FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APOGEE Interactive Presents ACE Awards to Utilities for Best Practices on the Web
ATLANTA, Oct. 4, 2007 -- APOGEE Interactive Inc., a pioneer of online solutions for the energy industry, has presented its annual ACE awards to 10 utilities for best practices in Web-based customer service and energy efficiency programs.
The APOGEE Customer Excellence Awards ceremony took place during the company’s 14th Annual Web Workshop, drawing nearly 100 electric and gas utility professionals to Atlanta, Oct. 2 to 4. APOGEE hosts the 3-day event each year to provide a forum for peer exchange, to feature nationally recognized industry speakers and to introduce advances in Web applications,
Headline presentations this year included E Source director Andrew Heath and the company’s 2007 Review of North American Electric and Gas Utility Web Sites; EnergyBiz Insider’s editor-in-chief Ken Silverstein and his assessment of the evolution of energy efficiency; nationally recognized energy marketing strategist Joel Gilbert, P.E. and chief software architect for APOGEE, addressing trends in the industry; and customer service expert Kimberly King, president of InterWeave and author of “Is Your Call Center Really WOW?”
APOGEE established the ACE Awards program to recognize Excellence in Customer Service, Best in Web Activity, Most Creative Marketing, Outstanding Conservation and Stewardship, and Web Innovation among its more than 200 utility clients. “We have the unique vantage point of observing and participating in the Web communications practices at hundreds of utilities,” Susan Gilbert, APOGEE president and chief executive officer. “We see what’s really working out there on the Web.”
This year’s winners for Excellence in Customer Service include Southern Company for piloting a user-friendly energy bill analysis tool for businesses; Southside Electric Cooperative for the highest conversion of onsite energy audit requests to self-service online energy reviews; and Licking Rural Electrification for an interactive meter reading application for customers.
Westar Energy earned the Most Creative Marketing award for launching an exceptionally cost-effective Web site promotion leveraging a wide range of communications vehicles and achieving a near doubling of Web site visitors to date this year – all without the use of traditional paid advertising.
APOGEE’s awards for Outstanding Conservation and Stewardship went to FPL Energy for directing the development of a new climate change section for APOGEE’s Kids Korner Web module; and to KeySpan/National Grid, for its leadership in the development of a new series of simple “carbon footprint” calculators for customers.
Taking top honors for Best Web Activity was Mitchell EMC for recording more Web traffic than other cooperatives in the 25,000-member range.
The final category of ACE Awards recognizes forward thinking energy professionals who consistently advance online applications and Web tools to better serve their customers. Recipients of the ACE Innovation Award include: Robin White, project manager at Alabama Power; Dan Welklin, energy efficiency program manager at Duke Energy; and Bruce Marie, commercial marketing executive at Coast Electric Power Association.
About APOGEE
Headquartered in Atlanta, APOGEE (www.apogee.net) offers a full suite of online residential and commercial energy content and energy-use analysis applications to enhance customer satisfaction and energy efficiency. APOGEE’s more than 200 customers comprise a wide range of investor-owned, municipal and cooperative utilities such as American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), Entergy (NYSE: ETR), TVA, Riverside Public Utilities and Jackson EMC. The company also provides eLearning systems, call center programs and demand response platforms to utilities and their trade associations.
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Contact: Karen Morris, Apogee Interactive, Inc., kmorris@apogee.net, 770-270-6501