FALL 2006 CONFERENCE & STC's 30th Anniversary
Crowne Plaza Union Square
480 Sutter Street
San Francisco, California 94108
Phone: 888-218-0808 / (415) 273-4045
October 18-21, 2006

8:30 – 10:30 am           PRE-CONFERENCE - “There’s No Silver Bullet To Sales”

G.A. Bartick, Senior Vice President ~ OutSell
Consultative selling is as old as the hills. It refers to a 5-step sales process that focuses on the customer’s needs rather than the salesman’s inventory. “There’s No Silver Bullet To Sales” shows you how to apply the process everyday. Think of this presentation as a “how to” practical guide that will put the consultative process to work for you on every customer interaction. This session is for you if you want to: Develop deeper, more loyal relationships with your customers; Make more sales; Have more fun; Increase your income; Earn more recognition; Deserve a promotion; Win sales awards.

11:00 – 6:30 pm            NATE MIRE MEMORIAL GOLF TOURNAMENT

11:00 – 3:30 pm           TENNIS TOURNAMENT

 7:00 – 8:30 pm            WELCOME RECEPTION

7:30 – 8:30 am            CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST      

8:30 – 10:00 am           WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS

10:00 – 10:30 am         MORNING BREAK

10:35 – 11:25 am         KEYNOTE - The Technology Evolution – A Look Into The Past, Present And Future

Rick Moran, Vice President Solutions Marketing ~ Cisco Systems, Inc.
In the 30 years the STC has been in existence consultant members have seen radical changes in the industry. Technology innovations are dramatically impacting business models and creating many new opportunities for consultants. Rick Moran, the Cisco marketing executive for Unified Communications, will provide a visionary look at the industry, including a brief look back. With his first-hand knowledge of the technology evolution Rick will share a look at where we are today, technology trends of the future and what we need to do today to prepare for future change.

11:35 – 12:30 pm          CASE STUDY: S.F. City College; How An I.T. Solution Transforms An Urban College

James Jones, Vice President ~ Photisis Consulting
James Jones will present how the 106,000 student City College of San Francisco is transforming itself with communications technology: building a 30 mile fiber ring, connecting to Internet/Internet2 at 1Gbps, saving $50K monthly with enterprise VoIP and SIP Trunking and establishing an NSF-funded institute to train technicians how to use it all. As the consultant throughout these efforts, James Jones will provide insights and perspective, which would be valuable to other consultants interested in similar relationships or projects.

12:45 – 2:15 pm            Lunch & Presentation by STC Founders: Thirty Years Ago An Idea Was Born

Dick Kuehn, President ~ RAK Associates
Joseph Massey ~ JTM Associates, Inc.
Murray Robinson, President ~ Murray Robinson & Company, Inc.
Founders Remember… Unique. Perceptive. Humorous. Enlightening.  You absolutely do not want to miss this session!!! Three of STC’s charter members – Dick Keuhn, Joe Massey, and Murray Robinson – will be sharing their insights based on…well, several…years of experience. These “founding fathers” will review what changes have occurred in the consulting profession since they met at the hotel at O’Hare in 1976, scribbled on some napkins, brainstormed, and birthed the STC.  Besides sharing some of their most unique and unusual “war stories”, they’ll gaze into their crystal balls to see what types of changes we “youngsters” should be watching, how we need to prepare for new trends and technologies, and what challenges consultants face as we move forward.

2:30 – 3:20 pm              Bringing 21st Century IT Solutions To An 18th Century Business

Agustin Argelich, Director ~ Argelich Ingenieros
The Barcelona Food Unit (MERCABARNA), covering an area of 90 hectares in the Free Trade Zone, is home to the wholesale Fruit and Vegetable, Fish and Flower markets and to the Abattoir. 800 businesses from the foodstuff sector are located on the industrial estate. Mercabarna supplies over 10 million people directly, although it has especially become one of the most important international distribution centers for fresh products. The market has been globalized, and some think that Mercabarna is a variation of Wall Street. It purchases and sells worldwide.

Critical education benefits of this presentation include: Campus Voice, Data and Video IP network solution; How to finance a multi-business network campus; How to manage a multi-business network campus; How to provide independent consultancy services to the same client during fourteen years; Friends and enemies in a complex environment with too many players (Owner of campus, business user of the campus, carriers, systems integrators, vendors, etc.); Keys of success and risk.

3:20 – 3:35 pm              AFTERNOON BREAK 

3:35 – 4:25 pm              What Nice Blue Eyes You Have: Securing Your Identity Through Biometrics

Dan Madsen, Sr. Technical Director, AT&T Enterprise Security Infrastructure ~ AT&T
Biometrics is identity recognition through your voice, retina, fingerprints etc. It can establish proper identity for secured logical and physical access, secured transactions, passwords, VoIP & IVR protection. For example, with Voice Authentication, you can: 1)Save money & improve efficiency by reducing calls to the helpdesk for forgotten pins and passwords; 2)Be more secure without having to key in Social Security Numbers & passwords. And, you’re more secure because it cannot be shared, written down or stolen. AT&T companies use Biometrics for data center access, protection of sensitive data on IVR systems and soon for secure web transactions.

4:35 – 5:25 pm              Sniff My Packets: Who's Doing It, Why, How, And How To Stop It

Matthew McCormick, President ~ Technology Decisions, Inc.
If the network is, as some say, truly the business itself, then threats to the network are threats to the flow of capital, resources, products, and services. Come fill in those gaps or uncertainties which may be lingering about information security and learn the differences between computer viruses, worms, trojan horses, logic bombs, dictionary attacks, zombies, VOMIT, and lots of other deeply unpleasant IT realities that will in the very near future ruin your client's and your day. Attendees will learn what can be done to defend their client's network and how to make money in the process!

6:30 – 7:30 pm              NETWORKING WITH THE VAC

7:30 – 8:30 am              CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST

8:30 – 9:20 am              FEATURED SPEAKER - 20 Years – The Good The Bad The Ugly!

Kathleen Peterson, CVO ~ PowerHouse Consulting, Inc.
Over the past twenty years there have been many lessons learned that have led PowerHouse to the success and reputation it enjoys today. Kathleen will share 20 lessons learned in a rapid fire – entrepreneurial – format that is sure to captivate, educate and commiserate. Simply put, Kathleen will enthrall you. She cannot be described in words; she must be experienced! With her anecdotal style, not to mention her musical accompaniments, Kathleen always receives high marks from her audiences.

9:30 – 11:00 am            Telecom Expense Management Panel: TEM – Friend or Foe? (Ally or Competitor?)

Robert Harris, President ~ Communications Advantage, Inc.
Kris Macurdy, President / Senior Consultant ~ Three Rivers Telecom Consulting
Alan Gold, Chief Marketing Officer ~ Avotus Corporation
All of the analysts are talking about “TEM,” a business process that encompasses the entire co mmunications supply chain from procurement and negotiation through invoice validation and payment, as the solution for effectively managing co mmunications costs. Since many of these solutions totally automate business processes or offer managed services that overlap those provided by consultants, what is the role of the independent consultant? Are there opportunities to leverage TEM to enhance your own business? Where in this new business paradigm can you provide your clients the most value? Join our three panelists, who include a leading TEM provider and two consultants, for an informative (and valuable) presentation.

11:10 – 12:00 pm          From Call Centers To A Customer Interaction Network: It Ain't Your Mother's ACD Anymore

La Veta Gibbs, Director of Customer Interaction Network ~ Cisco Systems
How your client’s organization interacts with their customers can make or break their business. Industry expert La Veta Gibbs is responsible for implementing the single largest customer service business transformation in the industry, at Cisco itself. La Veta will present a case study of how and why Cisco Systems is transforming from their traditional call centers to a next-generation global Customer Interaction Network. She will share the history of Cisco’s customer service business model, the architecture of the new “follow the sun” Customer Interaction Network and the business drivers behind this innovative strategy.

12:30 – 2:00 pm            LUNCH / VAC NETWORKING

2:15 – 3:00 pm              Welcome To VoIP, The New World. Who Are The Stakeholders? How Do You Justify It?

Dorothy Lockard, President ~ Dietrich Lockard Group, Inc.
In the perfect world of consulting, your completed feasibility study for a client shows savings enough to pay for a new system. Not only that, but this new system has greater reliability and capabilities about which the users have been dreaming. So what happens when the client's system is rock solid Centrex that has already been stripped to the bone, end users are loyal and willing to stay in the status quo, capital funds are in short supply and your analysis shows both higher capital and operational expense? End of consulting engagement? No, but we certainly had to quickly adapt to a whole new terrain. And that may be what we are all facing with the new VoIP environment. Colleague to colleague straight talk on how our tried and true processes way need to be adjusted.

3:00 – 3:15 pm              AFTERNOON BREAK 

3:15 – 6:00 pm              CONSULTANT BUSINESS MEETING
3:15 – 6:00 pm              VAC BUSINESS MEETING

6:30 – 7:00 pm              GROUP PHOTO

7:00 – 11:00 pm            DINNER / EVENING EVENT

7:30 – 8:30 am              CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST

8:30 – 9:30 am              FEATURED SPEAKER - Status Of The Street – Whose Stock Is Up?  Whose Is Down?

Allan Sulkin. President ~ TEQConsult
Allan Sulkin, President of TEQConsult and the industry’s foremost PBX analyst, will provide his unique, incisive, and droll perspective on which vendors are the primary players in the market today and where they are headed.  He will review some of the recent technology announcements and dissect their relevance.  Are they really new, or essentially “me too” announcements?  Allan will also take a look at the recent and potential mergers in our industry and their significance.  Join us for this exciting and revealing session.

9:40 – 10:30 am            Fixed Mobile Convergence: What Is It And What's The Value Proposition?

Ilkka Lakaniemi, Senior Manager ~ Nokia Corporation
The world of telecommunications has changed dramatically in the past ten years - the usage of mobile communications has become widespread among all users, whether as consumers or enterprise workers. This change towards mobility is driving Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) in all markets and it is shaping the way of present and future communications patterns. Enterprises are already reaping benefits from this transformational change - this presentation brings forward case and market information on the economic gains from FMC.

10:30 – 10:45 am          MORNING BREAK

10:45 – 11:45 am          Video Has Arrived! The Value Of Video Collaboration To Customer Contacts

Betsy Wood, Evangelist ~ Nortel Networks
We’ve been talking about video for years now and it has never taken off as a business communications tool. The world has changed, however, and today video collaboration adds a vital component to superior customer contact. Video helps communicate better and faster to exceed customer expectations. Video also provides new channels of communication to ensure that problems are solved and decisions are made immediately. Learn how to leverage video collaboration today.

11:45– 1:00 pm            LUNCH

1:15 – 2:30 pm             CASE STUDY: How IP Helps To Take Care Of Customers AND Employees

Lauren Johansson, Manager - IP Telephony Services ~ MedQuist Inc.
Chuck Reagan , President/CEO ~ Worldwide Telecom
When MedQuist, a leading national provider of medical transcription and healthcare documentation management services announced its plan to centralize and streamline the company's organizational and operational structure to better serve its customers they realized they needed to redesign their technological blueprint. This session discusses the steps taken by MedQuist's telephony group in order to achieve their goals of improved operating performance and increased customer satisfaction.

2:30 – 2:45 pm              AFTERNOON BREAK 

2:45 – 3:45 pm              Regulatory Update

Martha Buyer, Consultant & Attorney ~ Law Offices of Martha Buyer, PLLC
Martha will speak on the latest issues on the telecom regulatory and legal landscape that affect consultants and their clients. Conference attendees will be polled in advance of the conference so that Martha can be prepared to address topics that are of the utmost concern to consultants and which impact their clients directly.  Issues related to Federal Excise Tax, hosted IP, E-911, Universal Service reform, CALEA and other topics will be presented.

3:45 – 4:00 pm              CLOSING SESSION