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VP, Conference Management

If you are interested in being part of this list please email hdp@hthts.com.

"Just under one year ago, I had the pleasure of accepting a job with High Tech High Touch Solutions (HTHTS). Since then, I have had the opportunity to learn and grow more than I have ever imagined. My opportunities are endless, my challenges great."

"My personal goal is to achieve a better sense of myself and improve my abilities through leadership skills and practices learned from people I respect the most – my HTHTS team as well as the Help Desk Professionals conference and expo speakers that have touched my life over the past year."

"High Tech High Touch Solutions prides itself in delivering rich content and an extraordinary educational experience to our attendees. The quality of your experience at the conference is in large part determined by the quality of speakers and the topics explored. HDP speakers are pre-qualified and hand picked to ensure you get the most of out of this experience."

"You are being taught by speakers who are considered the top experts in their field / topic. But you are not only learning from these top experts, you have the chance to network and become a part of the HDP family with these experts. Ask anyone who has been to HDP in the past – HDP is not just a conference, it is a community brought together year after year with common goals: to learn, network and become better leaders while catching up with old friends and meeting new ones."

"Our speakers help create this sense of community and are an indispensable part of our community. Most speakers stay for the entire conference and are available to network with attendees at functions, evening activities, in the halls, etc.,. You may also catch a glimpse of our speakers helping in registration or collecting evaluations. Please be sure to recognize them, ask them questions – this is your chance to learn from their experience. Your time with the speakers is limitless and make it great!"

"These speakers have been mentors to me in so many ways. Listen to their message, reach further than your dreams, rise to the challenge – our speakers do it everyday and so can you!"

Mary Lou Blakely currently works for Starbucks Coffee Company as the director for the IT Support Center. She has the responsibility for the 24x7 Enterprise Help Desk (EHD), Incident Management, Problem Management, Transition Management and Change Management. The EHD serves as the IT single point of contact for over 5,550 stores and 6,500 end users across the globe. This includes IT support for partners in North America, United Kingdom, Amsterdam, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Hawaii, China and Hong Kong.

Mary Lou has worked at Starbucks Coffee Company for 7 years within IT in various roles. Where Starbucks maintains an aggressive growth curve, the IT Support Center plays a mission critical role in the communications process for IT issues.

Previously Mary Lou worked for 8 years with Charter Behavioral Health Systems, where she designed and managed two call centers in Texas and Georgia. In addition to supervising the infrastructure support including quality improvement, human resources, training and the IT help desks. She has a bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at Austin and certification in IT Service Management.

Joel Bomgaars

An IT support expert, Bomgaars honed his computer networking skills as a senior systems engineer for Business Communications, Inc. (BCI) prior to founding NetworkStreaming in 2003. At BCI, Bomgaars developed a remote control application that enabled him to provide technical support from anywhere in the world. Additionally, Bomgaars worked on networking IT infrastructures while spending 7 years in the Mississippi Air National guard.

Bomgaars has presented at several industry conferences including HDI and DEMO. A graduate from Belhaven College, Bomgaars holds a degree in Business Administration as well as 16 network engineering certifications.

Patrick Bultema is Entrepreneur-in-Residence at vSpring Capital, a venture capital firm with a focus on innovation in the Support and IT Infrastructure Management space. In this role, he works with early phase, high-tech companies, both as a venture investor as well as strategic advisor to the businesses. Formerly, Mr. Bultema was CEO of XAware, as well as CEO for FrontRange Solutions, the maker of HEAT and GoldMine. He was also Co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Knowlix, acquired by Peregrine Systems. And he has served on the boards of over 10 different software companies, and has worked as an investor and advisor with more than 30 additional companies.

As a recognized industry expert, Mr. Bultema was Chairman and General Manager of the Help Desk Institute, and was the founding Executive Editor of Customer Support Management magazine. Extensively published, Bultema is recognized worldwide as one the most prominent experts in the business of high-tech start ups, and various segments of the software industry, particularly in the area of high tech support. He holds a bachelor’s degree from California State University and a master’s from Princeton.

Michael Callahan

Greg Charles

Greg Charles, Ph.D., is an Area-wide Principal Consultant at CA. Greg is in constant demand across the entire U.S. and Canada as a speaker and consultant on the topic of IT Service Management. Since joining CA in 1998, he has continually been focused on meeting clients' business challenges through CA's Management solutions on both distributed and mainframe platforms. Currently, Greg is the lead for CA's ITIL, Best Practices, and Compliance practices for the Western United States.

Greg has been an IT professional since 1981, and holds a Ph.D. in Business Ethics, attained after completing his undergraduate studies in Information Technology.

Daryl Covey

Daryl Covey manages the NEXRAD Hotline which supports a global network of advanced Doppler weather radar systems for the U. S. Departments of Commerce, Defense, and Transportation. During his tenure, the Hotline staff has been recognized with the U. S. Department of Commerce Customer Service Excellence and Silver Medal Awards, the Vice President's Hammer Award, and the Federal Agency Excellence Award from Government Computer News.

As a longstanding advocate for progressive customer support in the public sector, Daryl facilitates the Government Customer Support Community of Practice and it's annual Government Customer Support Excellence Awards, edits the Government Customer Support News monthly eletter, chairs the annual Government Customer Support Conference, serves periodically as an invited advisor to government agencies on contact center initiatives, and is regularly interviewed by Government Computer News, Federal Computer Week, Federal Technology, Government Executive Magazine, and other publications for articles on public sector customer support. Recently he served as co-chair and primary facilitator for the Citizen Service Level Interagency Committee convened by the General Services Administration to create uniform customer service level guidance for all Federal agencies. Daryl is a graduate of the Universities of Oklahoma and Wisconsin as well as the Federal Executive.

Donna Earl

Donna is an internationally recognized speaker, business educator and consultant, executive coach and author. Since 1986 her international consultancy has helped organizations strengthen leadership effectiveness, customer loyalty, customer retention, and employee productivity.

She is published expert on Customer Service and Management Effectiveness. The fresh insight, emotional intelligence and strategies she brings to seminars on Management Skills and Customer Service transform organizational and employee performance. She has presented to over 200,000 worldwide, and is recognized as the ‘Help Desk Coach’.

Donna is a faculty member of the American Management Association in the US and the UK, is a professional member of the National Speakers’ Association, the International Customer Service Association, the UK Institute of Directors, and is a professional associate of Oxford College business consulting unit.

Twice a year, Donna teaches Emotional Intelligence at a leadership program at Balliol College, Oxford.

She was a contributing consultant to Gartner Group’s research project on leading with emotional intelligence. The Gartner Group executive report Leading High Performance IS Teams acknowledges Donna and quotes her work.

She was a contributing consultant to the Wentworth Research (now Gartner Group) Publication Introducing Call Centers. Her interview about scripting and call guides was distributed with the publication.

Her seminars teach proven techniques, and her credibility comes from the trenches - real world experience in sales, marketing, customer service, and management. Donna has the ability to translate best practices into immediately usable techniques which transform performance. Her skill based seminars have been developed by interviewing and monitoring over 1,000 help desk agents and managers to identify current challenges and best solutions.

Malcolm Fry, a recognized IT industry luminary with over 35 years experience in Information Technology, serves as an Independent Executive Advisor to BMC Software, and Remedy, a BMC Software Company. Malcolm offers an unparalleled breadth of knowledge and experience in IT business and technical issues. Malcolm is the author of four best selling books on IT service and support, he has had many other articles and papers published, and is regularly used as a source of information by technology journalists. He is also the solo performer in a highly successful best selling video series made for the Help Desk Institute. He has Masters level ITIL certification.

Malcolm began his IT career in 1967 working for a major bank in London. In the following 13 years he performed many IT functions including system programming and a variety of management roles. During the same period, Malcolm worked in a number of industries including retail, production, oil and pharmaceuticals. This experience, coupled with his impressive technical background, gives Malcolm an unparalleled breadth of knowledge and experience.

Malcolm began his knowledge broking career in 1980 and since that time Malcolm has not only pursued a solo career, but has also been on the boards of various organizations, including Protocol International Limited and Help Desk Institute’s Strategic Advisory Board. He is currently a board member of two different technology organizations. During his long and diverse career, Malcolm has worked in more than thirty countries, lectured to over 700,000 people and is in constant demand worldwide as a dynamic, entertaining and knowledgeable speaker.

Peggy Gritt

Judy Hogan

Judy has 40 years of experience in Information Technology. She has a wide variety of experience in private industry and she has worked at the city, state, and federal levels of government. She has worked in the newspaper and insurance businesses; and, she was the Systems and Programming Manager for a manufacturing company located in Oklahoma City that had five remote plants. Judy has worked for the Federal Aviation Administration at the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City since 1990.

She has served in many positions at the FAA including software development, mainframe security, process improvement, and quality assurance. Currently, Judy is serving Contract Officer Representative for the Customer Support Center (CSC). She is also the Program Manager for the help desk software Axios assyst. "Happy" customers are a high priority for Judy no matter what position she is serving. The CSC provides Level 1 “first point of contact” support to over 24,500 customers worldwide; and growing every day.

A much sought-after speaker, Donna Holt utilizes humor in her presentations as a method to stimulate the learning process.  She has been in the customer support industry over thirty years, including more than twelve years in the Help Desk/Support Center arena.  She is an active participant in the Support Center and IT best practices community, presenting HDI Authorized Certification Training, performing HDI Support Center Audits and is HDI’s Member Advisory Board’s Western Region Director.  She is a trainer and consultant in the areas of call centers, support centers and ITIL Best Practices.

Brenda Iniguez is a seasoned IT Support Professional, with over 20 years proven experience in Fortune 100 companies, designing, building, consolidating, and managing their Enterprise Support Centers. In addition, she is ITIL certified, and is well versed in the Service Management disciplines of Incident, Problem, Change, and Availability Management. Brenda is now Director with Pink Elephant, based in the SF Bay Area, leading Business Development for the Western US.

Brenda is active in several professional groups, including founding member on the Board of Directors for HDP (Help Desk Professionals), serving as Chairman Emeritus of the HDI Member Advisory Board for HDI-National, on the Board of Directors for the HDI Strategic Advisory Board, the Officers Board of the San Francisco HDI Chapter (Help Desk Institute), Conference Committee Boards for HDP, HDI. GCSC, ITSM, and ITSC. Brenda is an active speaker at national Support Conferences and has been quoted in leading industry trade journals (Computerworld, Technology World, Help Desk-Online, and IT Support News), and was selected by IT Support News as one of the Service 25 recipients; the leading 25 Support Professionals.

Char LaBounty is founder and President of LaBounty & Associates, Inc., a service management consulting firm focused on the growing field of customer support services, dedicated to providing quality technology support practices that enhance client’s business initiatives. Char is one of the preeminent experts on the development and deployment of Service Level Management throughout the IT Enterprise and writes and speaks extensively on the subject, throughout the world.

Prior to her current position, she was the Director of the Membership Services Division for the Help Desk Institute. Char joined the Institute from Disney Worldwide Services where she was head of the Business Services Division. As Vice President of the Customer Relations Group for Norwest Corporation, Char was responsible for establishing their two Support Center organizations, as well as managed all disciplines associated with customer training, implementation, marketing, support, and corporate acquisitions.

Char has authored several books and published industry research on outsourcing and published many articles on the topics of technology service and support. Char is a much sought after speaker at technology and service and support events around the world, and has dedicated her career to providing sound customer service practices. Char is the current chairperson emeritus to the HDI Strategic Advisory Board.

Martha Lundgren

Martha Lundgren is Department Director of the Information Center of the Texas Association of School Boards. She and her team are responsible for all hardware and software purchasing, installation, support and training for 450 staff members.

Mrs. Lundgren has more than 20 years of direct customer service and training experience in the hotel, airline, consumer electronics and technical support industries and has won several awards for customer service excellence.

Ivy Meadors is CEO and founder of High Tech High Touch Solutions, Inc., a trade show producer and consulting firm specializing in help desks and call centers. Speaker-consultant, Ivy Meadors, has over 29 years of experience in call centers and help desks. She is considered one of the industry’s most respected leaders and is one of the top 5 most recognized names in the Help Desk industry.

The owner and producer of both the Help Desk Professionals Conference and the Government Customer Support Conference, Ivy is the sole woman tradeshow / events company owner in our industry. Ivy is also co-founder and President of the Northwest Call Center Professionals Association and President of the Help Desk Northwest User Group in Seattle.

Ivy publishes the online newsletter, eSharings, has been published in the top industry magazines and newsletters, wrote a monthly column for Customer Interface Magazine, received the IT Support News Award for being one of the “Top 25 Most Influential Professionals in the Service and Support Industry”, Support Technologies awarded her with recognition for being one of the greatest contributors to the Service and Support industry, and she received the honor of being one of the Top 10 Legends in the Help Desk Industry.

As an experienced keynote speaker and seminar leader, Ivy is known for her engaging, thought provoking, spontaneous style, delivering forward thinking, and unconventional ideas. She carries the title of Professional Speaker as recognized by the National Speakers Association. Ivy’s presentations are rich with content and alive with humor and real-life examples. You may not always agree with her position but she will certainly challenge you to think of things from a different view-point as she challenges the norm and promotes the exceptional, and sometimes even unusual, solutions.

Peter McGarahan is the founder and president of McGarahan & Associates.  Pete’s value to the service and support industry and business is his thought leadership.  As a practitioner, product manager and support industry analyst and expert, he has influenced the maturity of the service and support industry. 

His passions for customer service led the Taco Bell support organization to achieve the Help Desk Institute Team Excellence Award. IT Support News also named him one of the “Top 25 Professionals in the Service and Support Industry” in 1999.  Support professionals voted McGarahan “The Legend of the Year” in 2002 and again in 2004 at the Help Desk Professionals conference for his endless energy, mentoring and coaching and his valuable contribution to the support industry and community.

Dru Phelps

Judy has 40 years of experience in Information Technology. She has a wide variety of experience in private industry and she has worked at the city, state, and federal levels of government. She has worked in the newspaper and insurance businesses; and, she was the Systems and Programming Manager for a manufacturing company located in Oklahoma City that had five remote plants.

Judy has worked for the Federal Aviation Administration at the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City since 1990. She has served in many positions at the FAA including software development, mainframe security, process improvement, quality assurance, and currently the help desk.

"Happy" customers are a high priority for Judy no matter what position she is serving. Since October 1, 2001 she has served as Contract Officer Representative for the Customer Support Center (CSC). The CSC provides Level 1 “first point of contact” support to over 24,500 customers worldwide; and growing every day.

Bill Price was named one of the first wave of “Call Center Pioneers” in 1997 and has continued to innovate since then. Bill has over 26 years in the services business starting with strategic consulting with McKinsey & Company, CFO for a start-up IVR service bureau, VP & General Manager for four business units at MCI, and then almost 3 years as Amazon’s first Global VP of Customer Service. Since leaving Amazon in late 2001 to form Driva Solutions, Bill and his team have served more than 50 clients in the US, UK, Thailand, Japan, and Australia.

Bill formed and chairs the 24-company Global Operations Council whose members include Cisco, Dell, Delta Airlines, Express Scripts, Microsoft, and Charles Schwab; he also co-founded the 10-country LimeBridge Global Alliance to expand each others’ reach across Europe (UK, France, Germany, and Sweden) and Asia (Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, and India). Bill is also one of sixteen global “CRM Gurus,” teaches CRM at the University of Washington Business School, and speaks at conferences all over the country but prefers chasing his daughters at home in Bellevue, Washington.

Mike Rayburn

Keynote Speaker

Mike Rayburn is an award-winning speaker and entertainer with a truly unique presentation. Known as the Worlds’ Funniest Guitar Virtuoso, Mike uses his astounding guitar creations, uproarious songs and presentation skills to encourage, challenge and inspire his audiences to step beyond their perceived limitations. Mike draws from a wealth of life experiences as an adventurer, comedian, published songwriter, author, philanthropist, and father, to deliver a  keynote presentation which is completely energizing and entertaining.

Featured in Newsweek, USA Today, Billboard, Gig, and on the nationally acclaimed and syndicated “Bob and Tom” radio show, Mike has received standing ovations at all 8 of his Carnegie Hall performances.  He is the only entertainer ever voted “America’s Campus Entertainer of the Year” 3 out of 4 years in a poll of more than 5300 colleges nationwide. 

In 2006 Mike was nominated Speaker of the Year by American Entertainment Magazine and was featured on the cover of Successful Meetings Magazine as one of the top 26 speakers of 2006!

Seanna Sams

Dave Stockwell

Dave Stockwell is the Service Desk Manager for Recreational Equipment Inc
(REI) where he and his team are responsible for supporting all 9000 employees across 100+ stores, 5 different operating systems, AS400's, iSeries, Linux, Mac and a little thing called Windows. Living the REI life he is also a mountain biker, hiker, kayaker as well as a musician with a penchant for over-reaching his talent in a search of the ultimate bass riff.

Dave's eight years in the support industry combined with an exuberant style, unending energy and enthusiasm along with his exemplary leadership skills, motivates his staff to do extraordinary work with a limited budget. As an experienced speaker, Dave is known for his engaging, thought provoking, style. With an eye to the future, Dave presents proven ideas that you can use right now in your own Help Desk with little to no budget.

Brad Worthley is an accomplished business consultant with over 31 years of management experience. He is also an internationally acclaimed leadership and customer service expert who has trained hundreds of thousands of people in a wide range of industries throughout the world.

Brad teaches businesses how to consistently build and retain both customer and employee loyalty by changing their culture and not just their people. Brad is an author, consultant and trainer working with small and medium size companies, and some of the largest corporations in the world. In his spare time,

Brad has volunteered as a youth soccer, baseball, and basketball coach for the last 15 years, and he volunteers weekly at a domestic violence shelter where he works with children. He has a 19-year-old son in the Army who is currently in Iraq flying unmanned spy planes in an effort to protect our troops.