Aspire 2011 Keynote Address and Guest Speakers

Friday, July 15, 2011 by admin

LOCATION & TRAVEL • AGENDA • KEYNOTE & GUEST SPEAKERS • SPONSORS

Keynote Address: Connected – What Now?

Connecting in today’s business environment goes beyond technology and your “friend” requests. In this keynote address, Pam McGee will help you understand the many ways to stay connected. By taking an intentional and strategic approach to making connections, you can connect with purpose, realize it’s potential, and reap tremendous rewards. Download the presentation

Keynote Speaker: Pam McGee

Pam McGee has been a business consultant and public speaker for over 20 years, providing business consulting, executive coaching, keynotes, meeting facilitation, and leadership development services. Pam is also a member of the faculty at Minnesota State University – Moorhead where she teaches project management and leadership skills.

Her “on the job” experience ranges from sales management for a Fortune 100 company to serving as the owner/operator of two business ventures. Prior to forming her consulting firm and working at MSU-Moorhead, she worked for Microsoft (and Great Plains Software) in leadership development roles including global expansion, merger and acquisitions, human resources, organizational consulting, business management, and professional skills trainer.

In addition, she is the President of the Women in Technology Division for the Association of Technical Management and Applied Engineering; she facilitates Lean Education Processes at MSU-Moorhead; publishes articles in The Partner Channel Magazine (A Microsoft Trade Journal); and provides leadership to the Operations Management Program at MSU-Moorhead.

Guest Speakers

Pam Beigh – Salescore

Pam Beigh is not only the Founder of SALESCORE; she’s a problem solver and a growth advocate. Pam puts her passion for simplifying sales and her more than 20 years of sales experience to work every day helping small- to mid-sized businesses create customized strategies that ensure profitable sales. Pam cut her corporate sales ties and founded SALESCORE in 2003 after listening to a decade and a half of complaints about the sales department and the people in it. She sat through all the training programs, saw the great people who would come and go, and realized something more had to be done to solve the real challenges with underperforming sales teams. SALESCORE’s disciplined approach turns underperformers into focused goal-achievers, helping clients reach their ultimate sales performance levels.

Brian Berning – SS&G

Brian is a director in SS&G’s entrepreneurial services group and member of the firm’s executive committee. He provides accounting, tax, and strategic business consulting services to privately owned businesses in the manufacturing and distribution, retail, high-tech, and professional services industries. Brian is responsible for all aspects of the entrepreneur’s financial, accounting, tax, and strategic business needs, including tax planning, advisory and compliance services, merger and acquisition consulting, due diligence, strategic planning, financial analysis, benchmarking, cost and profitability assessments, and start-up and exit strategies. Brian is a past recipient of the Cincinnati Courier’s prestigious Forty Under 40 Award and the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce’s Customer Focus Award. He is also a graduate of Leadership Northern Kentucky (LNKY).

Holly Chamberlain – Microsoft

Holly Chamberlain is a Dynamics CRM Technical Specialist for Microsoft. Supporting the Heartland Region, Holly supports the CRM sales teams by providing technical and application expertise in the sales cycle. With over 12 years of experience across multiple CRM applications, Holly has worked with Dynamics CRM since its inception. While managing the Cincinnati CRM Practice for Socius, Holly was responsible for Pre-Sales engineering, Project Management and CRM Best Practice Development. Additionally, she was heavily involved in client implementations including configuration and design, data migration and integration, and training. Prior to working for Socius, Holly was an application consultant supporting Dynamics CRM and Sage SalesLogix for ePartners. Holly graduated from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in 1998.

Tom Higginbotham – Microsoft

Tom Higginbotham of Microsoft Corporation is a Technical Specialist based out of Southfield, Michigan. He joined Microsoft in 2001 as a result of the acquisition of Great Plains Software (now known as Microsoft Dynamics GP), and joined Great Plains in 2000 as a result of the Solomon Software acquisition (now known as Microsoft Dynamics SL). He had been with Solomon Software since 1986.

In his 20+ years in the software industry, Tom has had roles in application development, system engineering, product management, and pre-sales technology consulting. His areas of focus include the architecture, integration, and customization tools across the Microsoft Dynamics portfolio of solutions as well as the Microsoft Information Worker and Business Intelligence platforms and technologies. Tom is a Microsoft Certified Technical Specialist (MCTS) on Microsoft Office SharePoint Server as well as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

Brian Lauer – Plumbline Consulting

Brian is an Consultant on Plumbline’s Consulting team. He has extensive experience supporting and supplying solutions for the Microsoft Dynamics SL product and its customers. Brian has spent the last seven years with Plumbline Consulting focusing on Microsoft SQL Server, SQL Server Reporting Services, Visual Basic/VBA customizations, Microsoft Dynamics SL, and Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Most recently Brian was a Solution Analyst with Microsoft. His primary focus was the support of Premier Microsoft Dynamics SL customers and those with severe problems that had been escalated to the highest priority. Prior to Microsoft, Brian worked for Solomon Software on the Customer Support team. Brian joined Solomon Software in 1998 as an Associate Support Engineer.

Lori Maloof – Sage

Lori Maloof, Product Manager for Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200. Lori has been with Sage for over 13 years in a variety of different positions including Design Manager and Director of Project Management Office. In a brief time away from Sage recently, she was responsible for improving the web presence of a major USA manufacturer. In her current role as Product Manger she is responsible for the Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200 Strategy and Road Map to take this strategic product line into the future, focusing on adding customer-requested features, Online and Cloud capabilities.

Errol Schoenfish – Microsoft

A native of North Dakota, Errol’s 23-year career has been exclusively involved in the ERP/CRM software industry. As the Director of Product Management for the past 5 years, Errol has led the product direction of Microsoft Dynamics GP working closely with the development organization on strategy and cross-Microsoft product collaboration. Errol previously led Partner and Field evangelism for Microsoft Dynamics CRM in the early years of that products lifecycle. Errol gained international experience as the Director of Sales and Marketing for Microsoft Business Solutions Australia, leading the MBS sales and marketing strategies from 2001 to 2003. Before relocating to Sydney, Errol was based in Fargo where he was the Director of National and Global Accounts for Great Plains Software from 1999 to 2001. An accomplished presenter, Errol has delivered keynotes at hundreds of Microsoft and partner led customer events including main stage presentations at Microsoft Convergence (the largest Microsoft customer event).

John Snelling – Sage

John Snelling brings 21 years of software sales and partner relationship management experience. John has been with Sage FAS since 1990 and has worked both direct and channel business. John brings a wealth of knowledge surrounding depreciation and inventory control software and has built numerous long lasting relationships in the channel. He also has an in depth knowledge of working with State, Local and Federal Governments helping them become GASB 34/35 compliant, working with Fortune 500 companies that need to be Sarbanes-Oxley compliant as well as working with the Non Profit sector in showing how to streamline their fixed asset practices.