CAM-X Convention Summary, November 2001

The Canadian Call Management Association (CAM-X) held its 37th annual convention and trade show, November 28th through December 1st, in beautiful Whistler, British Columbia. The event was well attended with approximately eighty people present.

The conference, sponsored by CAM-X and Telus, also lined up a stellar group of vendors as strategic partners. These included equipment and software vendors Amtelco, CadCom, Professional Teledata, Startel, Szeto, Tascom, and Telescan, along with user group, NAEO, and insurance carrier Capri. We salute these vendors for their presence and support of CAM-X.

An NAEO pre-conference was led by Mike Leibowitz and Allan Fromm, covering topics such as sales compensation, management, turning leads into sales, and Infinity programming.

The main convention began the next day. CAM-X President Kerry Paul welcomed the vendors and attendees. He then introduced distinguished guest, Darlene Campbell, ATSI President. Darlene, brought greetings from ATSI and shared information about their initiative with the American Red Cross. There was much interest in what she communicated.

The keynote presentation was given by Marc Bombenon of PDL Call Centres. Mark’s presentation was inspiring, as he encouraged us to “take our business to higher ground.” His well-received discourse set the stage for a successful meeting. Joe McGuiness followed, discussing dot-coms and Paul Ruiterman covered virus protection. The topic of prospecting, presented by John Whitehead, rounded out Thursday’s presentations. The exhibit hall opened at noon and attendees kept vendors busy giving demos and explaining product developments.

Friday’s sessions were equally compelling. A case study, about transitioning from call centre to contact centre, was shared by Cindy Roma. Peter Lyle DeHaan, then explained how to go about hiring for the contact centre with his presentation entitled “Staffing the Web-enabled call centre.” After lunch we were treated to a session about 911 training by Tally Wade. Other sessions included email management presented by Sydney Ryan and “Generating revenue with no HR or capital expense” by Tascom’s Bill Cortus.

The convention, however, was not all educational sessions and meetings. Many attendees were able to squeeze in some skiing. Enthusiasts reported that snow conditions were wonderful. A short but intense storm on Saturday delayed the departure of those who planned to duck out early.

The highlight of the convention was the much anticipated Awards Luncheon. It, too, was brought to a “higher ground,” with a suspenseful buildup culminating with the award announcements.

The convention concluded with a “Gala Evening Banquet” that continued into the wee hours of the morning. With that, the gavel was passed to incoming President Desiree Bombenon. Special accolades go to Lillian Lyle for her hard work in producing a first-class event.

Next year’s convention is at a can’t miss location in Nassau, Bahamas, on October 20 to 24, 2002. If you would like more information about CAM-X or attending next year’s convention, contact Linda Osip at 800-896-1054 or camx@nas.net.

[From Connection MagazineJan/Feb 2002]

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