Regional Contact Center Associations

There’s a question I’m asked fairly regularly, one that I really enjoy answering. It usually sounds like this, “I have a new person leading our contact center… where should they go to get help on how to run a contact center?”

In addition to the plethora of conferences and training organizations, there are so many amazing books, blogs, podcasts, and smart people freely sharing their knowledge on LinkedIn, Twitter, Clubhouse, and in Slack workspaces. So many, that I’m sure it can seem a little overwhelming at first.

So, my first answer to that question is to get involved with a regional contact center association.

In many parts of the US and Canada, there are amazing regional contact center associations. Although they do not share any centralized affiliation, they operate completely independently from one another, and they’re organized in as many ways as there are different associations, they share a common goal of being focused on bringing contact center leaders together to build relationships and learn from one another.

Many of these regional associations were founded to create learning and networking opportunities for contact center leaders in a common geographic area, outside of the larger, national and international associations and events. In the years that I have been involved with the NCCCA, I have spent time getting to know the members and leadership teams at many of these associations, which are made up of contact center professionals from all parts of our industry, most of whom are volunteering their time and talents to be a part of these associations.

The regional associations listed below are a great way for contact center leaders to augment their training and networking between the larger conferences. In my experience, you may also meet many leaders that may not have ever attended any of the larger conferences.

It is very common for these associations to host single day, or half-day, events throughout the year and to attract leaders within a reasonable driving distance from one another. During the past year-and-a-half, many of the associations have continued to host some wonderful virtual events.

If you’re part of a contact center, at any level, in any of these areas of North American, I highly recommend that you look into joining one of these groups. If you’re in northern California (and even if you’re not), I hope to see you at an NCCCA event soon!

The Regional Contact Center Associations of North America

Northern California Contact Center Association (NCCCA)

Mid West Contact Center Association (MWCCA)

North East Contact Center Forum (NECCF)

Austin Contact Center Alliance (ACCA)

The Professional Teleservice Management Association (San Antonio) (PTMA SA)

Association of Customer Contact Professionals (Kansas City) (ACCP)

Greater Toronto Contact Centre Association (GTACC)

Manitoba Customer Contact Association (MCCA)

Contact Centre Nova Scotia (CCNS)

Contact Center New Brunswick (CCNB)

Where are they?

Bonus associations

Recently, I learned about the Association of Government Contact Center Professionals (AGCCP) and had the wonderful opportunity to speak with one of their leaders. Although not a regional association, they do cater to the specific needs of government agency contact centers and have a robust membership across many different levels of government throughout the US.

I also recently attended my first meeting of Execs in the Know. After the virtual event I was scratching my head wondering what took me so long to join. It was a very well put together event and I left it with a slew of new ideas and insights.

(Added 10/15/21) Justin Robbins let me know about another industry specific association, International Association of Reservation Executives, geared toward contact center leaders in the travel industry.

Are there others?

Am I missing any regional associations? If so, please leave a comment or send me a message! I know that many members of the regional associations are also members of CCNG, NACC, or various regional chapters of HDI or SOCAP, which are also all fantastic organizations.