for Profit, a former CPA/CFO. He’s also the founder of Cutting Edge which provides sustainable competitive advantage.

Session ID#:12 Unveiling your potential: How product management skills translate into business strategy success
Description: Explore the often-overlooked transferable skills that can transition you from a seasoned product owner to a thriving business owner. In this session we will delve into the invaluable skills that are foundational to product management and can pave the way for unlocking your career development.
Session Format: Presentation
Category: Prod Management Careers
Submitted by: Lianna Shepard. 10+ years of product management and 5+ years of design thinking experience

Session ID#:13 You should always follow the rules, except when you shouldn’t
Description: Love them or hate them, rules are inescapable. As individuals we are subject to rules created and enforced by others, and as managers and leaders we subject others to the rules we create (or that have been given us from “above”). In this session we will explore the role of rules in our daily work and our relationship to them, as both individuals and as leaders. We’ll discuss why you should always follow – and enforce – the rules, except when you shouldn’t. Or, if you prefer, why you should never follow – or enforce – the rules, except when you should. Bring along your stories of stupid rules you have been forced to break because, well, they were stupid, and how you make sure the rules you create aren’t “stupid”.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Product Management/Development
Submitted by: gBRETT miller. I am a possibilitarian, a systems engineer and service designer whose happy place is in the white space between disciplines, where possibility lives. I can’t help seeing how everything is connected, and how lessons and experience from one domain can be leveraged in others. I am fascinated, and intrigued, by the way in which different people interpret and experience the same product or service. When not exploring the latest technology or tools, you can find me rock climbing or playing tennis.

Session ID#:14 Reframing Requirements : A Strategic Approach to Requirement Definition
Description: This talk will focus on redefining the way we talk about requirements today. Whether you are an up-stream decision maker, or a down-stream delivery expert, “requirements” are a frustration. Either you don’t get what you asked for, and are constantly battling budget and time crisises, or you are dealing with demands that simply don’t make sense. This talk will offer you a new approach to requirement definition that will end in faster delivery time and greater revenue gains both short-term and long-term.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Requirements Definitions
Submitted by: Jake Truemper. Jake is the founder of Shift, a St. Louis-based consulting firm that focuses on driving business strategy towards the betterment of all people involved. Shift seeks to find the intersection of business growth and customer value. Jake is a career consultant with 20+ years of professional experience, and has a passion for making business more human.

Session ID#:15 Groundswell Marketing for Bootstrappers & Underdogs
Description: How do you quickly grow an enthusiastic market of early adopters when you’ve got both a short runway and a tight budget? Emily Hemingway, Executive Director of TechSTL will share the surge marketing tactics that she has used to support thousands of startups across America and build the largest membership organization in St. Louis.
Session Format: Workshop
Category: Marketing Execution
Submitted by: Emily Hemingway. Emily Hemingway is a 6x tech founder and nationally recognized startup ecosystem builder, who currently serves as the Founding Executive Director of TechSTL. https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilyhemingway

Session ID#:16 Cheat Codes for Game-Winning Stakeholder Management
Description: Ever feel like managing your stakeholders’ expectations is a game you can’t win? Sure, certain “levels” might be easy for you, but others need “unlimited lives” or “racetrack shortcuts” to conquer? In this Town Hall-formatted session, we’ll explore parallels between classic gaming “cheat codes” and proven stakeholder management techniques. We’ll set a game-winning goal that you can tweak your own practices to help build confidence, trust, and transparency with your stakeholders so you can win the Product Game – together.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Product Lifecycle Mgmt
Submitted by: Kristina Glynn. Kristina is a Product Management leader with 15+ years of experience leading agile product teams to design and build products and services in a variety of industries. Her experience includes leading product portfolios and their organizations through the product lifecycle, from ideation to sunset and everything in between. Her product leadership has established a track record of successful product launches including SaaS Applications, Professional Services, Marketing Websites, and more.

Session ID#:17 Be an a11y: Prioritizing Digital Accessibility in a Product-Driven Organization
Description: a11y is a numeronym, representing the 11 characters between the a and y in accessibility. In this session, we will dive into Purina’s transformative journey to embed digital accessibility and inclusive design into the day-to-day practices of our product development lifecycle. The session will include proactive strategies we employ, how we prioritize accessibility against other roadmap initiatives, and practical examples of issues we encountered. At the end of the session, there will be time for questions and open discussion to learn from one another’s experiences and challenges. Join our mission in being an a11y and committing to building better digital products for all.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Product Management/Development
Submitted by: Jared Becker. Jared Becker is a digital product professional at Purina. Jared is a Digital Product Lead in the direct-to-consumer division and serves as the digital accessibility lead across the entire Purina portfolio of digital products and services. He earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science at the University of Kentucky and a master’s degree in analytics from Georgia Tech.

Session ID#:18 Estimating & Forecasting: Sorcery or Science?
Description: Many struggle with the mystery of how to confidently set a feature, epic, MVP, or other target date with the many known unknowns of agile software development. Sometimes, any sort of estimation or date “commitment” feels like a gamble, and failure undermines trust and confidence in your product delivery. Yet, working with your team and others to scope, estimate, and forecast with varying degrees of fidelity doesn’t have to be an impossible task accessible only to Product Wizards of the Dark Arts. In this session, I’ll propose some methods for estimating and forecasting work, long- and short-term, and we’ll open up discussion to help break down the barriers you face in your work so you can demonstrate your Product Wizardry and deliver with higher degrees of success and confidence.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Product Management/Development
Submitted by: Kristina Glynn. Kristina is a Product Management leader with 15+ years of experience leading agile product teams to design and build products and services in a variety of industries. Her experience includes leading product portfolios and their organizations through the product lifecycle, from ideation to sunset and everything in between. Her product leadership has established a track record of successful product launches including SaaS Applications, Professional Services, Marketing Websites, and more.

Session ID#:19 The 3 I’s of a Successful Product Launch Campaign + Workshop
Description: Once you’ve determined your new product’s viability in the market, how can you effectively position yourself for success? Join this session to learn the art of setting your go-to-market strategies and campaigns up for success Explore how you can use Intention, Implementation and Inspection to prepare for, execute and evaluate your launch campaigns. This session will include a hands-on workshop to walk you through a campaign planning checklist.
Session Format: Workshop
Category: Go-to-Market
Submitted by: Stephanie Haenchen. As the Chief Pacesetter Pace Marketing, Stephanie Haenchen has over 25 years experience in marketing communications, product marketing, and trade shows and events with large corporations, non-profits, small businesses and marketing agencies. She is passionate about using her gifts and talents to benefit others and strongly believes in pursuing progress – actively looking for ways we can live better, work better and provide better products and services.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephhaenchen/

Session ID#:20 Taken – Applying FBI Hostage Negotiation Tactics to Product Management
Description: They say that life is a negotiation, this is especially true for product managers who need to use their power of influence to drive product success amid competing demands and priorities coming from all directions.Applying lessons learned from the written work of the FBI’s former lead hostage negotiator, learn how to apply new negotiation techniques to your work in product and super charge your ability to influence your customers and stakeholders. You’ll walk away with a handful of techniques that you can use immediately in your work and life.This workshop-style session will contain 30 minutes of content covering negotiation techniques, followed by 15 minutes of mock negotiation practice and group discussion.
Session Format: Workshop
Category: Prod Management Careers
Submitted by: CJ Zeilenga. CJ Zeilenga is a Product Management leader with 15 years of experience in corporate strategy, market research, product strategy and consulting. His experiences include bringing new products to market from inception through maturity in fintech, transportation, insurance and healthcare industries as well as creating and implementing product management standards and best practices for fortune 500 companies.

Session ID#:21 Raw PM Journeys: When Traditional Methodologies Go Out the Window
Description: This session is designed for those bold enough to explore beyond the boundaries of Agile, prototyping, and market testing, offering insights into how unconventional paths can lead to creating “alpha” — exceptional value that stands out in competitive markets.Is thinking “outside the box” a necessity for innovation and winning in today’s fast-paced business environment? Is “going with your gut” a risk worth taking?Attendees will learn from real-life examples of product management successes achieved through unconventional strategies.In an era where differentiation is key to success, sticking solely to conventional methodologies may no longer suffice. This is an unmissable session for anyone looking to break the mold and drive true innovation in product management.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Product Management/Development
Submitted by: Clay Canfield. Clay Canfield is the Product Manager and Founder of Sobriety Hub Software, a leading B2B SaaS provider in sober house management. With a keen entrepreneurial spirit, Clay steered the company from ideation to 100+ business customers. His expertise spans product development, team leadership, and strategic partnerships, rejecting traditional VC funding for strategic investments. Clay excels in deploying unconventional methods in a bootstrapped startup environment.

Session ID#:22 Product Psychology: Psychology Principles Behind Creating Effective Products
Description: Through insightful analysis and interactive discussions, this session will introduce key product psychology principles and encourage the audience to think critically about their usage. We will explore how popular digital products utilize, misuse, or disregard psychological principles, and how this shapes user experiences. Uncover the strategies behind successful products and the pitfalls of those that fail to tap into consumer psyche. You will leave with an understanding of how to use psychology to ethically influence users’ perception and decision-making, empowering you to craft more compelling products.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Requirements Definitions
Submitted by: Hannah Davison. Hannah is a UX/UI Designer who enjoys creating visually appealing designs that improve the user experience while accomplishing business needs. Her works draws largely on in-depth competitive analysis, product psychology, and empathy. She has a B.A. from WashU, and certifications in UX/UI Design, Product Psychology, and Agile Product Management.
Website: https://www.hddesign.me/

Session ID#:23 Fundamentals of Empowered Product Teams
Description: As the norm of siloed, command-and-control organizational structures slips into the past, a new and dynamic form of product team is emerging. An empowered cross-functional product team is a group of individuals who are entrusted with the responsibility and authority to make decisions — and deliver outcomes — related to the design, development and overall direction of a product without constant micromanagement or oversight from higher levels of management. But before going in this direction, there are a few key questions that need to be answered that will be covered in this session: Why might this model be good for an organization (and its customers)? What are the qualities needed for an empowered product team to succeed? How do you get leadership on board?
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Product Leadership
Submitted by: Jeff Lash. Jeff Lash is VP, Global Product Management at Forrester, where he oversees a portfolio of products that help business and technology leaders use customer obsession to accelerate growth. For nearly 10 years, Jeff was an advisor to product management leaders, helping them elevate the abilities of their teams to drive measurable and repeatable product success and business growth. He has 20+ years of experience in product management and marketing, user experience and product development.

Session ID#:24 Product Leadership Workshop
Description: While product managers often get a chance to share ideas and experiences amongst themselves in an organization, this doesn’t happen nearly as frequently for product management leaders — so this is your chance! This workshop will be an opportunity for those who manage other product managers to discuss a range of dynamic topics specifically on the mind of product management leaders. Participants will first propose topics on of interest to product management leadership (e.g. portfolio management, scaling product teams, change management, hiring product managers). Then, we will break into groups to discuss challenges, share experiences and brainstorm potential solutions, and report key takeaways back to the group.
Session Format: Workshop
Category: Prod Management Careers
Submitted by: Jeff Lash. Jeff Lash is VP, Global Product Management at Forrester, where he oversees a portfolio of products that help business and technology leaders use customer obsession to accelerate growth. For nearly 10 years, Jeff was an advisor to product management leaders, helping them elevate the abilities of their teams to drive measurable and repeatable product success and business growth. He has 20+ years of experience in product management and marketing, user experience and product development.

Session ID#:25 Leveraging Marketing and Sales Enablement for Your Product Launch
Description: Launching a new product or feature is one of the most challenging parts of your process as a product leader. You have put a ton of effort into the development of your product, how do you ensure your target audience finds out about it? During this session, we’ll discuss:
– How to use functions like marketing and sales enablement to ensure a successful launch?
– Common pitfalls to watch out for during your launch
– A useful framework for launch success
Session Format: Presentation
Category: Go-to-Market
Submitted by: Karen Loiterstein . Karen Loiterstein is a dynamic senior revenue leader with over 20 years of experience in sales, marketing, product and technology. She serves as the Vice President of Sales Enablement, overseeing business development, client success and sales productivity. She excels in creating and executing playbooks, driving topline revenue growth through data-driven methodologies, and change management. Karen is a collaborative problem-solver, dedicated to developing future leaders and achieving success.

Session ID#:26 Creating Product Playbooks
Description: Product Playbooks are one of the best tools you can invest in to ensure your sellers understand how to effectively speak about and ultimately sell your product. During this interactive session, you’ll learn how to develop playbooks for sellers, resellers and leaders. During our workshop, you will:
– See examples of real playbooks
– Work on your own playbook template
– Get feedback from peers on the concept you’re creating
Session Format: Workshop
Category: Go-to-Market
Submitted by: Karen Loiterstein . Karen Loiterstein is a dynamic senior revenue leader with over 20 years of experience in sales, marketing, product and technology. She serves as the Vice President of Sales Enablement, overseeing business development, client success and sales productivity. She excels in creating and executing playbooks, driving topline revenue growth through data-driven methodologies, and change management. Karen is a collaborative problem-solver, dedicated to developing future leaders and achieving success.

Session ID#:27 Sustainability Products – A Look at the Future
Description: Green and sustainable products are reaching a new phase of development. In this session, we dive into some recent innovations and the new characteristics of sustainability 2.0.
Session Format: Presentation
Category: Opportunity Analysis
Submitted by: Kirk Bowman. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirkabowman/

Session ID#:28 I’ve Founded (and exited) Three Startups – Now I’m an Entrepreneur In Residence: Ask Me Anything
Description: Starting companies is difficult, but not nearly as challenging as growing a startup properly into profitability or a desired exit. This is an AMA focused on the question, “if you had to do them all over again…?”. I look forward to sharing the decisions we made – good, bad, and ugly.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Opportunity Analysis
Submitted by: Kirk Bowman. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirkabowman/

Session ID#:29 Healthcare Trends
Description: Heathcare makes up 17.3% of US GDP! No other sector comes close. So it stands to reason that most products over the next decade will emerge from the healthcare sector. Let’s take a look at the trends and directions leading this sector with BioGenerator’s Healthcare Entrepreneur in Residence, Kirk Bowman.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Opportunity Analysis
Submitted by: Kirk Bowman. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirkabowman/

Session ID#:30 Not User Metrics – The business measurements that SaaS Product Managers & entrepreneurs need to know
Description: To manage a SaaS product, whether established or start-up, you need to understand the business metrics that define success- from ARR to Burn Multiple. It’s a language you need to speak and trends you need to understand. What churn rates are considered good or bad? How long is a healthy CAC payback period? Why must your NRR exceed 100%? What the heck do these acronyms mean anyway?The session will be peppered with polls and questions for you to respond to using your phone, with live summaries shown on screen. Audience discussion will contribute additional questions and perspectives.
Session Format: Interactive presentation
Category: Product Strategy
Submitted by: Bill Haines. Bill is a Partner at Marlborough Street Partners, a team of senior operating executives that works with venture and PE firms on behalf of their portfolio companies and directly with senior management teams. As a four-time VP Product/ Marketing he has served in both large enterprises and start-up ventures. As a consultant he has worked with hundreds of PMs and with numerous leadership teams to assess, plan, and optimize strategies.

Session ID#:31 Practical AI: Fine-Tuning Your Data Science Product Development
Description: Have you ever been confused about how to tackle an AI project? Our session will help you with understanding the different types of AI projects and how you can tailor your management to that product team. We’re not speculating on how AI will change product ownership, but rather sharing our experiences with how to manage products that build or utilize AI. This presentation will discuss the nuances between rule-based AI, data science projects, and application development with Generative AI throughout the software product management lifecycle. This presentation will include a topic deep-dive and then open to general questions and discussion at the end.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Product Management/Development
Submitted by: Amber Schanter. Amber is an innovative Sr. Principal with over 10 years’ experience providing strategic thought leadership driving meaningful products. From working at a fast-paced startup to management consulting, Amber has developed a focus on data product management. As a leader of Daugherty’s Innovation Hub, she has successfully driven the creation of multiple AI products from proofs-of-concept to end-to-end production solutions while managing data science and engineering development and implementations.

Session ID#:32 Ask Me Anything (AMA): B2B Marketing
Description: With 20 years experience in B2B marketing, catering strategies to audiences including software and tech, manufacturing, back-office automation, and SMB, I want to try to help those with questions about marketing their product or solution and ask their burning go to market, mar-tech, and lead generation questions. I’m ready to share insights about brand development, content generation and AI, mar-tech, integration, programming, strategy, personas, messaging, and more.
Session Format: Ask the Expert
Category: Combination of Go-To-Market and Marketing Execution
Submitted by: DJ Monzyk. With over 20 years of marketing leadership across diverse sectors, DJ Monzyk excels in strategic discussions and hands-on execution. Notable for pioneering market and audience shifts, and increasing start-up valuations, his expertise extends across (ABSM) Account-Based Sales & Marketing creative/web, and team leadership. Currently diving deep applying AI to marketing, DJ continues his passion for learning as a VP of Marketing at KETIV Technologies, while operating his own consulting agency.

Session ID#:33 Don’t make the same mistakes! Mistakes with my startup that you can avoid.
Description: Learn from my mistakes. I’ll share several key mistakes I made when getting my startup running, and what you can do to avoid the same.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Product Strategy
Submitted by: Denise Williams. Denise brings over 25 years of Fortune 500 career experience taking progressive leadership roles in Sales, Operations, and IT. She is drawn to the ‘mess,’ and enjoys complex challenges requiring innovative approaches and committed execution. She pivoted in 2022 to become President of Real Document Solutions, a thriving SaaS platform supporting research and filing order management for Title Insurance, Banking and Law. www.realdocs.us https://www.linkedin.com/in/deniserehkemperwilliams

Session ID#:34 Q1 Review – How to Supercharge the Remaining Year for Your Success in Your Role
Description: Make the most of your career performance. Don’t wait until your annual performance review to set the course for your success – take the reigns now. What you can do to supercharge your success for 2024 and beyond. (Ideal for the Larger Company Employee)
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Personal Success in your Business Role
Submitted by: Denise Williams. Denise brings over 25 years of Fortune 500 career experience taking progressive leadership roles in Sales, Operations, and IT. She is drawn to the ‘mess,’ and enjoys complex challenges requiring innovative approaches and committed execution. She pivoted in 2022 to become President of Real Document Solutions, a thriving SaaS platform supporting research and filing order management for Title Insurance, Banking and Law. www.realdocs.us https://www.linkedin.com/in/deniserehkemperwilliams

Session ID#:37 Experience design as a product and category strategy
Description: Generative AI, disinformation, and more are making customers distrustful and distracted. Kevin Dulle and Dan Reus, two leaders in innovation and experience design, will help you try out some ways they help leaders figure out how to create products suited to break through in this digitally noisy age – relatable, authentic, and value-driving experiences.
Session Format: Roundtable Breakout
Category: Product Strategy
Submitted by: Kevin Dulle. Kevin Dulle has decades of experience helping companies in multiple industries use the customer experience to differentiate and add value. He’s Co-Founder of a global community of Experience Design professionals with a role of education, mentorship, and creative resource. With Dan Reus, his co-presenter, Kevin is launching Future of X (FoX) to help entire industries explore how to reinvent themselves for a rapidly changing world.

Session ID#:38 Delegating Decision Making – A technique to empower your product team
Description: This session will introduce a technique to delegate decisions to your product team so that they have clarity on what decisions they can make and don’t have to wait to discuss them with their team.
Session Format: Workshop
Category: Product Management/Development
Submitted by: Alex Basa. https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexbasa/

Session ID#:39 Practical Agility – Meeting the teams/organizations where they are at
Description: This session will go over best practices with agile that I have applied in the 5 agile transformations that I have helped lead
Session Format: Ask the Expert
Category: Product Management/Development
Submitted by: Alex Basa. https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexbasa/

Session ID#:40 Product Ideation to Development – Using Stage Gate with Limited Resources
Description: Are you are looking for an easy to use framework to develop new products and solutions with limited resources? I will share a case study on how I used a modified version of Stage Gate walking you through Ideation, Development, Commercialization and Launch Harvest Shreds, a novel plant-based protein. I will provide ideas and give examples for where and how to get valuable information about your customers, competitors, sales channels and key stakeholders. Harvest Shreds is now in more than a dozen restaurants, carried by Sysco and expanding into other geographic markets.
Session Format: Presentation
Category: Product Management/Development
Submitted by: Mark Engel. Classically trained CPG Marketer with deep experience in new product development. Work in both products and services with a focus on leveraging design thinking for delighting stakeholders with products that solve market problems. https://www.linkedin.com/in/markengel1/

Session ID#:41 Generative AI – Why should you care?
Description: Generative AI – such buzzword! But what is it? What can it do for you? Why should you care? In this session, we’ll talk about the benefits, the particularities, and the possible pitfalls of the technology that is slated to change the world!
Session Format: Presentation
Category: General Knowledge
Submitted by: Valeria Miranda. Passionate about too many things: my family, travelling, getting computers to think (and/or behave), getting my kids to behave (computers 1×0 kids), good food, and photography. 25+ years in various areas of IT taught me that turning it off and then back on can solve a lot of things in your personal and professional life. www.linkedin.com/valeriavmiranda

Session ID#:42 simplifying digital transformation: Harnessing the power of small habits for lasting success
Description: Too often we hear digital transformation discussed in high level, monolithic and intimidating ways. Digital transformations start with preparation, vision, and small changes that build over time. As product managers, we are in the center of driving the consistency and principles throughout ourselves, our teams, and throughout our organization.This session will consist of 15-20 minutes of content covering the mindset and habits that drive short terms momentum and lead to long term success when implemented consistently over time with the second half being group discussion discussing helpful habits that drive better outcomes in product teams.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Product Strategy
Submitted by: John Duisen. www.linkedin.com/in/john-duisen-17082130
I am a product leader currently working in Delivery Leadership at Slalom. I have held a number of product and program management roles over the past 10 years in CPG and Healthcare industries.

Session ID#:43 Are you as customer obsessed as you think?
Description: Are you as customer obsessed as you think? Do you want to be more focused on end users / customers but are unsure how to operationalize the way forward? Are you already passionate about keeping the customer in mind and want to hear how to nurture this further?Whether you have internal and/or external customers–join us for an interactive discussion on all things customer focused! Our session will illustrate how to become more user-centric & customer driven and how that positively impacts financial and non-financial business outcomes, such as:

  • Reducing costs by shipping software with less bugs & missed requirements
  • Boosting revenue (repeat purchases / software requests)
  • Increasing user satisfaction through customer-focused enhancements

Joe Wirth is co-presenting
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Product Lifecycle Mgmt
Submitted by: Jenny Anderson. Jenny is a Principal Consultant at Daugherty Business Solutions with 20+ years experience in IT and Business roles in Product Ownership, Product Management, Business Analysis, and Marketing Research. Her passion is connecting people and building strong, collaborative teams that deliver user-centered solutions. Contact: [email protected]

Session ID#:44 99 Problems but Discovery Ain’t One: Finding The Right Problems to Solve
Description: Everyone you talk with has an observation, opinion, pain point, or idea they feel would be a “game changer” for your product team. With so many opportunities and limited capacity, it’s hard for these teams to determine what the real problem is and which problems are worth solving.During this session, you will hear how BJC Healthcare approaches problem definition through discovery, orients high-performing teams around the problem, and empowers them to solve the most challenging problems facing their patients, nurses, and providers.
Session Format: Roundtable Breakout
Category: Opportunity Analysis
Submitted by: Alex Courtney. Head of Digital Product Management for BJC Healthcare and has experience in healthcare, financial, agricultural, and manufacturing industries with digital, agile, and product transformations.

Session ID#:45 Can I take your order? Transforming organizations from order takers to partners.
Description: What does the movie “Good Burger” have to do with product delivery?
Traditional order-taking IT doesn’t work. As shadow IT has proliferated and business stakeholders remain unsatisfied, attempts to “continuously improve” IT operations only serve to codify or optimize processes that are no longer relevant.
The solution: Transforming an organization by establishing cross-functional teams and giving them accountability and autonomy for the strategy, delivery, and support for a clearly defined problem space.In this session, we’ll explain how organizations can break down barriers with the business, shift from continuous improvement to true transformation, and unlock a different kind of governance by truly empowering teams to deliver on outcomes instead of executing on orders.
Session Format: Roundtable Breakout
Category: Product Strategy
Submitted by: Travis Duncan. Director of Design at BJC Healthcare. Formerly digital leader at Daugherty Business Solutions with experience in digital, agile, and product transformations

Session ID#:46 Ask a Professional Stalker: Unveiling the Secrets of UX Research (An AMA)
Description: Snoop into the secrets of UX research in this can’t-miss AMA! We’ll cram a crash course on research methods into 10 minutes then dive right into your burning questions. Whether you’re a product manager looking to step up your research game or just nosy about what happens behind the scenes, this session decodes the art of understanding users without being seen. Discover techniques to track behaviors, needs, and pain points, becoming a detective of the digital age. Turn observations into actionable strategies to make your products intuitive and user-centered. Join us to get the inside scoop on anticipating user needs before they’re expressed.
Session Format: Ask the Expert
Category: Product Strategy
Submitted by: Martha Valenta. Martha Valenta is a Product Manager with 16 years of experience in UX Strategy, Research, and Design. Understanding Users is her superpower. https://www.linkedin.com/in/marthavalenta/

Session ID#:47 Benefit Realization: Connecting Strategy to Execution
Description: Whether you are in a Scaled Agile environment (Safe) or a traditional project environment, executives need a reason to implement your ideas. This presentation will introduce Benefit Realization Management as a way to link your project’s benefits to the overall corporate strategy. We will cover specifics such as benefit types, benefit registers and benefit management. Finally, we will combine these into a visual map which can be used for executive presentation.
Session Format: Presentation
Category: Product Lifecycle Mgmt
Submitted by: Brian Collard. Brian has 15 years experience in managing strategic project portfolios for global organizations. He has a proven track record of success across multiple industries including finance, healthcare, and technology. Brian holds a degree in engineering, an advanced business degree, and is a former NPDP.http://www.linkedin.com/in/collardb

Session ID#:48 Leveraging AI in Product Management
Description: This session will discuss how AI tools and prompting techniques improved over the past year and are delivering amazing results for companies like WalMart. Then we will then capture audience input and follow a similar process to create a new physical product from scratch. The session will be broken into roughly three areas – using AI tools to identify new markets, generate surveys, and iterate visual prototypes.
Session Format: Presentation
Category: Product Strategy
Submitted by: Brian Collard. Brian has 15 years experience in managing strategic project portfolios for global organizations. He has a proven track record of success across multiple industries including finance, healthcare, and technology. Brian holds a degree in engineering, an advanced business degree, and is a former NPDP.linkedin.com/in/collardb

Session ID#:49 Unf*ck Your Portfolio Backlog
Description: In today’s dynamic business landscape, successful product management hinges on a keen understanding of customer needs and market dynamics. Storymapping emerges as an invaluable pre-investment tool, enabling smarter decision-making, more accurate resource allocation, and enhanced scope control. It serves as a catalyst to better align your entire organization, setting the stage for impactful, customer-centric product management. Use it his to unf*ck your portfolio backlog.Join me for a deep dive into the powerful concepts of storymapping and its role in revolutionizing product management practices, elevating your strategic prowess, and deciphering business case complexities.
Session Format: Presentation
Category: Product Strategy
Submitted by: Jamie Bernard. Jamie Bernard is a seasoned management consulting executive with over two decades of experience as an IT leader, boasting an extensive track record in both corporate and consulting environments. Recognized as a subject-matter expert in product management, digital transformation, program management, business architecture, and design thinking, Jamie’s expertise shines in deploying and scaling agile methodologies.

Session ID#:50 Undercover Networking – The Real Secret to Connections
Description: Discover the diverse cast of characters that populate networking events and unveil the hidden keys to forging meaningful connections. This interactive workshop decodes the art of networking, offering insights and strategies for success in any scenario. Whether you’re a social butterfly or a wallflower, there’s a role to play and a connection to be made. Join us as we explore the nuances of networking and uncover the secrets to building lasting, genuine relationships.
Session Format: Workshop
Category: Marketing Execution
Submitted by: Karen Fox. Karen Fox, a dynamic speaker, coach, and AI enthusiast transforms communication, empowering teams for authentic connections and impactful results. Recognized as a Top 100 St. Louisan by SBM and a Top 15 Coach by Influence Digest, Karen infuses passion, humor, and AI expertise into her work, guiding leaders and teams to unlock their true value, ensuring retention and productivity. Connect on LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/karenlfox and visit http://karentheconnector.com.

Session ID#:51 A plan to make STL a leader in Crime Reduction.
Description: We’ll discuss what it will take to reduce active crime as well as the root causes of urban crime, and what it will take for St. Louis to not only make tangible progress but to become a national leader. Bipartisan panel will include State Legislators and a police exec or leading prosecutor.
Session Format: Panel Discussion
Category: Civic
Submitted by: Mark Comfort. Republican Party leader and member of State Committee. Statewide leader for the leading Presidential campaign. Have run various Hackathon Events, including a Crime & Justice Hackathon as well as one on Vacant Buildings, an event which led to the STL Vacancy Collaberative, now a bit of a national model. Several small business successes and as National Marketing Manager. Veteran, with family in law enforcement.

Session ID#:52 Bespoke or Off-the-Rack: Should enterprises build or buy generative AI solutions
Description: A discussion of the considerations that enterprises should make when deciding how to incorporate generative AI technology into their product. Will an existing commercial solution suffice, or is it necessary to collect data and fine-tune a model?
Session Format: Presentation
Category: Product Strategy
Submitted by: Shanti Greene. Shanti is the AI and Innovation practice lead for Daugherty Business Solutions and founded the Innovation Hub. A passionate technologist, he has helped organizations transform their disorganized data into valuable insights for over two decades. His teams utilize leading-edge technologies to improve business outcomes in quantifiable ways. Shanti’s expertise extends to cloud and data engineering; having architected large-scale, cloud-first data solutions.

Session ID#:53 Sustainable Product, Sustainable You – From Vision to Profitability
Description: Sustainable products are a growth industry in our world today. However, having a dream for saving the earth needs to be backed up by a practical business plan and marketing strategy so that you EARN MONEY at the end of the day – we all need to pay our bills, and we deserve to be profitable with what we do. Terese Messman, founder of 25 year old Microfibers Unlimited and alumni of Apple Computer Inc. in the Steve Jobs era, has had demonstrated experience with learning how to turn an idea for a sustainable product into a profitable venture. A few basic principles can be translated to ANY entrepeneurial venture – because your product or service, and YOU, are a quality offering! After her presentation, we will open up for Q and A and invite comments and contributions from the audience.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Go-to-Market
Submitted by: Terese Messman. Terese began her career in sales and marketing as an educational specialist for Apple Computer, Inc., delivering sales training during the Steve Jobs Era. She is the founder of 25 year old Microfibers Unlimited, a sustainable cleaning import business. Through her coaching business, Inner Voice Empowerment, she delivers entrepreneurial coaching to clients wishing to pursue their passion and purpose with profitability. email [email protected] Linked in: Terese-Messman www.MicrofibersUnlimited.com

Session ID#:54 I’m developing an AI app, ask me the questions you’re scared to ask your dev team!
Description: Ever have a hard time taking to devs? How about grasping the tech lingo that is thrown out in a discussion? I’m a customer facing developer and I understand a lot of the pains you may be facing. Let’s have an open discussion to talk about ways to improve the process of getting requirements out of the customer and communicating them to the techies correctly and efficiently.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Product Management/Development
Submitted by: Josh Fischer. Josh Fischer is bootstrapping his own startup, Sipper.ai – an AI powered market research platform. Over the past few years he has been focused on designing resilient real-time architectures across enterprise organizations such as Monsanto, Mastercard, and Bayer. He is also a co-author of Grokking Streaming Systems – published by Manning Publications.

Session ID#:55
Elevating Team Dynamics: The Power of Effective Communication
Description: Join us as we illuminate the critical significance of effective communication within leaders and teams. Discover how language proficiency influences team dynamics, productivity, and overall success. Learn proven strategies to understand and enhance your communication skills. Uncover the transformative power of language to achieve desired outcomes and cultivate strong, cohesive teams. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to unlock the full potential of your team through the art of effective communication.
Session Format: Workshop
Category: Team Collaboration
Submitted by: Karen Fox. Karen Fox, a dynamic speaker, coach, and AI enthusiast, transforms communication, empowering teams for authentic connections and impactful results. Recognized as a Top 100 St. Louisan by SBM and a top 15 Coach by Influence Digest, Karen infuses passion, humor, and AI expertise into her work, guiding leaders and teams to unlock their true value, ensuring retention and productivity. Connect on LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/karenlfox and visit http://karentheconnector.com.

Session ID#:56 Herding Squirrels: How to Keep the product Team on Task
Description: Do you ever find that it seems you cover the same territory over and over depending upon who’s in the room, depending upon what lens you are looking through? Do you feel like perhaps there are some tools and ways this could work better? Does it seem like you are in fact chasing a bunch of squirrels around? In the session, we will talk about the challenges of how to remain collaborative and engaged.
Session Format: Workshop
Category: Team Collaboration
Submitted by: Lisa Bruce. Lisa Bruce advocates for human-centered products that meet business goals. She helps stakeholders embrace the why behind the what. Combining experience in research, strategy, and experience design, she’s works as a consultant helping clients in fintech, agriculture, healthcare, and higher education. Facilitation is her love language.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/lisafbruce

Session Categories

While it is not required that a session topic falls into one of the categories listed below, it’s a helpful guide for some of the topics that may be covered.

  • Opportunity Analysis (Market Research, Market Segmentation, Competitive Analysis, Business Case, Market Problems, etc.)
  • Product Strategy (Business Planning, Business Model, Whole Product, Roadmaps, Portfolio Planning, Partnerships, Resource Allocation, Sourcing/Supply Chain, Technology Assessment, etc.)
  • Requirements Definitions (MRD, PRD, BRD, Elicitation, Personas, Use Cases, Prioritization, UX, etc.)
  • Product Management/Development (Agile Processes, Beta Tests, Digital Product Management, Market Testing, Testing/QA, Offshore/Nearshore Dev, Prototyping, etc.)
  • Go-to-Market (Product Launch Plans, Product Launch Readiness, Market Strategy, Marketing Plan, Pricing, Positioning, Messaging, Channel Strategy, Sales Enablement, Licensing, Scaling, etc.)
  • Marketing Execution (Demand Gen, Events, PR, Advertising, Social Media, Marketing Collateral, Sales Tools, Sales Pipeline, Channel Mgmt, Marketing Metrics, SEO, international markets, etc.)
  • Product Lifecycle Mgmt (Customer Panels, Customer Engagement, Portfolio Analysis, Crossing the Chasm, Brand Mgmt, End-of-life, Divestment, Customer Retention, Repositioning, etc)
  • Prod Management Careers (PM 101, Team Management, Interviews, Roles Definitions, Small vs. Big Company, PM Tools, etc.)
  • Funding/Investors
  • Manufacturing-specific
  • IT-specific (software/cloud development)
  • Other

Session Formats

In general, the most enjoyed and talked about sessions are those that have been very interactive. That said, you can structure a session however you wish. To help align expectations of the session leader and participants, we offer a list of format descriptions. This list is intended to be a guide but not intended to be limiting, so feel free to be creative.

  • Town Hall – The leader presents a short (20-30 minute max) informative topic, open-ended question or premise and opens the floor for expansion, comment, questions and general discussion.
  • Roundtable Breakout – Similar to Town Hall, except that audience breaks out into small groups and typically shares findings, comments, or team responses with the room at the end of the session.
  • Workshop – In this format, the audience is actively involved, collectively or in groups, in an exercise or application of a technique or process which has been presented by the session leader. The description should mention the portion of the session spent in the exercise and what the attendees will produce. Proposers are encouraged to have knowledgeable assistants to help answer questions and support the exercise.
  • Panel Discussion – Popularly seen, this format has several people qualified to talk about the subject of the session, preferably from diverse or even counterpoint perspectives or roles. A moderator facilitates questions from the audience or a series of prepared questions for the panelists, but a significant part of the session is still interactive Q&A with the audience.
  • Ask the Expert – This format is most successful with a recognized authority on a subject of wide interest, or a direct participant in some particularly interesting event or phenomenon. The expert or a moderator introduces the topic and frames some appropriate discussion and then opens the floor for questions, including those that might be somewhat specific as long as they are applicable to more people than the individual questioner.
  • Presentation – Having already suggested that this traditional one-directional delivery is less popular among the ProductCamp community, there are some exceptional topics and presenters who can make this work. Session proposers are advised to consider this carefully and be honest in citing this format if it is actually what will be delivered.

For Session Leaders: Logistics

If you are proposing a session, and it gets chosen, then you should be prepared to lead the session. Here are some details to help you make sure you’re prepared. There will be computers and projectors in each room. You can either…

  • Bring your laptop or other device to present off of, along with any connectors you may need to hook up to a projector (especially for those with Mac laptops or tablets). Most rooms should have an HDMI connection and VGA connector.
  • Or, store your slides online using a service like DropBox or Google Drive and then use the computer in the room to your presentation from there.
  • Or, bring your slides on a USB drive and load them onto one of the computers in the room.
  • Or, more than one of the above. (Things do go wrong, after all.)

We will have volunteers on hand to help with A/V as needed, and we have tested all of the equipment out in advance. That said, it’s always a good idea to have a backup plan in case you can’t get your slides to present.  We’ll do the best we can to help, but no guarantees. If you need something specific, bring it with you; for example, if you want to play a video and want people to be able to hear it, we suggest bringing your own speakers.

The rooms will be set up “classroom style” with tables and chairs facing the front of the room, most likely in rows. For simplicity and logistics purposes, we won’t be able to accommodate other setups (e.g. arranging chairs into a circle). If you want to do something interactive, for example, you can ask people to pair up or get in small groups — that will be possible without moving furniture around, but we ask that you don’t move equipment or furniture otherwise.

If you have specific logistics questions, contact Sarah Ramrup.