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SOCAP Update
March 2007
1. President's Message
2. Session Descriptions Provide Sneak Peak into 2007 Symposium
3. SANG Meetings Will Address the Hispanic Consumer and Consumer-Generated Media at 2007 Symposium
4. First-Timer Orientation and New Member Meetings at SOCAP Symposium
5. 2007 Membership Directory—New and Improved!
6. SOCAP Chapter News
7. IBM Vice President to Keynote at SOCAP 2007 Automotive Summit
8. Industry Benchmarking Study Now Available
9. Ask SOCAP
10. 2007 Annual Conference—Call for Papers
11. Final Opportunity to Submit Nominations for SOCAP Board
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Dear SOCAP Members: I hope that you enjoy your March issue of Update. Your SOCAP Board and staff are constantly looking for ways to improve the benefits of your SOCAP membership. Right now, we are setting our sights on our upcoming Spring Symposium, April 15–18, in San Antonio. At the conference, SOCAP will showcase practical solutions to the most pressing issues you face as customer care professionals in business today. For example, our Symposium will focus on large challenges like crisis and change management as well as address opportunities related to current technology applications and call center operations. Finally, based on growing member interest, the Symposium will focus attention on ways you can improve your marketing outreach and service to the Hispanic consumer. Additionally, SOCAP has been working hard to improve and expand our other membership offerings. In this Update issue, you will read more about our new benchmarking and outsourcing studies along with our new career website. Finally, I am pleased to announce that you will receive your new and improved 2007 SOCAP Membership Directory in the mail very soon! This month’s Update also includes highlights of a very successful event sponsored by our Georgia Chapter on March 15, 2007. For those of you who have not attended a SOCAP Chapter event recently or perhaps ever, I invite you to look again at the wonderful networking opportunities and education that exist through SOCAP Chapters. Our chapters offer top-notch, quality programs. Additionally, they are a great value and a great way to introduce your staff to SOCAP. In my first six months serving as your SOCAP President, I’ve had the opportunity to visit many of our SOCAP Chapters across the United States and have enjoyed the opportunity to meet more SOCAP members and benefit from the conversation and networking. In fact, this issue of Update includes information in "Ask SOCAP" about how you can locate your local SOCAP Chapter. As I shine the spotlight on our SOCAP Chapters, I would like to also recognize and thank the many volunteer leaders who support our chapter network system. Please take a moment to see the complete list of SOCAP Chapter Presidents. I encourage you to thank your chapter president for his or her service. If there is not a chapter in your area, I ask you to consider starting one! Please contact me if you are interested in building a local chapter. We are always looking at ways to expand our SOCAP network! I look forward to seeing you in San Antonio or at a future chapter meeting! Matthew R. D’Uva, CAE |
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Take a look at the session descriptions at the upcoming SOCAP Symposium (April 15–18) in San Antonio, Texas. The Symposium sessions will highlight the increasingly important role of customer care in today’s business world. Additionally, the Symposium has been designed to provide attendees with practical ideas and strategies for addressing key issues facing them as customer care professionals like marketing to the Hispanic consumer, handling consumer-generated media and protecting your customer from identity theft. The 2007 Symposium will be unlike any SOCAP meeting that you have attended before. There is still time to register, so visit the SOCAP website and register online today! |
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SOCAP’s Special Affinity Networking Groups (SANGs) will meet at the 2007 Symposium and will address two of the hottest topics in business—consumer-generated media and the Hispanic consumer. The Executive SANG meeting will take place on Tuesday, April 17 and will feature leading consumer media expert, Pete Blackshaw of Nielsen BuzzMetrics. Blackshaw’s talk at the Executive SANG, “Re-Syncing Consumer Affairs to Consumer 2.0,” will address key questions such as: How has the new consumer “megaphone” evolved and is consumer affairs positioned to listen on the consumers’ terms? What are the new imperatives of profiling and segmenting influential consumers, and can these strategies impact the perceived “enterprise value” of consumer affairs? Should consumer affairs have a hand in corporate blog strategy? The Food & Beverage SANG will meet on Wednesday, April 18, and will address outreach to the Hispanic consumer. The meeting will examine “Marketing to the Hispanic Consumer” and address how food and beverage companies can effectively market to the Hispanic consumer as well as better position their products to this growing consumer segment. Additionally, guest panelists from Frito-Lay, Telerx and Lady of the Lake University will discuss the buying practices of the Hispanic market. The Customer Care Measurement and Consulting (CCMC) will also share new research data on the Hispanic consumer. There is still time to register for the 2007 Symposium and to attend both of the SOCAP SANG meetings. Visit the SOCAP website to register online today! |
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Are you a new member to SOCAP and a first-time conference attendee? If so, then join SOCAP at the First-Timer Orientation and New Member Meeting at the Symposium. The First-Timer meeting will take place on Sunday, April 15, 2007 from 5:30–6:30 p.m. in Salon D of the Marriott Rivercenter. The First-Timer Orientation is an informal session that occurs prior to the Welcome Reception. The session will be led by two seasoned SOCAP members and will provide you with a wonderful introduction to your first SOCAP conference experience. To complement your first-time conference experience, we are also pleased to offer the New Member meeting on Tuesday, April 17 from 8:00–9:00 a.m. in Conference Room 17. Both activities will provide you with many helpful ideas for making your conference and membership experiences fulfilling and fun! We look forward to seeing you all in San Antonio! |
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The SOCAP 2007 Membership Directory is new and improved! The Directory is more visually attractive than previous directories and includes new features to make it easier for you to locate your SOCAP colleagues and to introduce potential members to SOCAP. The new Directory offers an expanded section on SOCAP International with information about your Board of Directors, Association By-laws, Membership Benefits, SOCAP staff listings and Chapter activities. It provides convenient tabs that separate SOCAP member listings into sections. And it includes a new Member Locator section that enables you to access abbreviated SOCAP member information quickly and easily. Look for your copy of the new directory coming soon in the mail! |
SOCAP Georgia Chapter Offers “Tips from the Top” at Recent Event How do you use Consumer Affairs to add value to the business? How does being a member of SOCAP bring value to you and Consumer Affairs? On March 15, attendees at “Tips from the Top,” a Georgia SOCAP Chapter event, heard answers to these questions from a highly experienced panel of consumer affairs practitioners in the Food and Beverage industry. The Question-and-Answer panel, facilitated by Kimberly Boyer of Coca-Cola, featured the following SOCAP heavy-hitters from around the country: Linda Pell of the Kellogg Company, Cathy Dial of Frito-Lay, Jeff Hagen of General Mill, Linnea Johnson of Unilever and Cheryl Holtzen of Omaha Steaks. The panelists responded to questions designed specifically for them and also addressed such global issues as how consumer affairs relates to other departments, what day-to-day challenges they face, whether or not they outsource and what their vision is for consumer affairs at their company. One attendee raved that the event “was the most relevant and insightful event that I have attended since joining SOCAP. The panel members were well chosen from respected leading consumer driven companies.” He also added that the ideas and viewpoints on the panel were “informative, interesting, and spot on when it comes to Customer Care in today’s competitive environment.” Another attendee commented that the event “provided a great opportunity to exchange best practices with industry leading professionals in the Consumer package goods.” The panel discussion was such a hit that Georgia Chapter President Wade Hauser says that he would like to hold another event featuring panelists from the Consumer/Household Goods industry. Do you have a successful chapter event that you’d like to share with SOCAP members? Send your Chapter news to Azelia Cutts, SOCAP’s Director of Membership, at azelia@socap.org. Chapter Leadership Forum To Address Best Practices at SOCAP Symposium The Chapter Leadership Forum at the upcoming Symposium in April will include presentations by the SOCAP Chapter Relations Committee. Presentations will focus on chapter best practices and tools and resources available to them from SOCAP. Chapter leaders will have the opportunity to see the new on-line chapter community and provide feedback on this useful tool. Additionally, chapters will be able to dialogue with the SOCAP staff. Chapters are encouraged to send at least one representation to attend this meeting at the Symposium. Meeting Details Southwest Regional Chapter to Visit Award-Winning Call Center On April 5, the Southwest Regional Chapter will give attendees the chance to hear from Contact Center Director Michelle Follette about the tips and tricks that made PacifiCorp the 2005 International Customer Management Institute (ICMI) Call Center of the Year. Since winning the ICMI Call Center of the Year Award, Michelle has focused her energy on taking PacifiCorp’s customer care program to the "next level." Michelle will share her insights into gaining the ICMI’s Call Center of the Year status and ways to strengthen ties to customers, employees and stakeholders. After the presentation, Michelle and her management team will lead attendees through a tour of this award winning contact center. The event will begin at 3:30 p.m. (check-in at 3:00 p.m.). Registration is $20 at the door for SOCAP members and $30 for Non-members. PacifiCorp is located at 1900 SW 4th Ave, Portland, Oregon. |
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Olivette Whipple, Vice President, Global CRM Contact Centers at IBM, has been confirmed as the keynote speaker for SOCAP’s 2007 Automotive Summit, September 18–19, in Michigan. The Summit will convene representatives from top automotive brands, including General Motors, Toyota, DaimlerChrylser, Honda, Ford and others, to share and discuss benchmark best practices and to identify challenges and emerging trends facing the automotive industry, the companies and their customers. The Summit will be held at the Birmingham Conference Center in Beverly Hills, Michigan. SOCAP is working closely with a Summit Steering Committee to develop program content and overall agenda. Look for complete Summit details coming soon to the SOCAP website! |
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How do most contact centers advertise their customer care access channels? What types of metrics do contact centers use to evaluate frontline representatives? How many bilingual representatives do contact centers typically employ? What technology solutions are contact centers currently using? The SOCAP Industry Benchmarking Study answers all these questions and more. Conducted by TARP Worldwide in June through August 2006, the Industry Benchmarking Study provides contact center benchmarking across all industries. The study consists of one general report and three industry-specific reports focusing on Financial Services, Food and Beverage, and Consumer and Household Goods Manufacturers. Topics include contact center positioning, functions and channels, operations, staffing, technology, metrics/evaluation and benefits/future plans. Order your copy today! Cost is $125 for SOCAP members; $300 for non-members. |
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How do I find my local SOCAP chapter? There are 20 local chapters located throughout the United States. The easiest way to find your chapter is to visit the SOCAP International website where you will find a complete list of the SOCAP chapters along with contact details for each local Chapter President. Through your SOCAP membership, you can also join and participate in the local chapter of your choice. SOCAP chapters host many regional events and other activities that promote education and networking at the local levels. If you are still unsure about your local chapter, then feel free to contact the SOCAP National Office via email at membership@socap.org or at 703-519-3700 ext. 16. Remember, chapter membership is a part of your overall SOCAP membership and offers great education and networking opportunities. Take advantage of chapter participation and many other benefits to realize the ROI of SOCAP membership. |
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SOCAP is now accepting Call for Papers submissions for the 2007 Annual Conference, October 7-10, in Palm Springs, CA. Focus areas for the Annual Conference are:
If you have a presentation idea that highlights one of these areas and you want to share it, then submit your proposal today! All submissions will be reviewed by SOCAP’s Conference Committee. The deadline for presentation proposals is Friday, March 30, 2007. |
There's still time for you to nominate a member to the SOCAP Board! Use the nomination form to nominate a colleague or to complete a self nomination. |
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