Voice Summit 2019 — my top takeaways
It’s now been 2 weeks since the whirlwind that was Voice Summit 2019. An event that saw thousands of attendees, hundreds of speakers, and countless vendors, platforms, providers, brands and general voice top dogs converge on Newark for a jam-packed 3 days. Wow.
Not only were we very busy connecting with clients and partners from around the world, but the team was up on stage numerous times during the week. Vixen Labs CEO James Poulter opened Day 2 with his keynote speech, Expert in Residence Frank Radice featured on 2 panels discussing the role of voice for media and broadcast, and I graced the stage no less than 4 times in 3 days (phew!).
With 280 sessions running during the summit, there was a phenomenal wealth of information, insight and news shared on both where the industry is right now, but also looking ahead to the potential for 2020 (have a look at JP’s excellent 3-point forecast for voice next year for more).
However, it’s not the stats and figures that have stuck in mind now I’m back at my desk in London, but rather some broader themes and observations from my week in Newark. So here are my (very) personal takeaways from Voice Summit 2019.
1. The specialisation of voice
As an overarching note, there is indeed a rapidly increasing recognition that to include voice as a truly engaging channel for your brand — one that creates a valuable and strategic interaction with audiences — then this demands a deeply integrated and specialist expertise*.
But what really struck me at Voice Summit was the growing emergence of specialisms within voice.
Developers, analytics, strategists, designers, engineers, UT, IOT, infrastructure and platform providers… Looking out over the bustling expo area, not to mention the vast array of people I met, it was incredible to see the variety of disciplines coming together as a constellation of expertise.
To me this confirms not only the dynamism and pace that voice is growing and maturing as an industry, but also promises a diverse spectrum of job opportunities in the field. In the coming years, voice will be no different to the wider digital landscape, with a network of specialist players coming together to deliver 360 solutions for clients.
Now, whether or not we will encounter the same frenzied spending spree as when the big agency groups fought to gobble up the independent advertising/social/SEO/design agencies over the last 5–10 years and bring this network capability in house, is yet to be seen.
2. The growing discussion (and concern) over ethics, diversity and bias
Without a doubt, one of my absolute highlights of was as a participant on the day 2 main stage panel, Addressing Bias in Artificial Intelligence and Voice Assistants. A huge topic and one that’s without question gaining coverage (and quite rightly so). Go back even one year and the difference in the transparency and rigour of the conversations that are being had on this subject is remarkable.
It’s clear that there is a lot to be done. Bringing the discussion to the table is one thing, but engaging in direct, clear and ambitious action to address bias is of course quite another. However, in both our pre-panel discussions and on stage, my co-panelists and I all agreed that we are reaching the inflection point where positive change can happen.
Core to much of our discussion was the question of addressing bias at the root, at the point where the systems are designed and trained. As I’ve already mentioned, there’s an early burgeoning of job opportunities in voice, but with this growth comes the crucial call for diversity within the teams working on them.
These systems are not created in some other universe. There is always a human behind the wheel. It’s all too easy to create a sense a distance, but in reality what we train the systems with and what we design to exist on them is a choice, our choice. The cogs turn by our hands.
If we do not understand and address the biases of those creating VAs and the experiences that are consumed through them, ensuring a diversity of social and linguistic backgrounds, cultural understandings and EQ at this root level, then we cannot create an ethical and inclusive system.
And this covers every aspect of the voice ecosystem, it not just down to the data scientists. Yes, of course the inherently biased data sets sitting at the heart of ML and AI at large must be challenged, but also the consumer segmentation, profiling and design of the skills and actions that are joining the voice ecosystem play a crucial part. We must learn from the errors of advertising. Designers and strategists, you cannot turn away from that responsibility.
I’ll be posting in more detail on the panel discussion, but it gives me hope and pride for the voice industry that practitioners are paying attention and trying to find a constructive and effective way forward to an inclusive future.
3. The Community
Overall I think my greatest takeaway from Voice Summit was the international voice community itself.
I had the opportunity to meet and talk with a powerfully collaborative, multi-disciplinary group of industry leaders who, together across companies and platforms, are raising the standard and ambitiously pushing voice forward on every front.
As part of the Women in Voice global leadership I was able to finally connect with my colleagues from East Coast to West, from Israel to France, sharing insights and learnings in frank and exciting discussions (special shout out to WiV founder Joan Palmiter Bajorek). More ideas were hatched with our partners at Earplay, not to mention many other BTS plans and plots (to be revealed in the months to come!).
I had the chance to meet VUX legend Cathy Pearl, and share a panel with Microsoft Cortana Co-Founder Ed Doran and diversity champion, Noelle LaCharite. I debated emotional intelligence and design with old friend Sina Kahen and new VUX BFF Greg Hedges from RAIN agency. I met more inspiring and engaging people in 3 days that I could ever list out here…
And yeah, maybe I am being a tad sentimental, but I really do believe it’s this network, this community of incredibly passionate and talented people, who are going to ensure voice fulfils its phenomenal potential — commercially, creatively, scientifically and ethically.
Can’t wait to see you all next year 💫
*Interested in finding out how Europe’s leading voice strategy consultancy and design studio could help your brand deliver in the voice first landscape?
Get in touch at info@vixenlabs.co or take advantage of our August offer of 10% off workshops booked in August: https://www.vixenlabs.co/voice19
