CS Week and Electric Light & Power are accepting submissions for the 2012 Expanding Excellence Awards. These prestigious awards recognize outstanding contributions, innovations and excellence in utility customer engagement and Smart Infrastructure.

Winning utilities will be notified on or about March 1, 2012. Winning entries will be featured at CS Week 2012 at the Gaylord Texan in Dallas, TX. A representative from the winning utility will be required to develop a brief overview of the project/program for an Expanding Excellence Awards workshop at the conference. This provides an opportunity for other customer service professionals to learn from the successes and innovations of their peers and ask questions of the team. Award winning utilities are recognized in the CS Week article in Electric Light & Power magazine.


CS WEEK 2012 EXPANDING EXCELLENCE AWARDS APPLICATION

This application form must be submitted along with any supplemental and supporting documentation in electronic format by February 17, 2012.

Title of Entry:
AWARD (Select only one):
CLASS (Select only one):
Name of utility submitting entry:
Number of customers served:
Number of employees:
Name of person submitting entry:
Title of person submitting entry:
Mailing address:
Telephone:
Fax:
E-mail address:
Name of project/program’s executive sponsor:
Title:
Telephone:
E-mail address:
Mailing address:

Please provide simple and direct answers to each of the questions below.

BACKGROUND

 

 

1.

SUMMARY: Please give a brief general description of the project/program being submitted. (500 words maximum)

2.

ISSUES/OPPORTUNITIES: Describe the business issues and/or opportunity that led to the undertaking of this project/program. Please indicate challenges, market conditions/issues and constraints. (500 words maximum)

3.

DEFINING THE OPPORTUNITY: How was the opportunity defined in advance of the project/program such as: costs/benefits, expected service level improvements, approach, and plan. (500 words maximum)

4.

DEFINE COMPLETION/PHASES/OR PILOT PROJECT: If this project has phases or is a pilot, describe the phases and what has been accomplished. If future phases are unfunded or not approved, please indicate. (500 words maximum)

 

 

PROJECT/PROGRAM

 

 

1.

TEAM and TOOLSETS: Who participated, and how much time did each participant devote to this project/program? Were outside consultants engaged? Please indicate any third party software or outsourcing solutions incorporated. (500 words maximum)

2.

COMPLEXITY: Describe the complexity of the project/program. How much training and technical skill is required for employees to make use of this solution? (500 words maximum)

3.

INNOVATION: Submittals should comment on originality, creativity, and innovation in this project/program. If the innovation has been implemented elsewhere, explain the uniqueness of your approach. (500 words maximum)

4.

EXECUTION; Provide information on the full scope of the project/program. Further detail should include how the project/program was executed and implemented. Describe issues experienced in the project/program and how they were resolved. Describe the key factors that made the project/program successful. Describe how risk was managed and mitigated during the project/program. (500 words maximum)

 

 

RESULTS

General note: submittal of results should strive to provide data that has evidence of published validation or other methods of substantiating results data

 

 

1.

COST/BENEFIT: Provide the cost/benefit information related to the project/program. If benefits are prospective for the years 2012, 2013, and 2014 please indicate achieved benefits separate from expected prospective benefits. (500 words maximum)

2.

BUDGET ADHERENCE: Provide original and final project/program numbers. (500 words maximum)

3.

SCHEDULE ADHERENCE: Provide original and final project/program schedule information. Submittals should also state original and final scope changes. (500 words maximum)

4.

IMPROVEMENTS TO CUSTOMER SERVICE: Indicate changes to customer service metrics. Submittals should also indicate prospective improvements expected for the years 2012, 2013 and 2014. (500 words maximum)

5.

RESOURCES: Quantify the total resources (money and time) devoted to this project/program. (500 words maximum)

6.

VALUE ADDED: Identify the value added (tangible and/or intangible) as a result of the project/program. (500 words maximum)

7.

OTHER DISTINGUISHING FEATURES: Use the area to highlight any other noteworthy features about your project/program or other benchmarks measured by your project/program. (500 words maximum)

A representative from the winning utility shall provide CIS Conference, Inc. dba CS Week with an electronic copy of the 30-minute presentation for inclusion in the post conference materials and the winning utility grants CS Week the nonexclusive right with respect to said materials to publish or have published, reproduce or have reproduced, prepare or have prepared in derivative form, and distribute or have distributed copies of the presentation. The winning utility grants CS Week the non-exclusive right to advertise and/or promote for its purposes through the use of the presentation via newspapers, magazines, television, direct mail, and other communication media.

In order to be eligible to receive the Expanding Excellence Award, each of the following boxes must be checked:

I have received Senior Management approval to accept this award and be present at CS Week at the Gaylord Texan in Dallas, TX, April 30 - May 4, 2012.

I agree to attend CS Week 2012 to accept the award personally and to present a 30-minute PowerPoint presentation of the award-winning project/program during the designated workshop.

I agree to the terms and conditions as specified herein.

 

FINAL STEPS

 

  1. You will have an opportunity to print the information you submitted on the confirmation page you will receive after you submit.

  2. Submit this application by clicking the submit button below.

  3. If you have other supporting documentation, please send under separate cover via email to lcollins@csweek.org.  Place utility name and title of entry in subject line.