Jonathan L. Bernstein, president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc. has more than 25 years of experience meeting clients’ needs in all aspects of crisis management – crisis response, vulnerability assessment, planning, training and simulations. His past experience includes corporate, agency and non-profit public relations positions, preceded by five years of investigative and feature journalism -- to include a stint with investigative reporter/columnist Jack Anderson. He is a veteran of five years in U.S. Army Military Intelligence covert operations. Bernstein is publisher and editor of Crisis Manager, a first-of-its-kind email newsletter written for “those who are crisis managers whether they want to be or not,” currently read in 75 countries.

Edward Billmaier is responsible for the development and implementation of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company’s interactive marketing strategy. The consumer communications group he leads includes the Consumer Service contact center and the Interactive Marketing team. His teams handle more than 1 million calls and 7 million unique web site visitors each year. Since stepping into this role in 1994, Billmaier has also integrated the operations resulting from nine acquisitions, and identified and implemented a new contact and knowledge management system. Billmaier graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor’s degree in sociology. He is currently a member of the Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals in Business (SOCAP), the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) and the Promotional Marketing association (PMA).

Michael Boudreau has been with Eli Lilly & Co for 9 years. During this time, Michael has been with The Lilly Answers Center and held the following positions: Technology Trainer for Call Center Applications, Workforce Management Professional, and currently serves as Manager -Workforce and Information Management (WFIM) Team. Prior to working at Eli Lilly Michael worked at a CRM company as a Technology Trainer and Change Management Specialist working on various call center projects. As the WFIM Manager, Michael is responsible for agent and call center metrics, real-time workflow management, CRM Database updates, staffing forecasts and vendor management for off-site call centers.

Sherri Bruen’s career with Darden spans 30 years and includes roles as restaurant manager with Red Lobster and Licensing Representative for Darden. She joined Olive Garden in 1990 when she was asked to create a Guest Relations function. Early on, Sherri pioneered 800 number service and introduced TDD Service (for the deaf) making Olive Garden the first restaurant industry contact center to offer this service. With her passion for service, she has trained and developed more than 30 guest relations professionals in guest recovery skills. Additionally, she has created and facilitated a Guest Recovery Leadership workshop for restaurant managers. Presently, as Guest Experience Manager, Sherri leads a team of 15 service professionals in Darden’s Guest Relations Center of Excellence supporting five restaurant brands.

Anthony DiResta is head of the FTC/Consumer Protection practice at Winston & Strawn.  His practice focuses on governmental investigations, commercial litigation (trial and appellate), and business counseling that involves consumer protection issues (including privacy, allegations of deceptive or unfair advertising and marketing practices, and financial practices), trade regulations, and unfair competition.  Mr. DiResta is a leading authority on social media issues and serves as General Counsel to the Word of Mouth Marketing Association.  Prior to joining Winston & Strawn, Mr. DiResta was a partner at an international law firm.

Cheryl Duwve serves as Vice President of Customer Support for Roche’s North American Diabetes Care division. Duwve also serves as the Chairman of the Board of the Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals, International (SOCAP), a professional association for customer relationship experts. Duwve’s prior experience includes providing market strategy for St. Vincent Health, an integrated health care delivery system, with nine affiliate hospitals, multiple joint ventures, and physician practices; leading the Midwest regional operations of CIGNA/Healthsource, a national managed care organization and insurance company; and serving as Executive Director of the Indianapolis Alliance for Health Promotion. She has Bachelors degrees in Psychology and Health Science and a Masters degree in Public Health.

Neal Eggers joined the J.Lodge Corporation in 2006. Neal’s primary responsibility is Quality Sciences Management, New Product Development and Client Relations. Neal is in constant contact with his customer’s, and is part of the day-to-day business efforts of the client. From quality program development, participation on client/vendor operational meetings, site visits and consulting Neal becomes part of the client’s team, working to effect behavioral change.

Frank Eliason is the Senior Vice President of Social Media for Citibank. Frank also writes on a blog called Time to be Frank, and speaks at events across the country.  You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who has had a greater impact on new media marketing and customer service than Frank Eliason. While everyone else focused on themselves and on “what are you doing?”, Frank did a complete 180, asking “Can I help?” While hundreds of “social media experts” popped up, Frank prided himself on being a customer “service guy.” Comcast’s success in the new media space has come entirely from Frank’s social media tactics, those he’ll readily acknowledge aren’t “tactics”, but just being helpful.

Jeff Fettes, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of 24-7 Intouch, oversees and supports the entire operations of the business, in addition to the technological structure of 24-7 Intouch and the delivery of all professional services to our clients. Jeff’s entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to offering our clients flexible solutions has created a competitive reputation for 24-7 Intouch as a leading provider of innovative technology and quality service in the call center industry. Jeff attended Babson College and University of Southern Florida, and has attained several university degrees focusing in the areas of Marketing and Information Technology. Jeff brings 14 years of experience in IT and Web Design to 24-7 Intouch.

Cindy Fritton, Manager for ConAgra Consumer Affairs, joined ConAgra Foods in 2004. While at ConAgra Foods, Cindy has held various management positions in the Consumer Affairs Department. Cindy currently manages the Training and QA programs for ConAgra Foods, At-Home Rep Program. The ConAgra Foods At-Home Program supports brands like Healthy Choice, Marie Callender’s, Hunts ,and Orville Redenbacher to name a few. The reps connect with consumers on the “Food you Love”, and the program just marked its fourth year anniversary in March, 2011. Cindy is President of the SOCAP Heartland Chapter, and holds the Chair position for the 2011 SOCAP Chapter Relations Committee. She is also a committee member of the SOCAP (CPG) Consumer Packaged Goods community. She loves movies, travel, and is working on her fitness goals. She spends her free time partnering with her husband Steve on the various sporting events for their two sons Zach 13, and Matthew 10. Their 5 year old daughter Ashley, and 3yr old Labradoodle Buddy, help Mom cheer for the boys on the sidelines.

Sue Holden is Consumer Insights Team Manager for Seventh Generation. This team handles all consumer care through the CRM and social media.  Sue also leads our knowledge management process that covers hundreds of health and environmental issues and products that range from bathroom tissue to tampons and from natural disinfectants to diapers. She has watched the company grow from 12 employees to more than 100. Part of her work has been helping to develop the company mission as it relates to sustainability and WOW service. Part of WOW service is providing education to Seventh Generation’s consumers on sustainable living practices and helping the company make consumer based decisions. Sue has been with Seventh Generation for 10 years, after 25 years in retail management.  Seventh Generation is  22 year old company based in Burlington, Vermont.

Bob Lichi has over 25 years’ experience in working with business software and technology. He has been part of the Astute Solutions team for over 15 years, where he has helped numerous companies achieve their goals through technology. He started his career at Astute as the head of Professional Services team, and then moved into Strategic Accounts Management. Recently he moved into a Channel management role where he is forging relationships with companies for creating additional solutions and benefits for Astute Solutions’ customers. Prior to Astute, Bob was the Director of Customer Support and International Development at SYMIX (an ERP software company), and a Software Engineer at General Dynamics. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Electronics Engineering Technology from DeVRY University which he earned after serving in the U.S. Air Force.

Sarah Meenach works as a Consultant and leads Social Media solutions best practice at Wilke/Thornton, Inc. She works closely with Wilke/Thornton’s customers to devise and outline a Social Media strategy and workflow. Previously, she worked for Bob Evans Farms, Inc., and led customer care initiatives across their brands. In her role at Bob Evans, Sarah helped establish their Social Media policies and actively managed these channels. She has been an active SOCAP member since 2007 and served as the Ohio Chapter President in 2009. Sarah earned a bachelor’s degree from Miami University in Oxford, OH.

Andrea Meester has been in Customer Service 23 years holding a variety of positions including: Vice President of Customer Service, Director of Customer Service, Director of Front-end Operations and Business Process Analyst. For the past 3 ½ years she has been managing the Customer Service Operations for North American Membership Group. Andrea believes there is a win-win balance between reaching high levels of customer satisfaction while at the same time ensuring cost efficiencies through detailed process reviews, technical solutions, corporate quality initiatives and business process improvements. Andrea prides herself on being a passionate and motivational leader. She believes that true success can only be achieved through good working relationships, energy, compassion and above all trust. She doesn’t allow herself to be fearful of the unknown as that only hinders a business’s success. She enjoys the outdoors whether it be riding horse, gardening, hunting or merely enjoying a cup of coffee on the deck.

Amber Naslund is a communications and business strategist, and the VP of Social Strategy for Radian6. In her professional role, she cultivates the Radian6 brand through speaking, content creation, and client strategy and support.  For the past 15 years, Amber has worked with businesses of all sizes, from the Fortune 50 to startups and local nonprofits, to lead branding, communications, and client experience initiatives. She’s enjoyed a diverse career as a fundraiser, client services professional, marketing and communications executive, and entrepreneur. Today, she focuses her work and writing on creating effective change, and solving business problems through better communication, both online and off.

Mike Neeson, the Senior Contact Services Manager at Andersen Windows has an extensive background in Consumer Affairs. Andersen is a 107 year old company that leads the window and patio door industry throughout the world. During Mike’s 20 year tenure at Andersen he implemented a toll free 1-800 service number and a program for dealing with after sales customer inquiries. Mike successfully established a team of approximately 150 associates and strategically partnered with outsourcing vendors to provide world class service to Andersen customers. He currently oversees a group that is responsible for responding to over 1,000,000 customer contacts per year.

Melanie Neumann, Esq. serves as Vice President of Crisis Management and General Counsel for RQA, Inc. RQA is a global crisis management, forensic testing, product recall and product development consulting firm in Chicago, IL. Ms. Neumann provides legal and consulting services to a host of food, beverage and consumer products manufacturers, distributors and suppliers regarding regulatory and labeling compliance, food safety, product recalls, complaint management, trademark, copyright and advertising matters, and various commercial contract topics. Ms. Neumann is an active member of SOCAP as well as IFT (Institute of Food Technologists), AFDO (Association of Food and Drug Officials), ACC (Association of Corporate Counsel), and the Illinois State Bar Association.

Lynn Reilly of Pinnacle Foods Group LLC is responsible for aligning direct consumer insights with brand strategies on businesses such as Duncan Hines, Vlasic, Hungry-Man, Mrs. Paul’s, Mrs. Butterworth’s, Lender’s and Celeste. In her role as Consumer Insights Manager, Lynn leads the liaison between the contact center and Market Research to ensure her company is capitalizing on all aspects of consumer insights. Lynn and her team are focused on managing the total consumer experience to make Pinnacle’s brands an increasingly important part of consumers’ everyday lives.

Ryan Seaverson is a Regulatory Specialist at SafetyCall International P.L.L.C., a multidisciplinary healthcare practice focused on providing manufacturers services in the area of post-market medical surveillance, product safety, and regulatory reporting support for adverse events. His regulatory affairs experience includes a focus in the areas of EPA’s FIFRA 6(a)2 reporting, FDA’s Medwatch and CPSC’s newly introduced Consumer Product Incident Database. In addition to regulatory compliance, Ryan’s focus for SafetyCall clients has been helping them make sense of, and put in perspective, product associated spontaneously reported adverse events and their role in defining product safety.

Steve Seidl is the Managing Director of Customer Care at Alta Resources. Steve currently manages 300 employees and eight client programs at Alta’s Brea, CA, office. Steve is an instrumental force in driving Brea’s corporate culture, helping Alta earn an Orange County Register Top Workplace award in 2009 and 2010. Steve also understands and embraces the sales process. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Steve held sales positions with Abbott Laboratories and Novartis. Steve has been with Alta since 2001, serving in his current role since 2003. Steve earned his Six Sigma green belt in 2009.

Brian Sheehan is the Customer Experience Manager for Telerx. In this position, he manages the corporate quality assurance function supporting many leading companies in the Consumer Packaged Goods and Healthcare industries.  Brian has spent the last 13 years designing and managing call center quality and training programs. Brian is passionate about providing superior service to clients and customers.  He is an expert with capitalizing on the synergy between quality and training to produce a top-notch product. A native of Connecticut, Brian currently resides in the Charlotte, NC area with his wife Susan and their two children.

Marie Shubin is the Director of Global Consumer Relations at E&J Gallo Winery. The Gallo Consumer Information Center is the Voice of the Consumer at Gallo, and provides service to consumers around the world regarding over 100 wine, spirits and wine beverage brands. The Consumer Information Center is central to the execution of many CRM and Quality initiatives. Marie has been an active member of SOCAP since 1993. From 1995-2000 Marie served on the Board of Directors as Chairman of the Membership Committee developing the new member orientation and buddy programs. She was instrumental in founding the Food & Beverage Community and Data Reporting Workshop. Now serving another term on the Board of Directors, Marie is a conference presenter and CRM contributor. Marie has a Bachelor's degree in Education from Arizona State University and an MBA from Western International University.

 
WOMMA Member

Jack Sullivan possesses over 17 years of consumer affairs experience within the consumer packaged goods industry.  He currently manages the operations aaining functions for Unilever with staff in the US and Canada.  Prior to this, he held several positions managing teams focused on leveraging the consumer insights and building brand relationships.  He has been a member of SOCAP for over ten years and holds a masters degree in human resources education.

Sal Tripi is the Sr. Director of Operations and Privacy Compliance for Publishers Clearing House (PCH), the United States' largest and best-known multi-channel sweepstakes company and seller of value based consumer products and magazine selections. Sal has had many successes in a variety of operational areas including compliance, privacy, order processing, and merchandise fulfillment. Mr. Tripi successfully developed and implemented a comprehensive reputation and compliance program that allowed PCH to expand their entrepreneurial endeavors while protecting and maintaining PCH’s reputation as a legitimate online marketer. He is a member of the IAB email committee, DMA Ethics policy committee as well as the a current Board member of the Online Trust Alliance (OTA). Mr. Tripi is a regular speaker to industry groups on issues regarding privacy and online compliance.

Karen Vaughn is a seasoned call center professional with nearly 2 decades of experience working for both call center service providers as well as their customers. For the past 2.5 years she has served as Vice President of Vendor Management for Guthy-Renker, one of the world's largest direct response marketing companies. In her role at Guthy-Renker, Karen is directly responsible for quality and customer satisfaction at outsourced call centers providing Inbound and Outbound sales as well as Customer Service. Her responsibilities also include a cast of supporting service providers and the technology providers leveraged as part of the overall Guthy-Renker call center ecosystem. This includes outsourced quality management, speech analytics, command center support, hosted ACD/call routing, and a hosted IVR application. Karen is a firm believer in leveraging modern technology delivery platforms like SaaS across outsourced providers to help both providers and customers achieve business objectives.