1. Best Practices Program Contact – Role & Responsibility Overview
2012 Distribution Best Practices Program Kickoff Meeting and Orientation
Entergy New Orleans Gas Business Office
New Orleans, LA
January 17-19, 2012
Nneka Assing
Director, Engineering Services
American Gas Association

2. 2012 Program Schedule Overview
December 30: Submit Participation Agreement
January 17 – 19: Kickoff Meeting & Orientation
February 15: Data packets & questionnaires available in BESS
March 23: Deadline to submit data for 2012 data packets
April 30: Deadline to verify data submitted
May 4: Deadline to submit Company Profile data
May 4: Deadline to submit responses to 2012 questionnaires
May 21: Final data reports distributed
June 6 – 7 : Follow-up Conference
Mid July: Questionnaire response summaries distributed
July 13: Deadline to verify Company Profile data
Week of July 18: Company Profile data report distributed
Aug – Nov: Technical Training and Operator Qualification Roundtable
Gas Control Room Management Roundtable
System Regulation and Valve Inspection & Maintenance Roundtable

3. Kickoff Meeting Responsibilities
Data Packet Finalization
Take notes to ensure you know what activities should be taken into account when collecting your company’s benchmarking data
Verify that the definitions and topic scopes are clear
Address questions/concerns that were provided by your subject matter experts in advance
Finalize Questionnaires
Verify that the intent of the questions are clear
Incorporate questions/comments provided by your subject matter experts prior to the Kick-off Meeting
Network with Best Practices Program Contacts
Best Practices Program meetings provide attendees with a unique opportunity to network with your industry peers. This is your best opportunity to discuss program experiences and plan to ensure your company takes full advantage of the program

4. Data Submittal Responsibilities
Distribute the final 2012 Best Practices Program materials to your subject matter experts following the Kick-off Meeting
AGA will distribute the final 2012 Best Practices Program data packets and questionnaires to the program contacts one week after the Kickoff Meeting. Please immediately forward these materials to the appropriate subject matter experts
Working from your notes from the Kickoff Meeting discussion, answer questions regarding the intent of the data to be submitted
Coordinate your company’s data collection efforts. Work with your subject matter experts to ensure your benchmarking data is submitted to BESS by March 23 and your questionnaire responses are submitted to Survey Monkey by May 4
Please note: Your company will not be considered as a potential top performer if your benchmarking data is not submitted to BESS by March 23

5. Data Scrub Responsibilities
All data submitted to BESS by March 23 will be reviewed by data scrub task groups to identify potentially erroneous data and potential top performers
Following the data review, a task group member will contact companies with potentially incorrect data. All companies identified to have potentially incorrect data will be contacted by April 13
It is your responsibility to follow up internally to determine what data needs to be corrected
You must make the needed changes in BESS by April 30
AGA will not accept benchmarking data after April 30
AGA will contact companies that are identified as potential top performers by April 30
It is your responsibility to verify the submitted data and confirm that your company can present at the Follow-up Conference
You must verify your data and confirm with AGA that your company can present by May 11

6. Final Data Reports & Questionnaires
Final data reports will be available on May 21*
All final data reports will be posted in BESS
You will only have access to the data reports for the benchmarking topic(s) that your company participates in
AGA will all companies that submitted data the confidential Company Code Sheet
You will be responsible for distributing the data reports internally to the appropriate personnel
Please exercise caution when distributing the confidential Company Code Sheet internally
Questionnaire response summaries will be distributed to all companies that participated in mid July
You will be responsible for forwarding the questionnaire response summaries to the appropriate subject matter experts
* Company Profile data report will be available week of July 18

7. Follow-up Conference Preparation
Potential top performing companies: You or other company representative will present regarding the practices and processes that contributed to your company’s top level top performance. You will be responsible for:
Working with your SMEs to review final data reports when preparing your company’s presentation
Ensuring your company’s presentation is brief (5 – 10 minutes) and highlights how your company was able to attain the high level of performance
Following the AGA template provided to prepare your presentation
Follow-up Conference attendees: You should come prepared to discuss the presenting companies’ benchmarking data/performance. You will be responsible for:
Ensuring the appropriate subject matter experts review the data reports prior to the conference
Reviewing the data of the presenting companies in advance to prepare any needed questions

8. Roundtable Preparation
Provide the roundtable schedules to the appropriate SMEs and their supervisors well in advance to ensure your company will be able to attend
The final 2012 Distribution Best Practices Program schedule will be available after the Kick-off Meeting. You will be responsible for forwarding the program schedule to the appropriate SMEs and their supervisors
SMEs attending the roundtable should receive the final data reports and questionnaire response summaries well in advance of the roundtable. The roundtable attendees will be expected to come to the meeting with questions for program participants regarding company performance and processes

9. Post-Roundtable Responsibilities
General notes and roundtable presentations are posted on AGA’s website and ed to the program contacts shortly after the roundtable concludes. You are responsible for:
Forwarding the posted roundtable information internally to all appropriate personnel
Following up with the SME who attended the roundtable to determine what processes can be considered for implementation
Working with the SME to identify what processes can be implemented in your operations and what modifications would be needed to make the process implementation a success
Following up with the SME’s supervising personnel to convey the value of the time dedicated to the roundtable

10. Additional Thoughts
The value of the program is ultimately captured in the energy and resources that your company dedicates to your participation
When you receive the final data reports and questionnaires it is your responsibility to perform data analysis that is specific to your company’s operations. The most valuable analysis of the information provided by the Best Practices Program will come from analysis performed by you and your SME’s
Don’t hesitate to refer to resources already available in the Best Practices Program
AGA, the Steering Group and many experienced program participants are available to provide program support
AGA has posted a wide variety of presentations that feature how other companies utilize benchmarking information. All of these presentations, and the contact information for these companies, is available for viewing and downloading on AGA’s website
Your company will get the most out of the program by submitting data, performing internal analysis AND attending the roundtables
Without allowing your SME’s to discuss shared challenges with their industry peers, it can be very difficult to identify opportunities for performance improvement

11. Questions?