Advisory Board

Bob Barnes has been in IT for more than 18 years and has managed help desks in the government, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, telecommunications and financial industries. He has managed in-house help desks and he has also worked for a Tier One Outsourcing Corporation managing its large IT outsourcing (Managed Services) contracts. As such, Bob has seen the benefits to both outsourcing and in sourcing.

Bob is currently the Global Vice President of JPMorgan Chase & Company’s Global Technical Support Organization. Bob has been with the bank for almost six years. His Service Desk receives over 3 million calls per year globally. He has over 600 employees doing level 1&2 technical support globally. He has desks located in North America, EMEA, Asia Pacific and India.

He has spoken to numerous executive audiences around both solutions. Bob is a member of the HDI Executive Forum.

Ron Muns is an international leader in help desks/customer support industry and is frequently quoted on key issues and concerns. He is credited with having a significant global impact on the professionalism of the help desk/customer services industry. Ron has more than 25 years of experience as the founder of HDI, as a software engineer, as creator of several successful commercial software products, as a "Big Six" consultant, and as an IT strategist. Ron is a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Information Systems Auditor, and holds a Certificate in Data Processing. He has a Bachelors Degree in Business Statistics from the University of Texas at Austin.

Ed currently is the IT Service Desk Supervisor for the Navy Exchange Service Command (NEXCOM), whose mission is to provide quality goods and services at a savings and to support quality of life programs for our customers (military active duty, family members, retirees, National Guard, and reservists) around the world, both ashore and at sea.

Over the past 14 years, Ed has taken NEXCOM's IT Service Desk from a two person, pen & paper start-up to a 24/7 worldwide operation. Ed is HDI Help Desk Manager, ITIL Foundations and IPSR certified. He has a B.S.B.A. in Marketing and Financial Management as well as an MBA from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.

In 2007, Ed worked with the interest group responsible for the reactivation of the HDI Southern Virginia Local Chapter. He currently serves as the SOVA Chapter's Vice President of Programs (Hampton Roads Area).

Tommy Barnett is a Senior Manager of Customer Interaction Center consulting with The North Highland Company specializing in helping clients across idustries develop and enhance their Service & Support Center practices, processes and cost improvement methodologies. Tommy is a certified Support Center Director, Instructor and Site Auditor specializing in service and support operations with more than 20 years management and consulting experience in designing, staffing and assessing service & support centers; developing service strategies, service level management and educational programs, as well as performing project management.

As the Director of the Enterprise Service Center for PerceptIS, Heather is responsible for service delivery of the Enterprise Service offerings to their many clients who are primarily in the Higher Education, Government and Non-profit industries. PerceptIS uses a combination of onsite and virtual agents to service their customer base. Prior to joining PerceptIS, Heather was an IT Support Services Practitioner and Operations Program manager for Bristol West Insurance Group. Before moving into IT full-time nearly 10 years ago, Heather’s experience was based in training, management and as a US Navy Aircrewman where she was in charge of Naval Air Training Operations (NATOPS) qualifications for the HC-3 Packrats aircrewmen.

Heather has been an active HDI member since 1999 in the North Coast Chapter and is currently the VP of Programs. She is also a member of HDI’s Strategic Advisory Board (SAB). Heather was the chairperson of the North Coast chapters HDI AOY committee for a number of years and has served on the local, regional and national judging panel for this award. Heather is an HDI Certified Support Center Manager.

For over 10 years Russell led I.T. support groups. At Affiliated Computer Services he managed 5 outsourced help desks for over 165 clients. He later joined the Thomson Corporation where he led the Technical Support Department for PPC. He was recruited by McAfee to serve as the Global Manager of Help Desk and Application Support. He managed a global support team and opened a new, 24x7 offshore support offering in Bangalore India. Russell has also worked on special projects with Accenture as a Service Level Manager for SBC/Yahoo and Electronic Data Systems as an I.T.I.L. Manager for an implementation for the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Currently he serves as Manager User Services for Centex Homes. Locally he is involved in the DFW chapter serving as Vice President of Vendor Relations. Nationally he is active in HDI serving on the Strategic Advisory Board. His certifications include ITIL Foundations and ITIL Practitioner Support and Restore. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from Northwood University with a BBA Management.

Jason Coffin is the Vice President of Customer Support Services for Financial Partners, Inc. He is a strategic executive who is responsible for defining operations, enhancing client services, developing new support offerings and expanding existing business. His team provides technical help desk, on-line banking, contact center, security administration, hardware maintenance, remedy hosting and network monitoring services to a variety of client organizations throughout the Farm Credit System. The Customer Support Services team is a world class services provider. They have obtained the Center of Excellence certification from Purdue University and won an industry Support Team of the Year — Best Practices award in 2002. The staff has expertise in business and technical areas, and each member is empowered to resolve both technical help desk and business contact center issues reported from customers. Jason has worked in numerous business sectors, including government, healthcare, consulting, financial services and technology. He has obtained a variety of technical certifications and holds a Bachelors of Science in Accounting from Chapman University.

John Coles is the Sr. Program Manager at Dell Inc. focusing on Service Desk tools and technology standards for Dell Managed Services. John has worked in the call center industry for the past 13 years. He spent four years at Apple Computer working as a front-line agent and later advanced into management. As well, John spent time as a Six Sigma Process Engineer for Sears call centers. His work at Dell has involved several facets of the business including Call Center Management, and Problem Management for technical support and World Wide Manufacturing. In addition, John led the Product Management team for Dell’s Global Contact Channel Technologies, implementing solutions across the phone, email, chat and web channels. John holds a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from Texas A&M University, and a MBA from St. Edward's University.

John Custy is the founder and Managing Partner for JPC Group; an organization focused on improving customer satisfaction, employee morale and business processes. John is recognized for his innovation and ability to identify the changes necessary for an organization to improve. John has been actively involved in the support industry for the last 20 years, both as a fractioned and as a consultant. He has been involved in developing standards for both individual and site cortication for multiple industry associations. Mr. Custy has a BS from UMass Lowell and an MS from Boston University. As an Authorized Training Partner for HDI, John is a certified instructor for the Customer Support Specialist (CSS), Help Desk Analyst (HDA), Help Desk Senior Analyst (HDSA), Help Desk Manager (HDM) and Knowledge Center Support (KCS). He is also a Support Center Certification (SCC) auditor and is a member of the International Certification Standards Committee. He has also been an advisor to the Service and Support Professionals Association (SSPA) was instrumental in developing the Support Center Practices (SCP) certification. John is a speaker at industry conferences and has worked with customers successfully planning and implementing Support Strategy, Operations and Services. As the Managing Partner for JPC Group Mr. Custy assists support centers in improving their operations by developing Support Services strategies specific for the organization, Business Process Alignment and adopting best practices from multiple industries. Mr. Custy’s practice takes him across North America, South America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia.

Rita Dadtka is the Manager of the Technology Assistance Center at Foley & Lardner LLP. Rita manages a staff of 15 analysts who provide technical support to 18 offices. Rita joined Foley & Lardner LLP in November 2000 as the Supervisor, she became Manager in April 2004. The Technology Assistance Center (TAC) has grown from an organization focused on helping with basic computer problems to a multi-faceted group handling a wide variety of technology-related events from video conference scheduling to Blackberry activations and troubleshooting under Rita’s guidance. The Technology Assistance Center’s energy is focused on providing superior customer service. The teams average first call resolution rate is 82%. Key factors in achieving this resolution rate are continual training, knowledge transfer, and low staff turnover within the department. Rita is a member of the local HDI chapter and attends local ILTA (International Legal Technology Association) meetings. Rita currently holds the Certified Software Manager, Advanced Software Manager, and MOS Outlook XP certifications.

With over fourteen years in the information technology field, Myra Davis is the Assistant Vice President at Texas Children's Hospital. Currently as the AVP of Information Services, Myra has the responsibility to enhance the operation and services of the IS department by maintaining on-going emphasis on customer values, project management, teamwork and implementation of successful operational practices. Her responsibilities include leading a management team of 4 and a staff of 150. Myra is involved with ERP Solutions, Web Services, Privacy and Information Security, Project Management Office, Desktop Support, Training, Help Desk, Application Integration, Records Management and E-Tele Initiatives. Myra is innovative and accustomed to a heavy workload while possessing strong communication and leadership skills. In addition, she has the ability to successfully work with Senior Management and Executives and is skilled in project planning, team building and an adept negotiator. She has proven ability to produce project results that meet or exceed client’s expectations. Myra is innovative and accustomed to a heavy workload while possessing strong communication and leadership skills. In addition, she has the ability to successfully work with Senior Management and Executives and is skilled in project planning, team building and an adept negotiator. She has proven ability to produce project results that meet or exceed client’s expectations.

Ann Glosny is the Director of Information Services Customer Support at Schreiber Foods, Inc. Schreiber is the largest private label cheese manufacturer in the world. The Customer Support Team provides service to over 4,500 employees across the company. The team is comprised of help desk and data center operations, change management, asset management, hardware and desktop support, security administration, and most recently added to the team is the telecomm area. Prior to joining the Information Services division 3 years ago, Ann held various positions within the business at Schreiber in both Customer Service and Finance. Her main focus has been leading her team to delivering "exceptional customer service" to the organization. Over the last few years the help desk has implemented 24x7 support, centralized the security function, and begun implementing ITIL processes. Ann earned her Bachelor of Business Administration from St. Norbert College and has completed HDI's Support Center Leadership Program.

Andy Glover is a Help Desk Manager with over 17 years experience in Internal Information Technology Support, ten of those years in direct management of Support Professionals, across a wide variety of industries from manufacturing and financial, to hospitality and entertainment. Andy started his career as a Field Support Technician who transitioned to Phone Support and then into management of a Support Group over the first few years of his career. He helped define Oakwood Homes Corporation’s Centralized Support model in 1998 and was promoted to Manager of the new Support Center. After leaving Oakwood Homes in 2004, Andy served as a Help Desk Management Consultant for Glen Raven Mills and helped define their support model using ITIL principles and other best practices. Andy joined the transportation industry with US Xpress, Inc. and designed and implemented a Centralized Support model and managed the overall service organization for the company. January of 2006, Andy joined Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. based out of Memphis, TN where he is Enterprise Help Desk Manager, with the task of implementing a Centralized Support Center model and implementing ITIL principles across the IT organization. Andy has an Associate of Science in Music, Associate of Science in Computer Technology, Bachelor of Science in Business Administration – Management, and is currently working on his MBA. To relax, he participates in Geocacheing with his son, reads, and writes Science Fiction/Fantasy short stories. Andy also enjoys building/refurbishing computers for Non-profit organizations and is currently serving as the Vice-President – Membership for the Memphis Local Chapter of HDI.

Rich Hand, executive director of membership, is responsible for the strategic direction and day-to-day operations of HDI membership. Dedicated to adding value to the HDI membership programs, he leads the team responsible for delivering valuable content, publications, products, and services to the members. Previously, Rich spent 9 years implementing and managing the customer service centers for a Fortune 500 services company. He holds a B.S. in applied science and marketing from the University of Binghamton, NY.

Allison Holness is the Senior Manager of the Customer Service and Support, Global Transaction Banking Contact Centre of Scotiabank. Under her direction, this Contact Centre has received several awards, among which are one “Best in Class” and two “World Class” awards for achieving excellence in Customer satisfaction.

Additionally, the Contact Centre is proud to be part of the first department of a financial institution in North America registered to one of the ISO 9000 quality standards (currently ISO 9001:2000).

Allison has worked in the call centre industry for the past 10 years and her exposure to a number of industry sectors in a management role has provided her with a wealth of knowledge that she relies on to lead a small, very diverse and multifaceted team of experts. This highly specialized team provides technical support, which includes security administration, training and technology related support services for Scotiabank’s Corporate and Commercial customers on all electronic banking products.

Jacquise is currently the Assistant CIO, Customer Relations and Director of Technology Support Services at the University of Dayton. This Catholic Marianist institution was rated among the Top Twenty Most Wired Campuses in the United States in 2005. UD has been and continues to be nationally-recognized as a leader in technology-enhanced learning. Responsible for assuring that more than 12,000 on-site customers are having their needs met today and in the future, she guides and encourages the helpdesk/callcenter, the walk-in repair center, classroom technology support, and second level on-site support staff to "give the customer an unexpected level of service". Jacquise works to empower, motivate, and mentor members to provide them with opportunities for growth and development.

Drew Jaehnig has been in IT for more than 15 years and has managed service desks, network operations centers and technical control facilities for Defense Department agencies ranging from the United States Navy, The Counter-Intelligence Field Activity, The Defense Information Systems Agency and Joint Staff Support Center. He has managed service desks providing global as well as local support to a wide range of Defense Department users on systems ranging from Command and Control functionality in direct support to the troops on the ground to basic administrative support for office workers in the National Capital Region. As such, Drew has seen the high octane high survivability portion of the industry and understands how the US Government is approaching IT in its most dynamic forms. Drew is currently the Operations Chief for the Joint Operations Support Center in the Pentagon. Drew has been with the Joint Staff Support Center for a little over a year. His Service Desk receives calls globally from the Combatant Commanders in direct support of Command and Control efforts on the ground and operates in a 24x7 basis high pressure environment. Drew is a former member of the United States Navy and is a member of the HDI Government Forum, the HDI Desktop (formerly Field) Technician's Technical Review Committee and is a certified HDI Support Center Manager (will be after I do my test this week.). Drew has a BA in Mathematics and two Associates in Physics and Acoustic Design.

Rick Joslin is the Executive Director of Certification & Training for HDI. He is responsible for the development, sales, and delivery of HDI’s training and certification offerings. Rick is a certified Knowledge-Centered Support (KCS) instructor and has guided organizations with the implementation of KCS. He is also a certified instructor for the HDI certification courses. Prior to joining HDI, Rick was a Principal Consultant with IHS Support Solutions. Formerly, Rick was the VP of Customer Care for ServiceWare, VP of RightAnswers.com, and VP of Knowledge Engineering. Rick was responsible for the production of the industry’s leading third-party knowledge bases, known as Knowledge-Paks. A winner of the 1999 Service 25 Award, Rick has been widely acknowledged as one of the most influential luminaries in the support industry. Rick is the author of the HDI Focus Book on Knowledge Management, the HDI Focus Book on the Knowledge Management Maturity Model, and a contributed the Knowledge Management chapter in the HDI Service and Support Handbook. Rick is an active member of the Consortium for Service Innovation’ KCS Program Committee and serves on the Strategic Board of Advisors for HDI and the Advisory Council of Indiana University of Pennsylvania's Business College. He was a founding member, chairman, and director-at-large of HDI’s Member Advisory Board, and continues to serve as a chairman emeritus on this board, on the HDI Training Advisory Board, and the HDI International Certification Standards Committee. Rick was a founding advisor for the Help Desk Professionals Association, as well as the president and chapter advisor in the Pittsburgh Chapter of HDI. Rick has served as a judge for the 10 Best Support Websites sponsored by the Association of Support Professionals, as a judge for the HDI Team Excellence Award sponsored by HDI, on the Eservice Standard Advisory Board sponsored by Service & Support Professionals Association (SSPA), and on the HDI Support Center Certification Committee.

Sophie has been an influential member of the HDI team since 1992. She focused on event planning, content and coordinating speaker development for the first two years with HDI as well as managed HDI’s human resource department for 8 years. Since 1999, Sophie serves as the Local Chapter Membership Director and Chief Member Advocate, working closely with Local Chapter officers and members to maintain open lines of communication, representing members needs and issues and building strong relationships with all of HDI’s chapters, officers and members at large.

Charles McCann is the Director of Technology Support for Oklahoma State University and is responsible for the Helpdesk, Desk side support, IT Labs, and Training. Charles has been working in the Information Technology field for over 15 years. He even began his career as a computer lab monitor in 1988 while he was working on his undergraduate degree in Computer Science. Charles holds a Bachelors of Science in Math and Computer Science from Missouri Western State College, a Masters of Science in Computer Science from University of South Carolina, and a MBA from Oklahoma State University. Charles is also a certified PMP and HDM. Charles is working on completing his Ph.D. in Management Information Systems where his areas of research include Customer Satisfaction, CRM, Data Mining, and Process Improvement. Charles is also a member of the HDI Higher Education Forum, where he is the committee lead on Customer Satisfaction.

Jennifer McClure is the executive director of the Society for New Communications Research, a global, non-profit think tank focused on the advanced study of new communications tools, technologies and emerging modes of communication, i.e. blogs, wikis, RSS, podcasts, collaborative tools and the growing phenomena of participatory communications and their effect on media, business and society. Ms. McClure's 20-year career includes work in all facets of professional communications, including market and media research, journalism and publishing, PR and marketing consultation. She is also the co-founder and producer of New Communications Forum and the editor of New Communications Review. Jennifer McClure is well-versed in the IT service and support industry. She has provided HDI with public relations and marketing counsel for several years. She was co-founder and CEO of Albrycht McClure & Partners, a strategic communications firm that provided PR and marketing services to many successful IT start-ups and industry organizations, Prior to that she was PR manager for Ziff Davis Events, she worked for Ketchum Public Relations, and did a brief stint with Young & Rubicam. Prior to relocating to California, Ms. McClure managed her own PR/marketing consulting firm in New York. She was also a newspaper reporter and a co-producer/co-host of a weekly community affairs radio program in the Hudson Valley region of New York. She was the vice president of research and publishing for New Electronic Media Science (NEMS), a media/marketing research and consulting firm that served top advertisers, agencies and media companies, and was managing editor of the firm's newsletter, "The Marketing Pulse." Jennifer McClure has been honored with the Eclat Award for Marketing Excellence and was a part of the PRSA's Silver Anvil award-winning team for her work with Visa. She is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, holds a certificate in nonprofit management from California State University and is currently finishing her masters degree at Stanford University. She is based in the Silicon Valley, where she lives with husband and son.

With more than 14 years experience in the help desk industry, Mr. Ryan currently works as a consultant for International Business Machines Corporation. His areas of expertise are in Help Desk implementations and Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL®) assessments. While working at an enterprise level Service Desk in Tampa, Mr. Ryan held positions as the IT manager, Service Delivery manager, and Implementation manager. Mr. Ryan earned certification in ITIL Service Management in 2004. His education and training in electronics systems obtained while in the U.S. Navy along with his experience as a network administrator gives him a broad understanding of information systems technology. Much of Mr. Ryan’s experience has been gained in the private sector, but over the past two years he has been a consultant with several successful engagements working within the public sector, notably with the U.S. Army at the Pentagon and with several state and local governments. Mr. Ryan has been involved with several local and national organizations including: • Member of the itSMF National Chapter and Tampa Local Interest Group • Member of HDI • Tampa Technical Institutes Program Advisory Board • Member of the Steering Committee for the Tampa Workplace Volunteer Council

Katherine Spencer Lee is executive director of Robert Half Technology, a leading provider of information technology (IT) professionals on a project and full-time basis. A graduate of Northern Arizona University, Katherine has been with the company since 1995 and has more than 15 years of experience in information technology consulting services. She is a spokesperson, author of industry articles and frequent public speaker on IT staffing. In her role as a nationally recognized authority on IT careers, Katherine has guest-hosted several live events on web sites such as Monster.com, Techtarget.com and CareerPath.com. In addition, she is currently providing career insight and advice to Computerworld, Network Computing, and Certification Magazine readers.

In a lifetime of providing customer service, Mark Templeton views information technology as the ultimate customer satisfaction opportunity. “After all,” he says, “here’s a whole industry with no other purpose than to make everyone’s life easier.” And, he is quick to say that IT successes are not as much about the technology as they are about building, maintaining, and managing relationships between all of the different functions within IT and their customers. Mark has enjoyed all of his opportunities to do that. As an Information Technology manager at Halliburton, Mark has managed and worked in web application development, datacenter operations, and service center operations teams in activities that most recently included the build out of the Halliburton Energy Service Group’s service center, as well as formulation and implementation of its ongoing strategy. He attributes the success of these activities to the willingness of great people to rise to their challenges and do their best work. Mark likes to keep his fingers in a lot of pies, so to speak, and it’s not unusual to find him participating in different improvement initiatives or serving those initiatives in an advisory capacity. Mark describes HDI – its people, materials, and members – as a priceless resource for fresh ideas about being the best customer service provider possible.

As Executive Director for Kaiser Permanente’s IT Service Desk, Jose Viera provides leadership and direction to one of the largest healthcare support shops in the nation. With over 8 millions members and over 140,000 internal IT users, Kaiser Permanente is the leader of health care delivery in America. Jose has been an influential support executive that has transformed and elevated the function of the service desk to true care providers; professionals that help others to thrive. He has made a successful career out of the integration of quality principles, cultural change, and HRO (High Reliability Organizations); concepts for the continuous improvement of support services. During his 17 years IT experience, Jose has had the opportunity to lead support organizations through divestitures, spin offs, mergers and other business realities. Previous to joining Kaiser, Jose led IT organizations at Allergan Medical Optics, Baxter Healthcare Corporation, Edwards Lifesciences and Enfrastructure Corporation. He graduated from the University of Puerto Rico with a B.S in Mathematics, and then completed a M.A. in Information Management from Webster University; from where he was not only an honor student but Distinguished Student for his class. He is a Certified Six Sigma Champion, ITIL Foundations trained, and active ITsmF member.

Tommy Barnett is a Senior Manager of Customer Interaction Center consulting with The North Highland Company specializing in helping clients across idustries develop and enhance their Service & Support Center practices, processes and cost improvement methodologies. Tommy is a certified Support Center Director, Instructor and Site Auditor specializing in service and support operations with more than 20 years management and consulting experience in designing, staffing and assessing service & support centers; developing service strategies, service level management and educational programs, as well as performing project management.

Johann Stoessel brings a varied information technology background; starting in Data Processing in 1980 clearing jams on the card reader for Foremost McKesson in Wichita, Kansas, to his current position as Project Manager for Information Services Operations for Sonic. Johann has always gravitated toward the customer service arena. He has worked in the Information Services departments in manufacturing, banking, insurance, marketing, health care, and retail. He has held the positions of Keypunch Operator, Mainframe Operator, Hardware Technician, Call Center Technician, Network Administrator, Training Coordinator, IT Purchaser, Project Manager, and his favorite "The get it done dude!" His membership with HDI started in 2000 when he became the Help Desk Manager for Sonic. HDI Officer positions have included Secretary and Membership VP, becoming President of the Oklahoma City chapter in June of 2003. He was a faculty member for the HDI Annual Conference in 2004.

Rich Hand, executive director of membership, is responsible for the strategic direction and day-to-day operations of HDI membership. Dedicated to adding value to the HDI membership programs, he leads the team responsible for delivering valuable content, publications, products, and services to the members. Previously, Rich spent 9 years implementing and managing the customer service centers for a Fortune 500 services company. He holds a B.S. in applied science and marketing from the University of Binghamton, NY.

Sophie has been an influential member of the HDI team since 1992. She focused on event planning, content and coordinating speaker development. Sophie’s tenure at HDI has also entailed management of HDI’s human relations, as well as the administrative functions of the office. Currently as Local Chapter Membership Director, Sophie works closely with all Local Chapter officers and members to maintain open lines of communication and to sustain strong relationships. Sophie sits on the Member Advisory Board as HDI's representative and Chief Member Advocate and is the Board Administrator for HDI's Strategic Advisory Board. Sophie holds a degree in Elementary Education from Utah State University and taught elementary education for 18 years prior to joining HDI in 1992.

Martha Lundgren is currently employed with Farmers Insurance. While at her past job as Department Director of the Information Center of the Texas Association of School Boards. She and her team are responsible for all hardware and software purchasing, installation, support and training for 450 staff members. Martha has nearly 25 years of direct customer service and training experience in the hotel, airline, consumer electronics and technical support industries and has won several awards for customer service excellence. Martha is an HDI Certified Help Desk Manager. She was founding president of HDI Austin and now serves the chapter as vice-president of programs. She credits her promotion to Department Director in large part to the professional development she's gained through the Help Desk Institute's local chapter, online and annual conference resources.

Graduating with a BFA in Musical Theater, LeeAnn never expected to become a Help Desk professional. However, working in the Support/Help Desk industry has become not just a career, but a passion. She started working in the industry in 1986, worked her way up from the front lines. She implemented the first help desk for the Ohio Department of Transportation, working on the mainframe side of support as well as the desktop and network side. LeeAnn started attending chapter meetings regularly in 1994. In 1999 she was nominated and elected Vice President of Membership. During her tenure in this position the Mid-Ohio Chapter grew.

Darien Chimoff has a background in customer service and over 15 years of Help Desk management experience, and is currently the Help Center Manager for Alston & Bird law firm in Atlanta. In addition to her many years of experience Darien is has earned certifications for Help Desk Manager, Help Desk Director, ITIL Foundations, and Knowledge Management. Darien has been active in HDI since 1993 and currently serves as President of the Atlanta Chapter and Director of HDI’s Southeast Region. At Alston & Bird Darien re-engineered the “helpless desk” into a well respected Help Center with a focus on providing a very demanding customer base with world class customer support. The A&B Help Center has won awards for STI Team of the Year – Best People (2002) and HDI Help Desk Analyst of the Year (2006).

Virginia is President of her own company, Competitive Advantage Inc. Virginia's experience encompasses nearly 20 years in computer and "softskills" training, curriculum development, and computer software support. Her diverse background includes: compatibility testing, troubleshooting, and hardware and software support. Using her experience as a curriculum designer for AT&T, Virginia has broadened her expertise to include development of technical user manuals for national software development organizations. Since 1993, Virginia has been associated with HDI as a primary staff instructor and consultant. During this time she has served as Director of Certification and Curriculum Development facilitating the launch of HDI's Certification program (CSS, HDA, HDSA, HDM). She is a founding member of HDI's International Individual Standards Committee (IICS) which established the certification standards recognized by the help desk industry worldwide. In addition to presenting regularly at Help Desk Institute conferences, Virginia is a lead facilitator in their Certified Trainer program.

Carol is the current Trillium Chapter president and has served as the HDI Chapter president and VP programs in the late 90’s and has had a corporate career as a Help Desk manager, Business Support manager, Systems Management manager, Practice manager and Solutions Services director at a major Gas utility in Toronto. In the past seven years Carol has been delivering project management and consulting services based on ITIL Best Practices and managing a coaching staff as an independent IT Service Management consultant. She teaches the ITIL foundations course and has her Masters Certificate in Project Management. Carol has worked with many different clients including; hospitals, provincial ministries, banks, law firms, utilities, municipal offices and transportation services to improve their support processes, functions and staff in their organization. In her spare time she dedicates an hour, three early mornings a week as a volunteer fitness instructor at the local Y.

Joy Wegner is IT Customer Support Manager at the San Diego Union-Tribune, the major daily newspaper in San Diego. She and her team provide help desk, desktop systems and IT operations support for 1,500 Union-Tribune staff. Joy has twenty years experience in technical support, beginning as a one-person support staff for a small publishing company. She has added experiences with larger customer bases and companies in technical support, consistently focusing on quality of services and interaction with each IT customer. Her customer service efforts were recognized in 1996 with the Union-Tribune’s first annual MVP award for Customer Service. Her particular passion is training. Joy constantly seeks opportunities in which the IT staff and the employees they support can leverage technology for greater business efficiencies with expanded knowledge and education. Joy has been active in the San Diego HDI Chapter since 2001. She has contributed to the chapter’s growth and stability with positions on the chapter board, as vice-president of programs, chapter president, and currently vice-president of membership. Joy continues to broaden her vision of the IT service and support industry through HDI’s local and national events and HDI members and leaders.

Ron Kibbe, Assistant Director, Customer Support Services, The Ohio State University Medical Center Currently, he provides leadership and direction for the Support Center. The staff is comprised of first and second level (Help Desk, Network, Messaging and Server teams) as well as x virtual support teams. Ron has been a member of the MedCenter IS team for nine years. Prior to joining the medical center staff, Ron coordinated the Ohio AIDS Hotline, a statewide hotline providing HIV and AIDS information. Ron obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communications from Edinboro University of PA and a Master of Science from Drexel University in Library & Information Science. Prior to working in the Help Desk/Call Center environment Ron served as the Assistant Dean of Students at Drexel University overseeing the Greek system and the West Philadelphia Tutoring program. Recently, Ron traveled to Honduras to help out at Montaña de Luz, an orphanage for children living with HIV/AIDS. In his spare time, he enjoys the outdoors and spending time with his family.

Robin Whitman, Chapter Advisor and VP Finance, HDI New England Chapter, has over 13 years experience in the service desk industry. Throughout her career, she has created and developed a help desk for a major Boston law firm; consulted with several small to medium companies in first and second level support; and is currently managing a first level support desk for a Fortune 500 company. Robin has been active in HDI since 1994 and has served on the local Board of Directors for over 11 years. For the past six years she served as Chapter President. Other positions she has held on the Board include Secretary, Treasurer and VP Membership. Robin has served on several HDI committees and has served as a judge for Help Desk of the Year several times. The recipient of HDI's Rising Star award in 2003, Robin has been instrumental in rebuilding the New England Chapter and in developing a successful one-day semi-annual training event that the Chapter presents.

Cynthia Monroe is City of San Diego Help Desk manager employed with San Diego DPC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the City of San Diego that has partnered with the City to provide technology’s best practices and solutions. She is an active champion in striving for excellence and being a change agent that impacts all she meets and others to be and do their best.

With many years of service in the IT support industry that began with Pacific Bell directory assistance supporting the Western US, Cynthia has achieved many accolades for being a team player, exceptional customer service, a mentor and champion for the good of both customer and organization all with a great attitude. Cynthia has been an active HDI member for over 10 years and San Diego board member for over 5 years. She is currently the President of the HDI San Diego chapter.

Cynthia lives in beautiful San Diego with her spouse, 3 adult children and a beautiful granddaughter.

For over 15 years as an active practitioner, Karen Yuen’s primary focus has been on delivering exceptional customer service through the successful combination of life skills, continued formal education and applied best practice. She is well respected among the support industry community in achieving customer service excellence. Her support career began with the Royal Bank, Western Canada Help Centre, where support in five provinces was centralized to one Help Desk and calls were tracked on paper. She spearheaded building the Internal support from the ground floor up and was the recipient of numerous awards. During her tenure at the Western Canada Help Centre, her team came in second place in the Help Desk Team Excellence Award against Boeing International and Taco Bell International. In 1998, Karen joined EDS as the Client Service Manager (CSM) for PLNet. Karen’s experience and knowledge is a continual life learning experience. She leads by example and is constantly challenging the people around her to challenge their personal paradigms and think outside the box to improve customer service and their personal goals. Globally, Karen has held positions with HDI on the Member Advisory Board (MAB) since 1995. She is currently the Help Desk Institute (HDI) MAB Western Canada Executive, has participated in the HDI Certification Program and contributed for 3 years on the Team Excellence Award Committee for the HDI. In June 2005, Karen will assume the HDI Member Advisory Board Chair. She has been a guest speaker for numerous conferences, Special Interest Groups in the Lower Mainland and numerous educational institutions. Locally, Karen was involved in the creation of the Help Desk Local Chapter 15 years ago and has served in every executive position capacity. She currently holds position of President. She is also active with the BCIT Call Centre for Excellence since 1997, VCC Program Advisory Board since 2003, Canadian Support Professional Advisory Board since 1999, HDI Standards Committee since 2002, and the Canadian Call Centre Advisory Board since 2002. She also provides one on one mentoring for future support professional leaders. In past, Karen has been involved with the Call Centre Local Chapter 1996 – 1999, the 1997 and 1998 Help Desk Institute International Service Excellence Awards Committee, Women in Technology 1999, the Langara IT Advisory Board 2000 and ITSMF in 2002. From a personal perspective, Karen actively volunteers for Fraser Valley Cancer Society, Kidney Foundation, Orphaned Wildlife (OWL), SPCA, Delta Humane Society, the Heart and Stroke Foundation and other local initiatives.

Rick Joslin is the Executive Director of Certification & Training for HDI. He is responsible for the development, sales, and delivery of HDI’s training and certification offerings. Rick is a certified Knowledge-Centered Support (KCS) instructor and has guided organizations with the implementation of KCS. He is also a certified instructor for the HDI certification courses. Prior to joining HDI, Rick was a Principal Consultant with IHS Support Solutions. Formerly, Rick was the VP of Customer Care for ServiceWare, VP of RightAnswers.com, and VP of Knowledge Engineering. Rick was responsible for the production of the industry’s leading third-party knowledge bases, known as Knowledge-Paks. A winner of the 1999 Service 25 Award, Rick has been widely acknowledged as one of the most influential luminaries in the support industry. Rick is the author of the HDI Focus Book on Knowledge Management, the HDI Focus Book on the Knowledge Management Maturity Model, and a contributed the Knowledge Management chapter in the HDI Service and Support Handbook.

Rick is an active member of the Consortium for Service Innovation’ KCS Program Committee and serves on the Strategic Board of Advisors for HDI and the Advisory Council of Indiana University of Pennsylvania's Business College. He was a founding member, chairman, and director-at-large of HDI’s Member Advisory Board, and continues to serve as a chairman emeritus on this board, on the HDI Training Advisory Board, and the HDI International Certification Standards Committee. Rick was a founding advisor for the Help Desk Professionals Association, as well as the president and chapter advisor in the Pittsburgh Chapter of HDI. Rick has served as a judge for the 10 Best Support Websites sponsored by the Association of Support Professionals, as a judge for the HDI Team Excellence Award sponsored by HDI, on the Eservice Standard Advisory Board sponsored by Service & Support Professionals Association (SSPA), and on the HDI Support Center Certification Committee.