85 AN ENTERPRISE OF EXCELLENCE CHAPTER FOUR ANNUAL MEETING APP: A TRULY MEMBER-DRIVEN IDEA At 8 a.m. when the doors opened for the Annual Meeting of Cumberland Electric Membership Cooperative in Clarksville, Tennessee, a line formed pretty quickly. At the check-in table, it took a few minutes to verify the membership status of each member and to determine who could vote in Board elections. The co-op of about 90,000 members typically attracts about 800 to 1,000 members to the meeting, which features a breakfast buffet and informational exhibits. The bottleneck around registration occurred just once a year; this was not an issue for the day-to-day operations of the cooperative. But still, Jeff Bryant, who was Supervisor of Information Systems and General Accounting, knew technology could make the process more efficient. Bryant brought up the issue at the Large Utility Member Advisory Committee and encouraged NISC staff to add software that could pull the necessary information from customer accounts. The Annual Meeting app turned out to be better than Bryant had imagined. Instead of using laptops at the meetings, which are held at different public schools within the service territory, Cumberland switched to iPads. The lines are gone because the iPad regis- tration is quick and easy. “They put the functionality in a mobile app,” says Bryant, who retired in 2016. Other large Members were interested in the app, which has become a popular way to handle Annual Meeting registration. It can be used to verify a quorum and to select random door prize winners. The Annual Meeting app is just one example of how Members — large and small — shape NISC products. “Our Advisory Committees work very closely with us to help identify enhancements to our products, or in this case, whole new functionality that helps them succeed,” says Doug Remboldt, Vice President of Member Support. “The Annual Meeting app was a need identified by our Members and Advisory Committees, and it’s now in the field.” Bryant was pleased that the app solved his problem — and helped other Members. “They took the idea and made sure it would work for a lot of folks,” he says. Callaway Electric Cooperative in Fulton, Missouri, registers members at their Annual Meeting in February 2016 using the NISC Annual Meeting app. Running on iPads, the app streamlines large meeting functionality, handling everything from registration to door prizes. Photo courtesy of Callaway.