Jeff Russakow

Executive Vice President of Customer Advocacy

Yahoo! Inc.

Jeff Russakow is the executive vice president of Customer Advocacy for Yahoo! Inc. In this role, Russakow has global responsibility for all of Yahoo!'s customer support functions including consumer care, small business, advertiser operations, and search network quality. In addition, Russakow and his organization drive initiatives to continually enhance the Yahoo! consumer, advertiser, and publisher experience.

Before joining Yahoo!, Russakow served in executive management roles at Symantec, including leadership for global enterprise support services, global services product management and solutions engineering, and corporate strategy. While at Symantec, Russakow played a key role in raising customer support satisfaction to record levels.

Prior to Symantec, Russakow was vice president of worldwide sales operations and customer support at Adobe Systems. Russakow served as vice president of strategy and field operations at SAP America before his transition to Adobe Systems and began his career at McKinsey & Company. Russakow is an executive board member of the Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA). He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Princeton University, and Master's and PhD degrees in mechanical engineering from Stanford University.

Barbara Porter

Vice President Customer Service

Nicor

Barbara Porter is Vice President, Business Development & Customer Service, Nicor National*. In this customer-centric role, she is responsible for a 250-agent Call Center, which serves the warranty, energy management, and HVAC needs of the company's customers. Under her stewardship, the Call Center has been recognized by J.D. Power and Associates for providing "An Outstanding Customer Service Experience" fi ve years in a row. In addition, the Call Center has been presented with CRM's 2011 Service Elite Award.

In addition, Barbara oversees the performance of Nicor National's Client Relations area, which ensures that the expectations of its utility partners are met, as well as leads business development initiatives that are designed to help the company realize its national expansion plans. Prior to joining Nicor National in 2005, Barbara served as President of IBT Services, a leading call center in the utility/energy industry, which she founded in 1991. When Nicor National acquired IBT in 2005, she was named General Manager, and subsequently promoted to her current position in 2008.

Barbara is a frequent speaker at industry forums all across the country. She is an ardent believer in the positive impact that employee engagement can have on customer service, as well as the bottom line. She has published several articles for industry publications, including "Employee Engagement: Its Impact on Profi tability and the Customer Experience."

Barbara currently serves as the co-chair of the 2011 Southern Gas Association's Customer Experience Committee. In addition, she sits on the Board of Advisors for the Enterprise Engagement Alliance, and is a member of WomenCorporateDirectors, a global organization that espouses best practices in corporate governance.

Barbara earned her B.A. in English in 1981 from Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.

Toby Richards

General Manager, Community & Online Support

Microsoft Corporation

As General Manager of Community & Online Support, Toby Richards is responsible for the online and social support strategies for Microsoft's global Customer Service & Support organization. In this role, Toby oversees the development and execution of community Q&A offerings, such as Microsoft Answers, and the planning of online support experiences that reach a variety of customer segments, including consumer, IT professional and developer. In addition, Toby's organization runs the programs that identify, award and enable community influencers around the world, with the goal of developing deeper relationships, and feedback opportunities, to improve Microsoft's products and services. For example, the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) program awards 4,000 individuals, whose technical expertise and community contributions, provide for an effective feedback source for Microsoft product teams.

Carol Borghesi

Senior Vice-President, Customers First Culture

TELUS

With 29 years of telecommunications experience spanning three continents, Carol rejoined TELUS in 2009 as Senior Vice-President – Client Experience in support of consumer contact centres across Canada and in 2011 accepted the newly created role of Senior Vice President – Customers First Culture. Carol ignited passionate customer advocacy across TELUS with the launch of Customers First in 2010 and is now the driving force behind the evolution of TELUS’ corporate culture to deliver on the future is friendly® to clients.

Her career has taken her from TELUS in Canada to British Telecom (BT) in the U.K. to Bharti Airtel in India, and now back to TELUS—all very different markets and scales of operations. With senior roles in sales, service and business unit management, Carol has managed change through deregulation, labor relations and rapid technological innovation, all while producing superior results for customers. As the past Chair of the CCA (U.K.'s contact center association), Carol is a recognized expert in contact centers and customer experience design, from conceptualization and build to managing all aspects of customer service.

Prior to rejoining TELUS, in 2006, Carol accepted an invitation to work with India’s largest private telecoms provider, Bharti Airtel, as Director, Customer Service. The role included carrier, corporate, business and consumer operations for wireline and wireless. During her 18 months in India, she implemented several major systems, including CRM, and managed six outsourcing partners. Airtel grew from 26 million mobile customers to more than 60 million in the same period and today boasts more than 100 million customers.

Before Airtel, Carol worked in the U.K. with BT running their newly formed telemarketing operation of 7,500 people serving 22 million customers. She then moved to Customer Service, including sales, service, repair, operator services and directory assistance, leading a workforce of 18,000. By 2002, Carol was asked to lead BT’s largest customer management transformation program which saw the consolidation of 150 call centres across 104 locations to 33 centers, as well as a business acquisition and the addition of two offshore operations in India. The program reduced BT’s customer contact operating costs by £150m in three years. Most important, customer satisfaction improved during the same period.

Carol ran the transformed operation for the next two years before accepting the role of Managing Director, 21st Century Customer Experience—an initiative designed to leverage next generation network investment across BT’s wholesale, global and retail lines of business. She also worked with BT Global Services team providing operational insight to ICT solutions for major organizations in utilities, finance and other service intensive industries.

In addition to her position as former Chairperson of the U.K. Call Center Association, Carol was a board member NSPCC and a trustee of ChildLine, other U.K.-based organizations dedicated to the prevention of cruelty to children.

Carol is a graduate of the marketing management program from the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT). Her career honors include BT Leadership Awards (2001 & 2003), Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 (1997), Marketing Executive of the Year (1996), and Who’s Who of Canadian Women (1995). At TELUS, her passion is to make customer experience a competitive advantage.

Kathryn McGavick

Corporate Vice President, Customer Support

Coinstar

Kathryn joined Coinstar in February 2007 as vice president, customer support. In 2009, she was promoted to her current role and oversees the entire customer support function for the company's Coin and DVD businesses. Prior to Coinstar, Kathryn served in various leadership positions at Bank of America, including senior vice president of its customer service site in Seattle.

Jared Benesh

Senior Manager eChannels Enablement

Sprint

Jared's career spans more than 12 years with extensive experience in the Telecom and Wireless industry. He has held leadership roles in IT Operations & Security, Application Development, Product Development, Customer Management and Marketing.

In his current role, Jared is a key leader on the Churn Excellence Team at Sprint. In this capacity, Jared is responsible for delivering cross-channel enabling technologies and strategies in the Social Media, Web and Product channels to drive sustainable customer retention and loyalty activities. Prior to this role, Jared held various leadership roles on critical initiatives around the company. Known as an "idea guy", Jared enjoys a good challenge and loves creating solutions for business problems.

Jared holds a BS in Telecommunications, an MBA, and is also a US Patent holder.

Jared's passions are travel, being social, great food, friends and his English bulldogs Chloe and Dexter – and of course his Wife, Erin!

Jared's LinkedIn profile can be found here

Judy Mod

President

Social Executive Counci

Judy Mod, Principal of Social Gastronomy, is an executive who specializes in Social Buyer Target Marketing, Network Selling, Social Networking Strategy, Community Adoption, and Enterprise Social Business Programs. Judy has over 25 years in driving top line revenue through global sales, business development, marketing, strategic consulting, strategic alliances/channels/partnerships roles. Judy has an extensive background in B2B with roles in enterprise social networks, technology (consulting services/software/hardware), semiconductor, environmental, chemical/petrochemical/oil & gas, process and manufacturing industries. A recognized early adopter and leader of emerging technologies, Judy is recognized for her ability to merge the needs of organizations with the innovative solutions in the marketplace. Judy is regular speaker on social market leadership, the social enterprise and strategic alliances. Judy serves as the president of the Social Executive Council, the premier organization for senior executives to collaborate on developing enterprise-wide social business strategies. Previously, she served as president of the Southeast US / Latin America chapter of the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals and on the boards of Global EXEC Women, Women in Technology and It's The Journey. Judy is an ardent fundraiser for Paint Georgia Pink, a 501 © 3 serving the breast cancer community. A graduate of Cleveland State University with a bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering, Judy also holds an MBA from the University of Dallas. For more information on Judy, you can check out her LinkedIn profile at www.linkedin.com/in/judymod, follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/JudyMod or contact her directly at jmod@socialgastronomy.com.

Teri Ross

National Vice President, Client Services

LeasePlan

Teri Ross, National Vice President, Client Services at LeasePlan, USA is an executive who specializes in customer relations, business development, strategic planning and sales and marketing. Teri is responsible for the Account Management team, Client Activation, FleetDesk and the Business Intelligence Reporting group. In this role, Teri oversees the on boarding of new clients, the management, training and service delivery of the client facing account management team, the driver call center and the reporting and analysis provided to clients. She has 17 years' experience in managing client relationships, providing high touch premium service to clients, and aligning processes and resources to enhance the customer experience. Prior to joining LeasePlan, Teri has held various management positions with Market Force Information, AmeriFleet Transportation and PHH Arval.

Matthew Wilcox

Vice President

Zions Bancorporation

Matthew Wilcox is a marketing and eBusiness professional with a particular interest in emerging technologies and interactive marketing strategies for financial institutions. As Vice President for Zions Bancorporation, he oversees all of their eBusiness activities, including interactive and email marketing, social media, online and mobile banking development and strategy.

Matthew, who joined Zions Bank in 1999, has spent most of his life in Salt Lake City, where the bank is headquartered. He received his Executive MBA from the University of Utah and a bachelor's degree in Business Marketing from Westminster College in Salt Lake City.

Matthew has presented at several interactive conferences, including:

• Social Media Customer Response Summit
• Retail Financial Services Symposium
• Mobile Banking & Emerging Applications Summit
• ABA Risk Management Conference
• "Voice of the Customer" Radio Show

Kip Wetzel

Senior Director of Social Media Service and Strategy

Comcast

Kip Wetzel is Comcast's Senior Director of Social Media Service and Strategy. In this role, he drives the social engagement and support strategy for Comcast's National Customer Operations Team and also oversees day-to-day customer support operations on tools like Twitter, Facebook, forums, blogs and email. Since taking this role, Kip has introduced myriad of operational standards that have increased team productivity and efficiencies, improved insight into KPI and ROI measurement, and further solidified social servicing efforts as a tenant of Comcast customer support approach. Comcast continues provide timely and helpful service to customers on the platforms where they are most comfortable and was recognized as one of the top 140 Twitter accounts by Time Magazine in 2011.

Kip joined Comcast in 2005, and served in both strategic and operational roles at Comcast Interactive Media (CIM). At CIM, Kip oversaw Comcast's core gaming strategy and also supported the delivery of many of Comcast's customer facing web and mobile tools. Prior to joining Comcast, he also spent over seven years with Accenture focusing on operational process design and reengineering in the communications and high-tech sectors.