NOVEMBER 2020 EDITION
There’s an old adage, “You never have a second chance to make a first impression.” Regardless of who said it, we here at CS Week strongly agree. As you begin reading this eNews edition, we want our first impression to be one of thankfulness. We are grateful for your loyalty, your patience to try different formats, your unwavering dedication in sharing innovative ways to enhance your CX and your operations’ ability to deliver them. We are mindful of your willingness to come with us on your professional and personal journey of growth.

2020 has brought disruption, distraction and fractiousness. Who could have predicted…
  • That the COVID-19 pandemic would seize the world and not let go, causing untold suffering and death, economic devastation, social disruption, work-/school-from-home as the norm, business upheaval, closed churches, travel and hospitality industry freezes and cultural impacts like masks and social distancing requirements? 
  • That the US presidential campaign and election would pit two septuagenarians with vastly different backgrounds and governing approaches to the highest office in the land?
  • That cities around the world, large metropolitan centers, suburbs and rural towns, would be racked with social unrest, violence and property destruction?

In these times, CS Week, like you, is listening to the inputs, pivoting based on available information and finding ways to adapt. Because we appreciate our history together, we will continue to make best decisions to continue our mission.

We are excited to plan CS Week 2021 for and with you. Last week, members of the Board of Directors, Planning Committee and Executive Advisory Panel met virtually to launch those efforts. Some 2020 abstracts will be included in the 2021 lineup, along with new ones that percolated from utility and industry partners. The 2021 agenda will knit together, as it does every year, characterized by value, timely topics, respected presenters and opportunities for attendees to really connect.

One decision that you’ll want to know as you Plan Your CS Week 2021 is that our week in Tampa will open on Monday, April 26 and close after Thursday’s Special Event on April 29. Watch for more details in Winter Newsline set to be mailed and broadcasted in December.
Rod Litke
CEO
CS Week
John Sild
Conference Director
CS Week
ConvergysGray
Lisa Collins
Education Director
CS Week
How Do You Spell Hybrid? CS Week Offers a Combination of In-Person and Virtual for 2021
As CS Week and its planning teams launch programming and logistics for 2021 in Tampa, FL, uncertainty is like a team member lurking around the whiteboard. It’s impossible to know six months from now what our situation with the COVID-19 pandemic will look like. Outbreak hot spots, vaccinations, travel bans, distancing requirements, successful therapeutics, work-from-home extensions and countless other issues are simply TBD.

Despite this uncertainty, CS Week has made the decision to go forward with a hybrid approach for 2021. This table illustrates the plan, though subject to tweaks and changes:
Venue
In-Person, Virtual or Hybrid?
Comments
Hybrid
Conference, including General Sessions, Workshops, Expanding Excellence Awards and the Exhibit Hall will be live events. They will also be recorded so virtual attendees can participate about 2 weeks later. VIRTUAL TOUCH Exhibit hall will remain open until end of June.
Hybrid
Executive Summit will be live and recorded at the Tampa Marriott Water Street, for virtual participation about 2 weeks later.
Hybrid
Key Account Forum will be live and recorded at the Tampa Marriott Water Street, for virtual participation about 2 weeks later.
Hybrid
ENGAGE311 will be live and recorded at the Tampa Convention Center, for virtual participation about 2 weeks later. Its EXPO311 will be featured in the Conference Exhibit Hall.
TBD
More information on CS Week Benchmarking/Research will be added shortly.
Women in Utilities 250
Hybrid
The Sunrise Event will be live only. The Women in Utilities’ workshop will be recorded, for virtual participation about 2 weeks later.
In-Person Only
Only Vendor Synergy Groups will be offered live. Business process Synergy Groups are postponed until 2022. Look for Conference Workshops to cover business process content for the entire CX Lifecycle and the specialty Groups.
In-Person Only
LeadNext’s Exhibit Hall Reception on Wednesday will be live. Its monthly meetings will continue virtually.
2022
College courses are postponed until 2022. We are looking forward to the return next year and hope to see industry leaders step forward for courses in 2022.
Remember: CS Week 2021 begins on Monday, April 26 and ends with the Special Event on Thursday, April 29. The signature car giveaway will be scheduled for Thursday, so make sure to visit all of our Vehicle sponsors!

Look for Winter Newsline, set for publishing and posting in December, to provide more details about what to expect from our 2021 hybrid approach.




Step 1: Registration Opens This Month!
If you’re familiar with CS Week, you know November means REGISTRATION. Or, if this is your first exposure to CS Week, click Join Our Mailing List to receive announcements, information, tips and tools from THE PREMIERE annual educational and customer service conference serving electric, gas and water/wastewater utility professionals across North America and around the world. Watch for email broadcasts and online information announcing our opening this month!
Registration Fees:
EARLY
11/20 - 3/17/21
REGULAR 3/18/21 – 4/24/21
ON-SITE Starts 4/25/21
VIRTUAL ONLY
2/1/21 - 4/2/21
UTILITY ATTENDEE
$1,150
$1,250
$1,350
$345
EXHIBITOR ATTENDEE
$1,150
$1,250
$1,350
$445
NON-EXHIBITOR ATTENDEE
$3,200
$3,200
$3,200
$895
$20 - Women in Utilities Sunrise Event will be Wednesday, April 28, 2021 from 7 - 8 am. Breakfast and drawings will be included in the registration fee. This event is open to all attendees in the industry with a participating company. Ticket and badge required.
Conference 45 Tiered Pricing*
In-Person Registration Fee includes admission to breakfasts, General Sessions, Exhibit Hall luncheons and functions, Workshops, all social and networking events, and Thursday night’s CS Week Special Event. These also include access to VIRTUAL TOUCH, 5/17/21 - 6/30/21.

Virtual Only Registration Fee includes access to all recorded CS Week 45 content from 5/17/21 – 6/30/21.

*To qualify for this Tiered Pricing discount, utilities must register all attendees on the same date. Contact Julie Shankles at 903-893-3214 or 903-821-8631, Monday – Friday, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm CST.
For registration information about these CS Week venues, please directly contact:
at 903-821-8675
at 903-357-5311
at 903-821-8721
Step 2: Early Hotel Reservations Ensure a Close-by Stay

Each year, CS Week designates at least three major hotels close to the convention center and known for being amenity-rich home-away-from-homes. Once you’ve decided which CS Week venues to attend, book your stay by clicking the booking links below. While hotels do require a credit card at booking, your card will not be charged until you check out. Remember: these are negotiated rates. Any other contacts you may receive advertising lower rates at these hotels are SCAMS. Learn more about hotel locations and features at 2021 Hotels.
For questions about Step 1: Registration or Step 2: Hotel Reservations, email Julie Shankles or call her at 903-893-3214.
Bonus: Executive Summit Sponsor Webinar Added to 2020 VIRTUAL TOUCH
Join us for the first of three webinars presented by sponsors of the Fall 2020 Executive Summit. These webinars are open to everyone. Click REGISTER and plan to attend.
Oracle Utilities execs Brad Kitchin, Paul McDonald and Christina Schueneman and Exelon's Michael Menendez tee up a top-of-mind session that all utilities face everyday – customer communications. How much is enough? How often is too much? What level of detail is appropriate? Are we reaching our target audience?

These three seasoned industry professionals will share how utilities around the country are supporting their communities’ needs now, offering broader financial assistance programs, improving how they identify and engage low to moderate income customers, and enhancing safety protocols to keep them teams and customers safe. Learn what this leader believes are next steps for trusted utility providers as we emerge from this global pandemic and its crushing economic impacts, with timely and informative communications as our beacon.
Technology Survey Opens November 16
With over 20 years of industry experience including 11 years with the City of Fort Worth, James West knows his way around call centers. His role today involves administering Cowtown’s integrated, state-of-the-art systems, acquiring and supporting hardware/software platforms, and ensuring a positive, productive constituent experience across multiple communication channels. His background and job make him especially qualified to serve as the 2021 CS Week 311 Technology Survey Chair.
James West, 2021 CS Week 311 Technology Survey Chair & Sr Business Process Analyst, City of Fort Worth

“You just felt like you were supposed to be there.”
The 311 Technology Survey is responsible for identifying and assessing technological needs and trends for 311 call centers. The information shared in the survey gives new and already established 311 Call Centers a technology perspective to assist with day-to-day operations and capital planning.

“As a first-year attendee,” West explained, “I was inspired to do more than just attend ENGAGE311, so I reached out to see about opportunities for leadership and committee work. I’ve attended call center conferences of every size and flavor, but one quality significantly differentiates ENGAGE311 – it is focused on municipal call centers. This focus drives the value. From the onset, I felt welcomed because everyone is so open and friendly. You just felt like you were supposed to be there.”

Participation in the survey is free and comes with perks. West sees many benefits but honed in on two: sharing and comparing. “The Technology Survey gives Fort Worth the ability to share our insights into technologies, systems and vendors. We put ourselves and our decisions out there, sharing how and what we’ve done. The second perk is receiving raw data from dozens of other municipal centers. We save time and energy because other centers have done the research and documentation for us, and they share it so openly. That helps us with business cases, project justification, acquisition and implementation.” Every participating call center discovers ways to use the technology survey data and findings to tweak, redirect or position their organization for success.

Each year, Technology Survey questions are updated to reflect the ever-evolving environment in call centers, with this year’s emphasis on telecommuting/work from home, disaster recovery processes and social media channels.

West continues, “Once engaged with 311 as a Technology Survey participant, we began expanding and developing our center using the best of the best from everyone. Building those relationships and knowing who to contact have been game-changers for us.”

CS Week 311 is actively seeking additional 2021 Technology Survey participants through social media and emails. Click on the 2020 Overview Presentation below to see the wealth of data and insights that participation can bring to your call center. The 2021 Technology Survey closes January 29.
38?

What is the number of call centers who participated in the 2020 Technology Survey
Participation Benefits?
Receive the FULL raw data report allowing your call center access to specific cities/municipalities’ responses
If I’m not a participant, where can I view the
Overview Presentation?
 
Click HERE 
to receive the 2021 surveys when they are distributed!
Besides the Technology Survey, CS Week 311 also conducts an annual Comparative Survey, this year opening in January 2021. Have questions about CS Week 311 or its ENGAGE311/EXPO311 annual conference?

Contact Amber Wiens, CS Week 311 Mgr, at 903-821-8721.
Never Too Late with On-Demand!
Watch CS Week 311’s 2020 Survey Videos
Call centers everywhere measure their performance. KPIs like average call handling time, percent of first call resolution, service requests created and resolved are just three such yardsticks used universally to evaluate effectiveness and efficiency. Technology platforms and the myriad of ways they can creatively integrate with other systems and databases enable call center professionals to create omni-channel customer experiences that are available around the clock and process consistent.

Each year, CS Week 311 conducts two online surveys open to 311 call centers and municipalities. These surveys are released late in the Fall and the results are presented at the annual ENGAGE311 Conference. Survey participants are granted full access to the survey results while those with interest in the survey that did not take it are eligible to receive a high-level overview of the results. Please note: these surveys and their data are only available to 311 and customer service centers.

Two recent webinars are now available at CS Week’s On-Demand, a virtual library of useful information. Check out the CS Week 311 2020 Comparative and Technology Surveys by clicking the titles below.
SPEAKERS:
Derek Frizzell, Customer Service Mgr, City of Chattanooga
Russ Jensen, Dir 311/211, City of Knoxville 311 Center for Service Innovation
Cynthia Simmons, Dir, 311 Call Center, City of South Bend
 
MODERATOR:
Kedrick Stanley, Sr Customer Service Rep, City of Austin 311
SPEAKER:
James West, Sr Business Process Analyst, City of Fort Worth
 
MODERATOR:
Kedrick Stanley, Sr Customer Service Rep, City of Austin 311
Nomination/Application Season Officially Opens
for 2021 Expanding Excellence Awards
CS Week’s Expanding Excellence Awards opened its nomination and application season for 2021 awards on October 12. These coveted industry awards salute small and large companies plus individuals for going the extra mile in project implementations, process and technology innovations, leadership and customer service initiatives.

  • Perhaps your company has recently completed its CIS replacement or upgrade?
  • Maybe there are high tech and low tech innovations that you’ve made that have significantly impacted customers in positive, productive ways?
  • Isn’t there an individual in your organization who personifies leadership or one who takes on and achieves operational results that deserves some recognition?

If you can answer yes to any or all these questions, consider submitting an Expanding Excellence Award company application or individual nomination in 2021. Visit Awards to find descriptions, forms and instructions. You can also review prior years’ winners for inspiration.

Rachel White, EEA Mgr, is ready to assist companies and nominators fill out the required paperwork. Contact her by email or her phone at 903-357-5311.