Advisory Board

Carrie Battaglia is director of Global Service Desk. The Global Service Desk function sets the direction for profitable delivery of incident and problem management to clients worldwide, and is responsible for operational model for all service desks in HP Enterprise Services. This includes on shore delivery is some regions. Carrie led the consolidation of Service Desk functions worldwide. She was instrumental in the design and deployment of Best Shore strategy. Best Shore locations deliver within the ITIL’s standard operating environment. Carrie played a leadership role in the rapid growth of India Service Desk capabilities, more than doubling their capacity. Carrie joined EDS in 1995. She has held roles in sales support, portfolio management, transformation program manager and service excellence. Carrie managed global programs including capital reduction, cost reduction, and implementation of standard processes. Carrie served on the first Service Excellence Global Council. Before joining EDS, Carrie received Computer World magazine’s Reengineering Project of the Year award. She held operations management positions and managed regional processing centers for Norwest Mortgage, Michigan National Bank and Citibank Mortgage. Carrie completed the Thunderbird-American Graduate School of International Management. She is a graduate of Marsha Clark’s Executive Leadership for Women specializing in organization behavior.

Craig is the Global Brand Director of HDI and provides general oversight and management of the HDI business. His background is in software development, IT management, technical support desk, call center solutions, and operations from various companies. Craig held Vice President positions over Applications Development, Operations, and Technical Product Development at First Data Corp., and managed Call Center Solutions development for MCI. Prior to that, he led software development efforts at Softech and satellite operations with the U.S. Air Force. Baxter holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Northern Arizona University and a master’s in computer science from Chapman University.

Earl is an IT veteran with 20+ years of experience. He started off his career as a workstation support technician. Over the years, he has held positions of cable installer, network administrator, telecom installer and administrator, bar code application programmer, EDI administrator, LAN administrator, Data Center manager, Workstation Support team manager and Service Desk team manager. He currently is the ITSM implementation project manager at the University of Kentucky. Earl holds two bachelor’s degrees in Business Administration and Computer Information Systems and has earned certifications as a Novell Certified Administrator, CAT5 cable installer, Certified Software Manager, Master Microsoft Office Specialist, Microsoft Authorized Instructor, Certified Trainer for Technology, ITIL V3 Foundations, and ISO/IEC 20000 Foundations.

Jim Bolton has more than a decade of experience in architecting IT service management solutions, applying ITIL best practices, ISO process disciplines, and Six Sigma quality improvement methodologies. He has an M.B.A. in technology management and holds the ITIL manager certification, the ITIL V3 expert certification, and the ISO/IEC 20000 consultant certification.

Vance Brown is president and CEO of Cherwell Software, a leading developer of IT service management software. Formerly, Vance was president and CEO of GoldMine Software Corporation (formerly Bendata, Inc. and currently FrontRange Solutions®—the makers of HEAT® and ITSM Service Desk solutions, and GoldMine® contact manager). Vance graduated summa cum laude from Wake Forest University with degrees in economics and computer science and received his law degree with honors from The University of North Carolina. More recently, Vance has attended executive programs at both the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University and Harvard’s Graduate School of Education.

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. 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 (Sheri Robertson - 2006). Darien has spoken at the HDI national conference and other industry events on a variety of topics related to world-class support. Darien has served as an HDI Local Chapter Officer for over 10 years and is currently the Chairperson of HDI Member Advisory Board. Darien was the co-founder of HDI Atlanta and has held the positions of President of the HDI Atlanta Chapter and Director of HDI’s Southeast Region. 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.

As a principal consultant for BMC, Chris Farver focuses on the planning, design and implementation of BMC’s ITSM solutions for enterprise customers. Chris has more than 20 years of experience in the IT industry, having spent the past 15 years in IT support as a practitioner, project manager, support industry consultant and managing large scale service desk consulting and outsourcing operations. Chris is well respected within the support industry and has co-authored several support industry books and publications and regularly speaks at local, regional and national support industry events. He has been a cornerstone in the success and growth of his HDI local chapter community. He has served as the chairman of the member advisory board for HDI and still actively participates on this board as a chair emeritus. Chris was also a founding member of the North Coast chapter of HDI in Cleveland in 1993 and continues to actively serve on the board of this award-winning chapter.

Meg Frantz Vice President for Service Desk Operations and Strategy, oversees the development, implementation, and service delivery activities for CompuCom Systems’ award-winning Service Desk and dispatch support offerings. Her objective is to ensure that CompuCom delivers unparalleled technical support services to its clients. With more than 25 years of experience creating and building help desk organizations, Ms. Frantz is recognized as a leader in the industry. In 2005, she was named to the Help Desk Institute’s Executive Forum, and in 2002 she received Compaq’s Support Visionary Recognition. In 1995, Ms. Frantz was recruited to build CompuCom’s help desk and dispatch support services. Under her leadership, CompuCom has earned prestigious client support industry commendations, including the Support Center Practices Site Certification, Support Professionals Association’s Software Technical Assistance Recognition (lifetime achievement), Help Desk Institute’s Team Excellence Award (finalist), Help Desk Institute’s Team Excellence Award (winner), and Users’ Choice Award—Gold/Best in Class—Help Desk Outsourcer (winner).

Anna Frazzetto has architected, implemented, and directed managed services and outsourcing initiatives at Global 1000 and mid-size companies. An outsourcing expert, she developed and implemented technology practices in numerous organizations while holding strategic responsibility for managing data centers, help desks and networking practices. A recognized leader in managed services and infrastructure management, Anna heads development and implementation of IT solutions for Harvey Nash’s US network. She is a regular industry presenter and was recently named to the HDI Support Center Leadership Certification Standards (HDI SCLP) Committee. Anna holds a bachelor’s in computer science and mathematics from New York University.

Malcolm Fry began his IT career in 1967, and in the following years took on development, operational and management roles for retail, manufacturing, oil and pharmaceutical organizations. He has received worldwide recognition as one of the foremost authorities in the areas of help desk and IT service management. He is the author of five best-selling books on IT service and support, the newest being a step-by-step Guide to Building a CMDB. In addition, he has had many articles and papers published in multiple languages. Malcolm is an innovate and informative strategic consultant sought after by many large organizations who view him as a catalyst to initiate improvements by reviewing their facilities and processes, and most importantly preparing plans to allow them to meet their business and IT objectives.

Greg Hines is an independent IT service management consultant. He has been active in service management software and process consulting for more than 15 years. Greg holds ISO, ITIL, COBIT, Six Sigma black belt and several software tool certifications. Greg has been delivering IT tool and process training for 25 years. Greg has written several ITIL training courses and has developed a Deming-based ITIL implementation methodology. He works closely with the Collaborative for Enterprise Transformation and Innovation at the Ohio State University and InsightETE, an IT service management software vendor in Columbus, Ohio.

Charles Jumonville, Jr. is the I.T. Director (Chief Information Officer) at the Office of Group Benefits. Mr. Jumonville is an Information Technology leader with over 30 years management experience. He specializes in integrating Information Technology and Professional Management. Over the years, he has held positions as Information Services Computer Configuration Analyst, Information Services Management Consultant, Information Services Center Operations Manager, Information Services Assistant Director, Information Services Director, and Information Technology Director. He has spoken at national and international conferences and has published numerous management related articles. He has been selected by AFCOM, a leading international association of data center professionals, as the “Data Center Manager of the Year” by the Editor of “Computer World,” the Editor of “Information Week” and the President of AFCOM. He is the winner of the National Postal Forum, “Industry Excellence Award for State and Local Government.” He is the winner of the United States Postal Service, “Partners in Progress Award.” Also, he is the winner of the Louisiana Civil Service League, “Charles E. Dunbar Career Service Award.” He holds a degree in Industrial Management with minors in Mathematics and Speech. He holds a Certificate of Supervisory Techniques, is certified in Knowledge-Centered Support Principles and ITIL V3 Foundations. He is also a Certified Public Manager and Certified Support Center Director.

Ric Mims has more than 21 years of experience in help desk management, consulting and operations. He began his career with Apple Computers' Midwest regional help desk in 1989 as a help desk analyst providing support on the Performa line of products. Throughout his career, Ric has held the positions of help desk analyst, team leader, relationship manager, help desk manager and consultant. Ric planned, designed, and implemented the IKON Office Solutions National Help Desk offering. He provided strategic direction for sales and led the team to numerous successes by winning and renewing accounts for the organization. He provided guidance and leadership in all sales efforts, customer relationship management strategies and help desk consulting efforts primarily continual service improvements. He also held the position of Vice President of Operations for Global Help Desk Services in Hartford, Connecticut. While there he was responsible for designing and implementing workflow processes and technologies necessary to provide world-class support to various Fortune 500 clients. Currently, Ric is Global Service Desk Manager at Dresser-Rand in Houston, TX.

As Associate Director of IT Infrastructure at the Jackson Laboratory, Dianne oversees a large interdisciplinary group of managerial, supervisory, professional and support staff working within the IT department including Service Desk, Desktop Support Technicians, Network & Telecomm Administrators, Systems Administration and Administrative Support staff. She brings more than twenty-five years of IT experience to this role, starting with a BS in Computer Science from the University of Maine, and subsequently joining the Laboratory in 1989. The Laboratory, an independent, nonprofit organization focusing on mammalian genetics research to advance human health, has grown to become one of the state’s largest employers whose 1300 employees demand outstanding service and support for cutting edge technology in pursuit of the causes and cures for human disease. In addition to overseeing day to day IT operations, Dianne participates in institutional strategic planning, aligns departmental objectives and budget to support institutional strategies, and directs large system implementations, policy development and deployment supporting research, administrative, educational, and mouse production programs. She has completed ITIL Foundations Certification, has been a key driver in the introduction and implementation of ITIL best practices within IT, and helped lead the adoption of change management processes including a Change Approval Board, which she currently chairs.

Jeff Rumburg is a co-founder and managing partner at MetricNet, LLC, responsible for global strategy, product development, and financial operations. As a leading expert in benchmarking and re-engineering, Jeffrey authored a best selling book on benchmarking, and has been retained as a benchmarking expert by such well-known companies as IBM, Bank of America, and General Motors. Prior to co-founding MetricNet, Jeffrey was president and founder of The Verity Group, an international management consulting firm specializing in IT benchmarking. While at Verity, he launched a number of syndicated benchmarking services, including the Help Desk Benchmarking Consortium, which has provided low cost help desk benchmarks to more than 1,000 corporations worldwide. Prior to co-founding MetricNet, Jeffrey held a number of positions of increasing responsibility at META Group, and Gartner, Inc. As a vice president at Gartner, he led a project team that reengineered Gartner’s global benchmarking product suite. And as vice president at META Group, he was responsible for the company’s help desk consulting practice. Jeffrey holds an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School, an M.S. magna cum laude in operations research from Stanford University, and a B.S. magna cum laude in mechanical engineering. He is author of A Hands-On Guide to Competitive Benchmarking: The Path to Continuous Quality and Productivity Improvement, and has taught graduate-level engineering and business courses.

Darin Vandecar, Director Worldwide Customer Service & Operations, started working for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, with headquarters in SLC, in 2008. He oversees all worldwide customer service and support for the Church’s members and leaders. Darin grew up in Michigan and graduated from Brigham Young University with a bachelor’s degree in electronics engineering and a masters of business administration. After graduation, Darin began a 14 year career at Intel Corporation where he served in various customer service leadership roles, each preparing him for his final role as Director of World-wide Customer Support. Key positions at Intel included; Manager America’s Helpdesk Operations, Manager America’s Desk-side Support Operations, Global Operations Manager and Manager Global Service Desk Operations. Darin has made a conscious decision to focus his entire career around the field of customer service and support, desiring to be an industry leader in this particular discipline that has brought both great challenges and rewards throughout his career. Darin enjoys world cultures, mountain and dirt biking, search & rescue, mountaineering, and traveling to warm climates with his family.

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.

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.

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. 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 (Sheri Robertson - 2006). Darien has spoken at the HDI national conference and other industry events on a variety of topics related to world-class support. Darien has served as an HDI Local Chapter Officer for over 10 years and is currently the Chairperson of HDI Member Advisory Board. Darien was the co-founder of HDI Atlanta and has held the positions of President of the HDI Atlanta Chapter and Director of HDI’s Southeast Region. 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.

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.

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.

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!”

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Jamie is the Assistant Director of End User Technology for Scottrade, Inc and has been there for seven years, all of them in a support and leadership of support groups role. She has been active with HDI as the Gateway VP of Communications for two years and is running for VP of Programs for the next term. Jamie is also the scribe for the Central Region and is active in the Summit Planning Committee. She also was a contributor to the Social Media white paper and presentation.

Sandy received her Bachelor of Arts degree from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. She was bitten by the IT bug while managing the Paralegal department at a law firm in Washington, DC, where she gained a wealth of customer service, technical and management experience. She was promoted to the firm’s Director of Information Services and took over management of IT initiates. Sandy joined Carey International in 1998 to create their Help Desk to bring order and process to requests for support. Thanks to her success in creating a successful support organization, she was promoted to Director of Field Services Delivery in 2005. In addition to overseeing the strategic direction of the Help Desk, she assists with business process redesign, manages system rollouts and steps in to manage operations for large special events. Sandy has been a member of HDI since 2000 and is one of the founding members of the reorganized HDI Capital Area Local Chapter, serving as their President (2007 – Present), VP of Programs (2003 to 2006), and VP of Communications (2005 to 2007). She volunteers locally to give back to an organization that has been a key component in her success, yet she continues to reap the rewards of her association with HDI. Thanks to HDI, she has a seat at her executive table, she is offered major projects to manage and is recognized as a key leader in her organization. She is married to the most patient man in the world and am the proud mother of four children, a cat and a golden retriever. We live in Falls Church, Virginia.

Earl is an IT veteran with 20+ years of experience. He started off his career as a workstation support technician. Over the years, he has held positions of cable installer, network administrator, telecom installer and administrator, bar code application programmer, EDI administrator, LAN administrator, Data Center manager, Workstation Support team manager and Service Desk team manager. He currently is the ITSM implementation project manager at the University of Kentucky. Earl holds two bachelor’s degrees in Business Administration and Computer Information Systems and has earned certifications as a Novell Certified Administrator, CAT5 cable installer, Certified Software Manager, Master Microsoft Office Specialist, Microsoft Authorized Instructor, Certified Trainer for Technology, and ITIL V3 Foundations.

Currently, Tom is a Regional Infrastructure Services Delivery Manager at Alcoa Inc. Alcoa is the world leader in the production and management of primary aluminum, fabricated aluminum and alumina. Tom’s team provides LAN, Desk side Support, Compliance, Voice and Server support to 40+ locations in Canada, Mexico and the U.S.. Tom was a key in the development and deployment of a desk side support shared services model currently in use at Alcoa. Tom has over 20 years of IT management experience in the Gaming, Manufacturing, Banking and Pharmaceutical industries managing global teams providing both application and infrastructure services. He has broad experience in both in-sourced and out-sourced IT models. Tom has also held executive level positions in non-for-profit organizations.

Shannon Cepica has over 17 years experience in industry focusing technical support operations, process re-engineering, operational efficiency, customer service, and IT leadership. Currently, he is the Managing Director of IT Help Central for Texas Tech University. This role includes tier 1 technical support for over 30,000 students and 10,000 faculty/staff along with Tier 2 Desktop Support for approximately 2,500 staff/faculty/and executive administration as well as 6,000+ student residents. He has served the higher education community for the past 5 years and also serves as a member of the HDI Higher Education Forum. Previously, Shannon was an IT leader in the retail grocery space for 7 years and an internal auditor in the real estate and oil and gas industry for an additional 5 years.

Cinda Daly brings more than 25 years of sales, marketing, customer support, and training expertise to HDI. In her current role, Cinda is the editor-in chief for HDI business content -- research, white papers, SupportWorld magazine, webinar events, HDI Focus Books, and eNewsletters. During her career, Daly has managed a variety of international events in the training, technical support, and customer service industries, and is best known for her work as program chair for the HDI annual conference and expo. She is also the creator of "The Daly Interview," a popular series featuring interviews with industry experts on the hottest topics and issues of concern. Prior to joining HDI, Daly was CEO of Focus Events, Inc., a conference and event management services company, which she founded in 1990. As a trusted strategic advisor, she worked with her clients to develop an event vision and produce high quality, cost effective, customer-focused, and profitable events. Before that, Cinda held senior management positions responsible for sales, sales support, marketing communications, documentation, and professional development for a variety of technology companies. She holds B.A. and masters degrees with high honors from the University of South Florida, USA, and Georgia State University, USA.

Eric has over 13 years of experience in IT service roles. He has served as a service desk manager, desk side services manager, and global client solutions manager. He is currently the Director of Support and Operations at Merial; a world-leading animal health company. Merial employs approximately 5,700 people and operates in more than 150 countries worldwide. Eric and his team are responsible for Merial’s global service desk, desk side services, and IT operations. Eric has over 8 years of experience outsourcing these services from a customer perspective and is looking to bring this perspective to the board.

Malcolm Fisher is the Global Manager for the IT Service Desk and Client Systems for Owens Illinois (O-I), based in Toledo, Ohio. Currently Malcolm is on assignment in the USA, from Melbourne, Australia. He is accountable for the IT Service Desk and Client Systems, globally at O-I, with the responsibility to provide 24x7 first and second level IT Services and Support to the O-I business. Malcolm is also involved in the implementation of, and the adherence to, the ITIL processes, with a keen focus on the continuous improvement program that is inherently built into living and breathing the ITIL way. He is also a member of the Change Advisory Board at O-I ensuring that the customer facing service side of the change management process is maintained. Malcolm is part of the Infrastructure management team in the IT department, performing a management and architectural role, assisting in steering the ongoing strategic direction. O-I is also Lean Six Sigma Company, which is driving numerous process improvements and efficiencies across all of the business, globally. Malcolm is a certified HDI Support Center Director, Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, Master Novell Engineer and is also ITIL v2 foundations certified (v3 just around the corner). Prior to Malcolm’s appointment into the global managers role, he was the IT Service Operations Manager for O-I Asia Pacific, based in Melbourne, Australia. Malcolm is an active member of the HDI North Coast chapter, Cleveland, OH, and is planning to leverage HDI, and the wealth of knowledge it brings, to lead the ITSM maturity at O-I. The goal is to work towards, and gain, HDI Support Center certification.

Mark Fitzgerald has been involved with desktop support in higher education for nearly 15 years. During this time he has been greatly involved with HDI. He has presented several times at HDI’s Annual Conference, at local chapter meetings, and at HDI’s Higher Ed Forum. Is a member of the steering committee for the Higher Ed

Leo Forget is a Technisource Delivery Director for Technology Support Solutions practice with overall accountability for the success of his support business, ensuring service excellence across all assigned engagements, with a strategic focus on SLA and contract adherence, continual improvement, GP optimization, expansion of services, and cost containment. Leo began supporting desktop computers in 1979 as an HP Customer Engineer. He supported the full spectrum of products from desktop computers through mini computers. He served for 21 years in various District Manger roles leading engineers, supporting the full line of HP computers including PC products. His field support management career, with expertise in leading teams in multiple locations and working with strategic mission critical accounts, continued with HP until his retirement in 2005. He joined Spherion, now Technisource, in 2006 as the Service Delivery Manager of a new team supporting a company that self-maintained more than 20,000 PCs. As Delivery Director he has responsibility for outsourced teams at customer sites and at bench repair facilities involved in all aspects of desktop and laptop support. Leo has a BS in Electronic Engineering Technology from the University of Memphis, and an MBA from the University of the Incarnate Word. He spends his free time engaged in family activities, church ministries, charitable activities, and volunteering his skilled labor for Habitat for Humanity on several builds each year.

I have an overall experience of 12 years in IT. Started my career as a systems developer - extensively developing applications which helped automating day to day operational tasks for my employer to developing a knowledge management system in the days where Sharepoint and Wiki were unknown technologies. Advanced myself in technical support and worked for Microsoft for a while before jumping on in training. During the launch of Windows Vista - I trained almost 1500 + support professionals working for Microsoft Support. Currently, I am with SunGard Global Services and I Manage global support. My key responsibilities are Global Solutioning, institutionalizing central support and streamlining key business processes working with multiple stake holders. I also head a global support centre delivering multi-lingual services out of 3 international locations. Key Focus remains on increasing support scope while remaining lean & efficient.

Lucia Jenkins has over 15 years of experience in the IT industry focusing on technical support operations, customer service, operations analysis, due diligence, managing rapid technical change, and process design and implementation. Currently, Lucia directs IT support operations for Network Alliance, a distinguished IaaS firm in Northern Virginia. Prior to joining Network Alliance, she provided oversight and direction for all activities related to enterprise change management for the U.S. Department of Interior. Previous to her role with DoI, Lucia was a Principle with SRA International, where she facilitated the growth of the technical support organization from a local group to a national, highly-respected, technical support group and improved and standardized operations throughout the internal technology support organization Lucia has a Master’s of Science degree in Information Systems and Technology from University of Phoenix, and is currently pursuing a Doctorate degree in Management, Organizational Leadership, specializing in information systems and technology. She completed her Bachelor’s degree in Sociology at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. Lucia has been involved with several committees and community organizations and particularly enjoys expending efforts in outreach and advocacy programs for young people, women and minorities, and programs related to education and technology.

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.

Scott Kessler has 17+ years of experience in the IT industry with a focus in the desktop support field designing, implementing, and managing desktop support solutions. His experience stems from first hand engagement in roles ranging from front line technical support analyst and team supervisor up through strategic level support solutions architect for large global IT outsourcing projects. He is currently Director of Client Service Management for TechTeam Global overseeing design and delivery of IT support services for a global manufacturing company with operations spread across North & South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Scott holds a B.S. in Business Management and is actively working toward the completion of an M.B.A. He also holds certifications in ITIL Foundations, Six Sigma (Greenbelt), and Lean & Design for Six Sigma.

Brad Kramer has over twenty-five years experience (eleven with CA) within Information Technology spanning Network and Systems Management, technical project management, systems implementation, helpdesk management, desktop support and business assessment consulting. As a Customer Solution Architect for CA, Brad is responsible for designing security, management and governance solutions for state and municipal government agencies in New York State. Working closely with CA’s Flagship Customer Advisory Board, whose charter is to identify industry technology trends, Brad then collaborates with public sector Agency CIO’s and key government decision makers to design CA solutions to meet their business and technical goals. Prior to CA Brad spent over 15 years as an IT Director, Help Desk Manager and Desktop Support Manager for Global Financial Services, Retail and Marketing companies. Brad has been a speaker at conferences on a variety of technology topics, is ITIL Foundation Certified and has been a certified CA Architect for the last five years.

Larry is a Senior Engagement Manager with CDC Global Services, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner. Larry has over fifteen years’ experience consulting in IT, leading many desktop deployment projects and support services engagements over the years. Larry is currently preparing his customers for Windows 7/ Office 2010 migrations through the facilitation of process evaluations and change readiness assessments that address their application compatibility concerns, infrastructure optimization strategies, and staff/end user training requirements. Larry’s understanding of how to successfully integrate people, process and technology has allowed his clients to maximize the value of their IT technology investments. Larry was the Service Manager for Asset and Configuration Management at a large pharmaceutical, and has recently updated his ITIL Foundations certification to v3. Larry received his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration/Economics from CSUF, and has an MBA from Regis University. Larry has many IT certifications, including MCSE, MCITP Windows7 and BVPS.

With over 12 years of IT experience, Brant Lott is Senior Information Systems Technician for EMS Technologies, Inc., a mobile connectivity leader, headquartered in Norcross, Ga., serving the aviation, logistics and military markets. In addition to his desktop support responsibilities, Brant also produces technical documentation such as “how-to” instructions and IT marketing materials, and is the founding editor of “Ask the Geek”, a bi-weekly IT newsletter aimed at EMS employees worldwide. In the 1990’s, Brant served as an Registered Communications Distribution Designe and Voice/Data Network Architect in the telecom industry. During that time, he also provided PC support to co-workers in an unofficial capacity. In 2001, Brant permanently left telecom for IT. He did desktop PC support for four years at a medical device company before joining EMS in May 2005. In addition to his Net+ and Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) certifications, Brant also earned his HDI Support Center Analyst and Support Center Team Lead certifications. A member of the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG), Brant has a Bachelor’s degree in Communications from Louisiana College, and a Master’s degree in Communications from Northeast Louisiana University

Vince Lyons, PC Services Manager, Ricoh Corporation of America, has been in technical support for over fifteen years. During his career he has done desktop support in laboratories, electrical generation facilities, chemical plants, and oil refineries, as well as, nice, clean, corporate headquarters. Vince is a Certified Help Desk Manager and is ITIL Foundations certified. He became involved in computers in the early ‘80s as an extension of his electronics hobby. His focus is on developing outstanding support teams by making sure the technicians are not only technically proficient but that they are also excellent communicators and have a deep understanding of the business lines they are supporting.

David has worked in information technology for more than 20 years and has held global executive, senior management and technical positions at LiquidHub, ACE Group, Motorola, CIGNA Healthcare, Continental Insurance and ARCO Chemical Company. He holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s of Science in Information Systems, with a minor in music from Drexel University in Philadelphia; he also holds certifications in Helpdesk Call Center Management, Audit, Governance, Project Management, Disaster Recovery, Data Security, Disaster Recovery and Infrastructure. Currently David is with LiquidHub as Director of Network Convergence working with business clients and technology teams to lead tactical and strategic IT service management and delivery. David is also the VP of Finance for the HDI DelVal chapter covering Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware geographic regions. Prior to coming to LiquidHub, David was with the ACE Group for 7 years as Assistant Vice President of Global Operations and Customer Service. While at ACE he reported directly to the Global Chief Information Officer, Global Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President of IT Services. He was directly responsible for the information technology operations staff, budget and projects. Information technology was outsourced and responsibilities also included direct oversight of helpdesk, deskside support, asset management, procurement, executive support, disaster recovery, business continuity, change, incident, problem/availability management, multi-vendor service level management and data center audits and operations. The most important function of this role was the ability to drive down costs thru effective management and improved customer service. David truly believe life is about what you can do to help others and that it is not always about having enough time, but making time for the important things through goal setting and accomplishment.

Kristy Trice has over 15 years of IT experience in service management and technical support. Currently, Kristy serves as the Manager of End User Computing Services at L.L.Bean in Freeport, Maine. Kristy and her team provide engineering and technical support for all of L.L.Bean's end user computing equipment, both domestically and internationally. This includes PCs, MACs, monitors, printers, peripherals, registers, sound equipment, Blackberries, phones, network from desktop to CP’s, etc. Prior to L.L.Bean, Kristy worked as a Senior Manager of Help Desk, Procurement and Change Management at Warner Music Group in Burbank, California. She began her career as a Desktop Support Technician and Project Manager at the BP Amoco Research Center in Naperville, IL. Kristy earned her Bachelor's degree from Bryant University, and her MBA from Pepperdine University. In 2009, she received her Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. She resides in Maine with her husband and her energetic preschooler. Her interests range from supporting local sports to supporting international helpers, primarily in Africa. At present, she is enjoying the challenge of local triathlons. She is looking forward to serving on the HDI Desktop Support Advisory Board.

Jason currently is a Global Service Desk Delivery Manager for Hewlett-Packard. He started with Compaq as part of the Industry Standard Server support group. He was part of a small group of Novell Certified Response Center Engineers, where he provided technical Novell and Microsoft software support to high availability enterprise customers within North America. With over 10 years in customer service, service management, help desk consulting and devolvement. He has held roles ranging from Help Desk Analyst, SME Lead, Tool Administrator, Knowledge Management, Training development and Manager. He has spent several years applying, six sigma yellow belt and best practices. He has a total of 5 years of international experience in the support industry and 10 years of experience in IT. His focus has been the development of high performing teams and the continual improvement of the IT infrastructure and support services within the support contract to which he supports. He has worked with in multiple vendor relations providing support for global contracts via the support desk structure. Jason has a Bachelors degree in Continuing Education from Queens University and is certified as an ITIL practitioner, Microsoft, Novel and Cisco and is Active with his local ITIL Practioner’s Forum.

Rosanne Delaney is a Senior VP of Information Technology for Mesirow Financial located in Chicago, IL. Currently she manages the Desktop Design and Management Team. Rosanne has 15 years experience in technology management, specializing in strategic planning and management of firm-wide technical projects. Roseanne was a member of the infrastructure team that designed and implemented a state-of-art data center for Mesirow Financial’s new headquarters. Her goal is to elevate standards of service to the user community, meeting the business needs of the corporation through technology, analysis, automation, creativity, mentoring, and communication. Roseanne is certified in ITIL V2 Foundations, and is an ITIL Release and Change Practitioner. In her previous role at Mesirow Financial, she managed the Technology Resource Center (help desk) and Training groups for 9 years.

Jean-Christophe is currently Manager, IS Assets & Service Management for Philip Morris International, based in Lausanne – Switzerland. With over 30 years experience in Computer Operations, Help Desk, Production Services, Customer Services, Assets and Service Management, Mr. Guyot has held roles ranging from Operations Analyst, Office System Administrator, Supervisor and Manager. Jean-Christophe is ITIL V2 Practitioner IPSR and IPRC certified and also ITIL V3 Intermediate certified. He received his IT Service Catalog Design Foundation certificate in 2006 and his COBIT Foundations certificate in 2009. Today Mr. Guyot is studying in order to prepare and pass the ITIL Expert in IT Service Management Certification. After having spent the first half of his career in France with Lilly France in Strasbourg and Allergan France in Cannes, Jean-Christophe moved with his family to Lausanne, where he has been working for Philip Morris since 1995. During the past few years, Mr. Guyot was highly involved in the implementation/enhancement of some of the major Service Management disciplines such as Change Management, Problem Management and Knowledge Management.

Phillip Kimball is the IT Service Management Manager at the University of Utah Health Care organization. UUHC is the Intermountain West’s only academic health care system, combining excellence in patient care, the latest in medical research, and teaching to provide leading-edge medicine in a caring and personal setting. In his current position, Phillip oversees the five ITIL processes for service management where a team of individuals work in unison to improve the incident, problem, change, configuration and release management objectives of the organization. In addition to service management, Phillip manages two desktop support teams that provide support for the UUHC and University. The desktop support teams provide service to over 9,000 workstations that are used in healthcare and academics. Prior to the University of Utah, Phillip has worked in the customer service and IT departments of Delta Airlines and Franklin Covey. He has over 15 years of experience in IT and customer support. Phillip has his Bachelor’s of Science from the University of Utah and also earned his MBA from the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah. Phillip has his ITIL Foundations certificate and is the chapter president for the HDI Salt Lake City chapter.

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. In 1999, Sophie became the Local Chapter 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. December 2009 Sophie became the Director of HDI Membership where she brings her many years of member advocacy and relationship strengths in expanding membership and bringing value to the HDI members.

Kathleen spent over 13 years in the Information Systems Department, working for Harris County Hospital District in Houston Texas. She was the Sr. Computer Operator for the mainframe system as well as Help Desk Support, for their desktop customers. Her experience with the county, enabled her to step into the position of Help Desk Coordinator, for the Information Systems Department, for the State of Texas. As of April 1, 2010, Kathleen has completed 13 years with the Texas Department of Transportation. In 2001 she received her certification for Help Desk Manager with STI Knowledge (HELPDESK2000), and she has also completed the training course for Certified Help Desk Director. Kathleen has a Doctorate degree in Theology and has enjoyed doing missionary work in Ghana West Africa since 2002.

Eddie Vidal has over 20 years experience in various areas of Information Technology. His focus is primarily on service delivery and support for IT infrastructure. In his current position as Manager, Enterprise Services Support for the Information Technology department at the University of Miami, Eddie supports over 35,000 faculty, staff and students. He transformed the Help Desk from a dispatch environment to a Customer Centric Support Center. Eddie’s experience spans higher education, hospitality, and travel industries. He has led project management offices and consulted on numerous engagements. Prior to his current position at the University of Miami, Eddie was Assistant Director of Professional Management and Planning Services at Florida International University. At FIU, Eddie was responsible for transitioning the desktop support team to the Support Center, setting computing standards and managing software licensing. His accomplishments in various organizations include managing multi-million dollar budgets, managing the construction of a 500 seat call center, creating Service Level Agreements, implementing customer service initiatives, deploying applications, and re-engineering organizations. He currently serves as President of the South Florida HDI local chapter and Director of Sponsorship for HDI Southeast Region. Eddie has earned certifications for ITIL Foundations and HDI Support Center Manager.