Find out more about the 2010 Annual Conference speakers!  Click on a speaker's name below to jump quickly to their bio.

Session Speakers

Nancy Alfaro is the Director of San Francisco’s 311 Customer Service Center and has served in this capacity since 2008.

The City and County of San Francisco established 311 to provide an easy-to-remember telephone number that connects residents, businesses, and visitors to Customer Service Representatives ready to help with general government information and services.

Nancy has been working in the public sector since 1992. She holds a bachelor’s degree from San Francisco State University in Business Administration.

Nancy joined SOCAP in November 2009.

Sherri Bower is Director of Client Services at AFFINA. She joined AFFINA in 2000 as a Client Services Administrator and was promoted in 2005 to a Client Services Manager. Today, she serves in a strategic management role, partnering with clients to expand and enhance their consumer affairs solutions. Prior to her service at AFFINA, she worked in the food service industry. Sherri earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Iowa.

Ronna Caras is a communications innovator whose telephone conversation techniques have improved the sales results and customer satisfaction scores for thousands of front line people in a wide variety of industries. She is the President of Caras Training in Lynnfield, Massachusetts. Caras Training is a consulting group that provides customized training services for clients throughout North America.

Robin Carey founded The Social Customer in 2007 as one of the first companies to manage online B2B communities that connect large organizations with the people they want to influence.  A 30-year veteran of the big-book print media world that included Fortune, Newsweek and BusinessWeek, she had built her reputation on architecting powerful strategies that delivered to blue-chip corporate clients and their agencies ways to corral and connect with their customers, and equally importantly, their customers’ trusted influencers.

 A University of Virginia alum, Robin lives in Charlottesville, Va. with her two sons, and maintains a touchdown office in Manhattan for her largely virtual staff.  When she’s not bringing together communities, she’s bringing together individuals and organizations to assist in her work as  co-chair of the Women's Refugee Commission, based in New York.  She also serves as an Advisor to the Society of New Communications Research.

Anthony DiResta is a partner with the Advertising, Marketing & Media practice in the Washington, D.C., office of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP.  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 Manatt, Mr. DiResta was a partner at an international law firm.

Jim Dudukovich is Marketing Counsel with Coca-Cola North America, where he negotiates sports and entertainment marketing transactions and advises and counsels his clients on advertising, marketing, sponsorship and general intellectual property law issues, including issues relating to talent rights (including application of the SAG and AFTRA Commercials Contracts), rights of publicity, copyrights, trademarks, social media marketing, music law and product claims.

Jim is a member of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association’s Legal Affairs Committee, the Entertainment and Sports Law and Intellectual Property Law Sections of the Georgia Bar Association, and the Association of Corporate Counsel, and is a former Associate Member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and a former member of the Association of National Advertisers Legal Affairs Committee.  He was born and raised near Cleveland, Ohio, and earned a B.S. in Systems and Control Engineering, with High Honors, from Case Western Reserve University in 1990, and his J.D., cum laude, from Michigan Law School in 1992.

Greg Fettes leads 24-7 Intouch, provider of outsourced contact center services.  He is involved in the development of all business aspects, driving the company's growth and focusing corporate culture on service and operational excellence.  Under his leadership of innovation and experience, the company has evolved into a multichannel contact center that serves numerous Fortune 500 companies, and over 400 clients throughout the U.S.A. in industries that include consumer packaged goods, food and restaurant, retail, communications, etc.  Fettes continues to strategically optimize services to deliver true customer support that result in reduced costs, increased incremental revenue and lifetime customer loyalty for clients.

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.

Chip Horner is Worldwide Director of Global Consumer Affairs at the Colgate-Palmolive Company.   He joined Colgate in October 2006.  Professionally, his early years were spent in Marketing, and he previously worked for the Warner-Lambert Company and Pfizer.  In 2001, he was Chairman of SOCAP International - and has since addressed Association meetings on best practices in consumer care in Europe, Canada and Brazil. 

“I have two beautiful children – Winnie, age 9 and Chase, age 12.  We enjoy quality time together – kayaking, traveling, swimming and going on nature hikes.  I also enjoy biking, fishing and playing golf.”

Bill Johnston is Dell’s Head of Global Community, where he oversees global online community strategy and programs for the company. Prior to Dell, Bill was Chief Community Officer with Forum One Networks where he directed social media events, collaborative research projects, and led the company’s commercial consulting practice. Bill has also held senior positions with Autodesk, and helped launch TechRepublic.com in the late 90’s. Bill founded the Online Community Roundtable group in 1995.

Jane Judd joined Zappos in 2005 and was promoted to Senior Manager of our Customer Loyalty Team in 2006. Jane has a long history in providing the very best customer service. She began her career and spent 16 years at National Car Rental, gaining increasing responsibility and eventually served as their Consumer Affairs Manager, managing their global customer base. Jane then spent 3 years in a warehouse environment at TCB as their Customer Support Service Manager. Just prior to joining Zappos, Jane served at Best Buy as their Customer Service Manager and then Enterprise Customer Care and Business Relationship Manager.

Jane grew up in Chatfield, Minnesota and later earned her Business Associate degree from McConnell College in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

In 2007 she was recognized by 1 to 1 Media as a Customer Champion and in 2008 was awarded the International Customer Service Manager of year by Customer Service Institute of America.

Donald Lacey is Senior Director of Quality Assurace and Loblaw Companies Limited, the largest retail chain in Canada.  Lacey started his career in the beverage industry in 1969 as a lab technologist for the Seven Up Company. Lacey spent 32 years in the soft drink, juice and bottled water industry, seeing the end of his career as  Director of Quality Assurance for Pepsi Cola Canada. Following his departure from Pepsi Cola Canada, Lacey immediately joined Parmalat Canada, an Italian based international dairy and  bakery corporation. There, Lacey spent six years as the Vice President, North American Dairy and Bakery Division.

Lacey holds a Masters Degree in Environmental Studies and Adult Education University of Toronto. He also has a Bachelor of Science Degree, Bachelor of Administrative Studies, and Bachelor of Arts from various Canadian Universities.

Cheryl Macik directs the development and implementation of customer care initiatives for Wakefern Food Corporation and ShopRite stores.  The company’s customer care center, which monitors, tracks and responds to customer concerns via mail, e-mail, their toll-free customer service hotline and social media is at the center of the business functions she manages.  Cheryl is a member of the company’s crisis management team, which acts to ensure customer and associate safety while minimizing liability and negative media exposure.  Additionally, she has direct oversight of Wakefern/ShopRite’s customer loyalty measurement processes and retail consumer education programs.  She advocates the customer’s point of view within the organization to help drive the development of customer-focused policies, procedures and marketing programs that create competitive advantage and promote the ShopRite brand image.  Cheryl received her Bachelor’s Degree in Consumer Science from Douglass College, Rutgers University.  In addition to participating in FMI’s Consumer Affairs Committee, Cheryl is a member of the Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals.

Rob Michalak is Ben & Jerry's Global Director of Social Mission.  Rob serves on the senior leadership team at Ben & Jerry's. Rob's role is to energize and direct the progressive side of the Company based on the Company’s three-part Mission Statement, which leads off with the preamble that states:

“Ben & Jerry’s is founded on & dedicated to a sustainable corporate concept of linked prosperity.”

With that overarching concept, Rob’s Social Mission role is to initiate innovative ways Ben & Jerry’s can use its business to create positive and progressive social change.

This is Rob's second time around at the Vermont-based ice cream company. He served as Ben & Jerry's "PR Czar" in the company's halcyon growth years from 1989-1998. Rob returned to Ben & Jerry's in June, 2006.  During his two terms, he has also led the Consumer Services team.

Tim Oakes is an experienced financial services professional with the Royal Bank of Scotland in charge of Reporting, Control and Analysis for the Group Board and Executive on all service and complaint related issues.  He has worked for the RBS Group for the last five years and in that time has developed service measurement models for many operating units as well as driving through measurable improvement plans throughout the Group’s varied divisions and businesses. Appointed to the Board of SOCAPie and elected Chairman from 2010.

Aged 45, Tim is married to Alison, a medical nurse and has two children, Stephen aged 16 and Amy aged 11. 

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. 

Dave Richter is the Managing Director of Customer Care at Alta Resources.  He is responsible for leading the Customer Care efforts for some of the top global brands across multiple industries.  Dave received his Bachelors Degree from the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh and is a Six Sigma Green Belt. Dave began his career at Alta Resources in 1999 and has held several contact center management positions during his time at Alta Resources.   Dave also is an accomplished musician who has performed hundreds of shows across the Midwest.

Matt Sanders is currently the Senior Operations Manager for the Marion Reservation Center for Hyatt Hotels and Resorts.  He has been with the Marion Reservation Center for over 10 years and began as the Guest Services Manager.  His current responsibilities include overseeing the General Sales Floor, the Email answering function, Electronic Document Processing, and the Fulfillment of Hyatt Gift Card and Gift Certificate orders as well as the Staffing function for the center.  In December, 2007 Matt was named Manager of the Year for the Call Center.  Prior to working for Hyatt he worked for Suburban Lodges of America based out of Atlanta, GA.  With this company he held the positions of Hotel General Manger, Area Manager of 6 hotels in the Atlanta area, and Corporate Customer Service Manager.  Matt is currently serving on the SOCAP Conference Committee.

Erin Santy is an account director in SHIFT’s Consumer Lifestyle Practice, providing strategic counsel and guidance to such clients as Bing, Logitech and Quiznos. She leads the team in everything from big-picture thinking and implementation of PR activities to product launches and social media campaigns. Erin has managed client strategy and messaging for clients such as Oakley, UGOBE, Powerset and Rhapsody.

Before joining SHIFT, Erin was a Senior Account Executive at Edelman/A&R Partners, a high-tech PR firm in Silicon Valley. She led corporate, channel and customer PR for Citrix Systems, helped gain visibility for TV Guide’s ground-breaking MyTVGuide initiative leading up to its acquisition by Macrovision.

In her public relations career she has worked with a wide variety of enterprise and consumer tech companies, including AirMagnet, Avocent, Bottlenotes, Check Point Software, Netopia, the Rubicon Project, SkyStream, Watercooler, Wells Fargo and Wordlock. Erin previously held a PR and marketing internship position at KRON 4 television. She holds bachelor’s degrees in mass communications and political science from the University of California, Berkeley.
 

Linda Schellenger serves as president and member of the Telerx Board of Directors, where she oversees all functional areas of Telerx.  In addition to a hands-on approach to managing all aspects of the company, Linda’s primary responsibilities include strategic development, business planning, and client program consultation.

Prior to joining the Telerx Leadership Team in 2006, Linda served as Chief Marketing Officer for TCIM Services, Inc. She has 17 years of experience in sales management, operations, marketing, client services, and human resources.  Her experience working across diverse verticals enables her to bring best practices and industry insights to Telerx and our clients.
                                            
Linda holds a Bachelors degree in organizational dynamics from Immaculata College.

Dirk Shaw is senior vice president of Ogilvy PR’s 360° Digital Influence Practice. With over 15 years of experience in digital marketing, he oversees the strategic planning and creative deployment of social media that drive the marketing and brand-building agenda.

Prior to joining Ogilvy PR, Shaw served as served as Social Media Strategist for Vignette, designing and implementing social media and marketing strategies to enhance brand reputation, increase traffic to Web properties and drive higher levels of visitor engagement for an enterprise software provider.

Shaw’s previous work experience also includes serving as vice president of strategy and digital marketing with Macquarium, developing digital marketing and advertising solutions for several Fortune 500 clients. In addition, he co-founded a company called Aperio, developing digital business solutions and marketing strategies for a variety of clients. 

Shaw received a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Johnson and Wales University. In addition, he attended The Art League School for the fine art of graphic design and Georgia Tech for advanced innovation management. He is an avid cycler and has three children. Shaw’s blog can be found at www.dirkshaw.com or follow him on Twitter at @dirkmshaw.

Matthew Staub has been surfing the edges of the Internet as an early-adopter since he was dialing into Compuserve long distance in 1993. He has been working throughout corporate America for 10 years and is currently the Social Media Strategist at H&R Block, where he is responsible for the company's off-domain online presence and its monitoring and listening activities.

John Stieger leads Procter & Gamble’s Americas Consumer Relations organization and serves on the SOCAP Board of Directors.  In prior lives John has led systems and analytics work at Gillette, worked in management consulting, marketed and sold technology products, tended bar and bagged groceries.  John holds a BA from Colgate University and a MBA from Cornell University. 

 Mary Joan Stryker joined Wegmans consumer affairs department in 1995 as a consumer services specialist.   In 2000, she was named team leader with responsibility for managing a team of 14 specialists and clerical support staff who respond to more than 70,000 customer communications annually on a broad range of topics.  Communications are in the form of email, phone calls, comment cards, letters, and tweets.  Also included in the mix are product complaint reports, which are completed by Wegmans stores when customers return a product and require additional follow-up from Wegmans or its suppliers.

Because of her perspective on the customers’ point of view, Mary Joan also represents the consumer affairs department on a number of cross-functional teams at Wegmans. 

Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. is a 76-store supermarket chain with stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, and Maryland.  The family-owned company, founded in 1916, is recognized as an industry leader and innovator.  Wegmans has been named one of the ‘100 Best Companies to Work For’ by FORTUNE magazine for twelve consecutive years, ranking #3 in 2010.

Kira Wampler is a principal at Ant’s Eye View, leading management consulting firm that helps recognized brands along the journey of transforming customer experience and brand engagement through online customer engagement.

Prior to Ant’s Eye View, Kira led social media marketing, online community, online support and influencer efforts for Intuit’s Small Business Division. She focused on programs and experiences that engaged small business owners to help them succeed, including the company’s Just Start and Small Business United campaigns. Both programs won the Warrillow Small Business Marketer of the Year Award (2008 and 2009), and Small Business United won the WOMMA 2009 Grand Prix Award.

Kira attended Georgetown University and received an MBA from Duke University.