Forward Fest 2026

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10:00am CDT

Design Workshop: Building a New Knowledge Stack

LIMITED

Tuesday August 18, 2026 10:00am - 12:00pm CDT

State Line Distillery @ 1413 Northern Ct, Madison, WI 53703, USA

Limited Capacity seats available

Why Workshop a new knowledge stack?

In 2026, most teams are stuck in a loop of under-delivering on what AI promises for the future.

Teams don't have a tool problem, we are playing around with a beginners mindset.
Teams have a fuel problem, we are limited by what the tools need to truly shine.

If you've heard:
🥔 "This help center is a (maintenance) mess"
😖 "My team is burning out answering the same 5 questions"
💸 "Our customer support is is too expensive / too reactive"
📈 "We need a more sustainable way to scale"

Make your fuel work:
• Your fuel is unstructured data,
Conversations and natural language are messy.
• Your resources, docs, knowledge articles, blog posts are duplicative or inconsistent
Which makes machines who regurgitate your stuff "hallucinate" through its' confusion.
• Meanwhile search tools have evolved into chatbots
Proving this moment of organizational change is led by technology.

If you're asking for help - you don't want someone who is messy and hallucinating.

Amidst this we all know
• We are beginners, learning.
• We have the answers, we have the know-how.

My work focuses on the rigorous practice for teams to share what we collectively know - if we don't then we won't be able to scrape anything useful together to feed the AI future.

This session is for leaders to:
Take a breath
and join others in finding better ways to work (with AI).

AGENDA

10:00 AM Welcome and Overview
Knowledge-as-a-service, Knowledge-Centered Service (KCS©) methodology and it's various applications.

10:30 AM Share your Story
We all have a (customer service) story to share - some good, some bad, and some extremely ugly. We'll share experiences from the real life and I'll share some gems from my time with over 100+ different customer service teams.

BREAK

11:00 AM Design Workshop
Participants will sketch their "2026 Knowledge Stack", creating a physical ARTifact to bring back into everyday operations.
With any luck, this session will inspire participants to build better service through designing and future-proofing your organization's knowledge.

12:00 PM Lunch:
Join an optional lunch nearby with your fellow participants to reflect together and enjoy the outdoors in beautiful Madison, Wisconsin.

LOCATION:
Hybrid
• Virtual on zoom
• In person @ State Line Distillery - staff will be around to pour drinks.

QUESTIONS:
Contact Christina Libs at any time.

About Christina Libs:
Christina improves accessibility and reusability in organizational operations. She is a fractional knowledge systems program manager for enterprise businesses. She's open to project-based contracts for any small (5-50) teams supporting large customer bases (100s-1000s+). She is a KCS® certified practitioner ♻️, ex-Zendesk Engagement Manager and Manager of Proactive and Automated Support 💚, ex-Epic Implementation Services and Post Go Live Support Program Manager ❤️, and UIUC Graduate in Communication and Sociology 🎓. She lives in Madison, Wisconsin and loves to 🌱 🏒 🥏 🏄‍♂️.

Event Organizers

Christina Libs

Knowledge Strategy Consultant, Service Knowledge Operations

Questions? Contact Christina Libs at any time.
About Christina Libs:
Christina improves accessibility and reusability in organizational operations. She is a fractional knowledge program manager for enterprise businesses. She's open to project-based contracts for any small (5-50) teams supporting large customer bases (100s-1000s+). She is a KCS... Read More →

Tuesday August 18, 2026 10:00am - 12:00pm CDT
State Line Distillery 1413 Northern Ct, Madison, WI 53703, USA

Ticketed, Hybrid (Design Workshop)

Category Arts, Tech / Software, General, Customer Service, Knowledge Work
Interaction Type Workshop

10:30am CDT

Is the Government Your Next Growth Customer?

LIMITED

Tuesday August 18, 2026 10:30am - 12:30pm CDT

Recovery.com (8th floor cafe) @ 316 W Washington Ave 8th floor, Madison, WI 53703, USA

Limited Capacity seats available

A practical workshop for Wisconsin founders deciding whether government sales can become a real growth channel — and which path to pursue first.

Agenda:
The Wisconsin Opportunity Map
What Wisconsin companies already sell to the government, including defense manufacturing, food/ag, healthcare, logistics, construction, technology, and professional services.

The Founder Decision Tree
Should you pursue direct federal contracts, subcontracting, prime-supplier channels, SBIR/STTR, state/local contracts or hold on government contracting for now?
Government Revenue Fit Canvas

A hands-on exercise to map your customer, end user, buyer, funding source, channel partner, compliance gaps, and next test.

The Readiness Check
What you need before pursuing this channel: customer fit, delivery capacity, compliance, registrations, certifications, working capital, insurance, cybersecurity, and sales-cycle tolerance.

How Deals Actually Happen
A candid conversation with a founder/operator, prime or supply-chain buyer, procurement expert, and capital provider.

90-Day Action Plan
Each founder identifies one target customer segment, one likely entry path, three next steps, and one thing not to waste time on yet.

Event Organizers