CIS Week, an educational event for professionals involved in the customer service and customer information technology aspects of utility, cooperative and municipal management, has expanded its offerings to water utilities in many areas of the meter-to-cash lifecycle. Significant thought has gone into the agenda, particularly in the area of Automated Meter Infrastructure (AMI) and Meter Data Management (MDM). The total count of workshops has expanded to include 55 workshops targeting the electric, gas and water/wastewater utility industries. The event will be held the week of May 21 in Orlando, FL.
The CIS Executive Summit will address utility concerns that tend to keep senior executives up at night. Water utilities participated in this event for the first time last year and the Executive Summit promises to have a greater level of participation from water utilities this year. Discussions will include AMI/MDM, customer and employee privacy and compliance, and concepts around the ideal future CIS design. Another feature of this year's Summit will be a workshop with noted customer service author Chip Bell. As in past years, the Summit offers utility executives a chance to find out how their counterparts are dealing with their most pressing issues.
CIS Synergy Groups were a new and popular feature of last year's CIS Week. They will be back again this year. This forum allows users and technicians of the same customer system to meet with other users along with company representatives to discuss future enhancements and developments.
The CIS College has been approved by the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a registered sponsor on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. Attendees may now receive CPE credits for each of the CIS College courses. In an effort to meet the immediate needs of so many, six CIS College courses are offered this year. Attendees will be able to find in-depth full-day classes covering: CIS selection and implementation; project management; call center development; outsourcing/multi-sourcing; and AMI-MDM.
CIS Week's keynote speakers this year will include Captain James Lovell, the Commander for Apollo 13 in the first general session. He will share his wisdom and experience concerning the value of reliable technology and communication. On Wednesday, Dr. Chip Bell, a leading author specializing in customer loyalty, will challenge and motivate attendees as to how they do business today and what they need to do tomorrow to keep pace with offered services. John B. Ramil, President and COO for TECO Energy in Florida, will conclude the week with insights gleaned from 30 years of serving the public through TECO and its subsidiaries.
This year, CIS Week, WaterWorld and Electric Light & Power magazine have announced the newly formed 2007 Expanding Excellence Awards. These awards will recognize Excellence in Customer Service. This year has three awards: Best CIS Implementation Award; Innovation in Extending a Legacy Award; and Innovation in Customer Service Award. Winners will present overviews of their efforts and outcomes in a special workshop during CIS Week.
The CIS Week 2007 Exhibit Hall will showcase the best of what is new and proven in the customer information system market. Over 100 vendors and service providers will have software and solutions available for review.
Aside from regular Exhibit Hall hours, special times have been designated for "Invitation-Only" demonstrations which provide opportunities for attendees to explore and learn from industry experts as they share their product and service information and recommendations.
For further information review the CIS Week web site at www.cisweek.org.
