Sustainable Future of Telemarketing

Well, I'm here. Safely ensconced at the Wellcome Collection, awaiting the arriva of the coffee trolley (due to a mixup with a timetable and my diary and the clock changing, I've broken the habit of the last 40 years and turned up unfashionably early).

The conference agenda is full an diverse - from the arcane technicalities of the inner workings of diallers to the future of the industry via some research, regulation and a debate on the merits of automated messages.

It kicks of with a session on AMD. This is the absurdly technical bit which was originally going to be part of a separate lab session. I pitty the poor delegates who are going to get me and Roland (the excellent Roland Smith from JAM IP) giving them their first dose of double maths for many a year...

Then the always excellent Simon Roncoroni will be giving his personal view on the future of telemarketing - made all the more credible and relevant by the fact that he's also responsible for such a lot of its past.

Then there's a panel debate on automated messages chaired by the incomparable Claudia Hathway of CCF magazine.

After lunch, Steve Smith of Brookmead Consulting will be launching the publication of a report produced for the TPS last year on the state of telemarketing (I ought to declare an interst - I wrote some if it) .

Then the DMA Contact Centre Council Chair John Price, aided and abetted by Elaine Lee qill launch the Best Practice Guidelines developed by the DMA Council.

Then after afternoon tea and cake, Jasminder Oberoi from Ofcom will issue some clarification around the Ofcom guidelines published in September last year and George Kidd from the DM Commission will round the day off with a talk on the profitability of compliance.

I will log on a lunchtime with a review of the morning. Meanwhile, forget the end of year / end of quarter / last day of winter / eve of pranks / last day in London before the G20 and either enjoy the session or do some work.

Speak later.