Panel discussion: Celebrating Excellence, Forecasting the Future
From outage trackers to dashboards to data hubs, learn the latest on industry-leading projects that have won Chartwell’s best practices awards even as we look toward the future of outage communications holds for utilities and their customers during this interactive panel discussion. Participants will share lessons learned from their exemplary projects and discuss new ideas and technologies to further improve customer satisfaction.
Moderator:
John Bord, Senior Consultant, Chartwell, Inc.
Panelists:
Di Soares, Project Specialist and Product Owner, Con Edison
Di Soares is the Senior Architect of Con Edison’s CX Journey Mapping program, which dives deep into customer pain points and executes projects to resolve systemic issues. Di has led several successful and award-winning projects to improve outage communications and ensure the company is giving customers the information they need in the channels they want. Di’s efforts to create a mobile-first approach with frequent updates have radically improved CSAT for outage customers. Di is passionate about design thinking, rapid prototyping, and the customer-first approach in her work at Con Edison.
Prior to joining Con Edison, Di had a successful career in media, working for more than a decade as a news editor for the Latin American editions of The Wall Street Journal. Her journalism skills and creative approach have been key to developing data-driven projects that have shed new light to customers end-to-end journeys, allowing Con Edison to change processes and design communications based on its communities’ real needs.
Michael Williams, Principal Manager, Business Customer Division Business Operations, Southern California Edison
Michael began his career with Southern California Edison (SCE) in 2009 and has served in several capacities leading CCA & DA administration, DSM Engineering, Key & National Accounts, Grid Interconnections, Customer Experience, and Operations. He is currently the Principal Manager of Business Operations in the Business Customer Division where he leads Outage Communications, Customer Choice Services, and Technology Integration & Support Services.
Wayne Boone, Principal, Alabama Power Company
In his current role, Wayne is a member of the group focused on ADMS. More specifically, Wayne leads a team creating solutions for ADMS and OMS web information applications. Additionally, Wayne is a key member of the Outage Communications team.
Prior to his current role, he led the Data Management Center of APC in the first complete statewide implementation of GIS.
Wayne’s career in Information Technology spans almost five decades, and his work has been directly focused on leading edge technology with a practical business solution focus. Wayne holds a degree in Business Administration from Faulkner University.
Karen Sparling, Emergency Response Specialist, Crisis Management, Ameren Illinois
Karen has 35 years of service with Ameren Illinois. The first 25 years were spent supporting field operations. In 2017, she joined the Outage Team on a special project working with Outage Communications. In 2021, Karen joined the Ameren IL Crisis Management Team as an Emergency Response Specialist. In this role, she serves on the Incident Management Team in the Emergency Operations Center.
