Hosting SOCAP Meetings Made Easy
Original Document

It’s Easy

Hosting a SOCAP meeting gives you a special opportunity to contribute to the advancement of your profession, and it’s a chance for your company to increase its visibility as a customer service leader. And its pretty easy to do—especially if you cover all your bases. That’s what this little handout is designed to help you do. Look at it as the cumulative experience of dozens of companies who have hosted meetings for over a quarter of a century.

Give Good Driving Directions

Please be sure to give one of the SOCAP-Wis. board members driving directions for reaching your facility. And if you’re using MapQuest or an equivalent online tool, do be sure to double check its results. You’ll want to be sure your directions account for special considerations like:

Road construction

Parking instructions
If you don’t have a prominently marked visitors’ parking lot capable of accommodating 40 visitor vehicles, this will be especially important.

Building entrance
If your visitor lot can’t accommodate all the SOCAP visitor vehicles, your SOCAP guests may require special instructions to reach the correct entrance.

Security

As many hosting companies will attest, your company can and should remain in complete control at all times. But different companies have different policies regarding certain issues. So you may find it necessary to review the following issues:

Approved areas of access
It’s important to determine in advance which areas of the company are accessible to attendees, and which are not.

Traffic control
You may need to consider some traffic control measures that are congruent with your company’s degree of access for attendees. Some companies like to ensure that there are sufficient “greeters” available to assist attendees—as well as to ensure that no one wanders into restricted areas. Depending on your companies sensitivities, you may wish to make contingencies throughout the day at whatever points attendees will be traveling from one room to another (i.e., lunch, bathroom breaks, tours, departure, etc.)

Attendance by competitors
However unlikely, it’s always possible that an employee from a competing company in Wisconsin may attend. The attendance list you receive in advance will detail which companies will be represented at the meeting. This has rarely been a concern for SOCAP meetings because so many companies obviate the concern by tailoring the two aforementioned issues: (1) approved areas of access, and (2) traffic control. However, you may wish to also tailor the content of information presented. And you might offer special alternatives for competitors. For example, a customer service vendor might elect to offer an alternative to the standard facility tour in the case of competing customer service vendors. This should be arranged with the impacted guests in advance. Our experience has been that professional understanding among all parties has always ensured a pleasant and fruitful experience.

Attendance by former employees
Although it’s unlikely in the extreme, it’s possible that a former employee might be on the guest list. Again, there will be no surprises. You will receive a copy of the registration list in advance. In the event that this raises any corporate concerns, appropriate security measures applied to all attendees should alleviate any uneasiness. But as was the case with competitors, you may elect to tailor the visit for a former employee. Please contact a SOCAP-Wis. board member to discuss any concerns you may have.

On-site Registration

Just a few tips on the registration process:

Proximity
It works best when registration is closest to the door, or as an alternative, when you have greeters and signage to clearly direct people to the registration area. If the distance between the entrance and the registration area is significant, you may wish to include specifics along with the directions.

Set Up
-- Two long tables and four to five chairs
-- Name tags (ranging from simple adhesive name-tag labels to more sophisticated computer-generated ones)
-- Branded signage or decorations are also welcome

Staffing
SOCAP-Wis. board members will be on hand to assist with registration, including collection of fees and issuance of receipts

Agenda

Companies hosting SOCAP meetings may provide all or part of the content for the meeting. If you need help, please contact a SOCAP-Wis. board member.

A sample schedule is as follows. Please bear in mind this is a sample for your convenience only. As a host company, your own creative freedom is essential.

Door Prizes

As a host, you’re encouraged to contribute to the collection of door prizes, but rest assured various SOCAP members will make contributions as well.

Meeting Space

Capacity
Attendance can range from 20 - 40 people, so it’s best to be safe and ensure that you can accommodate a full 40 before agreeing to host a meeting. After the registration list is finalized, you’ll know how many people to plan on.

Configuration
A series of round tables is the configuration that best promotes interaction. But theater-style seating can work well also, providing the potential to break up into small groups as activities require.

Audio-Visual Needs
Sound amplification is often needed, especially with larger groups. Common needs include an LCD projector, a laptop, and flip charts. If someone apart from your company will be presenting, the SOCAP Board will coordinate with you to make sure their needs are accounted for.

Lunch

Style
Box lunches have been popular among many hosting companies because they neatly compartmentalize all aspects of the meal, but buffet-style lunches are welcome, too.

Location
Lunches usually occur in the meeting room, providing ease and convenience for attendees and the host company. But any location that works for the company will work for the attendees as well.

Cost
The cost of lunch is included in the attendance fee, and it will be completely covered by SOCAP.

Trash
Please ensure that trash receptacles are numerous and large enough to meet the needs. (Box lunches tend to require a greater cubic capacity).

Contact Center Tours

While contact center tours are typical (and even popular), they are not required. If you plan to include such a tour, please be sure to manage security in a way that is clearly communicated to all attendees. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with restricting access to certain areas.

Any Questions?

Should you have any additional questions, the SOCAP-Wis. Board is at your service. Please refer to the Leadership section of our website to reach a board member with any questions or comments you may have.