Conference Program - Three Days of Education, Inspiration, Networking and Fun

REGISTRATION (Complimentary Coffee and Tea)

Event Kick-Off
U. S. Color Guard,  Daryl Covey, conference Chair (NEXRAD) and
High Tech High Touch Solutions' President, Ivy Meadors

FEATURED KEYNOTE: Speak Your Truth: The Key Action Steps For Soaring To Outrageous Results
Colette Carlson, Speak Your Truth
 

Each of us has aspirations: goals we want to achieve, wishes we want to actualize, dreams we want to accomplish. But somehow there’s an inexplicable divide between what we have and what we want. Closing the gap demands we solve the mystery and put a plan in place today that will last a lifetime.

In this startling, yet motivational program, Colette unveils her step-by-step process for facing your fears, embracing your circumstances, and confronting what you can do and what you must do to live an authentic life that brings you the respect and success you deserve. It is not enough to simply decide to think positively – you must go after it with a three-pronged approach: think it, speak it, live it.

As a result of this program you will be able to:

• Manage expectations for greater results

• Identify and project a mindset of success

• Use clear and direct language to get immediate results

• Understand and embrace the power of asking

• Create a climate for assertive action

Meet the Speaker:

Colette Carlson, M.A. is a nationally acclaimed motivational speaker recognized for her ability to inspire both men and women alike to unmask their genuine potential and achieve unlimited success through the alignment of their thoughts, words and actions.

Colette brings every lesson, module, technique and 20-years of real-life experience, including a Masters in Human Behavior, to her role as founder of Colette Carlson Communications. Colette’s relevant content and charismatic delivery keep her in front of Fortune 100 clients including PepsiCo, Boeing, Merck Inc. & Co., Chevron-Texaco and Exxon Mobil. She is the author of the soon-to-be-released book, Speak Your Truth: How to Align your Thoughts, Words and Actions into Amazing Results! and a contributing author in the book, Conversations on Success.

Her monthly column, “Tactfully Speaking” is featured in the National Institute of Business Publications, in addition to her professional advice column, “Ask Colette.” Colette was recently featured on The Success Training Network’s “Made for Success” series, and has often been interviewed on numerous national radio shows for her expertise. She is also featured in the just-released motivational movie, “Pass It ON!,” and will appear in an upcoming issue of Personal Development Magazine.

Ten Greatest Leaders in History and The Decisions They Made That Changed Everything

The history of nearly every great leader can be traced to a single momentous decision – often made against the advice of experts and popular sentiment – that changed the course of history. Take an intimate look back at ten great leaders in history and the decisions they made that changed everything, and what we can learn from those decisions and the courage it took to make them.

Key benefits of attending:

• Learn how to make the ‘”right” decision in challenging times, even when it’s not popular

• Identify your core weaknesses and how to strengthen them to become a great leader

• Understand how personal charisma and communication skills play critical roles in leading through a crisis

• Learn how to motivate your team to become the next generation of great leaders

Take-Away:

Each participant will walk away with the ten most valuable lessons to be learned from history’s great leaders.

Meet the Speaker:

Michael Callahan is the lead supportability program manager for Windows Live Mail technologies, advocating for nearly 400 million customers around the world. A published playwright, author and speaker, Michael has won numerous awards for customer focus, services innovation and collaboration.

High Touch Solutions

Bill Price, Driva Solutions

The Best Service is No Service

Today every organization needs to balance cost controls and customer satisfaction, a very tough assignment. Drawing upon his experience at MCI and Amazon, and with clients in the government, academic, and for profit sectors, Bill Price and his co-author David Jaffe have written The Best Service is No Service, addressing this balance by taking a fresh new approach to challenge the reasons why customers/students/citizens need to contact the organization, and then to find better solutions including eliminating “dumb contacts” entirely.

Key benefits of attending--You'll learn:

Take-Away:

Meet the Speaker:

Bill Price founded Driva Solutions, LLC in September 2001 after serving as Amazon’s first Global VP of Customer Service. He also co-founded the 10-country LimeBridge Global Alliance to help build their clients’ customer service strategies and improve operational performance and chairs the 34-company Global Operations Council that he formed in early 2002 to share “best practices and worst experiences”. Bill started his career with McKinsey in its San Francisco and Stockholm offices, working on what turned into In Search of Excellence; was then COO at early IVR service bureau ACP, which MCI acquired; built MCI Call Center Services’ automation, consulting, and agent outsourcing divisions; and was named one of the first Call Center Pioneers in 1997.

Bill is a frequent keynote speaker, graduate school CRM instructor, and advisory board member. His 1st book The Best Service is No Service will be published in March 2008 by Wiley & Sons. He graduated from Dartmouth College and the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and lives in Bellevue, Washington.

Technological Solutions

Mary Jo Snavely, Responsible Purchasing Network

Workshop: Tools and Processes

Lou Hunnebeck, Third Sky

Service Management - Learning How to Leverage the Business Benefits of IT (ITIL V.3)

IT departments are under more and more pressure to demonstrate the business value they deliver to the organization. As the public sector is working to adopt successful methods from the private sector, the IT Infrastructure Library® (ITIL®) has arisen as the most recognized and respected source of good practice around IT Service Management.

Delivered by a member of the ITIL v3 QA team and the v3 Examination Panel, this session will focus on how to leverage the ideas expressed in the new Version 3 of ITIL® to maximize value creation by IT and show the organization that IT is a full partner in the success of the business.

Key benefits of attending:

Take-away:

Meet the Speaker:

An IT Service Manager and ITIL v3 Expert with over 20 years of experience in service industries, Ms. Hunnebeck is currently Third Sky Inc.’s VP of ITSM Strategy. Ms. Hunnebeck’s passion for improving how we do what we do has led her to IT Service Management from a background of process consulting, training and Help Desk/Service Management systems consulting. Ms. Hunnebeck has led global teams in best practice and methodology design, served on the public quality assurance team for ITIL version 3 and is currently a member of the ITIL version 3 Examination Panel for the Lifecycle stream.

11:15 - 11:45

11:45 -1:30

NETWORKING LUNCHEON AND VISIT EVENT PARTNERS

Women in Leadership: Technique and Strategy Toolbox

Successful women in leadership roles consistently apply Professionalism, Attitude, Respect, and Knowledge to every situation, which soon becomes as easy as a walk in the “PARK”. Come and take a walk in the PARK with us! Women in successful leadership roles seem to all demonstrate some of the same core traits. Leaders require powerful vision, strong conviction, and dedication to the leadership role. Success is also dependent on the ability to empower your team to support and re-sell your message.

As new leadership roles are pursued you must maintain consistency by utilizing and demonstrating specific core traits, while building on lessons learned from prior experiences. Learn about the core traits, how to gain advantage and control over every situation, how to service your customer to their level of satisfaction, how to receive stakeholder support, and how to keep customers motivated and excited.

Join this dynamic speaker to learn how to be a truly remarkable leader of influence.

• Learn about Women in Leadership Best Practices

• Embrace your strengths and weaknesses and use them to your advantage

• Learn about your customer; who they are and how to keep them satisfied

• Gain knowledge on how to receive support from stakeholders, while promoting and implementing change

• Find out new ways to motivate and encourage staff to achieve goals and objectives

Take-away:

Handout listing references and links to:

• Proven leadership techniques

• Contact center customer service solutions

• Contact center industry leaders

• Contact center best practices

Meet the Speaker:

Tanya’s first exposure to leadership and customer support in business was working in her family owned and operated Engineering and Architectural firm, Hill, Jenkins Gaudy. Tanya has since established a 10 year public sector work history as an Operational Projects Specialist at the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development, Manager of the Maryland Workforce Exchange at the Maryland State Department of Labor Licensing and Regulation, and now the Manager of the Department of Labor National Contact Center.

All of these experiences, though very different; are all measured by the success of the ability to lead, promote change, and provide excellent customer support, while achieving the targeted goals and objectives. Tanya has an Associates Degree in Early Childhood Education, a Bachelor of Science degree and a Masters Degree in Psychology.

High Touch Solutions

Matt June, Defense Logistics Agency

Case Study: How to Build an Agent Retention Strategy

Agent retention isn’t just about making them “feel good” about their job. Attend this session to hear a government case study that builds a supportive environment for agents and drives customer satisfaction. Statistics indicate that satisfied employees deliver higher levels of customer satisfaction. The hiring and staff management process is another key way to drive successful contact center operations.

Contact centers typically suffer from high attrition rates that are many times attributed to a mismatch between the person’s aptitude and the nature of the contact center representative job. By spending more time on pre-screening, assessment, training and development, engagement and team involvement, many back-end issues with quality and attrition may be avoided.

The Defense Logistic Information Service (DLIS) hosts a 120 seat Customer Interaction Center for the Defense Logistics Agency. The agents support a wide variety of topics including Central Contractor Registry, logistics, supply & transportation, and Document Automation & Production Service.

Learn how the DLIS Customer Interaction Center operation stimulates its agents to be in line with its mission while driving down costs and achieving stellar customer satisfaction levels.

Key benefits of attending--You'll learn how to:

Take-away:

Sponsored by NISH

Technological Solutions

Daryl Covey, NEXRAD

Today's Winning Practices and Tomorrow's Directions in Government Support

This session will review creative practices in serving customers from all support types at all levels of Government, gleaned from recent nominations for the Government Customer Support Excellence Awards. Join us to hear more about Government's newest directions in supporting customers, and bring your own experiences and ideas to share!

Key benefits of attending--You'll learn how to:

Take-away:

Business Strategies

Michelle Borboa,
Contact Center Resources

Workshop: Workforce Management for Non-Workforce Managers - Part 1

Remember back in college when you would take a course outside your area of study in order to fulfill a basic requirement? Maybe it was Botany for Non-Science Majors or the infamous “Rocks for Jocks”. These classes were designed to de-mystify complex subject matter for students who never intended to pursue careers in those fields. Similarly, this workshop is designed to clarify the role and function of Workforce Management in simple terms for people who do not work in the WFM department, but who recognize that an understanding of this important function will improve their effectiveness as a Call Center or Help Desk professional.

Is there something you’ve always wondered about forecasting or scheduling? Are you curious about why your WFM department does what they do? Even if you are a Workforce Management professional, this session may give you ideas on how to communicate with your colleagues back at your center, or even anticipate their questions.

Key benefits of attending--You'll learn how to:

Take-away:

Meet the Speaker:

During her 25 years in contact centers, Michele Borboa’s work has repeatedly cycled through the Workforce Management function. She started as an Agent at AT&T, moving through a variety of other roles, including her first WFM assignment. Her role as VP of Workforce Management came after an eight year period of consulting, to which she has recently returned. She now runs Contact Center Resources (www.contactcenter-resources.com), a consulting and training firm that specializes in Workforce Management effectiveness. Michele is an Advisory Board member for the Society of Workforce Planning Professionals, and a frequent presenter at SWPP conferences. She is a Certified Workforce Planning Professional and holds a BBA from the University of Michigan.

BREAK

How to Apply Non-Traditional Leadership Techniques

In today's business environment, leadership requires skills and character traits beyond the ability to get people to follow. Leaders are put in positions to influence and touch the lives of others.

Develop your leadership skills further by exploring non-traditional techniques in this potpourri of behavioral leadership practices. Learn how to apply the "Law of Attraction" and Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) to deliver advanced leadership influences. Understand the behaviors of different generations to improve communication motivation and more. Become a leader of change using vital leadership techniques to respond to today’s changing realities.

Advanced Leadership requires taking personal responsibility to develop yourself, grow, and have a solid sense of self-determination. Leaders must be involved in guiding others when creating functional, healthy systems and processes and must know in themselves, what they are trying to teach their people. The study of behavioral psychology and the confidence to apply it well will launch your skills to a new level.

Join industry expert, Ivy Meadors to discuss non-traditional and essential leadership skills in this interactive session loaded with ideas, techniques and solutions.

Join this dynamic speaker to learn how to be a truly remarkable leader of influence.

• Review the use of "modeling" in Neuro-linguistic Programming to lead and influence change

• Learn how to develop rapport using matching and mirroring to achieve better communication and responsiveness

• Examine the intricacies of gaining full commitment and its influence in the spreading of ideas

• Review techniques to succeed in leadership by gaining respect and trust

• Learn how to use the "law of attraction" to attract great followers

• Gain skills in applying knowledge of the different generational styles to improve team communications

• Understand the psychology of transformational leadership

Meet the Speaker:

Meet the Speaker: Ivy Meadors, founder and CEO of High Tech High Touch Solutions, a conference and events producer and a consulting firm specializing in help desks and call centers. Ivy has over 30 years of experience in the customer service and support industry, is a seasoned consultant and a world renowned professional speaker who has traveled the globe to deliver her content rich in-demand presentations.

She is the owner and producer of the Signature Customer Service and Support Conference and Expo and the Government Customer Support Conference and Expo. Ivy is the sole woman owner of conferences & events in this industry. She is considered one of this industry’s most respected leaders and received the honor of being one of the Top 10 Legends in the Help Desk Industry and was awarded for being one of the “Top 25 Most Influential Professionals in the Service and Support Industry” by Service News. She publishes the online newsletter, eSharings read by thousands around the world, and has also been published in the top industry magazines and newsletters. You can sign up for the content-rich newsletter at www.hthts.com.

High Touch Solutions

Shana Webster-Trotman,
US Patent and Trademark Office

Dora Best,
US Patent and Trademark Office

Case Study: The Benefits of a Successful Tele-work Program

Would tele-work be successful in your environment? Have you wondered how to incorporate tele-work into your call center? Can tele-work motivate and retain your call center employees? Can tele-work improve your service level?

In this case study you will learn how tele-work transformed the Trademark Assistance Center (TAC) into a virtual state of the art call center. This session will provide valuable anecdotal information on the benefits and challenges of implementing a tele-work program within a dynamic real-time environment. The TAC work-at-home program is regarded as a model for federal government’s call centers.

Key benefits of attending--You'll learn how to:

Take-away:

Meet the Speaker:

Dora Best is the manager of the Trademark Assistance Center (TAC) at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. As one of the organization’s pioneers in call center management, Dora is frequently called upon to provide consultant services to other USPTO call centers and has over 11 years of experience in the call center industry. One of her most recent accomplishments is the establishment of the TAC work at home program. This program is modeled by other government call centers and serves as a prototype of the many benefits of establishing a virtual call center.

Shana Webster-Trotman is the management and program analyst for the Deputy Commissioner for Trademarks at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Shana serves as a key organizational advisor to the Commissioner for Trademarks, senior executives, and call center mangers on call center metrics, workforce management, and emerging industry trends. Ms. Webster-Trotman is responsible for conducting root cause analysis of customer data, making recommendations, and implementing new program and technology initiatives.

Technological Solutions

Kim Nelson, Microsoft (Previously EPA)

Shared Service Governance: Oxymoron or Reality?

Shared Services are increasingly popular in today’s government organizations as leaders try to reduce duplication and focus on citizen needs. Even the best of ideas will falter if appropriate attention is not paid to the underlying governance structure. Unlike projects managed in traditional command and control environment, the governance structure of a shared service must ensure the many contributing partners are aligned properly and decisions are made in a fair and reasonable manner for all organizations involved. Based on practical experiences from around the world, we will discuss how to establish a viable shared service program that contains key elements such as: leadership vision and commitment; development of the appropriate governance structures; and a technology infrastructure to support a shared environment. Come discuss how you can make a shared service a reality in your organization and minimize the angst and risk associated with these novel initiatives.

• Learn why so many government leaders see shared services as the panacea for their budget woes and citizen services

• Understand the issues that most often derail successful shared service opportunities

• Anticipate what objections partners may bring to the table and expect to have addressed as part of the project management

• Improve your understanding of the characteristics of a successful effort so you can apply those lessons to your projects

Take-away:

Attendees will be provided with links to relevant reports

Meet the Speaker:

Kimberly Nelson is the Executive Director for eGovernment and Health and Human Services for Microsoft Corporation. She spent 26 years in state and federal government agencies in a variety of executive positions. In 2001, with 22 years experience in Pennsylvania state government, President Bush appointed her to the position of Assistant Administrator for the Office of Environmental Information in the US Environmental Protection Agency where she had responsibility for managing a number of shared services including the federal government’s eRulemaking Initiative. She was named Government Computer News’ Civilian Executive of the Year and Federal Computer Week’s Fed 100 List.

Business Strategies

Michelle Borboa,
Contact Center Resources

Workshop: Workforce Management for Non-Workforce Managers - Part 2

Remember back in college when you would take a course outside your area of study in order to fulfill a basic requirement? Maybe it was Botany for Non-Science Majors or the infamous “Rocks for Jocks”. These classes were designed to de-mystify complex subject matter for students who never intended to pursue careers in those fields. Similarly, this workshop is designed to clarify the role and function of Workforce Management in simple terms for people who do not work in the WFM department, but who recognize that an understanding of this important function will improve their effectiveness as a Call Center or Help Desk professional.

Is there something you’ve always wondered about forecasting or scheduling? Are you curious about why your WFM department does what they do? Even if you are a Workforce Management professional, this session may give you ideas on how to communicate with your colleagues back at your center, or even anticipate their questions.

Key benefits of attending--You'll learn how to:

Take-away:

Meet the Speaker:

During her 25 years in contact centers, Michele Borboa’s work has repeatedly cycled through the Workforce Management function. She started as an Agent at AT&T, moving through a variety of other roles, including her first WFM assignment. Her role as VP of Workforce Management came after an eight year period of consulting, to which she has recently returned. She now runs Contact Center Resources (www.contactcenter-resources.com), a consulting and training firm that specializes in Workforce Management effectiveness. Michele is an Advisory Board member for the Society of Workforce Planning Professionals, and a frequent presenter at SWPP conferences. She is a Certified Workforce Planning Professional and holds a BBA from the University of Michigan.

REFRESHMENT BREAK

Join people-skills guru Kate Nasser as she describes how to cultivate greatness in your service teams by vaccinating them against these 8 toxic habits that can truly sink the customer’s service experience. With humor, clarity, and practical advice, Kate will highlight the risk of each and how to prevent/fix them.

Key benefits of attending--You'll learn how to:

Take-away:

High Touch Solutions

Brenda Iniguez, FrontRange

What Does a Communication & Awareness Plan Look Like

Implementing a large initiative? Then developing an effective communications or awareness plan is the key to your success. This session will look at the two different plans, and help you explore which or both are needed for your large initiatives. It will address scope and content. The session will also provide actual sample details for building a communication and/or awareness plan taking into account your organization’s style, culture, demographics and tools. The session also underscores how an effective formal communication plan can make or break the success of any initiative, which ultimately translates to bottom-line results delivery.

Key benefits of attending--You'll learn how to:

Meet the Speaker:

Brenda Iniguez is a seasoned IT Support Professional, with over 25 years proven experience in Fortune 100 companies, designing, building, consolidating, and managing their Enterprise Support Centers. In addition, she is ITIL Service Manager certified, ITIL V3 certified, and is well versed in the Service Management disciplines of Incident, Problem, Change, Availability, Service Catalog/Service Level Management, and all aspects of Service Desk Management.

She is an active speaker at national Support Conferences and frequent speaker at association meetings, and has been quoted in leading industry trade journals (Computerworld, Technology World, Help Desk-Online, and IT Support News); she was selected by IT Support News as one of the Service 25 recipients for the leading 25 Support Professionals.

Technological Solutions

Karen Trebon,
GSA

Web 2.0 (Webchat, Blogs) - The Latest Version of Government

Web 2.0, Webchat, Blogs. At first, these may seem like “techie” topics, but they actually are ways the government is interacting with the residents of our great country. Did you know you can chat online with the federal government, as well as post your comments on government blogs?

This session will give you definitions, as well as examples of how Web 2.0 is in use in the government today.

Take-away:

Business Strategies

Peggy Gritt,
VoIP Institute

Unbiased Technology Review CMS, CRM, and KM

Would you like to make sense of the alphabet soup of systems and software and options for technology in the contact center, customer support and help desk environment? Would you like to get more value out of your investment in customer support software? Would your customer experience improve with better access to information and resources? Having just planned an 800 agent government customer service application, Peggy Gritt offers a highly informative, non-biased session on the options for customer support tracking:

• Customer Relationship Management – software that assists you with managing the ongoing relationship with a customer and tracking issues that could arise typically across support and enterprise users.

• Case Management System – software that assists you with tracking customer cases and problem resolution

• Customer Response Management – software that assists with managing and tracking customer responses from a variety of media

• E-mail Response Management – software that assists with managing e-mail response

• Knowledge Management – software that assists with managing the knowledge available in a support center and access to that knowledge from a variety of sources.

• Workflow – software that assists with managing items of work that need to flow from process to process or from person to person in an organization.

For each of the technologies, Peggy will review the following in an unbiased format:

• What it is and how to use it to benefit your organization

• Who are the vendors that offer it

• When do you need it

• How will it impact your customer

• How do you budget for it

• What is the return on investment

Some vendors offer a mixture of the above solutions and some specialize and focus in a given area. There are differences in high-scale customer support applications, ongoing customer relationships, and quick question/answer response support. By attending this session you could save yourself an immense amount of time interviewing the wrong vendors based on your profile. Peggy can help you to put the options into perspective without hearing a sales pitch as she is an independent consultant and assists many centers with customer experience best practices and technology selection.

 Benefit of attending:

• Determine appropriate technology for your type of support environment

• Learn about vendors and their strengths that match best with your needs

• Save time on vendor interviews in your selection process

• Build better requirements for your process improvement

• Have fun while learning from each other – sharing ideas encouraged!

Take-away:

Meet the Speaker:

Peggy Gritt brings her clients more than eighteen years of experience with the converged voice/data systems and contact center technology planning. As much at ease with planning and strategy issues as she is with the low-level technical details regarding topics such as multi-channel contact center, speech recognition and voice over IP technologies, her presentations are appreciated by managers, executives, and technology groups alike. Her teaching and speaking engagements have taken her to over 20 countries in her career.

The products she helped launch are now installed in hundreds of thousands of contact center and PBX seats and government agencies.  She founded her own consulting firm in early 2006 to assist organizations and contact centers to improve their customer experience. Her clients range from small workshops to large-scale multi-channel deployment planning.

FEATURED KEYNOTE: Master the Skills of Mentoring Influencing Lives for Life by Building a Foundation for the Journey
Ivy Meadors, High Tech High Touch Solutions
 

Mentoring and coaching is a significant part of Ivy's life. In this session, you will be moved to become a mentor when you hear very "real" stories of changing lives for life. Having a personal mentor or coach is key to building the foundation for your personal and professional roadmap. Ivy would not have realized the personal and professional success she has without the mentors in her life.

Learn what it takes to be a successful mentor and how to find the best mentor for your own development in this session. Being a mentor will change your life and other's forever.

Meet the Speaker:

Ivy Meadors, founder and CEO of High Tech High Touch Solutions, a conference and events producer and a consulting firm specializing in help desks and call centers. Ivy has over 30 years of experience in the customer service and support industry, is a seasoned consultant and a world renowned professional speaker who has traveled the globe to deliver her content rich in-demand presentations.

She is the owner and producer of the Signature Customer Service and Support Conference and Expo and the Government Customer Support Conference and Expo. Ivy is the sole woman owner of conferences & events in this industry. She is considered one of this industry’s most respected leaders and received the honor of being one of the Top 10 Legends in the Help Desk Industry and was awarded for being one of the “Top 25 Most Influential Professionals in the Service and Support Industry” by Service News. She publishes the online newsletter, eSharings read by thousands around the world, and has also been published in the top industry magazines and newsletters. You can sign up for the content-rich newsletter at www.hthts.com.

Case Study: The 411 on Starting a 311 Operation

Many governments are tasked with setting up a 311 operation, what is it? What are the different types? Pros and Cons of each type (beyond the hype).

We want a 3-1-1…where do we start?

A question most local governments have asked, except that the definition of a 3-1-1 does not exist in a manner that can be used for everyone. Many notable 3-1-1 operate around the world, but offer very different services to their constituents. These 3-1-1s range from a central point of contact that transfers calls departments to a full blown “answer center” that opens service tickets for all municipalities within their region from township to county.

Identifying what is best for your area, and how to get there takes research, planning, and vision. By using the resources of other public sector agencies, Pinal County was able to identify what we want OUR 3-1-1 to be and how to phase in the technology, employees, and departments to meet our goal.

What we have learned, and how we planned and are phasing in to a 3-1-1 will be very helpful to those that are being tasked to take on this challenge and opportunity to effect a very positive change in the customer service your government provides.

Join this dynamic speaker to learn how to be a truly remarkable leader of influence.

• Learn what a 311 really is, and what you can do with it.

• Increase your chances of success by showing what your 3-1-1 provides to each department; your success is to everyone’s benefit.

• Learn why starting with a hosted contact center environment reduces capital investment, and risk.

• Building a solid knowledgebase is a basic, yet key component to your success.

Take-away:

A simple to use Knowledgebase application developed in MS Access to get your center started with tools to help you grow your information with a glossary included.

Meet the Speaker:

With over 20 years of experience in computer networking and software, I have spent the last 10 years using telecommunications and desktop solutions to support processes and procedures that improve customer service. I was brought in to Pinal County in mid 2006 to determine how to set up a new citizen contact center and grow it into a 3-1-1. After months of research and documentation, Pinal County’s Citizen Contact Center opened on June 26, 2007.

High Touch Solutions

Natalie Smith National Runaway Switchboard

Jennifer DiNicola, National Runaway Switchboard

Case Study: How to Effectively Manage the Emotions of a Caller

It can be a difficult decision to call a hotline and speak with a stranger in one’s time of crisis. Moreover, call center staff may feel ill-prepared to speak with someone in crisis, afraid of saying the wrong thing or giving the wrong advice. Through lecture, interaction, and an experiential activity, this workshop will introduce call centers to the five-step solution-focused crisis intervention model utilized by the National Runaway Switchboard (1-800-RUNAWAY), with emphasis on remaining nondirective and nonjudgmental and supporting callers. Participants will consider ways to help manage call center staffs’ emotional responses to crisis calls.

Key benefits of attending--You'll learn how to:

Take-away:

Meet the Speakers:

Natalie D. Smith joined the National Runaway Switchboard (NRS) in 1998. She has an MA from the University of Chicago, School of Social Service Administration. Natalie’s experience as a professional trainer and presenter has brought her to over 50 state, regional, and national conferences since 2001. Natalie manages the NRS training and education department, as well as the new comprehensive runaway prevention curriculum, Let’s Talk: Runaway Prevention Curriculum.

Jennifer DiNicola joined the National Runaway Switchboard (NRS) in 1999. She has a Bachelor in Psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Jennifer manages the NRS national call center, which handled over 150,000 calls last fiscal year. She supervises nine Call Center Supervisors who, in turn, supervise nearly 150 trained crisis line volunteers. Jennifer has represented NRS at a number of conferences, including the 29th Annual Convening of Crisis Intervention Personnel in Chicago, Illinois.

Technological Solutions

Carolyn Kaleel
USA Contacts

Case Study: USA Contact - The Government Contract Designed Exclusively for Contact Centers

USA Contact provides all federal agencies with easy access to a broad range of contact center services. USA Contact saves agencies resources and provides citizens with easier access to accurate information, often during national emergencies. Agencies can come to USA Services for help in setting up easily accessible, timely and complete contact centers to respond to citizen’s questions via the communications channel of their choice.

Key benefits of attending--You'll learn how to:

Take-away:

Business Strategies

Values-Driven Leadership in The Real World - Part 1

One of the greatest challenges of living – and leading – a values-driven life is doing so in an organization that doesn’t seem to champion core values. But real leaders exhibit, evangelize and encourage their teams to succeed through a set of fundamental