Last Call? First Round

By Greg Galitzine,
GROUP EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, TMC

The summer season officially kicks off about three-quarters through this month of June, but being deadline oriented, and fixated on the map three months out, I find myself listening to Don Henley’s Boys of Summer and thinking, “my, but the summer flew by fast!”

Well, back to reality. It’s still late May, and there’s work to be done. And chief among the tasks for the coming months is the reinvigoration and reinvention of the magazine you now hold in your hands. Why mess with success? Well the fact is time moves on and every once in a while it makes sense to clean out the garage, or rearrange the furniture, or brighten up the living spaces with a fresh coat of paint.

In keeping with this theme, loyal readers will notice a change between this issue and the next issue, especially when it comes to the team leading the makeover. For starters I will have an increasing role in the day to day operation and direction of this publication, and it’s truly an honor to be entrusted to carry on the tradition of this industry flagship as we close in on closing out our third decade of publishing advice and information for the contact center industry. This issue is the start of our 27th year of publishing Customer Interaction Solutions®, through its various forms. Starting with Telemarketing® magazine back in 1982, straight through to the issue you hold in your hands, our mission has always been to provide the call/contact center industry with the best information they need to not only operate their contact centers according to the best practices of the industry, but also to identify and select and ultimately purchase the best technology for their various enterprises.

For those of you unfamiliar with my background, I’ve been with TMC for the past 12 years or so, focusing primarily on our technology publications, CTI magazine, Internet Telephony (News - Alert) magazine, and our two newest launches IMS and Unified Communications magazines. I’ve also played a role in the ongoing revolution of our Web site, and I’m excited by the prospect of rolling up my sleeves and helping drive this publication towards its 30th anniversary issue and beyond to our fourth decade of providing you with the information you need to do your job best.

Of course, I can’t do this by myself, so we’ve gone out and recruited some of the best talent available. To begin with I’d like to announce that Brendan Read has joined the Customer Interaction Solutions team and will be serving in the capacity of Senior Contributing Editor. Feel free to welcome Brendan with an e-mail addressed to [email protected]. Also feel free to send him requests for coverage, breaking news releases and an occasional note just to say hello and to let him know how we are doing serving you as a reader.

Brendan has extensive experience covering site selection, outsourcing, teleworking, e-learning/e-training, and business continuity, and has held editorial positions with several other publications in the space. He is author of “Designing the Best Call Center for Your Business, Home Workplace,” and, with Joe Fleischer, “The Complete Guide to Customer Support.” He is also a contributor to The Computer Telephony Encyclopedia, authored by INTERNET TELEPHONY editor Richard ‘Zippy’ Grigonis.

Brendan has been on the inside of the contact center industry for more than a decade. He has provided corporate communications for The AnswerNet Network, one of the Top 50 Teleservices Agencies, from 2004 until 2007. In addition, Read has spoken and has been a panelist at numerous industry conferences.

Of course we are continually working to attract the best and brightest minds in the industry to join our ranks as columnists, contributors and all around participants in this community of interest we know as Customer Interaction Solutions.

So, my inbox is officially open for business related to this publication and I look forward to your feedback. What can we do better? Where can we improve our coverage? What would you like to see more of in these pages? Where do we rearrange furniture, and where do we explore wholesale changes?

I welcome all comments and all criticism with an eye towards creating the best publication for all parties involved, our reader community and our advertiser community as well. It may sound a bit cliché, but it’s true that as we grow and our industry grows apace, we need to create better avenues of communication and work together to enjoy a vibrant and healthy community centered around Customer Interaction Solutions magazine.

I look forward to serving this community and helping it grow. Feel free to send e-mail to [email protected]. CiS

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