Conference speakers

If you’re in the search business, Jeff Allen needs no introduction. He’s been The Fordyce Letter’s monthly “Placements and The Law” columnist since 1982.

After a decade of working a desk and serving as a human resources manager, Jeff became an attorney specializing in our industry. For over 33 years, he has served it exclusively. Jeff holds four certifications in placement.

Jeff has collected more placement fees, prosecuted more trade secrets cases, prepared more fee schedules, written more retainer agreements, drafted more employment agreements, consulted on more equal employment matters, and represented more search and placement practitioners than anyone else. He is the author of “The Allen Law,” the only industry-specific trade secrets statute in the country.

Jeff is the author of 23 books in the career field, including The Placement Strategy Handbook, Placement Management, The National Placement Law Center Fee Collection Guide and the two-volume Best of Jeff Allen.

Jon Bartos is a nationally recognized speaker and successful consultant on all aspects of human capital. Bartos is chief executive officer of Jonathan Scott International, an award-winning executive search and contract-staffing firm in Mason, Ohio. He is one of an elite group of executive recruiters who year after year bill over $1 million annually. Bartos runs an executive-coaching firm, The Magnum Program, and he also hosts a career-focused talk show on Fox radio, Talent Wins with Jon Bartos, Your Personal Career Coach.

Doug Beabout brings over 27 -seven years of expertise in top production, personnel services firm ownership, and industry training. His reputation for training excellence has placed him, repeatedly, as a guest speaker for the National Association of Personnel Services. Doug currently works with many state level associations as a featured trainer and speaker at several state conferences. He is a business consultant to many franchised and independent personnel services firms.

Doug is owner and president of The Douglas Howard Group, a personnel and training services company. Doug works a “desk” every day and he is uniquely qualified as a personnel services industry trainer. Doug previously held the position of Vice-President of Training and Development for SRA International, Inc. for 10 years and was responsible for the establishment and success of hundreds of personnel services firms and their staff members. Prior, Doug was owner and president of a successful contingency, temporary and retained personnel services firm for ten years in Dayton, Ohio. He gained his early placement experience as a personnel services consultant in an independent firm.

Doug’s professional experience started as an officer in Strategic Air Command. He was assigned to several B-52 bomber units throughout the continental U.S. and Pacific regions. Doug has a Bachelor’s degree in Comprehensive Training and Education.

Mark Berger has been in recruiting and staffing since 1979. He is currently the proprietor of Swat Recruiting (www.swatrecruiting.com), a firm supporting the technology needs of the recruiting and staffing industry. He is also a partner in Ramsey Fox, Inc., an IT services firm, and its predecessor, M.E. Berger & Associates, since 1986. Mark also authors the Internet Recruiting column appearing monthly in The Fordyce Letter and is a frequent contributor to Top Echelon’s Networking News and Employment Marketplace. He has taken AIRS I and II training and has obtained the AIRS CIR designation. Mark is also on the board of directors for the Missouri Association of Personnel Services.

Barbara has been a Top Producer, Entrepreneur and Working Manager in her Profession for over thirty years. She is President and Owner of HR Search, Inc. and Good As Gold Training, Inc. Barbara has worked in all segments of the Recruiting and Staffing Profession including: Direct, Temporary, Contract, and Retained Search. In 2007, she addresses over thirty-five conferences both in the US and Internationally – and was the highest rated speaker in 100% of those conferences. She is known for the wealth of information she shares in her sessions. Barb as developed the top rated web-based training program for recruiters – The Top Producer Tutor which is distributed worldwide. She writes for seven national publications monthly including her “Ask Barb” column in the Fordyce Letter. She also writes the most widely read on-line newsletter for recruiters – the NO BS Newsletter. She is the past Chairman of the Board of NAPS, Recipient of the highest honor in the Recruiting Profession – the Harold B. Nelson Award and was inducted into the NAPS Hall of Fame. She is the only Recruiting Professional to receive top honors in two States, Indiana and Illinois. In 2007 she was also honored as a Woman of Merit for her philanthropic endeavors. She makes learning fun, her enthusiasm is contagious and you won’t know which idea to implement first.

Stacy Ethun is currently the owner of Park Avenue Group, an Executive Search and Recruitment firm located in Orlando, Florida. Park Avenue Group is a part of the MRI (Management Recruiters International) network, the largest Executive Search firm in the world.

Stacy opened her office in January of 1998. Given her nineteen years experience as an executive with several well-known financial institutions, Stacy created a niche in the recruiting industry by specializing exclusively in the Financial Services Industry.

In her first full year in business, Stacy won national recognition with the “Rookie Office of the Year” award. In her second year, she won “Top 10 Billing Manager” out of 880 offices and “President’s Club” which is represented by the top 25% of all offices within the MRI network. Stacy has maintained President’s Club status every year thereafter. She is frequently called upon to speak at both Regional and National conventions to share her passion and success for the recruiting industry.

In 2005, Stacy was nominated to the Pinnacle Society – an organization that recognizes the highest levels of achievement nationally in Executive Search. In 2006 she was nominated and approved as a member of their Board of Directors. Stacy served as a guest speaker on the Pinnacle Panel at the first Fordyce Forum in New Orleans in 2007.

In 2006, Stacy joined the “Million Dollar Club”; one of 26 – $1mm+ executive search professionals known in the United States.

Stacy works on a National level locating top talent for several large and small banks in all areas of financial services but with a particular emphasis on Executive, Senior and Middle Management, Retail, Commercial and Corporate Lending, Trust, Private Banking, Treasury Services, Marketing, Operations and Investment Services.

Stacy has an MBA from the Crummer Graduate School at Rollins College and a BS in Psychology from Florida State University.

Stacy contributes her success to a dogged determination to succeed. Her high ethical standards and commitment to excellence have proven to be a solid combination, creating a win-win for her clients, candidates and her staff.

Michael opened his firm in early 1990 as a franchise of Management Recruiters International and transformed it into The Hudson Consulting Group and WorldBridge Partners. Between 1990 and 1996 Michael cashed-in a mere $1 million as a billing manager. Frustrated, and wanting more, he drastically changed his approach to both the client and candidate side of the business. The result? Michael cashed in over $5.6 million between late 1996 and the end of 2001, when he came off a desk. During that time frame he ranked in the top 10 billing managers three times, ranking as high as second across all MRI divisions in 2000 with cash in on his desk in excess of $2 million.

In 2001 Michael made the strategic decision to grow his firm instead of developing his individual recruiting practice. Training his team on the techniques that launched him, he developed an office that ranks in the top 3% of MRI. He was ranked the eleventh fastest growing IT search firm in the country (outside of MRI) and the fourth fastest growing search firm within MRI out of 1,100 offices. Additionally, he is currently ranked the second-largest search firm in the greater Hartford, Connecticut area.

Fran Goldstein CPC CSP has over 25 successful years in sales. She founded Gold Staff Consultants in 1993 and then launched their speaking, training & consulting division in 2004. As a result of Fran’s unique energy, down to earth style and passion for mentoring, she continues to run a desk, while speaking, training and mentoring staffing professionals nationally.

Fran volunteers professionally on the Board of Directors for NAPS (National Association of Personnel Services), is Past President of MAPS (Massachusetts Association of Personnel Services) and Past Vice President of MSA (Massachusetts Staffing Association). In 2007 Fran was elected to serve on the Board of Directors for the National Speakers Association of New England.

A newlywed, Fran currently lives in the Boston area with her husband, Robert.

Amybeth began her career in research in the summer of 2002 as the sole researcher for an award-winning MRI-affiliated executive search firm in Ohio. She then served as the manager of Internet research for a recruiting franchisor in Ohio where she provided research support to franchise offices and implemented, customized, and conducted training classes for contact management databases as well as passive researching techniques. She is currently a sourcing strategist for Waggener Edstrom Worldwide, a global public relations agency headquartered in Seattle. She also maintains an Internet research blog, www.amybethhale.com, where she is affectionately known as the “Research Goddess.”

Paul Hawkinson is the outspoken editor of The Fordyce Letter, long considered the recruiting profession’s informational gold standard. Often controversial, Paul has been the voice and the conscience of the industry for over three decades. Before acquiring The Fordyce Letter, Paul was a successful practitioner and big biller in both the retained and contingency modalities for over 20 years. In fact, he still steps into the search and placement trenches once a year to make sure the basics of the business haven’t changed.

In 1986, Gail Kaplan got tired of being a poor, exhausted, unappreciated English teacher in the Houston, Texas public school system. After an array of attempted (and disliked) careers, including co-owner of a seafood restaurant, owner of a multilevel marketing business, a waitress and too many more to list, she decided to try recruiting patent attorneys. She has never looked back. After being trained at a small recruiting firm for 5 months, Gail spent the next 10 years at a 50 recruiter placement firm in Houston where she became an Associate Partner. She was responsible for creating the firm’s training program which consisted of a weekly hour long presentation. While at the firm, she won many awards including Top Recruiter of the Year for the last 4 years she was there. For two years she received the #1 Biller in Texas Award and multiple Top Producer Awards through the Texas Association of Personnel Consultants, the largest state association in the recruiting industry. In 1996, Gail got married, moved to Boston, and founded Kaplan & Jass. The firm has recruiters who place patent attorneys, general legal attorneys, paralegals, and legal secretaries in both firms and corporations. A long standing member of the prestigious Pinnacle Society, an honors organization for recruiters comprised of the top producers in the nation, Gail was elected President in 2000 and served until 2004. Previously, she was the Membership Chair. She is now Hospitality Chair and organizes Pinnacle Panels throughout the country Since living in Massachusetts (which she has not yet learned to spell), Gail has given presentations at the Big Billers’ Panel for many state associations, ASA, and the National Association of Personnel Services. Also, she has spoken on several webinars for private recruiting companies and training forums. She currently lives in Belmont, MA with her husband Bob, their two cats, and a never ending stream of building contractors.

Jeff Kaye is chief executive officer of Kaye/Bassman International and the newly formed Next Level Recruiting Training. This former MRI National Recruiter of the Year has helped build the largest single-site search firm in the country — with annual search revenue in excess of $18 million. His firm has won national awards for philanthropy and workplace flexibility and was named the best company to work for in Texas in 2006 and 2007. Kaye/Bassman International has retained 30 search professionals who have produced over $400,000 in annual search fee revenue.

Kim Knoll started her recruiting career as a clerical and administrative recruiter with Executive Resources, located in Des Moines, Iowa, beginning in 1993. The opportunity arose in 1995 to switch desks and take on the information technology recruitment role which is what she’s been successfully doing ever since. Kim’s niche is the placement of I. T. professionals within a 30 mile radius of Des Moines Iowa.

Kim has been actively involved with the board for the Iowa Association of Staffing since 1996. Her career billings will exceed $5,000,000 this year. In December of 2006 Kim surpassed a record she held for “best month” within Executive Resources when she closed 11 deals which netted $210,000 in invoices with five of her best clients. Kim takes great pride in her tremendous work life balance which allows her to be actively involved in the lives of her three young children while still being a top producer.

Bob Marshall is president of TBMG, International. He has an extensive background in the recruiting industry as a recruiter, manager, VP, president, consultant, and Trainer. He started in search and recruiting on June 15, 1980 with the Management Recruiters franchise in Reno, NV. In 1984, Bob became Management Recruiters, Sales Consultants & Compusearch Western Regional Manager training and directing their 60+ offices in the eleven western states. In early 1986 Bob became manager of the MR office in Sausalito, California. In September 1986, Bob went into business for himself, founding The Bob Marshall Group (based on The Marshall Plan). He has traveled extensively throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, Malta, and Cyprus training recruiters. In addition to his training regimen, many respected recruitment companies have retained Bob. Some include: Apple One, The Accountants Overload Group, Spectra Professional Search, and MSI International. In August 1996, Bob went back on a desk and opened an Atlanta location with affiliations in London, England. Bob continues to coach and train as well as manage and work a desk. He specializes in helping companies fill their most difficult positions.

A true “self-made” man, Joe Pelayo began in the recruiting business in 1986 at the ripe old age of 17 when he says he “found every way to fail in the recruiting business.” After finding success with two recruiting firms, he started his own in 1990. As CEO of Joseph Michaels, Inc., Joe works an active desk recruiting CFOs and related Financial and Accounting Executives. He is a long-time member of the Pinnacle Society, an organization of the top 75 recruiters in the United States.

Frank G. Risalvato, a native of New Jersey, is a staffing and recruiting consultant with over 20 years of search industry success in numerous disciplines and verticals nationally. He obtained his business degree from the New Jersey City University by holding a full time job and earning all of his tuition while graduating in 3.5 years with Cum Laude honors. He entered the staffing world in 1987 after a career with a New York and Southern California company. He founded his flagship search firm IRES, Inc. in 1991. Initially focusing on the New York/New Jersey/Pennsylvania corridor … within two to three years IRES became called upon by companies throughout the Eastern seaboard and eventually expanded nationally serving clients from Seattle to Orlando.

He went on to found and spinoff several other companies and provides recruiter training services through searchwizardry.com where he shares many of the actual techniques that helped him generate multiples of millions in recruiting. He has become a trusted advisor not only for corporate boards and senior executives, but also for state and federal agencies. He has written for the The Fordyce Letter for about ten years producing several front cover feature stories that have become industry landmarks. Frank now resides with his wife and children in Charlotte, N.C. and continues to recruit for an active national desk.

Karen Russo has been a hands-on executive search and human resource specialist for over 20 years. Russo started K. Russo Associates in 1996 to specialize in the internal and external communicators of an organization, i.e., human resources and public relations. Constantly seeking ways to become more efficient and provide premium service, Russo recently launched IIPE International Executive Research, which specializes in name generation and sourcing for recruiting firms.

Having served most major industries and some of the nation’s leading Fortune 500 companies, Russo excels at working closely with clients so that “only the best fit” has become her hallmark as evidenced by:

• Only 1 fall-off in the past 11 years
• An average placement retention rate that exceeds 4 years
• A repeat client engagement ratio of 70%
• 70% of all people placed on contract hired into permanent positions
• Annual personal billings of $940k in 2006

A recognized authority in her field, Russo has appeared on WABC Eyewitness News, and has been quoted in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Fox News On-line, and local media. Working Women’s Entrepreneurial Excellence Awards named K. Russo Associates Northeast Regional Finalist in its Best Employer Category.

In addition to being a part of the Pinnacle Society since 2001, Russo’s memberships include the Society for Human Resources Management, HR New York, Women’s Presidents Organization, and the Public Relations Society of America. Russo earned a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Pace University.

Jeff Skrentny, CPC/CTS, had his first deal falloff.

He was voted least likely to succeed in his training class. Three years later he was the firm’s top producer.

From top producer, to manager, to entrepreneur, he stumbled into IT recruiting in 1996 and rode that roller coaster while growing from contingency placement to engaged search.

While starting his business, Barbara Bruno saw Jeff train. She hired him for the NAPS Conference in 1998 in New York City. With those first two breakout sessions, his career as a trainer was set, and now Jeff has made nearly 400 training presentations, inspiring more than 15,000 search, staffing and recruiting professionals from 32 nations.

Every year Jeff also mentors individual recruiters to their best year ever, with his emphasis on proven recruiting processes and sales pipeline management.

Jeff has worked for 21 years to learn the profession, to bring its best practices to his desk, and then shares them with you for your success. Along the way he has created a few best practices of his own…proven email marketing before most recruiters had email; a decade of creating passive candidate networks with his Radical Recruiting process; using testimonials and success numbers for maximum sales impact; developing THE process to Torpedo Counteroffers; and most recently, re-engineering Reference Checking to make it the core process of his desk, annually driving over 50% of his revenues.

Find out why Paul Forrest said “your presentations are of utmost value with potential to scare the competition.” Learn the tested, practical and proven processes and techniques from a recruiter who works a desk just like you. Join Jeff and discover the lessons that propelled him to his best year ever in 2007… lessons that could help you have your best year ever in 2008…in fact, you should bet on it!

Dave has a recent history of success in placing top executives and consultants for software companies. He also has made more placements in Artificial Intelligence than any other headhunter. His career began during the SDI (Star Wars) years and included placement of scientists in laser, stealth and other high tech fields. More so than a technology or geography, his specialty is in the search process and delivery of the client’s needs. Since 1999 Dave has collected an average of $419,236.00 per year in personal commission-paid revenue.

Over the years Dave has proven to be an effective trainer and mentor of other recruiters and has helped others grow in the industry. Prior to starting SearchPartner in June of 2002, Dave ran the most profitable business unit of his previous firm. Dave was recently elected to a second term on the board of directors of The Pinnacle Society for top-producing individual recruiters. Around September of ‘05 Dave started, and participated in the creation of, the Tennessee Recruiters Association. He spent 1 year on ASA’s Placement and Recruiting Policy Council and was instrumental in shaping the Model Direct Hire Agreement on ASA/NAPS sites. Dave currently writes Truth Justice and the American Way of Headhunting on ERE.net and Pinnacle Perspectives in The Fordyce Letter.

Dave Staats has a BA from Western Illinois University. Before becoming a headhunter in 1985 he worked in the trucking industry as a road dispatcher and dock supervisor as well as the customer service and distribution arena. During a short hiatus from the recruiting industry 14 years ago he obtained a Private Investigator’s license which he keeps as a constant reminder that a headhunter is what he really is.

Dave and his wife Eleonora(Eli) are the proud parents of Sara(11) and Cari(8) who were adopted from China. They also share their home with an Australian Shepherd, a Blue Heeler, a Border Collie, an English Setter and a Foxote.

Shally Steckerl is the founder and Chief CyberSleuth of JobMachine, Inc., the premier provider of sourcing consulting services and research training. A noted talent acquisition strategist and speaker, he has experience consulting with and building sourcing organizations at many Fortune 500 companies. Steckerl managed the research arm of Microsoft's global centralized sourcing team, and has previous experience leading organizations such as Google, Genentech, Disney, Wal-Mart, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Cisco Systems, and Motorola.

Brian has been married for the past 26 years to Kay and they have two children; Haley and Coleman. He earned a BA in Business Administration from the University of Kentucky and a MA from Webster University while working fulltime in the convenience store and petroleum industry. His career started by working in his parent’s franchised convenience stores and at age 18 he was offer a position as a store supervisor for the franchise parent company. This began a 21 year career in the convenience store and later the petroleum industry. Brian served in marketing, operations, gasoline purchasing and human resources during his stint with three different organizations. His final role was a VP/COO for Country Cupboard Food Marts and Chestatee Oil Corp.

In 1997 Brian started Absolute Activewear a uniform manufacturing company providing services to the convenience store, petroleum and quick serve restaurant industries. After selling this venture in 1999 Brian began his career as an executive recruiter and started Executive Leadership Solutions which is primarily a contingency search firm. ELS has 16 Executive Recruiters, 4 Research Assistants and 1 Administrative Assistant and specializes in the upstream and downstream oil industry, supermarket industry as well as suppliers to these industries. In 2005, Brian founded Coleman Haley & Wright a retained only search firm that focuses on C & V level searches. C H & W has 3 Executive Recruiters with shared support services from ELS. Brian’s personal production is on retained searches only.

Brian is the incoming Chairman of the “National Association of Executive Recruiters” and also serves on the Board of “The Pinnacle Society”. Brian’s serves his recruiting niche by sitting on the “Supplier Board” for the “National Association of Convenience Stores” and the “Education Committee” for the “Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America”.