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IN THIS ISSUE

• What's New With IARE?
• IARE 2003 Conference
• Nominations for IARE Leaders
• Membership Update
• IARE Excellence Awards
• Member Profile
• Members Only Section

What's New with IARE?     return to top

Networking Made Possible Through IARE Regional Meetings

Looking for more opportunities to network with others in your industry? IARE Regional Meetings offer the perfect opportunity to learn more about your business and to gather ideas and solutions to help to deal with some of our industry challenges. Here is your chance to learn from the best!

The IARE's Southwest U.S. Regional Meeting was held in Phoenix, Arizona on January 30, 2003. The meeting was hosted by Steve Sheppard with Predictive Index and was held at the Best Western Operations Center. Representatives from Predictive Index, Pegasus, IEX, and Best Western attended the meeting. Everyone had a great time learning about the benefits of using a tool such as Predictive Index to assist in the selection of RIGHT candidate for the job.

The IARE's South Central U.S. Regional Meeting is set for Friday, March 21, 12:00 to 4:00 p.m. at Hilton Reservations Worldwide in Dallas, Texas. The discussion topic will be Multi-Channel Integration in the Contact Center and Avaya will host lunch. You can bring up to four people from your company. Click below for additional details and to register for the meeting. http://www.iare.com/regionalmeetings/regional_dallas.html

If you are interested in hosting or sponsoring an IARE Regional Meeting or have a specific subject to discuss at an upcoming meeting or, please contact the IARE office at iare@assnoffice.com.

Conference Update   return to top

IARE 18th Annual Conference & Exhibition
Early registration deadline is Friday, March 21
http://www.iare.com/Conference/2003/general2003.htm

IARE has great plans in store for you at the association's upcoming conference in Seattle!

Looking Beyond Today: Riding The Tides of Change
Saturday, April 26 to Wednesday, April 30, 2003
Red Lion Hotel on Fifth Avenue, Seattle, Washington U.S.A.

IARE has teamed with BizFutures Consulting Company for a four-hour interactive session entitled, Beyond Customer Service. BizFutures consultants will address the important concepts of: An Opportunity to Make a Difference; Loving What You Do, Doing What You Love; and Creative Listening, and give you insider knowledge about how they helped to make Seattle's Pike Place Fish Market "world famous."

Another focal point at the IARE Conference is the Tuesday afternoon general session, The Power of Losing Control, featuring Joe Caruso. Joe was only 18 when he lost control of his life in a dramatic way -- he was diagnosed with an incurable cancer. He decided to commit whatever short time he had left to studying life and learning what he calls the simple, common, timeless, human truths. You will be inspired by Joe's amazing story about how he not only beat cancer, but how he has become one of the most respected authorities on human development and transformation thinking.

Conference workshops will focus on two panel discussions:

Balancing Performance & Cost will feature a panel of key executives from the car rental, airline and hotel segments who will discuss how they juggle these two critical issues. 

E-Learning Concepts in the Travel Call Center Environment: 60 Ideas in 60 Minutes
In this workshop, a panel of industry experts will be faced with the one-minute challenge: Give us a concept, an idea or thought pertaining to e-learning best practices in the call center environment within 60 seconds! Whether e-learning already exists in your call center or you're just beginning to consider this option, you will find yourself armed with exciting tips, helpful hints and creative ideas to energize your training program.

A new feature to be introduced at the 2003 Conference is IARE Discussion Groups. Distinct from Call Center Forums, these facilitated sessions to allow members to share ideas and discuss trends in the specific areas of Customer Service, Attendance & Incentives, and Human Resources.

Other key functions of the Conference include:

• Facilitated Call Center Forums to address significant issues based on call center size
• Tours of local call centers
• Fun teambuilding and social activities
• Supplier Showcase to see and compare the latest products and services for the travel and hospitality industry

The Red Lion Hotel on Fifth Avenue is centrally located in downtown Seattle, close to shopping and restaurants, with easy access to the Monorail to Seattle Center and a few blocks walking distance from Pike Place Market. The hotel is offering specially discounted group rates of $130 single/double for IARE conference participants.

If you haven't registered yet...
What are you waiting for?

Click below for Conference information and On-line Registration
http://www.iare.com/Conference/2003/general2003.htm

Register before Friday, March 21st and save $50 on registration fees. Why not bring your management team? Additional registrants from your organization can register at the discounted price of $479.

The Conference promises to be one of the best yet! In these changing times, you can't afford to miss this opportunity. So please…REGISTER NOW!

See you in Seattle!

Nominations for IARE Leaders

The IARE Annual Conference is fast approaching and with it comes the Annual Business Meeting and elections to the IARE Board of Directors.

Have you ever thought about becoming a leader in your industry?
Do you want to shape the future of your Association?

If you answered YES to either of these questions, please consider serving on the IARE Board of Directors. Please click on the link below to learn more about qualifications. To apply, complete and return the Board Nomination Form no later than Friday, April 4, 2003.

http://www.iare.com/boardnom.htm

Membership Update return to top

Renewal deadline is March 28th

While April 15th (Tax Day) is getting closer, renewal for IARE membership is here now! Make the investment to continue your relationship with the only organization that is focused on Travel Industry Contact Centers. The Regional meetings started this year and have been well received and are offered at no additional cost to members. IARE is a membership organization where you can make a difference sharing your knowledge and expertise with others and learning from others and our wonderful Sponsors! Renew your membership now and we will see you in Seattle.

If you've already renewed your membership, Thank You!!

What are the Benefits of IARE Membership?
The short list:

• Attend the IARE Annual Conference in Seattle, April 26-30, 2003. Learn the latest about issues and products new to the call center/reservations industry, make new contacts, benchmark with your true business partners, both formally and informally. Remember that the Association in itself or the Conference is not a third-party vendor trying to generate revenue by hosting an event – we are the event, the industry leaders, players, front runners.
• Only this not-for-profit group boasts a roster with such a wide scope of members and Conference participants, including Marriott, Starwood, Hyatt, ANC, Hertz, Continental, Six Continents, Hilton, Best Western, Accor, Choice, Carlson, Amtrak -- and the list goes on.
• Use the IARE web site to be briefed on current industry events, source contacts, and make inquiries to other members about your business issues. In addition, help your business partners by responding to their inquiries.

The other list (the real skinny on active participation):

• Join one of five committees in IARE to achieve your personal best. Assist our association in driving membership, exploring and expanding technology, furthering education, recognizing our top performers and creating a value-added annual conference. Learn, network, and of course, enhance your resume.
• Attend our Regional Meetings (to be held quarterly in 2003) and invite your staff members to attend. Subjects vary, based on request, and further enhance our industry learning, benchmarking, professional development and networking efforts.
• Consider serving in leadership position -- as a Board member or Board Affiliate  -- and contribute in a new way to a very powerful international organization. Expand your industry contacts to new levels.

These are just a few of the many important reasons why YOU should get involved in IARE in 2003.

It's a new year and time to renew your membership. Don't delay... RENEW NOW to ensure you stay updated and involved.

IARE Excellence Awards
Nomination deadline is March 14

Do you have a great employee that deserves an award?

Look through your operation and identify who excels in performance, team development, and customer service. Then head for the IARE web site to submit your nominations for the IARE Excellence Awards.

You can nominate in one of four areas: Manager Excellence, Supervisor Excellence, Staff Member Excellence and Representative Excellence.

Award recipients are offered a complimentary registration to attend the IARE 2003 Annual Conference, an awards trophy and a prize check for $200.

This is an awesome way to reward your team! It doesn't cost a thing to submit your nomination so WHY NOT?

Please take a moment now to visit IARE's web site and nominate your extraordinary employees by March 14th!

http://www.iare.com/awards.html

Member Profile
Best Western International

Best Western International Inc. is THE WORLD'S LARGEST HOTEL CHAIN®, with more than 4,000 independently owned and operated hotels. Based in Phoenix, Arizona, Best Western offers more than 300,000 quality guest rooms located in 80 countries and territories throughout North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and the South Pacific.

Best Western was founded in 1946 by M.K. Guertin. The company began as an informal referral system among member hotels and has grown to become the largest single hotel brand across the globe. Best Western is well-known for its quality and value, and for offering guests a unique experience reflective of local character.

To serve its global client base, Best Western has reservation and operation centers in Phoenix and Glendale, Arizona and multilingual, consolidated reservations offices in Sydney, Australia; Dublin, Ireland and Milan, Italy. In total, the centers handle more than seven million calls annually. Bookings are also available on the company’s website.

For more information about Best Western, visit www.bestwestern.com.

Members Only  return to top
Bulletin Board Makes It Easy to Exchange Information

Want an easy way to exchange requests for information electronically with members? Now you can through IARE’s on-line Bulletin Board!

The Bulletin Board was designed to allow IARE members to solicit input and share ideas with other members through our web site.

To access the Bulletin Board, simply log-on to the Members Only section of the IARE web site and click on Bulletin Board. Your statement or inquiry will be posted immediately and remain there for approximately 60 days. IARE will send periodic email reminders to alert you when new messages are posted. Eventually, we hope that you will use this resource frequently to ask questions and exchange ideas.

We hope you enjoy this benefit of IARE membership!

No Foolin'…
Password Changes in Store!

With the passing of another year, so is your IARE user name and password for the Members Only section of the IARE web site. Your user name and passcode will be changing on April 1st.

The new user name and passcode will be emailed to IARE Members who have renewed their membership for 2003. Please watch for this important information.

If you haven't paid your 2003 dues, we encourage you to do so right away so you don't miss this important benefit of IARE membership.

Click here to submit your membership renewal on-line:
http://www.iare.com/membership.html

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Archives:

E-News: December, 2002

E-News: October, 2002

E-News: July, 2002

E-News: March, 2002

E-News: December, 2001

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E-News: April, 2001

E-News: February, 2001

E-News, December 2000

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