The Sessions

Our breakout sessions are where some of the best thinking in the customer service/support industry is shared. No matter what level you are positioned within the organization, today’s sessions delivered the exciting new developments in support from some of the leading technology solutions providers out there today.

Something for Everyone…

Topics were wide and varied in the afternoon sessions. A big topic, no doubt, was Web 2.0. Best practices in support, benchmarking and metrics, SMB practices, knowledge management, talent management, service and support technology, managing support staff in India, rewarding the service employee, multivendor support, and improving the customer experience are just a handful of the other areas covered by top execs from a lineup of companies that reads like a Who’s Who in the Technology Services Market: Intuit, Microsoft, Support Center University, Inovis, Autonomy etalk, Linksys, Cisco, KANA Software, Sprint, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Symantec, Novell, Dell, Oracle, EMC, NetApp, Apple, GE Fanuc, Mentor Graphics, InQuira, Eclipsys, Citrix Online, and Hyundai.

Johh Ragsdale led another group of folks through the second Innovation Tour of the day, once again featuring the finalists and winners of SSPAs Recognized Innovator Awards.

Best-Practices Sharing Sessions provided the unique environment of moderator-free seminars where attendees could feel free to discuss their biggest issues, successes, and failures with peers with similar spectrums of interest. These were really popular gatherings where attendees got to share what worked and what hasn’t with one another in an intimate business environment setting. Sessions included:

• Benchmarking and Metrics
• Best Practices for Small and Medium Businesses
• Consumer Support
• Embracing Web 2.0
• Kowledge Management
• ManagementExcellence
• Spport Operations
• Talent Management

Reliable Application Support
The final keynote of the day, “End-to-End Solution Operations for Reliable Application Support,” presented by Andreas Graesser, vice president of active global support, SAP America, drew a packed house of attendees eager to learn solid processes and solutions for consistent, unwavering support that can be applied on the global basis.

Monday Night Reception in the Technology Services Expo
Sponsored by Salesforce.com, this reception was the place to be for good food, great conversation, building on past business relationships, developing new prospective agendas, and some great fun, including an appearance by Elvis Presley, himself. Keeping folks entertained with his humor and song, Elvis captured the attention of everyone. A great collection of very nice and generous prizes was given away on the show floor, and the prize wheel by the SSPA and TPSA booths never stopped spinning throughout the night. Attendees really enjoyed this opportunity to relax and make connections with friends and other like-minded industry execs.