Meet Our Judges

We would like to thank our Judges for their participation in this unique event - without their help the 2008 Top Ranking Performers in the World Awards & Conferences would not be possible.

Mathieu Acin-Tallier - Senior Manager, Lloyds TSB

Mathieu has more than ten years of international experience in Customer Experience and Call Centre Management. His experience working within the telecoms (BellSouth, Nextel, AT&T), financial (Prudential, Lloyds TSB), outsourcing (Lyca Group), retail and leisure industries (P&O Ferries), has resulted in prestigious awards (Winner of the National Sales Award 2005/6, Winner of the National Customer Service Awards 2005, Highly commended by the CCA on Excellence Awards 2005) and successful implementation of business critical changes.

Mathieu has taken various roles in Relationship Management, Change management, business transformation and development in cross-cultural and multilingual environments. He played a key role in the complete redesigning of the Business Processes and streamlining within P&O Ferries managing multilingual centres across Europe. He has established call centres/BPO operations Southamerica, Europe and in India and is currently working for Lloyds TSB in the UK.

Abdullah Butt - President, Association of Call Center Operators - Pakistan

With more than 15 years of experience in the Contact Center industry in Pakistan, Abdullah Butt is the head of the call center and BPO industry trade body of Pakistan, Association of Call Centers and Outsourcing (ACCO). ACCO is the only trade body in Pakistan that promotes the call center and BPO industry locally and internationally.

In addition to heading ACCO, Mr Butt heads Pakistan’s premier Call Center and DRTV company, that does call handling for 75% Pakistani TV channel groups, including ATV and all 5 channels of PTV. This company also has an exclusive contract with Employees Old age Benefit Institution (EOBI) call center, and operates Pakistan's first Interest free Banking Call Center in support of Meezan Bank. ACCO is a very dominating trade body in media as far as promoting the Call Center towards investors as well as towards the youth to take interest in this industry as a career.

Carlos Aparicio - Director Ejecutivo, Asociacion Colombiana de Call Centers

Carlos Aparicio is a Colombian Industrial Engineer from the Inca University and also has a Finance degree from Universidad de la Salle. He is currently the Executive Director from the “ACCC” The Colombian Call Center Association (Asociación Colombiana de Call Centers). He formerly, was Colombian sales manager of Telecom and also used to be Andean and Caribbean Regional director from international eCommerce, he also was the Manager of Special Businesses of TV Cable and Manager of Andinet On Line, Manager of Americatel Colombia and Manager of Procedatos S.A.

Carlos is also a member of the Asociación Colombiana de Ingenieros de Sistemas (Colombian Association of System Engineers). His main purpose at the Association is to consolidate this institution to project its globalization. Born in Cucuta, Norte de Santander, Colombia, Carolos is currently married and father of a daughter Myriam Marcela.

Susan Basile - General Manager, Bank of New Zealand

Susan Basile is General Manager, Direct Sales & Service, for Bank of New Zealand. Leading a key retail division for the Bank, she's an integral member of the Bank's executive team and is responsible for implementing and leading the sales and service strategy for the Bank’s customer-to-remote-channel interactions.

She is responsible for increasing market share, increasing customer satisfaction, identifying and implementing improvement initiatives and cost-efficiencies, leading the team that delivers on strategic imperatives as well as the day-to-day functional and operational requirements of multi-channel, multi-segment customer contact centres.

Susan had an extensive career in successful inbound and outbound contact centres in New Zealand’s telecommunications and banking industries prior to her appointment as General Manager, responsible for the entire direct sales and service arm of the Bank.

Monica Diaz-Ponte - Customer Operations Manager, FON

Monica Diaz-Ponte has a 20 years experience in Customer Care and CRM. Early in her career, Monica developed a wide range of services for companies such as HP, Microsoft and Philips. She offered Sales and Marketing Management at EMEA from companies such as Sitel and Stream. As a Country Manager, Monica has working for companies as Xacct or Great Value in the CRM services area.

Currently, Monica is Customer Operations Manager for FON on a world wide level in charge of all of managing and overseeing FON’s Customer Care and Logistics departments. She manages a service offered in 3 continents and 9 languages, including English, Spanish, French, Cantonese and Korean, as well as others. FON has clients in more than 30 countries supported through internal, external and off-shore services.

H. Gungor - Visiting Researcher, University of Amsterdam

Dr.Güngör is a pioneer in building emotional loyalty with customers and the author of "Emotional Satisfaction of Customer Contacts". Throughout his international career since 1990s he is involved with customer relations issues as he worked as a marketing manager for Philips, and as the head of savings accounts & call center in a Dutch bank. Dr.Güngör currently explores customer experience issues in customer contacts, and frequently contributes to business conferences and workshops in over 15 countries.

Vicki Herrell - Executive Director, SWPP

Vicki Herrell serves as the Executive Director of the Society of Workforce Planning Professionals (SWPP) and has been at the helm of the association since its inception in 2002. She oversees the day-to-day management of SWPP and has guided the group from a start-up organization to its present status with over 900 members around the world.

Vicki has over 15 years of experience in the call center and workforce management industry, serving for many years in the area of client relations and events management for the former TCS Management Group.

William Greenwald - National Director, Humana

Michael Muldoon - Customer Service Manager, Diageo

Michael Muldoon is Customer Service Manager for Diageo Ireland.  Based at the historic St James’s Gate brewery in Dublin, Michael’s team manage sales orders, wholesale issues, quality diagnostics and customer service issues for Ireland’s important licensed trade, and their customers.

He has ten year’s experience in the contact centre industry, with a variety of verticals, including financial services, healthcare, travel, utilities, entertainment and FMCG.  

This is Michael’s third year as a judge in the competition, having previously declared the World Awards “a really innovative idea to pit the best from across the globe in contest.”

Paul Smedley - Managing Partner, PROFESSIONAL PLANNING FORUM

Paul Smedley is Executive Director of the Professional Planning Forum – the independent industry body in Europe for call centre resource planning specialists. He established the training, best practice, membership and awards programmes of the Forum and is rated highly for creating enjoyable, interactive training events and seminars.

Paul has presented at conferences and seminars nationally and internationally and has tutored with Lancaster University Management School. He is a member of the Institute of Directors, the Institute of Direct Marketing and the OR Society. Paul was previously operations manager for British Airways’ five UK call centres at a time when sales conversion rose by 15%-25% annually and costs per call reduced in real terms. His wide consultancy experience includes work with Halifax, HSBC, EGG, American Express and Vertex.

Karen  Watts - General Manager, News Ltd

Karen has over 20 years experience in Contact Centres; and a demonstrated ability in a diverse range of disciplines. Karen’s first role was as a Customer Service Representative. She has since progressed to manage sales and service centres, head up training teams and lead planning and resourcing projects. She has set-up new centres and enhanced the performance of established sites.

In joining Stellar Call Centres, Karen improved performance in centres in both WA and NSW. In 2004, Karen became General Manager of News Advantage, a division of News Ltd. Karen had the accountability for the ground-up establishment of a state-of-the-art site which boasts leading edge technology, a strong focus on internal and external customer service and sales. Karen has now been with News Limited for over 2 and a half years and during that time has had outstanding success in all critical business areas.

Brenda Wellwood - Manager Customer Resolution, Aliant

Brenda Wellwood has over 28 years of experience in the industry with an expert knowledge of call centre operations and a strong focus on customer satisfaction. Brenda has extensive experience with leading teams to success for various aspects of the business including: training, work force management, communications, quality, process development, contact centre operations and partner management. As a recognized expert, Brenda has been involved in the development and implementation of a broad range of programs with proven results in achieving business goals.

Brenda currently is the Manager of Customer Resolution for Aliant and is responsible for the performance and operational excellence of the technical support help desks for Atlantic Canada covering off both internal resources and an outsourcing partner. She is a member of the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals.

Terri Harwood - SVP, Global Payments

Terri has almost 20 years of experience in customer service. Her experience includes leadership roles in Customer Care, Workforce Management and Technical Help Desks to name just a few. Terri is currently the Senior Vice President of Service Operations at Global Payments in Owings Mills, Maryland. She has seven direct reports and approximately 500 total team members.

During her five years with Global Payments Terri has successfully led the consolidation of four separate centers into one. She has been recognized for her accomplishments by being named to Global Payments’ President’s Club and being named Manager of the Year. Terri was also chosen as a finalist in the Contact Center World Awards for Best Leader in 2006.

Terri is described as approachable, communicative, supportive and most importantly, flexible, understanding and caring.

Alice-Louise has been a sales and customer service professional for 25 years, most of which has been spent working within contact centers.

From being Head of Reservations with the Carnival Corporation responsible for the European operation, Alice-Louise has moved to be Director, Reservations for the Carnival Group’s Australasia region.

This move follows the many success achieved in 2007, most notably:-

Winner of the Best UK Call Centre Workplace.
Commended Runner Up for Call Centre Manager of the Year at the European Call Centre awards.
World silver medalist.
Gold medal EMEA region.

Miguel Angel Lechuga has seven years experience on Contact and Call Center industry. He is currently working on Pelayo (One of the most important Insurance Companies in Spain) as Operations and Contact Center Manager. Miguel Angel first job role in ONO (Leading Cable Comunication Company in Spain) he was responsible for planning and forecasting. Then he became supervisor, leading teams to success for various aspects of the business like work force management, training, quality, process development, and Contact Centre operations.

He has focused on Customer Satisfaction making the satisfaction measurement system in ONO. Recognized expert in Quality Systems because ONO and Pelayo Contact Centers have ISO certified. Extensive experience with building IVR Systems with greats results in cost reducing and customer satisfaction improvement in the two companies he has worked for. He also has experience managing an offshore platform in Argentina as a part of the Contact Center in Pelayo.

Possessing over 20 years of management and direct customer care, Patti Lemons is a trailblazer in progressive call center quality control. She assists in providing employment for those interested in Contact Centers through involvement with the Chamber of Commerce & the Call Center Certificate Program. She holds a B.A. in Business Management and was the first person to be certified by Avaya.

Custom Direct is a marketer of personalized products; and for 10 years, Patti has led the way to increasing customer satisfaction. She transformed a “cost center” into a profitable revenue operation. Patti has extensive knowledge in employee development, Lean, and associate focus/action teams. She is instrumental in the execution of Key Performance Indicators while facilitating the intensification of knowledge among all. Through the development of individualized skills and multi-functional teams, Patti Lemons leads her company in customer loyalty and employee satisfaction.

John McClusky - Human Resources Director, Cabot Financial (Europe) Ltd.

John McCluskey, Human Resources Director, joined Cabot Financial (Europe) Limited, in 1998 and has responsibility for Cabot Financial's human resources, training and development, quality, health and safety and facilities functions. In addition to the above, John has managed cross-selling, trace and collections functions, as well as being the Collections Director.
John participates in Government Inquiries into National Vocational Qualifications and environmental issues. John is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, a member of the Institute of Credit Management and a member of the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.

Cabot:
Winner Best Business South East UK
Winner Best Employer South East UK
Finalist Business of the Year UK
Finalist Best Employer UK
Winner Initiative of the Year (Institute of Credit Management)
Finalist HR Director of the Year (Personnel Today Awards)
Winner – Best Place to Work in HR for Reward and Recognition (Personnel Today Awards)

Marianne Walker, National Contact Centre Manager, is responsible for the strategic direction of the Contact Centres nationally at Superpartners, one of Australia's largest superannuation administrators providing value-for-money services to the superannuation industry and ensuring members receive the best possible retirement savings.
Marianne has worked in the contact centre industry in Australia and internationally for over 15 years in numerous roles and is a passionate leader who is dedicated to motivating and inspiring those around her with strong operational, strategic, financial and people management capability.

She has worked in a variety of industry sectors including Telecommunications, Financial Services (Superannuation, Banking and Investments), Automotive, Insurance, Health, Entertainment, Events and FMCG and has held positions on Contact Centre committees within Australia.

Marianne has a strong focus on changing the face of the Contact Centre industry and delivering on a better Customer Experience to have more desirable and innovative future opportunities.

Khaled Ramadan - Head of Alternate Delivery Channels, Arab National Bank

Khaled carries over 20 years of Customer Care experience in general and over 10 years of Contact Center experience; in particular, he worked as a Contact Center Manager & Consultant for leading organizations including HSBC & Newtek Solutions, and he currently looks after the Alternate Delivery Channels at Arab National Bank-KSA.

With a Call Center Management, P.CRM and PMP certifications, Khaled combines both theoretical and practical knowledge that helps him implement Contact Center Management best practices.

Khaled complimented his Call Center experience by winning the Middle East Call Center of The Year 2006 and Middle East Call Center Driven Organization 2007 Awards with Arab National Bank.

The founder and current General Manager of the Contactcentres.be, Vincent Vanden Bossche, is a pioneer of the Contact Center and Helpdesk market in Belgium.

In 2000, he accepted the Pricewaterhouse Coopers proposal and became a Director in charge of location studies for all contact centre’s projects all over the world.

At the end of 2003, he decided to set up Contactcentres.be, the Belgian Contact Centres Association. Contactcentres.be was launched in June 2004, with the support of a few people interested in developing professionalism within the call/contact centre industry and with the full Support of AGORIA, a multisector federation representing companies active in different branches of industry.
Contactcentres.be is run by industry professionals on a voluntary basis. Vincent also represents Belgium in the European umbrella organization in this function as Vice President of the ECCCO.