man with his shadow
Ask the right questions and you can uncover a lot. PHOTO: Ryan McGuire

To really get to know someone, you don't bother asking about education or experience. No, to quickly gather enough information to decide just how well you can relate to someone on a deeply human level, you have to ask a deep and meaningful question.

Like what three songs are on your fantasy playlist. Or tell me about your favorite meal. Or what was your first job and how did it prepare you for what you do today.

And then some amazing things start to happen.

'Can I Have a Mango?'

For instance, you may be talking to, oh, I don't know, let's say Mark Floisand, the Chief Marketing Officer at Coveo. 

And after giving you two really killer song suggestions for his playlist, he pushes it over the top by adding Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody ... "because it's long and I can sing karaoke to it."

Instantly you know. 

Unlike the popular meme that warns to run as fast as you can from anyone that refuses to sing in at least a few weird voices while Bohemian Rhapsody is playing (because you don't want that kind of negativity in your life), this is a man you really need in your life.

Vegetables and the Dalai Lama

Forrester analyst Cinny Little may deal with complexity on a daily basis, but she has simple tastes in food. Fresh vegetables, anyone? 

Dieter Reichert, ‎CEO at censhare, got "fired from school" at 15 — and used it as an opportunity to spend time with the Dalai Lama in India and indigenous people in South America.

Those are just a few of the facts we uncovered by asking sponsors and attendees some random, curve ball queries at our DX Summit this week in Chicago.

Stairway to Heaven. Hobby Lobby. Top Gun. And yes, Aqua Man. 

Take a look at the following video for some curious insights about Floisand, Little, Reichert and 12 more: Scott Kush, Northeast Regional Sales Director at e-Spirit; Kentico Software VP Eric Webb; Steve Trimbo, Global Omnichannel Practice Manager at Dynatrace; Customer Carewords CEO Gerry McGovern; Vab Dwivedi, Director of Site Optimization and Research at Dell; Dan ‎Moriarty, Digital Director at the Chicago Bulls; Digital Strategist and Futurist Brian Solis; Jahia founder and CEO Elie Auvray; OpenText Senior Customer Evangelist Alan Porter; Siteworx VP James Landrum; Oracle Social Cloud VP Mike Strutton; Tom Wilde, Chief Product Officer at Cxense; and Scott Brinker, ‎co-founder and CTO of ion interactive.