The Lighter Side of Contact Center Management

NEW YORK, July 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Managing a contact center is serious business, but three talented people who come up with the best humorous one-liner about the experience will win fabulous prizes and the undying adulation of their amused peers in the ACCE 2008 Cartoon Caption Contest.

Contact center comedians can enter the contest by submitting a caption for the cartoon, which is posted on both http://www.acceicmi.com/ and http://www.toonblogs.com/. The contest is co-sponsored by The International Customer Management Institute (ICMI) -- the leader in call center consulting and training experiences including the Annual Call Center Exhibition (ACCE) and Call Center Demo and Exhibition conferences -- and Cartoon Art Associates, a longtime partner.

Winners of the ACCE 2008 Cartoon Caption Contest will be announced at the fifth Annual Call Center Exhibition (ACCE), which will take place September 15-18, 2008 at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, AZ.

The grand prize winner of the ACCE 2008 Cartoon Caption Contest will be awarded a full conference pass to any 2009 ICMI contact center event in the United States, plus round-trip economy air travel to and from the event from the major airport nearest the winner's residence. All finalists will receive a print of the cartoon featuring their caption and signed by the artist who designed the cartoon.

"I'm really looking forward to seeing what captions contestants come up with," said Carl Nelson, President of Cartoon Art Associates. "Call centers aren't usually thought of as humorous, but I've found that humor sometimes comes from the most unexpected places."

All contest entries must be received by Friday, August 15, 2008. ACCE's panel of expert contact center judges -- Bruce Balentine, Executive Vice President, Enterprise Integration Group, Lori Bocklund, President, Strategic Contact, Inc., Drew Daly, Senior Director of Sales, World Travel Holdings, Anne Nickerson, President, Call Center Coach, LLC, and Daniel Ord, CEO, OmniTouch -- will then review the captions and choose the top three based on creativity, originality, and humor.

Finalists will be announced at http://www.acceicmi.com/ and http://www.toonblogs.com/ on August 26, 2008. The public will then be asked to cast their votes on the web or at ACCE 2008 to choose the grand prize winner.

"We hope this contest will give everyone something to smile about during the midst of a busy day," says Rachel Levy, ACCE Event Marketing Manager. "ACCE is known for providing outstanding opportunities for both learning and networking to its attendees, and sharing jokes about the high and low points of contact center management is a great way to help people in our industry connect with one another."

Now in its fifth year, ACCE draws business leaders from around the globe. Last year ACCE brought together more than 1700 contact center professionals from over 40 countries and all 50 states. Attendance is expected to be even higher this year. For more information about ACCE 2008 and the ACCE 2008 Cartoon Caption Contest please visit http://www.acceicmi.com/.

   Media contacts
   Steven Blinn
   BlinnPR
   212-675-4777
   steven@blinnpr.com

   Rachel Levy
   Think Services
   609-759-4738
   rlevy@think-services.com

  About ICMI Events

ICMI's conferences are created with a depth of expertise and resources that no other conference organizer can offer. Over the past 22 years, our exclusive devotion to the contact center industry has made us the trusted source for reliable, product-neutral information and guidance.

Our consulting team works "in the trenches" with companies large and small to overcome their contact center challenges, and gain first-hand knowledge of what keeps you up at night.

In producing our digital magazine, "Customer Management Insight" and numerous email newsletters, our editorial team is constantly seeking trends and news from around the industry. And our extensive professional membership roster from more than 50 countries keeps us in communication with our audience year-round. ICMI has trained more than 75,000 call center professionals so far -- you can be sure that attending an ICMI event will be time well spent!

About ICMI

Founded in 1985, the International Customer Management Institute (ICMI) is one of the call center industry's most established and respected organizations. ICMI's mission is to provide resources and expertise that help individuals and organizations improve operational performance, attain superior business results and increase the strategic value of their customer contact services. Through the dedication and experience of its team, uncompromised objectivity and results-oriented vision, ICMI has earned a reputation as the industry's most trusted source for: Consulting, Training, Publications, Events, and Professional Membership. Through constant innovation and research, ICMI's network of resources and services have become the industry's gold standard. ICMI is part of Think Services, a division of United Business Media LLC. To learn more, visit http://www.icmi.com/.

SOURCE: ICMI Events

CONTACT: Steven Blinn of BlinnPR, +1-212-675-4777, steven@blinnpr.com,
for ICMI Events; or Rachel Levy of Think Services, +1-609-759-4738,
rlevy@think-services.com

Web site: http://www.icmi.com/