AFSM UK's first full year of operation since the re-launch at SME 2004 was capped by the UK Chapter’s hosting of a Special Conference at this key Exhibition in the European Service Management calendar. 

The special conference schedule was designed to whet the interest of potential Association members by delivering a sample of typical sessions that are planned as future UK Chapter Events for the remainder of 2005 and into 2006.  Topical presentations and expert panels attracted around 100 participants across the course of the day. 

After an introduction to the Value of S-Business by Chapter President Chris Farnath, it was standing room only for the first session led by Steve Downton, author of the Future Trends & Benchmark studies for the AFSMI. Demonstrating how customer satisfaction opportunities generate additional service revenues, Steve’s session raised the levels of expectation for the following items.

Without dropping a beat, the next item involved the popular "Power Panel" (similar to the BBC TV's "Question Time" programme) which investigated how effective service leadership will optimise service revenues.  Facilitated by the Chapter President, the panellists included Steve Downton, Mark Turner, editor of Service Management magazine and Brian Andrews, managing director of MSP Projects, who ably debated the points raised by the audience. 
 
Julian Mosquera was handed the baton, leading an insightful service perspective on the recently imposed Waste of Electronic & Electrical Equipment (WEEE) Legislation.  Again, the audience filled the theatre, fascinated by Julian’s proposition of “Profiting from Take-Back” an opportunistic approach to this European-wide law.

The penultimate feature session returned the "Power Panel", this time discussing the merits of Change Management in the Information Age.  The distinguished panellists for this session were Penny Reid, Managing Partner of ITDA and Paul Wassell, Head of Technology Support for Aspect Software. Their experiences of survival techniques in corporate mergers ensured the debate was lively and informative. 

Penny Reid concluded the feature track with a session about People Reading. Penny Reid specialises in maximising the effectiveness of the human beings in organisations. She believes the behaviour of individuals is still the dominant factor in the relationship between a client and a supplier.  Penny’s highly interactive exchange with the packed audience truly brought the Special Conference’s feature sessions to a close in style. 

This high paced day ended in an appropriate manner, with Steve Elsham of Oracle presenting an IPAQ with satellite navigation to Alan Dunn-Birch of Homeserve for his prize-draw winning survey and Mark Hemming welcoming three new AFSMI members that joined at the exhibition, courtesy of Festo.

The UK chapter is proving to its members the advantage of participation in the events.  Don’t miss out; the next confirmed Chapter event is scheduled for 26th October. Watch for details in your e-mail and posted on the AFSMI UK Chapter web site www.afsmi.org.uk of how to register.