What do pickled pepper tea sandwiches, peepholes, and publishing tech have in common? They all played a surprising role in one of the most energizing, inspiring, and downright fabulous weeks of my career.
Last week, we brought together our community for Darwin CX’s first-ever Global User Conference in New York City—and I’m still bubbling over from the experience.
We laughed. We learned. We listened. We packed rooms with passionate customers, forward-thinking partners, and publishing pros who aren’t afraid of a little transformation.
And yes… the pickled pepper tea sandwiches changed my life. (Leena Birtch, you knew.)
From unforgettable insights to unexpected snacks, it was a week full of magic—and we’ll be sharing all the big takeaways in an upcoming blog. Until then...
Even antique car buffs know that if you're driving daily, you need modern features. Tom Jenkins, reminded us, the same goes for your tech stack.
Adopting modern technology can feel a bit like getting a backup camera—exciting, promising, and a little disorienting at first. You want it, you know it’ll make life better, but you still catch yourself craning your neck for a while. That’s human. It takes time to break old habits and build trust in new tools. The catch? Our expectations of technology have never been higher—and our patience has never been shorter.
Hyperscalers like AWS are constantly evolving, delivering near-infinite scalability, world-class security, and global performance at speed. Most platforms, even the ones you think of as “modern,” are still built on legacy foundations. If your platform isn’t innovating at hyperscale, it’s already falling behind.
We heard from several publishers whose brands have been around for more than a century. Their secret? Every brand interaction matters. Every. Single. One.
That was reinforced for me after the event when I had a not-so-great customer experience with a brand I usually like. They tried to fix it by giving me something free. It helped… kind of. But let’s be real: comping a bad meal doesn’t always make you want to come back. Great service recovery helps, but it’s not a reset button. So, if you're playing the long game, make every touchpoint count.
Apparently, I missed the memo. The London Review of Books turned their tote bag into an unexpected business juggernaut. Publisher Renée Doegar called it a “happy accident,” but let’s not underestimate the setup.
You don’t get lucky if you never take the shot. Had LRB not made a tote bag, they’d have missed a major opportunity. So, revisit that shower idea you had last week—it might just be a six-figure winner. (As the great one once said: you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.)
Halfway through the conference, the production team and I realized something that changed our lives—okay, our event lives. We were struggling to time speaker transitions through a backstage door, squinting through the crack like secret agents. Then, three speakers in, we noticed a peephole. A literal peephole. The solution had been right in front of us the whole time.
It’s a great reminder: sometimes the fix is simpler than we think… we just have to stop and see it.
If you were there, you witnessed my battle with microphones. I felt like Goldilocks. First the stationary mic—too limiting. Then the handheld—too awkward. Finally, the lav mic—just right.
The takeaway? Don’t give up after one try. In marketing, we call it “no one-and-done.” Test. Tweak. Try again. The third attempt might just be the one that clicks.
Abi Spooner, I love this example and am stealing it. Focus your message on the benefits, not the features of your product. Often, we think that the benefit is implied. For example, how many times have you seen a company talk about how their product enables automation—requiring you to fill in the blanks as to the value that automation provides? We know that automation saves us time, takes the guesswork out of what to do, and reduces the margin for error… but we have to say it.
And let’s be real, laundry is no fun. We don’t want to do it. But we also don’t want our 12-year-old to be called the smelly kid at school. At the end of the day, that is what motivates us—not the High Efficiency, Eco-Friendly, Unscented washing powder.
So, as you put together your next campaign copy, don’t just sell on price—because that’s a race to the bottom. Sell on value. Don’t forget price is what you pay, value is what you get.
This conference was designed to teach—but more importantly, to listen. And while not everyone can throw a user conference, there are ways to hear your customers without asking them directly.
Engagement is a language. Are they scrolling? Clicking? Sharing your content? Are they not showing up when they used to? These “silent signals” are loud if you know how to listen. Tools like Darwin CX help you translate those signals into insights—and insights into action.
Our first global user conference was just the beginning. The conversations we had, the insights we gained, and the energy we felt reaffirmed something we’ve always believed: the best ideas come from our customers. As your businesses continue to grow, shift, and modernize, we’re evolving right alongside you—building smarter tools, enabling bolder strategies, and helping you future-proof your operations.
We can’t wait to host our next event and keep this momentum going. Until then, thank you for being part of the journey—we’re just getting started.
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