Highlights of the Customer Inter@ction Solutions' 25th anniversary event.

During the special night of May 4, 2006, at Customer Inter@ction Solutions' 25th anniversary celebration, the honorees of the Lifetime Achievement Awards offered many wonderful comments about their experiences in the industry. Here, we've reproduced the highlights of the evening's acceptance speeches. Congratulations to all the winners.

Robin Richards, The NTI Group, Inc.

It was about 20 years ago that I got this idea to join the teleservices industry, except that it wasn't an industry yet. There was a gentleman named Murray Roman, who some of you don't know, who really started this thing. He had three brilliant people who worked with him, and one of them is here ... Ed Blank. Also Steve Idelman and Ted Schwartz, who began their own companies. That was the beginning of this great industry. It was a wonderful, wonderful journey that I was on for almost eight years. I see a lot of my old friends, and it feels wonderful to be back with all of you.

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We were a bunch of folks who were just trying to make a living for our families. We didn't know from teleservices, we didn't know it was an industry. We had an idea, and were trying to make a living. And up comes this guy, and his name was Nadji Tehrani. For 20 years, Nadji, you have been the voice, the advocate, the leader, the promoter of an industry that you saw before it was an industry! Before any of us knew it was an industry!

I remember all the different things that you did, Nadji. First of all, I want to say I'm grateful, I'm humble. I came to New York after being away for almost 14 years because you asked me. What you've done here you should be very proud of, and your family should be very proud of. I was speaking with Kathryn Barber before, and she commented that when it comes to this industry, Nadji sees it before everybody else. I said to her, "I agreed with you 18 years ago, and I still do. But a man who keeps seeing it for 20 years in advance of everybody else is a conscious, competent visionary. He had an awareness in this industry in the beginning. Nobody knew about this industry, we called it telemarketing. And it turned out to be the call center industry. And it's a damn good thing to be associated with. When people ask me about my early days, I say, "I was a telemarketer, and I'm proud of it."

In the early days, Nadji said, "We have got to get the politicians to know who we are. There are five million Americans employed in telemarketing." He did all these calculations, and he looked at me and said, "You know, one day this industry will be bigger than General Motors." You had such passion, and you started writing letters to politicians and open letters to the President and Congress.

And then you said, "I think quality is very important," and you came up with the MVP [Marketing Via Phone] Quality Awards, and everybody began to apply for them. We learned from one another, and said, "Hey, that's a pretty good idea." And all the sudden, everybody began with best practices, and the whole industry was lifted because of those MVP Quality Awards. I remember the first award ... Ted Schwartz of APAC got the gold MVP Quality Award. Unfortunately, I only got the silver award.

We worked so hard, and we acquired awareness, political and economic. Then we had quality. Then this young man named Rich Tehrani shows up, and Nadji said, "My son is very, very smart. He likes this technology stuff. What do you think?" And Rich started writing about technology, fifteen years in advance of everybody else.

On the plane on the way here, I began to think. What has this great industry done in the way of technology? Call routing. Think of all the industries using call routing today. Database management. Offer cycle management. They all came out of this industry. How about monitoring? You can't pick up a phone to call a company nowadays without hearing, "This call may be monitored." It happened here. It happened in this industry. Also, scheduling and optimizing software, which today is the most critical component of Walmart's business, and most other Fortune 500 businesses.

Finally, you promoted us, Nadji. You tirelessly promoted every person in the industry. You seemed to know which companies were good and which people were good. I've known this man for 20 years, and he never says, "I did." It's always "you guys." "You guys are great. You guys are readers. You guys did some amazing things."

Tonight, you've given out a lot of Lifetime Achievement Awards to people who are very deserving. But I can tell you, once in your life, I would like everybody to stand and say, "The Lifetime Achievement Award tonight goes to Nadji Tehrani." Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Steve Brubaker, Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs, InfoCision Management Corp.

What we are here to celebrate is the amazing achievement TMC started in 1982. What an organization! What an industry they have built. To Mr. Tehrani and the staff, let's give TMC and all the team behind that a hand. Twenty-five years! What an accomplishment!

I would like to take a moment to recognize Mr. Tehrani. We go back a long way, but it takes someone with vision, someone who determines there's an opportunity and goes out and gets things done.

Ray Golden, Senior VP, Blended Solutions, InPulse Response Group

What I most admire about Nadji is his courage. He had the courage to be the only one in the world to come out with a magazine called Telemarketing. Whether people liked it or not, he promoted our industry in its keenest light and promoted the legitimacy of this marketing vehicle that helped us all, and he continues to promote us today.

Ron Harris, VP of Investor Relations, Convergys

I just want to say that we, at Convergys, are very respectful of the accomplishments of this industry. We appreciate being recognized in an industry that is very exciting and very competitive, and it's helping make the world flatter. We are delighted to be recognized among such great individuals and companies, and we appreciate the recognition for the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Jack Early, Founder, Early Cloud & Co.

I feel to a certain degree that I'm blessed because Nadji remembered the "Old-Timers' Division" tonight. Many of us have come, achieved, gone, moved on, come back, gone again. I see many young faces around this industry, which thrills me. But through the whole period of change, there was one beacon, and that beacon was Nadji Tehrani. He was the steward who minded the store, who stayed with the deal when it was tiring and fatiguing and all of us came in and out, but there was one person who always carried the banner, and that is Nadji.

Ray Hansell, Chairman, MaraStar Communications

There are several things that made this industry happen. They are the formation of the trade associations, publication of the trade journals, and trade shows. And two of those three things, this guy [Nadji Tehrani] was all over in the early 80s. We're an industry. We're something to be recognized. And back in the 80s and into the 90s, he took that, and put a big red bulls-eye on his head, and took a lot of flak in the process of [helping this industry].

Kathleen Kelly, President and CEO, TeleDirect International Inc.

I just have to say over the last 20 years that I have been in the industry, this industry is amazing. We've been impacted by stock market ups and downs, negative press, dotcoms, 9/11, restrictive legislation ... and every time, [this industry] figures out what it is, embraces it, and every single time, we've continued to adapt and grow.

Joe Porfeli, Chairman, CEO, Spencer Trask Software & Information Technology Group

I got a phone call 12 years after I left [this] industry. My assistant said, "There's a fellow named Nadji Tehrani on the phone," and a smile came onto my face. This fellow evokes great emotions in everyone.

Tim Searcy, CEO, American Teleservices Association (ATA)

I love this business. I love everything about it. I think what's so interesting about our business it's that it's completely efficient. It doesn't matter where you grew up, it doesn't matter how much college you had or how much money you have. At the end of the day, if you do a good job, you can go from the calling room to the boardroom, and I'm a living testament to that.

I want to thank Nadji, because he's not just a good friend, he's a visionary. I want to share something with you. One of the things that people don't think about, from Nadji, is that he is "the answer." When we have questions, serious questions, and when we were starting this industry, Nadji answered our questions. And when the dotcoms came, Nadji answered the questions. When it came to going offshore, Nadji answered those questions.

Doug Smith, Senior VP, Sales And Marketing, SER Solutions

[Via letter]: Nadji, I want to thank you and TMC for honoring me with a Lifetime Achievement Award for my contributions to the industry. I truly regret that I was not able to attend the gala event to personally accept my award and enjoy the company of so many other deserving recipients.

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I am flattered that you and Rich think of me in this manner. I thoroughly take pleasure in supporting the contact center market and the challenges of applying technology to help satisfy call processing/management applications. It certainly has been a pleasure knowing you over the years and being associated with your quality publication.

The award will be displayed in a visible location in our office and I will always be grateful for the recognition. I look forward to many more years of our friendship and association with TMC.

Sheri Idelman, Vice Chair, Chief Operating Officer, Co-founder, Solutionary, Inc.

Steve Idelman, Chairman of the Board, CEO, Co-founder, Solutionary, Inc.

[Via a recorded message played at the event]: Hello to all our esteemed colleagues, as Nadji himself would say. Sheri and I really wish we were able to be with you all tonight. We talk about and think about our former comrades from time to time. We thank our allies and competitors alike for your roles in our careers, especially people like Ed Blank, Jon Hamilton, Kathryn Barber, Joe Porfeli, Ray Hansell, Robin Richards, Brent Welch and many other fine friends and associates I'm neglecting to mention here. Sheri and I could not possibly accept our award tonight without seriously bowing to Mary and Gary West, and without acknowledging Ted Schwartz and his entire family. And of course there is, and always will be, a very, very special place in our hearts for you, Ray Golden.

Last, but not least, I ask you all to raise your cups and toast with me: To our esteemed colleague, Nadji Tehrani, and to you, Rich, Michelle and all the other Tehranis on the entire family tree. And to the entire team of professionals at TMC. We lift our cups in your honor and we thank you for what you have always meant and done for us, and for everyone in the industry. More than any other thing we might all say here tonight, Nadji ... this one's for you. Because as I always liked to say, "There is no biz like phone biz." Congratulations to everyone.