(San Diego, CA August 21, 2003) – The Service & Support Professionals Association (SSPA) announced today the featuring of Five Expert Connection Training Workshops at the SSPA Conference @ Savannah to be held September 29-October 1, 2003, in Savannah, Georgia. One choice for attendees will be the S-Business: Reinventing the Services Organization workshop. Every successful services executive has two things constantly on their minds: How to drive revenue and how to create competitive advantage! Based on their new book, S-Business: Reinventing the Services Organization, authors Jim Alexander and Mark Hordes will present key concepts based on research of 370 services companies and practical experience consulting with over 100 services organizations. Key concepts presented include:

• 14 best practices and attributes of high-performance services organizations.
• How to choose the correct strategy to drive revenue and create competitive advantage.
• How to successfully position your company in the services marketplace: Vendor, Specialist, Total Solutions Provider, or Game Changer.
• How to build the definitive blueprint to transform your services company to the next level of success.

According to Alexander and Hordes, “No organization of any size, in any market or geography, can afford not to implement an s-business strategy. The stakes are just too high. And this workshop will give participants the tools to do it.”

The other four-hour Expert Connection Training Workshops on Day Three of the conference will include: STAR Award Winners Showcase- “Benchmarking Against the Best! *, Economics of Certification--Management Overview *, Support Center Practices (SCP) Best Practices User Forum *, and Developing a Services Architecture.

The SSPA Savannah Conference is the event where the future of the service and support industry comes together in a fusion of visionary keynote addresses, vibrant tracks and workshops, interactive forums, fun networking events, informative exhibits, and a special dinner featuring the SSPA STAR Award winners--all in the heart of America's most magical city, Savannah, Georgia.

The opening day of the SSPA Conference @ Savannah will be highlighted by three keynote presentations by Elliott Masie, director, The MASIE Center; Chris Shea, vice president, Consumer Service and Support Americas, and Randy Spratt, Sr., vice president, McKesson Information Solutions.

Day Two will feature five tracks, each with six focused sessions for a total of 30 sessions, guaranteed to unlock the secrets to mastering the future of customer service and support. The five tracks on the second day of the conference will include:
Track 1: The Future of Support Technology; Track 2: The Future of Customer Demands; Track 3: The Future of the Support Executive; Track 4: The Future of Managing People; Track 5: Delivering World Class Service in the Future.

Day Three is completed with the attendee’s choice of a round of golf at the pristine Club at Savannah Harbor Golf Course, next to the Westin Savannah Harbor Resort. - a tour of America's most magical city- Savannah- or a tour of Savannah’s wonderful coastal area.

Those who attend the SSPA Conference at Savannah will be well equipped to master the future of customer service. To view additional details of the Conference and to register, please visit www.thesspa.com/savannah.

About SSPA
Founded in 1989, the Service & Support Professionals Association (SSPA) was formed to focus on the specific needs of service executives who are responsible for support centers and overall customer relations. Today, the SSPA represents over 21,600 service professionals at 2,500 support centers worldwide. These executives look to SSPA to provide insight into the future of support services, a road map of best practices within our industry and access to the best service and support vendors. SSPA has become the center of support providing a reliable and comprehensive resource for news, research, benchmarking, standards and collaboration.

SSPA was created for professionals, managers and executives that make their living in the IT support services community. It is not a generic, one-size-fits all website where nobody ever feels like they belong. SSPA is dynamic, interactive, living resource specifically designed for the unique needs of support professionals. This exciting virtual community creates a forum for constant interaction with peers, industry experts, technology vendors and much more. For more information regarding the SSPA and other related divisions, log on to www.thesspa.com or send an email to info@thesspa.com.