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Advisory Board
The HDI Advisory Boards are independent, non-partisan, and broadly representative bodies consisting of a balanced mix of interests that are affected by the association.
Strategic Advisory Board
Member Advisory Board
The mission of HDI's Strategic Advisory Board is to formulate informed recommendations on industry trends and directions and to assist HDI in documenting and communicating these trends to HDI’s membership and the service and support industry at large. With input from this board, HDI's members and the industry are better prepared to meet tomorrow's challenges, influence and provide direction to service and support organizations, and ensure the quality and efficient delivery of service and support.
The HDI Strategic Advisory Board is comprised of the most prestigious grouping of the service and support industry's leading experts, Fortune 100 executives, media and analysts, vendor CEOs, and international representatives.
The HDI Strategic Advisory Board consists of:
Board Member: Ed Bano, US Navy Exchange, Service Command
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).
Board Member: Robert Becker, Colliers Turley Martin Turner
Board Member: Debra Denzer, Delta Air lines
With over 20 years in customer service, service management, help desk and consulting, Ms. Denzer has held roles ranging from Help Desk Analyst, Lead, Tool Administrator and Manager. She spent most of the late 1990s and early 2000s consulting in the help desk arena at various Fortune 100/500 companies. Her ability to quickly assess and recommend best practices has enabled her to design and implement successful processes and procedures at multiple organizations. Ms. Denzer has also done extensive curriculum and training design in the incident and problem management areas as well as implementation and training of help desk tools. Ms Denzer holds a Masters Degree in Organizational Leadership and is ITIL certified. Active with her local ITIL Practioner’s Forum, she serves as the Chair for Service Desk, Incident and Problem breakout sessions. Ms Denzer currently leads the Help Desk at Northwest Airlines where she manages a three-tiered team of 50+.
Board Member: Helen DiCesare, Chemtura
Helen DiCesare is the Director of North America IT Operations for Chemtura Corporation. She is primarily responsible for Customer Support, Site Support, and Data Center monitoring.
Helen joined Chemtura in February 2005 and managed the Global IT Customer Support team after spending several years with Meta Group which was eventually acquired by Gartner. Her last position at Gartner was serving as Manager of Support, Security and Administration. Helen's primary responsibility was Customer Support (internal and external); Security awareness and risk assesments; and overseeing the network administration..
Helen's other positions included Help Desk Manager and IT Buyer in the management services industry. She has spent several years applying, six sigma; best practice, and touch of world class to her day to day function.
Board Member: Brian Flagg, Target Corporation
Brian Flagg currently holds the position of Senior Group manager for Target Corporation’s Client Support Center, where he successfully implemented ITIL Incident Management earlier this year. Prior to joining Target, Brian was a program manager in IBM’s Global Customer Support Center organization. He has a total of 15 years of international experience in the support industry and 28 years of experience in IT. Brian graduated with a B.S. degree in Computer Science from Illinois Institute of Technology in 1980, and received an Executive Certificate in International Management from the Garvin School in 2006. Brian also received his ITIL Foundations certificate in 2005.
Board Member: Lynne Hart, Enterprise Rent-a-Car
Lynne is the Director of Enterprise Rent A Car’s internal support operation supporting 68,000 International Enterprise employees. In the St. Louis HDI community, Lynne and her team are best known for being the first to implement ITIL practices, without the use of consultants, and achieved this in 2001. Over her 15 year career Lynne has held many Service Management related roles, starting as a Support and Training Manager in Branson, Missouri, including several technical Analyst roles, as well as leading Quality Assurance teams, Tier 1 and 2 Support teams, and most recently leading at the Director level, her entire organization for the last three years. Lynne’s experiences, studies and leadership efforts most recently include Service Desk Design, ITIL, being a past certified HDI Helpdesk Auditor, Knowledge Centered Support, Knowledge Management, Self Help, Technical Support, Balanced Scorecard, Call Avoidance practices, and redesigning service desk processes for more efficiency and to require less staffing.
Board Member: Tamara Jorstad, American Institutes for Research
Tamara Jorstad has over 25 years experience in all aspects of Information Technology, in the OEM, financial institution, aerospace, government, and nonprofit sectors. Tamara has directed regional call center services, data center and network operations, application development, ERP implementations, and created IT account management teams as advocates for line of business information technology needs. As Director of Information Technology for American Institutes for Research (AIR), a social sciences research firm based in Washington, DC, her focus has been the development of high performing teams and the continual improvement of the IT infrastructure and support services. Her IT career began in Colorado Springs, Colorado, at Digital Equipment Corporation in the Engineering and Manufacturing departments, then in Chicago in technical sales support and customer service. Relocating to Washington, DC, Tamara managed networks for Fannie Mae and directed IT functions for Orbital Sciences in the Metro DC area. A move to Moscow, Russia, provided an opportunity to apply her leadership skills as a steering committee member and charity/development team chairperson for a large expat volunteer organization for nearly two years. Upon her return to the States and prior to working AIR, Tamara was Branch Chief for IT Strategic Planning and Program Management in the Office of Administration of the Executive Office of the President. With Bachelor and Master degrees in business with a focus on leadership from National-Louis University, Tamara was ITIL Foundation certified in March 2008.
Board Member: Rick Joslin, HDI
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.
Board Member: David Willmer, Robert Half Technology
Dave Willmer is Executive Director of Robert Half Technology, a leading provider of highly skilled information technology professionals on a project and full-time basis. In this role, he manages operations for more than 100 Robert Half Technology locations worldwide. The firm places IT professionals for initiatives ranging from web development and multiplatform systems integration to network security and technical support. Dave started his career in 1998 as an Account Executive for Robert Half Technology in Ohio, eventually assuming the role of Division Director for the Dayton and Worthington offices. He later became Branch Manager for the Columbus office and Regional Manager for the Ohio, Western Pennsylvania and St. Louis offices, where he oversaw the firm’s technology division in several states. He also has held numerous leadership positions within Robert Half International, including Vice President of Major Accounts as well as Executive Director of The Creative Group and, most recently, Executive Director of Robert Half’s OfficeTeam division. Dave is a frequent speaker on career and employment issues. He has presented at industry events including HDI’s 2009 Annual Conference & Expo and has been interviewed by the media, including The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek and The Associated Press, on a variety of workplace topics. Dave also is a regular columnist for Computerworld, Certification Magazine, CIO Zone, CIO Update and Dice.com on hiring and career issues for IT professionals. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Akron and a Master of Education with an emphasis in Educational Leadership from Ohio University. Dave also is a member of HDI’s Mid-Ohio Chapter.
Board Member: Sophie Klossner, HDI
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.
Board Member: John LaFalce, Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corporation
Mr. LaFalce is a discerning leader and strategic planner with 30 years IT experience and proven success integrating business expertise and broad based technology for competitive business environments. He has extensive experience developing and implementing mission critical, short and long-term business and technology solutions. He has strong respect for the shared rewards of a Team orientation and the unequaled importance of integrity. Mr. LaFalce has extensive experience managing Desktop Services and Support, Service Desks, Enterprise Infrastructure, Domain Services, Shared/Consolidated Computing Services, and Remote Office IT Services including the design and implementation of three six hundred seat credit and collections call centers. Mr. LaFalce is currently the Senior Manager of ITS Service Delivery at Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp in Boulder CO where he is directs desktop services and support including service desk, first and second level support, desktop security. In addition, he directs the operation of the System Administration and Database Administration organizations for the company. He has held executive positions with MCI Telecommunications as Director of Finance Information Systems, MCI WorldCom as Director of Mass Markets Finance Application Development, and Electronic Data Systems as Director of Mass Markets Information Technology. Mr. LaFalce holds an ITIL Foundation Certification in IT Service Management and an ITIL Practitioner Certificate in IT Service Management Support and Restore. He currently resides in Golden CO with his wife Sheryl and has 4 children.
Board Member: John Migliazza, Technisource
John Migliazza is National Practice Director of Technisource, subsidiary of Spherion and a leading provider of I.T. professionals and services. John has over ten years experience in developing and managing help desk organizations and currently oversees Technisource’s technology support services operations. John’s organization employs more than 450 industry professionals and manages service desks in the healthcare, insurance, banking, pharma, and government sectors. He has created and implemented hundreds of support solutions and has a unique perspective on scaling and customizing help desk operations and best practices.
Prior to joining Technisource, John spearheaded operations for an I.T. training start up and was Vice President of investments at Donald & Co.
Board Member: Mark Taylor, Re:Sources IT
Mark Taylor is the VP, Director of IT Customer Service for Digitas: a leading global interactive agency with 3,000+ employees worldwide. The IT Customer Service team is responsible for first and second level support for all desktop, laptop, mobility and enterprise technologies. The team also serves as the desktop engineering group for both PC and Macintosh platforms. Mark has worked at Digitas for 10+ years in varying IT roles starting as a desktop support technician for the creative department, moving into a strategic IT role where he partnered with business executives to better align technology with the needs of the business and ultimately ending up directing the end-to-end IT support team for all global offices. During his tenure Mark led his 4-person management team and 30-person support team in building a culture of customer centric service and continuous improvement mixed in with ITIL based process improvements. The team has seen quarter over quarter improvement in all performance and customer satisfaction metrics. Prior to joining Digitas Mark served 10 years in the US Air Force.
Board Member: Dan Wilson, Volkswagen of America
Dan Wilson has over 11 years experience in IT Service. Dan is currently the Manager of Client Services at Volkswagen of America in Auburn Hills, MI. He is responsible for Incident Management and the governance and oversight of the Service Desk, Get IT Services, and Client Services Contracts. Previously Dan was the CTO and General Manager at PMV Technologies and has managed help desk and technical staff for Oakland University’s IIT Help Desk and School of Business Administration, and Handleman Company. Dan has served in the HDI Motown Chapter for over 5 years as President, Vice President of Membership and Vice President of Programs. He also sits on the HDI Member Advisory Board as a Member at Large, and is the 2009 incoming MAB Chair. Dan has a Bachelors Degree in Management Information Systems from Oakland University’s School of Business Administration, HDI’s Help Desk Manager and ITIL Foundations certifications. Outside work Dan is an avid cyclists; volunteers for the Make a Wish Foundation; is married and has 2 kids: Jacob 5, and Morgan 1; spends quite a bit of time at the gym continuing his weight loss and physical transformation. Dan enjoys movies, music, racket ball, and traveling as well.
The HDI Member Advisory Board participants are elected by HDI members to represent the interest of members and local chapters. Their mission is to provide HDI with informed recommendations and advice that allow the association to better serve its members and local chapters, as well as improve communications between members, local chapters, and HDI. The Member Advisory Board is comprised of one chairman, one past chairman, six regional directors (as defined below), four at-large members, and two HDI representatives, all of which are volunteer positions. Regional directors communicate regularly with the local chapter officers within their region to provide guidance and monitor the health of local chapters.
The HDI Member Advisory Board consists of:
Chairperson: Dan Wilson, Volkswagen of America
Dan Wilson has over 11 years experience in IT Service. Dan is currently the Manager of Client Services at Volkswagen of America in Auburn Hills, MI. He is responsible for Incident Management and the governance and oversight of the Service Desk, Get IT Services, and Client Services Contracts. Previously Dan was the CTO and General Manager at PMV Technologies and has managed help desk and technical staff for Oakland University’s IIT Help Desk and School of Business Administration, and Handleman Company. Dan has served in the HDI Motown Chapter for over 5 years as President, Vice President of Membership and Vice President of Programs. He also sits on the HDI Member Advisory Board as a Member at Large, and is the 2009 incoming MAB Chair. Dan has a Bachelors Degree in Management Information Systems from Oakland University’s School of Business Administration, HDI’s Help Desk Manager and ITIL Foundations certifications. Outside work Dan is an avid cyclists; volunteers for the Make a Wish Foundation; is married and has 2 kids: Jacob 5, and Morgan 1; spends quite a bit of time at the gym continuing his weight loss and physical transformation. Dan enjoys movies, music, racket ball, and traveling as well.
Past Chairman: LeeAnn McBride, Dedicated Technology, Inc.
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.
HDI Representative: Sophie Klossner, HDI
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.
Western Region: Joy Wegner, Union Tribune Publishing Company
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.
Midwest Region: Phil Gerbyshak, Relationship Geek - Make It Great! Institute
Phil Gerbyshak is a Vice President of Information Technology at Robert W. Baird in Milwaukee, WI, where he leads an internal and external Help Desk staff of 7 people in supporting 2300+ associates in 70+ locations around the US, Europe and Asia, in addition to 80,000+ clients who use Baird’s website. Phil currently serves as the Brew City (Milwaukee) Local Chapter president where his chapter has been recognized as a Platinum Circle of Excellence winner. His passion for helping people led him to start his own company, the Make It Great! Institute, where he works with people to take their lives from good to GREAT! Phil is the author of the inspiring book “10 Ways to Make it Great!”, is the co-author of the book “Age of Conversation" and he writes management and productivity articles for b5 Media's Slacker Manager. When asked what gives him the greatest joy in life, his answer is quite simple: “I love to help people unleash their potential, and achieve more than they believed possible before they met me!”
Central Region: Dana Olson, West Corporation
Dana brings eighteen years of experience from various roles in diverse environments including education, insurance, marketing, and information management. She has ten years as an active practitioner managing help desks, three years providing consulting to small and large organizations implementing best practices for help desks and five years of training and curriculum development. Dana currently serves as the Process Manager at West Corporation. She serves on advisory boards and presents at local and national events. Dana acquired her knowledge through experience and continued education. Her most recent achievement was earning her ITIL Service Management certification. As an active HDI member, she has contributed to the Nebraska chapter’s development by serving as the Vice President of Communication in 2006-2007 and since then as President.
Northeast Region: Marie Clark, Tech Team Govt. Solutions
In the HDI world, Marie Clark has been VP of Membership and President of the Delaware Valley Local Chapter. In her “paying job”, she is currently a project manager for TechTeam Government Solutions. Prior to this position, she was a Help Desk Manager and a Customer Service Manager for M&T Bank. In an interesting change of careers, she was a special education teacher for 9 years, prior to joining M&T Bank as a Help Desk Analyst.
Southeast Region: Darien Chimoff, Alston & Bird LLP
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).
Canadian Region: Yvonne Harrison, CGI
Yvonne has over 20 years experience, a combination of customer support, technical support and management in the Information Technology industry. Her strong interpersonal, organizational skills and belief in being a team player enable her to be successful in managing projects, implementations and ongoing service delivery for her clients. Yvonne was an early adopter and believer in the ITIL framework and the value it could bring to the IT sector. She became ITIL Foundation certified in early 2000 and obtained the Change Practitioner certification later that year.
In her current role, Yvonne is responsible for a 7/24 service desk team of 100+ supporting 13 clients throughout North America. As a Director, her primary role is to enhance existing client relationships and develop and implement new client opportunities.
Member at Large: Bren Boddy-Thomas, Exchange Bank
Bren is currently the Super Help Desk Manager for Exchange Bank. She has been with the company for 16 years, prior to that she worked for Security Pacific Bank, always in the Customer Service field. She is a volunteer in her community in many different areas. She was on the Founding Board of Directors for Rebuilding Together, VP Membership for the San Francisco chapter of HDI since 2003, Volunteer of the Year for Junior Achievement of the Redwood Empire, and has walked in the Human Race every year for the past 17 years supporting a variety of organizations through her fundraising. She is the consummate cheerleader gathering individuals together to get the job done
Member at Large: Jeff Brooks, Peak 10
Jeff Brooks has been working in the information technology industry for over 15 years. His expertise is in joining growing companies with developing service organizations and building teams able to handle complex customer issues in a timely and professional manner. Jeff has built teams that have been recognized both nationally and internationally gaining accolades from industry awards such as Stevie Awards for Customer Service and HDI’s Team Excellence Awards.
Jeff is a family oriented individual with strong ideals around work‐life balance. He is a firm believer in organization efficiency from all levels and believes that through great teams, individual workers can learn to enjoy the best of their work life alongside their home life. Active within the industry, Jeff has served on the Board of Directors for various professional organizations, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the NC LIG of itSMF, as well as the Board of Directors for the Charlotte chapter of HDI.
Member at Large: Ron Kibbe, The Ohio State University Medical Center
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.
Member at Large: Cynthia Monroe, San Diego Data Processing Corporation
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.
Chairman Emeritus: Tommy Barnett, The North Highland Co.
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.
Chairman Emeritus: Mary Cruse, Genzyme Genetics
Chairman Emeritus: Chris Farver, BMC
Chairman Emeritus: Brenda Iniguez, Pink Elephant
Chairman Emeritus: Rick Joslin, HDI
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.
Chairman Emeritus: Johann Stoessel, Sonic Corp.
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.
Chairman Emeritus: Karen Yuen, Consultant
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.