Companies that encourage their HEROes – the label Josh Bernoff and Ted Schadler apply to highly-empowered and resourceful employees whose experiments and innovations on customers’ behalf result in extraordinary customer service – reap the benefits.

That’s the subject up for discussion on the next FIR Live with the co-authors of Empowered, the follow-up to the hugely popular Groundswell. The show, which you’re encouraged to be part of by calling in or participating in the live chat room, is set for Saturday October 9, 2010, at 10am Pacific, 1pm Eastern and 6pm UK.

Josh Bernoff is the co-author of the BusinessWeek bestseller Groundswell, the "best book ever written on marketing and media" (Advertising Age), and is senior vice president, idea development, at Forrester Research.

Ted Schadler is a vice president and principal analyst in Forrester’s IT Research Group. His work over 13 years at Forrester has focused on disruptive technologies and how senior decision-makers should harness them.

As always with FIR Live, you can be part of the discussion by calling in to +1 347 324 3723 (use Skype for low-cost call rates) to ask a question or share your views, or by commenting in the chat room. If you just want to listen, you can also log in online at BlogTalk Radio.

On the day of the show, you’ll need to log in to BlogTalk Radio in order to participate in the chat room.

Join us for what promises to be a stimulating discussion!

(Cross-posted from For Immediate Release, Shel’s and my podcast blog.)