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I most recently served as the founder, President and CEO of Influent Technology Group. During my five years with the company, I led the production of more than 45 conferences throughout North America and Europe which provided learning and networking opportunities for IT training, instructional design & development, training management, technical support, Help development and information design & development professionals. Events created during my tenure include the WBT Producer Conference & Expo, The New Media Instructional Design Symposium, The Computer Training World Conference & Expo and many, many others.
Prior to founding Influent, I served as the Executive Director of Marketing & Product Development at Ziff Institute, a division of Ziff Davis Publishing Company, where I was responsible for the production of the annual Computer Training & Support Conference and the annual Interactive Conference & Expo. While with ZD, I also founded and managed SkillTech Professional Seminars.
All of these professional opportunities have enabled me learn and grow uniquely positioned in the learning industry. My orientation has not only to BE a "training professional", but also to view "training professionals" as the learners I was responsible for training. By virtue of the fact that the events I have organized over the years often had expo's, I have also been able to work and consult with many organizations on their efforts to provide products and services to the industry.
Fundamental to my world view is the belief that "The learner will inherit the earth and can accomplish all things, while the learned will find themselves wonderfully equipped for a world that no longer exists."
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My years of experience working both in a Fortune 200 company as a training professional, and as an event producer for the training and e-Learning industry, give me a unique perspective which I bring to the professional services offered through the Focuszone.
Before Focuszone, I was the VP of Worldwide Program Development at Influent Technology Group, where I was responsible for the content and structure of all of the conferences and symposia. I led the development of 45 conferences in North America and EMEA including the Training IT Conference and Expo, New Media Instructional Design Symposium, WBT Producer Conference and Expo, WBT Executive Summit, Computer Training World (US and EMEA), Computer Trainer's ReBoot Summer Camp, InfoStrategies, etc. Besides the program content, some of my other responsibilities included editing and writing the e-newsletter, Influential Trends, overseeing the marketing copy, and strategic event planning.
Before joining Influent Technology Group, I spent 12 years as an training professional at The St. Paul Companies, a large Midwest-based insurance company, where I was oversaw the end user and desktop technology training.
My responsibilities included coordinating the design, development, and delivery of training in multiple formats for 3,000+ corporate staff and 8,000+ field office personnel. I also acted as the corporate technology training liaison for the international affiliate companies in EMEA and Asia. The scope of activities included the selection and management of ILT, TDI, and documentation for desktop applications and corporate and enterprise-wide systems. I provided both strategic and tactical training advice and planning for all divisions and was the technology advisor and designer for an award-winning, 23-room corporate education center.
Besides planning events, I have presented at numerous IT and training conferences and meetings. I also served on the board of the Professional Association of Computer Training (PACT), as President, Vice President, Newsletter Editor and Program Chair. In 1996, I had the honor to win the PACT Excellence in Training Award.
