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CS Week
| April 30 - May 4, 2018 | Tampa Convention Center | Tampa, FL
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Submissions for the 2018 CS Week Expanding Excellence Awards opened in mid-September. These coveted awards recognize and salute excellence in utility customer service and bring recognition to the dedication and customer-centric focus of today’s progressive utilities. Four award categories honor outstanding system implementations, projects, business process redesign and customer experience improvements completed during 2016 and 2017. Click the award titles below to read award descriptions and guidelines.
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Opened September 15, 2017 and Closes January 8, 2018
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As your company considers and submits this application, please remember CS Week will request photos, images, videos and visual documentation of your project or implementation to create winners’ videos that are shown at Thursday’s General Session. Award finalists are also recognized.
Click
VIDEOS
to view 2017 and even the past five years of winners’ videos.
For questions about CS Week Expanding Excellence Awards or the nomination process, email or call
Shelley Carter
at 903-821-8647 or
Lisa Collins
at 903-821-8675.
Utilities submitting an awards entry will receive a 50% discount on up to five Conference 42 registrations. Email or call
Julie Shankles
, Registration Manager at 903-821-8631 for information.
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Pulling Back the Curtain and Thanking Others
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Are you one of the millions who count
The Wizard of Oz
as a favorite movie? Do you agree this classic story endures as a cultural icon because of the self-awareness journeys these charming characters take and the appreciation each shares with life-lesson teachers along the Yellow Brick Road?
Self-awareness and crediting others are the nuggets of the mentoring book being planned by
Dave McKendry
, Director, Customer Service at Hydro Ottawa. McKendry aims to compile a book for future publication by CS Week Publishing. He wants to work with CS Week “authors” to recognize and thank teachers, coaches, relatives, work colleagues, bosses, neighbors and friends who have had positive (and sometimes not so positive) impacts on their professional and personal lives. Appreciating what a powerfully satisfying experience it was for him to reach out and thank his mentors, McKendry hopes these testimonies will reconnect CS Week “authors” with theirs “in the living years.” He knows CS Week attendees have stories and history to share that others will find instructive and inspirational.
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Think about the three questions in the yellow box:
A short survey has been designed to make participation easy. Click
Mentoring Survey to review and complete it. Dave is seeking submissions from CS Week attendees by
December 31, 2017.
Upon receipt of your submission, a CS Week auto-reply will be sent, thanking you and providing additional information and instructions. Every submission will be read and thoughtfully considered. Selected submissions will likely require follow up to answer questions or seek clarification. “Authors” will be asked to submit 3-5 photo images to supplement “their chapter.” A signed CS Week Consent Form will also be required from those whose submissions “make the cut.”
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For questions about this book or CS Week Publishing, contact
Lisa Collins
at
903-821-8675.
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Nomination Season Opens for LeadNext
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The inaugural LeadNext class began with Conference 41 in Fort Worth. This ten-member class is currently in the middle of its year-long agenda and will graduate with their conference attendance at Conference 42.
These past summer months have found LeadNext participants engaged with their executive coaches in monthly webinars focusing on the customer experience lifecycle. In September, Consolidated Edison and its SVP for Customer Operations Marilyn Caselli hosted the class and their coaches for a meeting at the utility’s New York City offices. Additional webinars are planned for fall and winter, and a second off-site meeting is forecast for February.
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Call for Nominations
Opens October 1, 2017 and Closes March 31, 2018
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The next LeadNext class, spanning CS Week 2018 and CS Week 2019, will begin its 12-month agenda in Tampa, FL and complete it in Phoenix, AZ.
If you are interested in participating in LeadNext, please review the
Program Overview
and the
Nomination Form
. An executive sponsor from your own utility is required. Utility professionals may self-nominate. For questions about this program, email or call
Lisa Collins
at 903-821-8675.
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Connecting the Dots:
CS Week Updates Its Media Kit
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Making connections and keeping in touch involves listening, learning, sharing. This fall, CS Week launches its updated on-line Media Kit, offering media partners, and potentially research companies, exciting opportunities to connect their readers with CS Week. The premiere customer service utilities conference in North America has many ideas to grow its presence in utility industry magazines, websites and blogs. We look forward to working closely with past and new media partners, including research companies, to spread the word about CS Week, its nine educational venues and the largest exhibit hall in the industry.
• What Do Others Say About Us?
• Why Partner with CS Week?
• How to Become a Media Partner
• Ways to Engage Before, During and After CS Week Conference
• CS Week Press Room Features
• Advertising Calendar
• Artwork and Specifications
• Contact Information
For more information, email
John Sild
or call him at 903-893-3214.
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"Working together, we scale higher, reach wider and drill deeper..."
- Rod Litke
CEO
CS Week
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A great performance demands an encore. 2017 Conference surveys submitted by attendees help identify stellar workshops that deserve a second showing.
That’s why CS Week Success Stories, also called 2T2 Webinars, are so popular. These encores allow those who could not attend CS Week (and those that want to see highly rated workshops again!) to log in, listen to, learn from and appreciate
significant programs and accomplishments
made by industry-leading utilities. This October webinar was originally presented in the Credit and Collections track.
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Presenter:
Ronnie Mendoza
Manager, Customer Solutions
Austin Energy
October 24, 2017
2:00 pm EST
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To register for this free offering, click
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Workshop Objectives:
• Learn techniques for integrating customer assistance programs with the utility and community advocates;
• Learn techniques for establishing a community network to leverage internal customer assistance programs;
• Better engage low income customers via specific assistance programs and educational community seminars.
Workshop Summary:
Austin Energy provides “wrap-around” services to its residential customers. By offering not just one solution, such as weatherization, to meet customer needs, AE provides a comprehensive suite of customer-centric solutions that includes education, customer discounts and case management. Additionally, each customer assistance program (CAP) is evaluated annually both by customers as well as by the community partners who form our network. AE uses this feedback to continually improve its program offerings, resulting in a better customer experience and increased customer satisfaction. AE will discuss how it has leveraged the efficacy of its assistance programs by partnering with community agencies to help connect CAP customers with available community programs. Through these community partnerships, AE has streamlined the process for identifying the appropriate community resources available to our CAP customers, resulting in low customer effort and increased customer satisfaction.
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Attendee Registration and Hotel Reservations Open in November 2017
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A wise person once wrote, “The early bird catches the worm.” That maxim also applies to venue registering and reserving hotel accommodations for CS Week 2018. In mid-November, visit
www.csweek.org and click the
REGISTRATION tab to get the best venue prices and your choice of three designated hotels nearby the Tampa Convention Center:
• Embassy Suites Tampa
• Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel – Site of CS Week’s Executive Summit and Key Account Forum
• Westin Tampa Waterside – Site of CS Week’s ENGAGE311
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CS Week proudly repeats its discount offer to provide utilities a cost-saving way to send multiple attendees. To quality, utilities must register all attendees on the same date. Learn more by contacting
Julie Shankles
, Registration Manager or call her at 903-893-3214 or directly at 903-821-8631, Monday – Friday, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm CST.
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Group Registration Rates
20% Discount: 3 - 5 attendees
30% Discount: 6 - 10 attendees
40% Discount: 11 + attendees
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2018 CS Week Sponsorship and Exhibitor Opportunities Available
One hundred fifty-seven vendors exhibited at the CS Week 2017 Exhibit Hall, representing every aspect of the customer experience lifecycle. Exhibitors and sponsors appreciate the sales and marketing benefits that result from their commitment to support and show at the utility industry’s premiere customer service conference. In fact, 116 vendors were repeaters and 41 were new exhibitors, all bringing their best game along with new products and services and a genuine willingness to listen, learn and be resourceful to hundreds of utility attendees
Besides the showroom, the Exhibit Hall hosts receptions, lunches and invitation-only consultations/demonstrations, all opportunities for vendors and attendees to meet, compare utility needs with marketplace solutions and discuss services and strategies. Lounges and Wi-Fi stations are advantageously located so attendees can catch up with emails while resting tired feet.
Vendors, when allocating your 2018 marketing dollars, remember the value of CS Week sponsorship and exhibiting. Watch for emails broadcasting 2018 sponsorship and exhibiting opportunities in September and October.
CLICK HERE
to view the 2018 Exhibitor/Sponsor Prospectus.
For questions, contact
Gail Farmer
, Exhibitor/Sponsor Manager or call her at 903-893-3214 or 903-821-8623.
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On the Lookout for New Members
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CS Week Research is an association of companies conducting benchmarking studies to identify the best practices surrounding customer service issues that improve the overall operations of the member’s business operations.
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bench·mark
ˈben(t)SHmärk
Noun
1. a standard or point of reference against which things may be compared or assessed.
synonyms: standard, point of reference, gauge, guide, guideline, guiding principle, norm, touchstone, yardstick, barometer, indicator, measure, model, exemplar, pattern, criterion, specification, convention
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Progressive utilities regularly engage in benchmarking activities as a key business activity. They recognize the value of reporting and sharing information about business metrics, key performance indicators (KPIs) and day-to-day operations. By participating in benchmarking, utilities help themselves gauge business effectiveness, compare costs and evaluate opportunities for process redesign, among other benefits.
Fourteen utilities are current members of CS Week Research. Each year they complete and submit an annual Benchmark Study and meet to discuss its outcomes and results the day after CS Week Key Account Forum concludes. Venue executive Mark Wyatt facilitates this half-day event.
Interested in learning more? Recognize the benefits of becoming a member? Contact
Shelley Carter
at 903-821-8647 to request a CS Week Research brochure or to ask questions about joining this by-member-only association.
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Missed Getting Your Copy?
Many attendees at CS Week Conference 41 took advantage of the special offer at CS Week Publishing’s Exhibit Hall booth where Penni McLean-Conner, Senior Vice President, Customer Group and Chief Customer Officer for Eversource Energy, personalized her third book, Profiles in Excellence: Utility Chief Customer Officers. Though the personalization offer won’t be available again until the 2018 Conference, you can still order hard copies or e-books from
Amazon
or
Barnes & Noble
.
Read how McLean-Conner features eight all-star executives and shares their successful stories of building and sustaining customer-centric organizations at major US and Canadian utilities:
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·
Marilyn Caselli of Consolidated Edison
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Carol Dillin of Portland General Electric
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Greg Dunlap of Public Service Electric & Gas
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Joanne Fletcher of Burbank Water and Power
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· Gregg Knight of CenterPoint Energy
· Mike Lowe of Salt River Project
· Dave McKendry of Hydro Ottawa
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Joe Trentacosta of Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative
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For questions about CS Week Publishing or to order a bulk quantity of books, contact
Lisa Collins
, Educational Director at 903-821-8675.
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Tampa Convention Center, located on Florida’s beautiful, balmy west coast, is the site for CS Week 2018. With average daily high temperatures in the mid-80’s and lows at night in the 60’s during the months of April-May, Tampa promises to be a great conference destination where educational and networking treasures await attendees.
Perhaps you can arrange your schedule to arrive early or stay beyond Conference 42. Acquaint yourself with the local color of Tampa and see its recreational, cultural, sports and historical offerings. Start making plans today! Conference registration and hotel sites open online in November.
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For the latest news and updates, follow CS Week on social media and
visit our website
.
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CS Week e-News is an information-packed newsletter sent at the beginning of each month, formatted so you can access the information you want immediately, scan other topics and check upcoming dates. We encourage you to share this information with a colleague, and your suggestions are welcome at
info@csweek.org
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