CMS Kickoff 25 Program

Held at the James in St. Pete on Jan 14 - 15

The conference is tailored for everyone working with content management systems, from beginners to experts, and features 2 packed days with a carefully curated mixture of talks, workshops, activities and world class facilitators, thought-provokers, speakers and session leads.

Unlike many other conferences, this one is not about speakers talking endlessly about their own work.
On Day #1 we set the stage with lightning talks, reflections, thought-provoking perspectives and close with live demos of emerging tech.
On Day #2, we’ll focus on fewer talks and cross industry working groups to really tackle the thorny issues and make progress together. Rather than being talked at, this is your conference for active participation and talking to your peers.
Throughout the two days, we enjoy the museum, good meals and quality conversations in a relaxed atmosphere optimized for learning and networking.

Some speakers have shared their slides with us and you can find them below at their session.

Program

Tuesday, January 14

9:00 - 9:30: Breakfast and registration

9:30 - 9:40: Welcome & Opening feat.:

- Emily Kapes, Curator of Art at The James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art
- Our hosts Janus Boye, Boye & Co & Matt Garrepy, CMS Critic

In this opening session, Matt Garrepy from CMS Critic will lead a conversation with Nicole France on what we need to know for 2025.

Nicole works as Evangelist, Director of Content at Contentful.

With a background as an analyst with both Gartner and Constellation Research, she’s also been almost 6 years with Fujitsu and worked in both the US and Europe.

A graduate of UC Berkeley, Nicole enjoys the outdoors, flying small planes, and embarking on yet another house project in her spare time.

After the expert opening, we’ll go straight to hearing lightning talks from three practitioners, starting with one of our local practitioners

If you're a content professional, you've likely spent much of your career focused on how to govern the accuracy and quality of content. As GenAI has entered our collective corporate consciousness, our content is now under a microscope.

Business leaders are now recognizing how important good content is to enabling an effective GenAI experience for employees. Getting content governance right, especially in large organizations, takes lots of people, rigorous processes, clear roles and responsibilities and accountability.

Content is the cornerstone of a great user experience, crafted with immense effort by skilled professionals and tailored to the brand as well as technology.

When it becomes time for a technology change or upgrade how can content migration become an opportunity not a chore?

Nick will discuss the how AI can support migrating content at scale, analysing, adapting and modernising with speed and accuracy. 

Makram is among the most experienced practitioners when it comes to experimentation. Hear more about his cutting edge work on:

• Going from macro-audience experiences to individualized experiences. How AI is helping advance hyper-personalization

• How to QA/UAT all the hyper-personalized experiences before launch?

• Moving from website search and sales/support chatbots into a Concierge AI Assistant

• À-la-carte Personalized Pricing and Bundles

10.45 - 11:15 Coffee & networking

Many CMS products are moving toward solutions that allow content authors to create new fields and components as they go in a visual page editor.

It may seem like the exact solution for those looking for an easy-to-use CMS. But does this solution live up to the promise of creating structured, reusable content?

AI still gets all the hype here at the beginning of 2025.

But there are many non-AI exciting and profound new technologies in the world of web development that should be on your radar, including:

• Speculation Rules

• Islands Architecture

• Web Awesome

• React Server Components

• Durable Objects

• Bonus 6th topic

The next evolution of web development is coming and in this Justin will give you the tech update, so that you are equipped to look beyond AI for 2025.

Finding the truth can be tricky these days. This session dives into how we've trusted printed and digital media over time and into the age of AI.

• What are the new challenges we face as content system vendors and professionals?

• Whose job is it to make sure the truth is out there?

• How can we better provide first sources on our front-ends in an increasingly composable internet?

We'll look at how platforms like Google and social media shape our view of truth and the impact of AI-generated content.

More details coming soon

12:30 - 1.00 Lunch

1.00 - 2.00 Touring the James Museum with its spectacular modern and historic works of art that evoke the spirit of a wide-open frontier and the beauty of life in the American West.

More details coming soon

Contrary to the name, Content Management Systems are rarely used to manage content.

Most organisations use CMS as a content-entry tool, while the “management” part is often orchestrated using email, Excel and Word. That’s not scalable, nor efficient.

In this session, we will take a look at missing pieces of content governance and how CMS can/should support these. We will also explore areas where AI can help automate content governance in large-scale content operations.

As the content management landscape continues to grow, so do the security challenges organizations face. Cybercriminals are increasingly using AI-driven techniques and publicly available information to target vulnerabilities.

In this session, we'll explore the real-world threats organizations are encountering today—from insider risks and social engineering to malware—and share the practical lessons we've learned in mitigating these risks.

You’ll leave with valuable insights on how to strengthen their content management systems and adapt to the evolving security landscape.

3:30 - 3.45 Coffee and tea

More details coming soon

Search has grown beyond a simple tool to become a critical component of effective digital experiences. For digital leaders, it plays a vital role in helping users find the right content, delivering on their expectations, and maintaining a competitive edge in an increasingly complex digital landscape.

In this session, Sameer will explore:

• The Evolving Role of Search: Why search is now the front door to your content and how user expectations are shifting.

• The Complexity of Content Search: What makes content search uniquely challenging and why it requires specialized expertise to get it right.

• The Power of Partnerships: How CMS vendors and others in the wider MarTech ecosystem are partnering with SearchStax to enhance scalability, functionality, and user experience—featuring real-world examples from Terminalfour and Acquia.

Join us to uncover why search is not only integral to your CMS strategy but also one of the most complex challenges to solve—and how partnerships and technology can bridge the gap.

This session explores the transformation of consumer engagement in the digital era with a Connected CMS. Discover how GS1 Digital Links, 2D barcodes, and dynamic digital product passports unlock new touchpoints and foster brand loyalty.

Using examples from leading brands, the session underscores the importance of aligning packaging with digital transformation to meet evolving consumer demands and how you can generate millions of customer-centric, personalized web pages targeted explicitly at individual product serial numbers.

The content platform at TELUS is a complex combination of process and tools, constantly evolved and improved over the last 7 years.

Following up on major observability, composability and governance improvements in 2024, Seb will outline the complexities and challenges that still exist at TELUS’ scale, and the team’s plans to tackle those challenges in 2025.

4.45 - 5.00 Coffee & networking

5.00 - 6.00 CMS Idol 2025

Help crown the next (and first) “2025 CMS Idol”! In this fast-paced, entertaining competition, contestants will have 6 minutes to showcase their system and try to win your vote.

If you like short demos, pithy commentary, and expert analyses, then look no further. This is the session for you. You'll hear thoughts from an expert panel of judges, but it's up to you to decide the winner.

Contestants:

• Agility CMS

• Kajoo

• Kontent.ai

• Pantheon

• Squiz

• TYPO3

6.30 - 10:00 Social event

Everyone is invited to join us for an informal dinner.

We’ll also announce the CMS Idol winner and even do a CMS Experts Quiz!

Venue: Voodoo Brewing Co, 220 4th St N, St. Pete

Wednesday, January 15

7:00 Morning Run

We met in front of the James for a relaxed 25 minute run

9:00 - 9:30 Breakfast and networking

9:30 - 10.00: Welcome to Day #2 by Janus Boye and Matt Garrepy

Key insights from Day #1, we divide into working groups to tackle the big issues for 2025, including

• Building a business around CMS in 2025 with Karla Santi

• How do you future proof content with many different content platforms? with Marc Salvatierra

• How do we build accuracy and trust with AI? — Mike Spenceley

• How is search changing? Expectations and opportunities — Sameer Maggon

• Understanding and adapting to the limits of your CMS tooling with Seb Barre

• What is MACH / composable really and when / when not to do it — Mark Demeny

• What are the barriers to integrate open source composable with productized composable — Karim Marucchi

• Who is a CMS really for? with Carrie Hane

10:00 - 11.00: Working groups - join a key topic, contribute and help shape the future of the industry

11.00 - 11.20 Coffee & networking

11:20 - 12.15: Working groups continued - join a key topic, contribute and help shape the future of the industry

12:15 - 12.30: Brief presentations of progress, blockers, call for participation to move forward

12.30 - 1.30 Lunch

1:30 - 2.15: Last round of progress in the working groups

A brief interactive wrap-up of the two days. Join us for key lessons learned, big questions for 2025 and what happens next. Matt will moderate a conversation with:

• Carrie Hane

• Karli Santi

• Nicole France

2.45 - 3:00 Goodbyes and see you next year!