Center for Excellence in Service  
2012 Frontiers in
Service Conference
  What's New
 

21st Annual Frontiers in Service Conference
The 21st Annual Frontiers in Service Conference, will be June 14-17, 2012. Annually sponsored by Center for Excellence at the University of Maryland. Join over 250 scholars and managers, representing 40 countries to share the latest knowledge on service marketing, operations, and management. The 2012 conference will be hosted at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park. The 2012 Frontiers in Service Registration Now Open!

JSR Special Issue On IT-Related Service
The Center for Excellence in Service, in conjunction with the National Science Council of Taiwan and Sage Publications, is sponsoring a special interdisciplinary issue of the Journal of Service Research, focused on IT-related service. Papers published in this issue will have high impact, because of the cross-functional nature of the topic. The best paper will receive a first-place award of $2,000. Up to three honorable-mention awards of $1,000 will also be given.

SMPS University: C-Suite Leadership Development Program
The Center for Excellence in Service is partnering with the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) and Smith’s Office of Executive Programs to offer a customized C-Suite Leadership Development Program (CSLDP). The purpose is to give SMPS members the skills required to establish themselves as leaders in their firms and in their industries. Twenty SMPS members participated in the inaugural program, held October 20-21, at the Smith School in College Park, and November 17-18 at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, DC. The schedule for the 2012 program is available.

  Snapshot
 

CUSTOMER SERVICE WORKSHOP FOR UMD’S OFFICE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
A workshop on customer service was presented on January 18, 2012, to 25 coordinators from the University of Maryland’s Office of Information Technology (OIT). In a three-hour, afternoon session, Janet Wagner, director of the CES, presented an overview of how to manage the many challenges frontline employees confront when they serve customers. Topics included how to market OIT’s service; the important of creating and maintaining OIT’s relationships with faculty, staff, and students; how customer-facing employees represent the OIT brand to the campus; tactics for managing difficult customers; and strategies for restoring customer satisfaction after a service failure.