Two Asian Girl Web Design, 2000, SF.
A good design studio (or in-house team) can, however, help the client understand how certain design elements are directly tied to the business goals, and how business goals are tied to assumptions of ROI. The Web world is the business world. ROI (return on interaction) as we see it differs from traditional ROI (return on investment) by focusing on customer experience and metrics of satisfaction and success rather than traditional spreadsheet formulas. The traditional methods of analysis and measurement used by mainstream businesses are being actively applied to the Web--however even with solid metrics companies have a tendency to design haphazardly and without measurable goals in mind.
Other
KEYNOTES:
Colleen Arnold:
General Manager, Communications Sector, IBM Corporation
Board Member, School of Management, Syracuse University
Colleen Arnold is one of the driving forces behind IBM's philosophy of continuous reinvention, helping the company maintain its position as the world's information technology leader. Ms. Arnold has worldwide responsibility for revenue, profit and customer satisfaction in telecommunications, media and entertainment, and energy and utilities industries. She brings more than twenty years of global leadership expertise and IT customer knowledge to this position.
Ms. Arnold focuses on the expanding market for e-business on demand and leads IBM's efforts in emerging business areas of digital media, wireless computing, and intelligent infrastructure. Previously, as general manager of IBM Global Services Australia and New Zealand, Ms. Arnold led a team that delivered the integrated technology systems that supported the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.
Ms. Arnold holds a bachelor of science from Nazareth College and an MBA from Syracuse University.
Cathleen Benko:
Global e-Business Leader, Deloitte Consulting
Cathleen Benko is the Global e-Business Leader at Deloitte Consulting. For the past 14 years, Cathy has been partnering with business leaders to create and implement strategies that drive greater business-technology performance across a variety of industries.
A respected and accomplished adviser, Cathy has been named one of the industry's 25 Most Influential Consultants as well as a Frontline Leader by Consulting Magazine. She has also been recognized several times-including just recently-by the San Francisco Business Times as one of the most influential women in the Bay Area. She is the subject of various articles and media productions on business transformation and women in the global business arena.
Cathy has recently co-authored a book entitled Connecting The Dots, along with Professor F. Warren McFarlan of the Harvard Business School. Earning her M.B.A. from Harvard Business School (HBS) and Bachelor of Science degree from Ramapo College, Cathy is the past-president and Chairman-elect of the Harvard Business School Alumni Association/NC and is an incoming board member of the San Francisco 49ers Foundation.
Melissa Dyrdahl:
Senior Vice President, Corporate Marketing and Communications, Adobe Systems, Inc.
Board member, San Jose Museum of Art
As a member of Adobe's executive team, Melissa Dyrdahl is responsible for overall corporate positioning, branding and identity, and driving an integrated communication strategy worldwide. Ms. Dyrdahl oversees public relations, advertising, market research, marketing communications, customer and partner marketing, user education and training, and Adobe's community relations efforts.
Before joining the executive staff, Ms. Dyrdahl oversaw worldwide marketing for Adobe's consumer, and small and medium business products, managing product direction and strategy.
Ms. Dyrdahl joined Adobe in 1994 as a founding member of the Home and Office Product Division. Prior to joining Adobe, Dyrdahl was director of worldwide sales operations at Claris Corp., the software subsidiary of Apple Computer Inc., and held several marketing management positions at Hewlett-Packard Company.
Ms. Dyrdahl is an active mentor for WOMEN Unlimited and is a member of Women in Technology International. She attended San Jose State University where she majored in advertising.
Rebecca R. Rhoads:
Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Raytheon Company
AIA e-Business Executive Steering Group
AT&T Executive Client Advisory Council
CIO Editorial Advisory Board.
Rebecca Rhoads is responsible for developing and implementing company-wide information systems and policies at Raytheon, as well as overseeing the technical direction the company is pursuing in the area of information technologies and systems.
Previously, Ms. Rhoads was the vice president of information technology for Raytheon's Electronics Systems business unit. She has also directed engineering organizations in test systems design, systems reliability, safety and product effectiveness engineering, and manufacturing engineering. In all, Ms. Rhoads has compiled more than 23 years of experience within the defense industry. She has also taught electrical engineering classes at the College of Engineering at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, California.
Rhoads earned both her bachelor of arts and master of science in electrical engineering from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. She also earned a master's degree from the executive management program from the UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Business Management.
SPEAKERS:
Nibha Aggarwal:
Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, SkyFlow, Inc.
Nibha Aggarwal is the Founder, Chairman, and Chief Strategy Officer of SkyFlow, Inc. At Skyflow, she has promoted the development of speech self service technology for enterprises and raised venture capital, developed its marketing strategy, and acquired anchor clients. Previously, she worked at Informix as a Senior Strategy Consultant, helping to define and implement an automated business process system for its sales force. At Wind River Systems, Nibha managed Tornado for DSP, a real-time operating system and tools for embedded DSP chips. As a project leader at Novell, she served as a software engineer to develop application software and graphical user interfaces. Nibha holds an MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, a Masters in Electrical Engineering from the University of Waterloo in Canada, and a Bachelors of Electronics Engineering from the University of Jodhpur.
Linda Alepin:
CEO, Center for New Futures.
Linda Alepin is a partner in the leadership consulting firm Center for New Futures. She has more than thirty years experience in high technology. As a consultant, she is focused on her clients achieving breakthrough results through shifts in their thinking. She spent more than ten years as a Vice President and officer in a Fortune 300 IT company and was CEO and Founder of an early Internet start-up in the e-learning space.
Linda is a noted public speaker on leadership and change. She is currently head of the leadership initiative at Santa Clara University and an advisor to Across World, a Silicon Valley start-up focused on the underdeveloped world. She was interviewed in Maslow on Management by Stephens and Heil and has a chapter called "Rethinking Our Thinking" which will appear in a knowledge management book to be published this year.
She is a graduate of Stanford University, married, and mother of four children.
LaFern Batie:
Human Resources Consultant
Raytheon Company
Network Centric Systems - St. Petersburg, FL
LaFern Batie provides human resources generalist support to the engineering function for Raytheon's Network Centric Systems business unit in St. Petersburg, FL. She is responsible for management and individual development, regional diversity initiatives and employee relations.
In addition to her experience in human resources, Ms. Batie's background encompasses both operations and accounting in the financial services, semiconductor and environmental services industries. Prior to joining Raytheon in 2001, Ms. Batie was a compensation consultant for Raymond James & Associates.
An accounting graduate of Salisbury University, Ms. Batie also holds an MBA from the University of Maryland. As a certified Professional in Human Resources, she has served in various leadership roles within local business and professional organizations.
Sheryle J. Bolton:
President, The Indian Creek Group
National Board, Forum for Women Entrepreneurs
California Board, Women's Leadership Exchange
Sheryle Bolton is a proven leader in devising and implementing successful paths to sustainable growth. Ms. Bolton recently formed The Indian Creek Group, based in Oakland, California, where she helps her clients develop and implement practical, goal-focused operating strategies. She works with entities ranging from entrepreneurial start-ups and not-for-profits to large international corporations in education, media, health care, and finance.
From 1996 through mid-2002, Ms. Bolton served as the Chairman, CEO and a Director of Scientific Learning Corporation in Oakland, California. She successfully led the neuroscience-based health care and educational technology company from an embryonic start-up with no sales and a product concept to sustainable double-digit sales growth through 2002. Scientific Learning became a public company in 1999, and in 2000, Ms. Bolton was named to the First All Women's IPO Class by the SpringBoard Women's Venture Capital Forum as one of only 11 women who successfully took their companies public in 1998 and 1999.
Ms. Bolton has also served as a consultant to the health care industry; president, COO, and a director of Physicians' Online, Inc.; vice president of investment banking, for Merrill Lynch Capital Markets; a member of the senior management team at Rockefeller & Co.; and director of strategy for Home Box Office/Time, Inc.
A graduate of the University of Georgia with a bachelor of arts in English, Ms. Bolton has also earned her master of arts in linguistics and completed additional graduate work in education. She also holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Donna Boyer:
Vice President of Product Management, DigitalThink
As Vice President of Product Management of DigitalThink, Donna Boyer leads product management for DigitalThink's content and technology products. In this role, Donna is responsible for product design and market strategy for content development and the L5 Learning Delivery System.
Donna has 10 years product management experience focusing on enterprise applications. Prior to joining DigitalThink in 2001, Donna ran product management for both Personify, Inc. and Hyperion, where she managed budgeting, financial planning and enterprise application integration product lines. Previously, Donna worked for Harvard Business School, where she published research about the impact of technology on the global economy. Donna holds a B.A. in Economics from Swarthmore College.
Claudia Brown:
Senior Vice President, Integration Office
VERITAS Software
As senior vice president, integration office, Ms. Brown manages a team charged with the successful integration of recent Veritas acquisition, Precise Software, with all aspects of business, including sales, product operations, marketing, global operations, finance, and IT.... Before assuming this role, was vice president of advanced solutions team responsible for the introduction of new products and services...Prior to that, was vice president of sales for the western region, where she built a sales organization that doubled revenue contribution... Earlier in career, worked in sales and management positions at leading technology companies, including Open Vision, Oracle, Cullinet, and IBM... Earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Constance M. Beutel, Ed.D.
Associate Dean, School of Technology and Industry, Golden Gate University
Constance Beutel is an associate professor, chairwoman of the Digital Security Program and the associate dean of the School of Technology and Industry at Golden Gate University in San Francisco, Calif. Her career includes more than 30 years experience Pacific Bell, where she held management positions in accounting, marketing, and education and training. More than 20 years of her career has been focused on distance learning.
Dr. Beutel's biding passions are the future and the power of knowledge to transform. During the past 15 years, she has concentrated on trends in technology and industry and ways to facilitate learning for technical and business professionals. She is deeply interested in how technology can enhance learning in both the virtual and traditional classroom. As a futurist, she's committed to the advancement of women and the availability of education to all.
Her futurist point-of-view has led her to serve as a board member of the Buckminster Fuller Institute and an advisor to the National Technology University's Foundation, Institute for Workforce Learning.
Dr. Beutel earned her Bachelor of Arts at the University of Minnesota in social work and political science; a Master of Public Administration from Golden Gate University in San Francisco; a certificate in telecommunications management from Golden Gate University, and an Ed.D. from the University of San Francisco. She is a decorated Vietnam veteran, earning a bronze star during her tenure in the U.S. Air Force.
Tiffany Bass Bukow:
Founder and CEO, MsMoney Inc.
Tiffany Bass Bukow founded MsMoney Inc. in 1999 and has served as CEO for four years. MsMoney is a marketing-focused technology company that helps financial institutions educate their consumers through MsMoney's proprietary software products that include interactive seminars, CRM tools, calculators and content. MsMoney's clients include Wells Fargo, Peoples Bank, Guardian Insurance and others.
Ms. Bukow raised several million dollars from investors and used this capital to propel MsMoney into the limelight. MsMoney has attracted the notice of the press including The Wall Street Journal, TIME, CNN, PBS, ABC News, MSNBC, CBS Marketwatch, Fortune, Forbes and Business Week, in addition to receiving awards from Yahoo! and USA Today for MsMoney's consumer focused educational products.
From 1995 to 1998, Ms. Bukow served as President of a 20-person Internet technology consulting company. Her company completed a wide variety of technology projects for dozens of clients including America Online, Sun Microsystems, Lucent, Xerox, Microsoft and Bechtel.
Ms. Bukow is an acclaimed international speaker and has been the weekly host for Sony's Redband Radio and a recurring guest on TechTV. She has appeared on ABC News with Peter Jennings, the News Hour with Jim Lehrer, Digital West on PBS, and on CBS News, which covered First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's participation in the launch of MsMoney's product line on the consumer site MsMoney.com. She has also written a monthly column that has been read by more than 200,000 newsletter subscribers each month and has been published by ABC News Online.
Ms. Bukow serves on the Advisory Board of the Women's Technology Cluster, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping women-led technology companies succeed in building and growing their enterprises.
Teresa H. Carlson:
Federal Business Productivity Manager
Microsoft Corporation
As Microsoft's federal business productivity manager, Ms. Carlson directs teams of experts dedicated to developing and delivering optimum business intelligence solutions for government agencies and organizations. With five years of innovative and visionary senior executive management experience, she has a solid track record as a top-producing business development and marketing executive who has successfully launched new companies, and built sales and marketing teams.
As vice president of business development, marketing services, and product marketing at Lexign, Inc., a software provider of end-to-end trusted transaction management, Ms. Carlson provided key direction in creating and implementing the corporate vision, and had primary responsibility for strategic and tactical product planning. In one quarter, she successfully named, branded and launched a new company formed from three acquisitions.
Earlier in her career, Ms. Carlson held several positions on increasing executive responsibility at Polaris Group (Novocare/Integrated Health Services), where she was recognized with several awards, including Novocare Chairman's Award; Top Sales Person, Non-traditional Sales; and Employee of the Year 1998 for consistently exceeding targeted corporate objectives.
Ms. Carlson began her career in the Department of the Army as director of speech language pathology, where she developed a standing operating procedure for speech and language services; dramatically reduced a waiting list backlog; and developed and presented a continuing education program for physicians.
Ms. Carlson holds a bachelor of science and master of science in speech language pathology from Western Kentucky University, and holds a certificate of clinical competency in speech language pathology from the American Speech-Language Hearing Association. Teresa is a member of the Women in Technology Association, and the Health Information Management System Society (HIMSS). Her executive experience makes her a popular speaker at industry conferences, most recently the TEPR Conference and the HIPAA Forum.
Kelly Carnes:
President and Chief Executive Officer, TechVision21
Kelly Carnes is an entrepreneur, and nationally recognized technology policy expert and thought leader. She has served the high tech industry for over 16 years, holding leadership positions in technology business, law and government.
Before founding Tech Vision 21, Ms. Carnes served eight years at the highest levels of the federal government, first as an aide to the First Lady, and later, as a trusted technology policy advisor to four Secretaries of Commerce. Most recently, Ms. Carnes served as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Technology Policy, a position requiring nomination by the President and confirmation by the U.S. Senate. In this role, Ms. Carnes served as chief executive of the Office of Technology Policy, the federal government's principal advocate for technological innovation. She frequently represented the Administration before Congress, and served as a liaison to and advocate for the technology business community.
Ms. Carnes served as a key point person on numerous high profile issues affecting technology businesses, including regulation of E-commerce, H-1(b) visas, the R&D tax credit, securities litigation reform, financial accounting standards, and the high tech work force shortage. She also helped lead the Administration's efforts to increase the representation of women and minorities in the nation's technology work force.
Ms. Carnes directed several Presidential-level technology programs and initiatives, including the National Medal of Technology, America's highest award for technological innovation. She also created GetTech, an award-winning national public awareness and information campaign to encourage teens to pursue technology careers. GetTech features celebrity endorsements, radio and television public service announcements, and an interactive web site. GetTech ads have been broadcast more than 45,000 times, and have reached students in 14,000 public middle schools.
Ms. Carnes previously enjoyed a highly successful technology business career. As an attorney at a top national law firm, Ms. Carnes structured and negotiated more than $1 billion in technology business transactions. These included joint ventures and strategic alliances, venture capital transactions, technology development, licensing and marketing agreements, systems integration projects, and large-scale computer outsourcing transactions.
Ms. Carnes graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with a Bachelor of Arts degree. She also graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University Law School, where she served as Topics Editor for the Georgetown Law Journal.
Angela M. Champness:
Senior Vice President & General Manager, Proxim LAN Division
Angela Champness is Senior Vice President & General Manager of Proxim's LAN Division. The division is responsible for the design, development and marketing of wireless LAN products for enterprises, small business and public areas. The division produces the award-winning ORiNOCO wireless LAN products, currently used in thousands of enterprises world-wide. The division produces Access Points, Broadband Gateways, Network Management systems and client products in 3 development locations across the world.
Prior to becoming part of Proxim, Angela was General Manager of Agere's Wireless LAN infrastructure division at Agere Systems, which was acquired by Proxim in Aug 2002. Before that, Angela was Director of Product and Business Management for the complete Wireless Communications and Networking Division responsible for all Agere Systems wireless LAN products. Angela was also a founding member of the Wi-Fi Alliance and served as Secretary prior to assuming her General Management role. She has been involved in the wireless LAN industry since 1990.
She began her career with Agere Systems (then NCR) in 1987 in Canada. She joined the Wireless Communications and Networking Division in 1990 as a Product Manager. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Management Information Systems and International Business from McGill University in Montreal.
Gayle Crowell:
Information Technology Group, Warburg Pincus LLC
Chairwoman of Board, Evolve
Board Member, Indus International
Board Member, Yodlee
Board Member, New World IQ
National Board, Forum for Women Entrepreneurs
Advisory Board Member, Women in Technology International
From first grade teacher to enterprise software company CEO to venture capitalist, Gayle Crowell is an expert in successful reinvention and innovation. Crowell serves as one of the industry's leading role models helping technology professionals and their companies drive business strategy, evaluate market opportunities and build world-class management teams. At Warburg Pincus, one of the world's leading private equity firms, Ms. Crowell focuses on investments in enterprise software and services. She joined the firm in 2001 and serves as an integral part of Warburg Pincus' professional team in Menlo Park, CA.
An active leader in the Silicon Valley, Ms. Crowell honed her management and operational skills with executive roles at leading software companies, including Oracle Corporation, E.piphany, RightPoint Software, View Star, Mosaix, Recognition International, DSC, and Cubix Corporation. Before joining Warburg Pincus, Ms. Crowell was President of E.piphany.net and served as a member of E.piphany's Board of Directors following the company's acquisition of RightPoint in January 2000, where she served as president, CEO and chairwoman of the Board. At RightPoint, Ms. Crowell successfully repositioned the company and transformed a data mining technology vendor into the leader in real-time personalization for the Internet and call center markets.
Mary Ann Davidson:
Chief Security Officer, Oracle Corporation
Industry Expert on Information Security
Mary Ann Davidson, the chief security officer (CSO) at Oracle Corporation, stands behind Oracle's commitment to develop the industry's most secure database, application server and enterprise software products for its customers. Davidson, who has been at Oracle for more than 14 years, believes that security must be a design and development priority not an afterthought, because "it's impossible to bolt on security that is not built into the a product." She sees Oracle's security 'culture' as a key corporate strategy and competitive advantage in software industry.
As Oracle's CSO, Davidson is responsible for Oracle product security corporate infrastructure security and security policies, as well as security evaluations, assessments and incident handling.
Davidson also represents Oracle on the Board of Directors of the Information Technology Information Security Analysis Center (IT-ISAC) and is on the editorial review board of the Secure Business Quarterly.
Prior to joining Oracle in 1988, Davidson served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy Civil Engineer Corps, during which she was awarded the Navy Achievement Medal. Davidson has a BSME from the University of Virginia and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
As a recognized authority on Internet and software security issues, Davidson has testified before Congress on information security, and has spoken at numerous industry forums. Davidson advocates the adoption of security evaluation standards by the software industry similar to the U.S. Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS0-140, requiring security evaluations of all U.S. government IT systems involved in national security, or the International Common Criteria (ISO-15408), the de facto worldwide evaluation standard.
In her spare time, Davidson is an enthusiastic outdoors person and participates in several sports, including downhill and cross-country skiing, surfing and hiking.
Denise De Carlo, PMP:
Specialist, IT Project Management
Mindavation, Inc.
Denise is a specialist in Information Technology project management, technology outsourcing, delivery measurement and software quality. She has spent 19 years in the I/T and project management field, seven of those years with the IBM Corporation. She has managed project teams from 6 to over 100 people, primarily in the utilities, retail, telecommunications, and manufacturing industries. Denise is a certified project manager professional (PMP) with PMI® and obtained executive project manager certification with IBM. Denise left IBM in May of 2001 to pursue her project management passion in her own way. She left her "secure" successful corporate job to find more purpose in her work life and to pursue a "more secure" work environment running her own project management training and consulting business!
Denise's company, Mindavation, provides project management services to companies worldwide and has grown every year since it started in 2000 (during a huge downturn in the IT economy none-the-less!). Denise believes if you do what you love - and you exploit the gifts you've been naturally given - success and fulfillment will be yours!
Anne DeGheest:
Founder & Principal, MedStars
Anne De Gheest founded MedStars, an investment and executive management firm, in 1986 and specializes in Medical Devices, Services and Healthcare Information Systems. She has held leadership positions in starting or building new Life Science companies with a cumulative market cap today over $4 Billion, including Aspect Medical (IPO in 2000), ProDuct (acquired in 2001), VISX (IPO in 1988).
De Gheest was the CEO of medpool that she founded while an entrepreneur in residence with IVP. The company was sold in 2002. She was also involved in the success and startup of three well-known medical companies. De Gheest was the founding Vice President of Marketing at Omnicell Technologies, a market leader in automated point-of-use management systems for medical supplies. In 1998, OmniCell was named the fastest growing high tech company in Silicon Valley and the third fastest in the US by Deloitte & Touch. OmniCell went public in 2001.
De Gheest was instrumental in the turnaround of Pyxis, which created and then dominated a new market segment in automated hospital drug dispensing. Cardinal Healthcare purchased Pyxis in 1996 for one billion dollars.
As a marketing director for Nellcor, De Gheest started the pulse oximetry revolution. Nellcor was sold to Malinckrodt for 1.9 billion dollars in 1996. She held sales and marketing management positions at Raychem where she was instrumental in starting a new division in the computer and telecommunication industry.
De Gheest was an entrepreneur in residence with IVP and has a Master's in Commercial Engineering from the University of Brussels and an MBA from Harvard.
Juanita Ellis:
Author and IT Strategist
Juanita Ellis brings over 12 years of experience as both an industry leader and University Lecturer.
Since 1990, she has been at the forefront in working with corporations in the areas of Convergence, Computer Security and E-business. Some of these companies include Sony, Douglas, SWBell, Boeing, Xerox, Bell Atlantic, MCI, Citibank and Toyota.
She has also been a keynote speaker for Women in Technology and companies such as Cisco and SWBell. Her University experience includes lecturing for the University of Maryland European Division, Southern Methodist University, National Technology University and UCLA's Anderson School of Business and Engineering Extension Programs.
In the last few years, Juanita Ellis co-authored several published books. Some of these books include the best seller "The E-Commerce Book, Building the E-Empire", "The Internet Security Guidebook, From Planning to Deployment" and "Convergence of Voice, Video and Data Networks".
She has also appeared on both local and nationwide radio shows, including CNN, Daybreak USA, Computer Daze, and Business Day, as well as interviewed by magazines such Entrepreneur Magazine and E-Commerce UK.
Juanita Ellis holds a B.S. Degree in Business and Management and a M.S. Degree in Information Systems.
Christina Ellwood:
Founder and Principal of Moreland Associates
Christina is the founder and principal of Moreland Associates, a business development and marketing consulting firm specializing in helping technology companies build market traction. Moreland is comprised of seasoned executive entrepreneurs who consult to start-ups when not building companies of their own. With over 20 years experience in the technology industry Christina has worked with emerging technology companies offering hardware and software products to enterprise clients and telecommunications carriers.
Prior to Moreland, Christina founded and served as President and CEO of OfficePlease Inc., an intranet software company and ASP and currently serves as the Chairman for the OfficePlease Foundation. Prior to OfficePlease, she was the VP of Marketing for Sentient Networks until their acquisition by Cisco Systems. Previously, she was director of carrier development and marketing at Premisys (later acquired by Zhone Technologies), and held business development and marketing positions with N.E.T. and Kevex Instruments.
Christina is a passionate entrepreneur and thrives in the fast-paced and competitive world of emerging technologies. A pragmatic business person, Christina enjoys working with fellow entrepreneurs to successfully grow their businesses.
Jody Fennell:
Vice-President of Mobile and Broadband Business Development for Weather.com
Jody Fennell is vice-president of mobile and broadband business development for weather.com. In this role, she has overall responsibility for all related products and services.
Fennell first joined The Weather Channel in 1990, working in affiliate relations. She has also served as director, new business development and vice-president and executive producer for weather.com.
She has worked with a number of other cable programming companies, including Request Television and Financial News Network, and has also worked for Comcast Metrophone, a regional wireless service provider, holding a variety of sales and marketing positions.
Fennell has held a variety of posts with various industry trade organizations, including board positions with the New York Chapter of Women in Cable and Telecommunications (WICT) and with the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Cable Television Administration and Marketing (CTAM) organization. She earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from New York University.
Stephanie Fohn:
Chief Operating Officer, BigFix
Ms. Fohn has a broad base of management and entrepreneurial experience, with particular expertise in information security. Currently, she is chief operating officer at BigFix, a leader in security patch management. Prior to joining BigFix, Ms. Fohn served as president and chief operating officer of SecurityFocus, a provider of enterprise security threat management systems. She led the company to a dominant industry position, resulting in its acquisition by Symantec in August 2002. Previously, she served as vice president of marketing and business development for Tripwire, Inc. and director of distribution partnerships for Infoseek/Go Network. She also co-founded and led two start-ups - Lucidian Technologies, a developer of network-based intrusion detection software, and The WWWorks, a web development firm focused on e-commerce and database integration. Ms. Fohn began her career in the security industry as director of business development for Pilot Network Services, Inc., one of the industry's first managed security service providers. Prior to joining Pilot, she spent six years in venture capital and investment banking in the technology arena. Ms. Fohn holds an M.S. degree in management from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and bachelor's degrees in business and psychology from University of Washington.
Diana Forbes:
Comedian, creator of Gadget Grrl
After a couple of years as a stand-up comic in Los Angeles, Diana Forbes created the "Gadget Grrl" character in 1996. The advent of a new medium, the Internet, allowed her to do two things she loved: be funny and talk about technology. Considered the Martha Stewart of gadgets - with wit - Ms. Forbes presents technology to her audience in a fun and entertaining way. Covering everything from HEPA-filtered vacuum cleaners to MP3 players, she loves sharing the latest and greatest with consumers.
Ms. Forbes' "Gadget Grrl" column runs both online and in print with a circulation of three million readers. She appears on national and local television shows demonstrating the latest trends in consumer products.
See a clip of Ms. Forbes in character at www.gadgetgrrl.com/video1.htm
Patricia Franklin:
Founder & Chief Executive Officer,
Atlas Island Media, Inc.
Patricia Franklin is the Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Atlas Island Media, Inc., which has developed a new way of learning on the Web that integrates simulation and multi-tiered mentoring with collaborative environments. Ms. Franklin leads a team of Fortune 500 instructional designers and award-winning game developers who have had tenure at Sega, DreamWorks and Lucasarts. Her leadership of Atlas Island is based on over 20 years of success in the corporate-based training, multimedia, television and publishing industries.
In her initial career, Ms. Franklin wrote for Newsweek, Los Angeles Times and The Economist. Her commissioned book Profits of Deceit charts her undercover work with detectives investigating fraud around the globe. Following its international publication, she founded Intrepid Film and Television (London) where, for six years, she led teams in the development and production of drama, documentary and music programming for the BBC, Channel Four Network Television (UK) and International Video Network (IVN) where her work captured 100 million-viewer audiences. Ms. Franklin has produced pioneering and profitable corporate-based training and consumer multimedia titles since 1994. She is a graduate of the University of Southern California and Rotary International Foundation Scholar of The London School of Economics.
Ms. Franklin contributes to The Networker, published by the International Society of Performance Improvement (ISPI). She is a conference speaker for the Association of Test Publishers and the American Society of Training and Development, delivering sessions on innovative technologies in online training and assessment.
Pamela Fusco, CISSP:
Chief Security Officer, Digex Inc.
Pamela Fusco is the Chief Security Officer, Senior Director of Systems Security Operations at Digex Inc. She has accumulated over 17 years of substantial experience within the Security Industry.
Her extensive background and expertise expand globally encompassing all facets of security inclusive of logical, physical, personal, facilities, systems, networks, wireless, and forensic investigations. Presently she leads a talented team of Systems Security Engineers operating a 24-7-365 SIRT (security incident response team).
Since joining Digex in 1998, Fusco has developed the company's security platform with key methodologies and technologies and further designed, implemented and executed the Systems Security Operations department and security strategies. Technically astute, Pamela and the Security team have developed the robust and cost effective Intrusion Detection Devices, real-time analysis tools, automated systems and application security patch configuration processes and most recently launched the security collaboration inspection engine. This combined with the responsibility of authoring policy and ensuring the vast business requirements of her customers in the healthcare, finance, retail, government, education and manufacturing arenas are met 24-7-365 have moved Pamela and the SSO team to the top levels within the industry.
Prior to joining Digex, Pamela was the security lead for EDS where she initiated firewall operations for a DoD network operations center. Previous to EDS, she was a Cryptologist with the United States Navy where her focus was supporting security events for government intelligence operations and SPECOPS (special operations). Fusco is CISSP accredited and has a BS from New York Regents. She is an active member of ISSA, Council of Advisors, American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) and the Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) as well as several security consortiums, which include major technology vendors. Her technical and immense security experience identifies her as an internationally known speaker at industry symposiums and conferences, most recently the LA Electronic Crimes Task Force and RSA conferences.
Kirsten E. Garen:
Senior Vice President, Charles Schwab
Senior Vice President Kirsten Garen oversees Corporate and Operations Technology at Charles Schwab. Three distinct technology groups fall under her management: Core Brokerage Services, Corporate Services, and Finance and Corporate Administration Technology.
Core Brokerage Solutions provides broad-ranging technology support for firm-wide utilities and core broker-dealer applications. In partnership with Schwab Operations, this team offers its technology expertise to various client-servicing groups. The technology group aligned with Corporate Services is responsible for production support and development of web, voice and desktop across the employee retirement and option plans, and trust and recordkeeping businesses. Kirsten also partners with Finance and all Corporate Administration groups to support and develop innovative tools for internal employee use, and is responsible for the firm's ever-evolving intranet that provides news, information and a cultural link to Schwab's 16,000 employees.
Prior to joining Schwab in 1998, Kirsten spent nine years in business management positions at Bankers Trust Company, where she was a vice president of Retirement Plan Services Project Management, and vice president of Client Services Operations, and five years at Aetna Life & Casualty. Her extensive experience ranged from operations, client services and project management. She received a BBA from the University of Michigan and an MBA from University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business.
Kirsten lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and three children.
Derinda Gaumond:
Founder and CEO, WorkIt, Inc
Derinda Gaumond founded WorkIt.com in 1999 to help facilitate networking amongst people working in high tech in the Silicon Valley. Since then, WorkIt has become the Bay Area's most comprehensive calendar of startup events and has become a valued source of networking opportunities for more than 5,000 subscribers.
In 2001, Derinda created a Networking Skills Clinic to show people how to improve and refine their networking skills. The class is taught at San Jose State University and at corporations around the Bay Area. More than 400 people have participated in sessions led by Derinda to improve and refine their networking skills.
Prior to starting WorkIt, Derinda worked at three other startups in the Silicon Valley, including Acteva.com. She also has an extensive background In marketing, advertising sales, and publishing.
Cathryn S. Gawne:
Attorney, Silicon Valley Law Group
Cathryn S. Gawne, a shareholder of Silicon Valley Law Group, specializes in securities and corporate law. Her practice emphasizes the representation of entrepreneurs and middle market growth companies (both public and private) in connection with financings, mergers and acquisitions, corporate, partnership and joint venture organization and governance, and general business counseling. Her clients include entrepreneurs, corporations, partnerships, joint ventures, investors and non-profit associations.
An active advocate for women in technology, Ms. Gawne currently serves on the Board of Directors of The Women in Technology (WITI) Foundation, where she chairs the Advocates for Women in Science, Engineering and Mathematics (AWSEM) Project in collaboration with The Junior League of San Jose, Inc., a project designed to increase the interest of girls in science and technology. She is also a member of the WITI Advisory Board and the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs. Ms. Gawne is the 2002 / 2003 Chair of the Executive Committee of the Business Law Section of the Santa Clara County Bar Association. She is a member of the California State Bar Association and the American Bar Association. She has given numerous presentations at WITI Summits in Santa Clara, California, Dallas, Texas and Boston, Massachusetts and before groups such as the WITI Silicon Valley Chapter, the USC School of Business and California AWED.
Ms. Gawne has practiced securities and corporate law since her admission to the California Bar in 1982. She received her B.A. degree in International Relations from Stanford University in 1979, and her J.D. degree from UCLA School of Law in 1982, where she served as a Comment Editor on the UCLA Law Review in 1981-82. She is a Wisconsin native (Go Packers!) and an enthusiastic, though unskilled, golfer.
Patricia E. Glovsky:
Founder and Managing Director of Polygon Capital, LLC
Patricia E. Glovsky is the Founder and Managing Director of Polygon Capital, LLC, an investment bank providing financial and strategic advisory services primarily to technology companies. Ms. Glovsky has over twenty years experience in technology and seventeen years experience in investment banking. Ms. Glovsky was the Executive Vice President and General Manager of the West Coast office of MILCOM Technologies, Inc., which commercializes military technology. Ms. Glovsky also has been an investment banker with Kidder, Peabody and Oppenheimer & Co., and an equity research analyst following multimedia and software companies at Bear, Stearns and Kaufman Bros., LP. In addition, Ms. Glovsky worked as a consultant to IBM developing their strategic plan for their consumer multimedia division. Earlier in her career, Ms. Glovsky worked for six years in strategic account management and new business development in the technology and software industry, working for Wang Laboratories and others. She has written articles and been interviewed for a number of publications and is a speaker at trade shows and conferences.
Ms. Glovsky has her BA from Wellesley College and an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management.
Kelly Goto:
Principal at Gotomedia, Inc.
Kelly Goto is currently a principal at gotomedia, inc. (www.gotomedia.com), an online consultancy for user experience and interaction design, Kelly continues to focus on developing new techniques for collaborative development in digital media. With over 15 years of experience in the advertising, design and interactive industry, Kelly bridges the gap between utility and aesthetics.
Formerly an award-winning Creative Director at Idea Integration (www.idea.com) Kelly successfully managed the redesigns of many sites ranging from independent to corporate levels. In advertising and commercial design since the late 1980s, Kelly has acted as creative director, designer, and producer for many high-profile clients including KPMG Consulting, Compaq, IBM, Warner Bros., National Geographic, Adobe Corporation, Paramount Television, Macromedia Corp., and Sony Pictures. Kelly is the co-author of the highly acclaimed book "Web Redesign: Workflow that Works."