Leadership Summit - StrengthsFinder

Thursday, April 30th 2015: SOCAP GLC Leadership Summit

StrengthsFinder Event

Event Kick-Off

This year’s Leadership Summit took place at Kellogg’s HQ in Battle Creek, MI at 8:30 AM. The event started with a breakfast and networking and then promptly began with our first speaker at 9 AM, the Chapter’s president, Lisa Patterson. After a brief overview of the Great Lakes Chapter and a quick outline of the day’s topics (from the VP of Events, Debra LaLonde), we got a sneak peek of a topic that will be discussed at a future event: “Who’s Your Gladys?” by Marilyn Suttle & Lori Jo Vest. 

To cap off the Kick-off portion of the meeting, Kellogg’s presented information on how they use Analysts’ strengths to champion programs, events, meetings, issues and/or projects within their contact center.

Main Speaker – Gallup StrengthsFinder

Throughout the rest of the day, breaking for Lunch and some Kellogg Character Photos, Kelly Bacon and Jeremy Pietrocini presented Gallup’s StrengthsFinder tool. Before this event took place, all guests who registered were able to take a free StrengthsFinder test to find their own strengths. With this information, guests learned how to use these strengths to their advantage and how to use these strengths on a team.

The speakers also discussed how organizations can utilize this information, along with other information from various Gallup tools, to help lead an organization to greater returns and higher earnings. To learn more on “How Employees’ Strengths Make Your Company Stronger”, click HERE to read the Gallup Business Journal’s article.

What a spectacular event and thank you to all who attended (and a special thank you to Kellogg's for hosting)! If you attended the event or missed the event and want to see the presenters' information and/or photos (more photos to come), they are available HERE and are accessible any time via our website (www.socap.org/chapters/great-lakes).

And don't forget to follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Google+ and share it with your Colleagues. ;) 

See you all at the next event! I hear it is going to be "sunny and warm". ;)

2014 End of Year Event - DTE HQ

Thank you SOCAP Great Lakes Chapter for an outstanding 2014!  Dec 4 the chapter closed out the year where we celebrated our chapter’s 2014 successes hosted by Detroit Energy Inc.    During this event the chapter celebrated organizational achievements for the third year in a row of attaining the coveted CARE award and Membership award (criteria defined by SOCAP National – www.socap.org).   Individual recognition was given via the “STAR” award to both Chip Rhode of Wilke Global and Tim Aulph of Percepta who’s contributions to the chapter in 2014 were exceptional.

This meeting was also the forum for the annual business meeting where the 2015 board of officers and directors was officially elected and confirmed.   The 2015 board consists of the following members:

President     Lisa Patterson-GM
VP Events   Debra LaLonde-GM  
VP Membership    Rich Martin
VP Technology   Tim Aulph-Percepta
Secretary    Aimee Spurlock-Flagstar
Treasurer    Kathy Murrenus-Chrysler
Director    Mont Wright-Ford
Director    Kathy McGillivary-Kellogg’s
Director    Cheryl Calcaterra-Stratos, Inc.

Continuing with a long standing tradition, entrance to the event included donation of an unwrapped present for the Toys for Tots charity. Our members enjoyed a presentation and thank you from a Marine who was present to receive our toys.  The event concluded with a tour, led by Suzanne Thornton (Director of the DTE Customer Care team) and her team, of the multi-faceted customer care center along with a Quality presentation.

Another successful event in the books to close out 2014!  Thank you all for your participation and contributions to the SOCAP Great Lakes Chapter.

If you attended the event or missed the event and want to see the presenters' slides, they are available HERE and are accessible any time via our website (www.socap.org/chapters/great-lakes).

See you all at the next event!

2014 Best Practices Summit - Domino's

The 2014 annual “Best Practices Summit” was hosted by Domino’s Pizza at their World Headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  It was a great day of learning, sharing and networking for 80+ chapter members, guests and business partners.


The day started out with an update from Chapter President, Kim Sokol, of Kelly Services, followed by a “Welcome to Domino’s” from Terri Haffey, Domino’s Customer Care Manager, and VP of Membership for the GLC.   Attendees were then inspired by Domino’s CEO, Patrick Doyle, who provided insight into the Domino’s customer experience journey.

The day was jam-packed with presentations from Domino’s Customer Care, Wilke Global on Millenial Best Practices, General Motors and Ipsos, Detroit Edison Customer Care, Invantage Group with cell phone laws and regulations, and predictive analytics presented by Concentrix.  In between, all attendees enjoyed Domino’s pizza for lunch while participating in a fun networking activity.

If you attended the event or missed the event and want to see the presenters' slides and/or event photos, they are available HERE and are accessible any time via our website (www.socap.org/chapters/great-lakes). 

See you all at the next event!

21st Annual Early Bird Business Meeting and Golf Outing

Every year, we host an annual "Early Bird Business Meeting and Golf Outing" at Tanglewood and every year, Chip Rohde, the event's organizer, predicts the day will be "sunny and warm". Well this year was no different.

First, the event begins with what we call, the "Early Bird Business Meeting". This year's early bird meeting was a panel discussion with Detroit's Big 3 about their Social Media strategies. Some of our attendees even posted great notes on Twitter from the event; for example,

@DigitalRootsCRM posted "From #SOCAP: MT @jetsongospel @GM #SocialMedia: If customers are out there and asking questions we need to be there. @SOCAPGL"

@jetsongospel posted "Chrysler now has direct chat support on contact us page #social @SOCAPGL"

@bryanwillmert posted "Where ever you're at on the journey.. it takes time to get to where you want to be. - Mont Wright from @Ford #socapgl"


If you attended the Early Bird Meeting or missed the event and want to see our presenters' slides, they are available HERE and are accessible any time via our website (www.socap.com/greatlakes).

Once the meeting concluded, we transitioned into golf mode, which was an 18 hole scramble with several teams playing for prizes and bragging rights.  Prizes for the day included longest drive, longest putt, closest to the pin, and a putting contest for both men and women.

As always, people learn a lot from the Early Bird Meeting and/or unwind and have a good time at the Golf Outing. Don't believe me? Check out the photos from the event (HERE) and see for yourself. And if you were there, enjoy the memories!

See you all at the next event!

2014 Technology Summit

2014 SOCAP Great Lakes Chapter Technology Summit at the Flagstar HQ in Troy, MI

Due to a packed agenda and with diverse speakers, we had an outstanding turn out for this year's Technology Summit.

This year's host was Aimee Spurlock and our host site was Flagstar Bank's Headquarters in Troy, Michigan. Flagstar provided a tasty lunch before things got started and people were given a chance to network and/or discuss the day's agenda.

Three companies and their partners gave members and guests informative and insightful strategies on how they operate using various tools. Nestle and Wilke Global; Domino's Pizza and Astute Solutions; and OnStar using Uptivity. Here are some of the key points made during the presentations:

• Nestle: "Respect the customer's chosen channel."
• Domino's Pizza: "Failure is an option; learn from your mistakes." See their presentation HERE.
• OnStar: "Speech Analytics can be used for 3 major areas: (1) Agent Performance, (2) Business Intelligence, and (3) Continuous Improvement." 

During the event, some cool prizes were handed out. Gifts bags were created using promotional items donated from various companies. Interested in donating a cool promotional item with your companies logo on it? Go to our SOCAP International Home Page for more information on how to submit your donation and possibly win a prize at the end of the year!

And finally, we ended the day with a Networking activities at both the summit and at Red Robin.

Be sure to check out more about this event, and others, at the following links:

• See more Pictures HERE
• Interested in attending our next event? Go HERE
• Want to be a Speaker, Donate your Company's Promotional Items or you just want to learn more about our Chapter? Go HERE

2014 Kick Off Meeting

2014 SOCAP Great Lakes Chapter Annual Kick Off Meeting at the Detroit Athletic Club (DAC)

This year's annual Kick Off meeting was a great event with an outstanding presentation from Kim McMiller (SOCAP 2014 Chair and Associate Director, Consumer Affairs, Kraft Foods Inc.) and a beautiful speech by Esther Shapiro.

Kim's presentation gave the members wonderful insight into Kraft Foods Social Media strategy and their new Social Media Intelligence Center (which they will be announcing more information about soon). She also reviewed the purpose of SOCAP and the benefits of being involved with the organization.






During the annual Esther Shapiro Award Ceremony (this year's recipient was Rosemary O'Malley from Ford Motor Company), Esther gave a beautiful (and funny) speech about her history in Consumer Affairs and the beginnings of SOCAP.

And finally, throughout the meeting, Kim Sokol (President of the local Chapter), provided information about upcoming events, the 2014 Board and the chapter's financial status (via our Treasurer, Mary Ann Adams).

Once the meeting has concluded, the members departed for the Detroit North American International Auto Show (#NAIAS).


For a copy of the presentation(s) given at the event, please click HERE.
See more pictures from the event HERE.

DAC and Tiger's Game

Member Appreciation Event / 40th Anniversary SOCAP National Celebration at the Detroit Athletic Club followed by a picnic and Tigers Game!

What a picture perfect day! 

The GL Chapter kicked off a business meeting at the exceptional Detroit Athletic Club where approx. 50 members and guests gathered.   In conjunction with an information session to educate attendees on GL Chapter functions, activities, and how to get involved, our guest celebrity speaker was Bill Proctor, retired Channel 7 Action News reporter.   Bill shared highlights of his 33 year career noting the impact of communication with your audience and reinforcing the significance of service!  You never know who may be on the other end of the phone line (or internet as it may be)!
After the DAC meeting the Chapter, along with 20 members & guests of the West Point Society of Michigan, enjoyed a picnic lunch at Comerica park followed by the Tigers v. Royals game.  In total there were 90 combined participants at Comerica Park!!!  The only thing that could have been better would have been a Tiger WIN!  

The weather was perfect !   A very fun and successful day/turn out!  
Special thanks to Chip Rhode from ACS and Susan Zoma from Little Caesars for helping organize the event!

Click HERE to see pictures take by Kim Sokol.