Cleveland HR Star Conference Thursday, July 24, 2008 Speaker Information Patrick J. Kuhse is the President of Speaking of Ethics. From Harvard to Stanford to Boeing, he has lectured across the United States on the subject business ethics. His clients include national and international corporations, professional associations, law enforcement agencies, and major universities. With a wide range of business experience, including over 15 years as a principal with a financial services firm, Patrick explores the seemingly unimportant decisions that are common in the workplace. His expertise in white-collar crime is uniquely translated into the personnel challenges facing HR on a daily basis. Mr. Kuhse's particular emphasis is on the erosion of values, workplace ethics, and the underlying reasons behind critical thinking errors. As you will see, he is uniquely qualified to explore the critical thinking errors that underpin moral and ethical dilemmas both in the workplace and in life. His personal experiences, observations and reflections concerning the causes and prevention of fraud both entertain and provoke attendees to think more deeply about their own behaviors. Lori K. Long, Ph.D., SPHR is the President of LK Consulting, LLC, a human resource management (HRM) consulting firm specializing in start-up and small businesses. With more than fifteen years of HRM experience, her research interests include effective work/life management strategies, the policy implications of federal employment laws and regulations, and the use of technology in HRM. Lori has published several articles and presented numerous conference workshops on these and other HRM topics. In addition to her work with LK Consulting, Lori is an adjunct faculty member at Baldwin-Wallace College and the author of the upcoming book, The Parent's Guide to Family Friendly Work (Career Press, 2007). Lori is a Past President of the Cleveland Society for Human Resource Management and holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration. Robert S. Gilmore is a Partner in Kohrman Jackson & Krantz’s Labor and Employment Law Group. Rob represents employers of all sizes, providing advice and counsel in all areas of labor and employment law, and he also represents employers in labor and employment litigation and ERISA litigation. Prior to joining Kohrman Jackson & Krantz in 2000, Rob was Assistant General Counsel, Employment and Human Resources for Verizon Communications, a Fortune 50 telecommunications company. In that role, Rob provided advice and counsel to the company’s various business units and managed the company’s employment and ERISA litigation defense. A strong believer in a proactive approach to labor and employment law, Rob also represents executives in negotiation of employment agreements and severance/separation agreements. Rob is a charter member of the American Bar Association’s Technology Committee and was named an Ohio Super Lawyer in 2005, 2006 and 2008, a distinction bestowed on the top 5% of licensed attorneys in Ohio as determined by their peers. In addition, Rob serves on the Board of Directors for the Northeast Ohio Human Resource Planning Society and the Cuyahoga County Public Library Foundation. Rob earned his B.A., summa cum laude, from the University of Cincinnati and his J.D. from The Ohio State University School of Law. Debbie McGrath is the CEO of HR.com, a company committed to delivering HR best practices and helping organizations build great businesses through community, collaboration, research, shared best practices and measurements. Prior to starting HR.com, Debbie owned The CEO Group, a Canadian and European entity that created job board software, talent management software, HTC career magazines and career fairs. In August of 1998, The CEO Group was sold to Kaplan (now BrassRing.com), a fully-owned subsidiary of the Washington Post Company. During her tenure, Debbie served as President of the Canadian and European operations, as well as Vice President of Worldwide Sales. Complementing her extensive background in human resources, publishing and the Internet, Debbie also holds a degree in Computer Science and Business Administration through the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. Charles H. Kuck is the Managing Partner of Kuck Casablanca & Odom, LLC, an Atlanta and Miami-based immigration law firm where he manages its nationwide immigration practice. He is also the National President-Elect of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (“AILA”) where has served on the National Executive Committee for the past four years and on its Board of Governors for six years. Mr. Kuck's practice involves assisting employers and employees with business and professional visas, labor certifications, immigrant visas, consular representation, and citizenship matters for foreign executives, managers, professionals, and workers. He has represented asylum seekers in more than 400 trials before the immigration court. Mr. Kuck also advises employers on compliance procedures in verifying the work eligibility of new employees as required under the I-9 "employer sanctions" provisions of federal law. In addition, Mr. Kuck serves as Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Georgia, where he teaches immigration law classes. He is listed in Who’s Who of International Corporate Immigration Attorneys, Chambers USA, America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, The World’ Leading Lawyers For Business and in Atlanta Magazine as a “Georgia Super Lawyer.” He is the Editor-in-Chief of the AILA Litigation Toolbox, a “how-to” book on representing clients before the immigration and federal courts. Mr. Kuck has practiced immigration law for more than 19 years, has testified before Congress on immigration law, and frequently appears in the news media, including: CBS, FoxNews, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, National Public Radio, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times and Business Week. Ruth E. Langstraat, MD is the Vice President, Health Systems Design and Performance at Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Ohio. Dr. Langstraat joined Kaiser in 2002, where she is responsible for regional quality, risk management, medical management, contracting, medicare operations and innovative programs. She is the Co-Chair of the Senior Quality Council, the Quality/Clinical Operations Leadership Team and the Network Executive Council. In addition, Ruth is a member of the Medical Management, Credentialing, Risk Management/Patient Safety, and Liability Review Committees as well as serving on the Institution Review Board. Before moving to Ohio, Dr. Langstraat was the Associate Medical Director for Group Health Permanente in Spokane, Washington, where she managed, directed and supported the delivery of contracted care in this mixed-model HMO. In this role, Ruth was responsible for medical care, quality, and financial performance delivered by community/network primary care and consulting providers in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho. Ruth is a graduate of Northwestern College and the University of Iowa Medical School. Amy Petrus, SPHR is a Senior Human Resources Consultant with ERC where she specializes in assisting organizations with a wide variety of HR-related projects and programs. Amy’s areas of expertise include compensation, performance management, employee handbook development, staffing assistance, and employee relations and communication activities. Amy has over 17 years of human resources experience, including Compensation and Benefits Consultant with KPMG Peat Marwick. During her career, Amy has been instrumental in working with organizations to create and implement successful compensation and performance management programs, including bonus and incentive plans, job evaluation systems, market-based compensation plans, sales and executive compensation, performance appraisal systems, and management and executive-level training on effective performance reviews. Amy has been a Consultant with ERC for 7 years, serving a client base that represents a wide range of industries including manufacturing, public utilities, service and non-profit organizations. Amy earned a Masters Degree in Human Resources and Labor Relations from Cleveland State University and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business from Miami University. In addition, Amy teaches the compensation & benefits session in ERC’s HR University generalist program as well as advanced compensation in the HRU Advanced Track. Jim Smith, SPHR is The Executive Happiness Coach®.  He is an executive coach, speaker, trainer, change consultant, and President of People Inc. Jim's mission is to increase the overall tonnage of happiness in the workplace, starting with the leaders - because positive cultures create better bottom lines. He draws on 20+ years of experience as a corporate executive in a variety of functional roles, from finance and operations to sales and HR. Jim currently serves as President of the Cleveland Coach Federation and is a Past President of the Cleveland Society for Human Resource Management. In addition, he is on the Board of Directors of the Northern Ohio HR Planning Society and teaches in the HR MBA program at Baldwin Wallace College. Jim is a Certified Authentic Happiness® Coach, a Professional Certified Coach through the International Coach Federation, and is grounded in Ontological coaching through the Newfield Network. Ontological Coaching focuses on coaching to the three primary domains – language, emotion, and the body. Jim’s coaching and facilitation style is one that draws from emotional intelligence, the mind-body connection, and experiential learning. Jim holds an MBA in organizational behavior from the Weatherhead School at Case and a BSBA in management and finance from John Carroll University. Jim deeply believes that, "Happiness is a decision, not an event." Amy B. Shannon is the President of Pinnacle Leadership Solutions and has specialized in organizational development, human resources and training for over 20 years. For the past seven years, Amy has been an Organizational Development Consultant working with clients in the manufacturing, service, financial, non-profit and healthcare industries. Prior to her OD work, she served in Director-level positions with Western-Southern Enterprise and Kendle International. In both of these organizations, Amy built competency-based corporate universities that were nationally-recognized and noted in industry trade publications. In addition, Amy has worked with clients as an executive coach, leadership facilitator, team building consultant and strategic planning expert. She has also been a program facilitator for a city-wide leadership program for women and a lead facilitator at the annual HR Executive Summit. Amy has presented at several national conferences, including as a featured speaker at The Corporate University Week at the Disney Institute. Gregory A. Gordillo is a Partner at Gordillo & Gordillo LLC. As an Ohio employment lawyer who has spent his career representing employers and employees, Greg makes frequent employment law presentations and has been invited to speak at events and seminars across the nation. In addition, he has published numerous articles on employment law. His scholarly work has been cited and relied upon by the New Jersey Supreme Court and the Second Circuit United States Court of Appeals, among others. Greg's views on employment law appear in his widely read and highly regarded “EEOAttorney” blog. Greg is the past Chair of the Cleveland Bar Association's Labor and Employment Law Section, a current member of the Ohio State Bar Association's Labor and Employment Law Section's Council, one of the original "Master Benchers" in the Cleveland Employment Inn of Court, and an Adjunct Professor of Law at Cleveland State University's Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. Greg is a graduate of Northwestern University and earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from Cleveland State University. Susan M. Pyles is a Senior Consultant and Trainer with ERC where she specializes in assisting Northeast Ohio organizations with a full spectrum of performance, training, and leadership projects and programs. Susan’s primary areas of focus are performance management and measurement systems, leadership development, and employee engagement. Susan has a diverse professional background that includes 16 years of business experience in management, learning and performance management. Prior to joining ERC, Susan spent 10 years working in the nationally acclaimed training department of AmTrust Bank (formerly Ohio Savings Bank), most recently as Vice President of Learning & Performance. During her tenure at AmTrust, Susan led a variety of leadership development and human capital initiatives, including a talent profile project designed to assess the bank’s leaders, an initiative to build a sales culture in the bank’s branches, and the creation of AmTrust’s in-house corporate university. In addition, she has designed, facilitated, and evaluated a wide variety of employee training programs, and conducted various assessments and surveys measuring client satisfaction, performance, and culture. Susan holds a Master of Arts in Communication Studies from Kent State University and a Bachelor of Business Administration with a Major in Management from Ohio University. Adam D. Fuller is an attorney in Thompson Hine LLP's Cleveland, Ohio office and is a member of the firm's Labor & Employment and Business Litigation practice groups. Mr. Fuller focuses his practice on a wide variety of civil litigation matters, including the representation of employers and management in all aspects of employment litigation and labor relations. In the employment arena, he has consulted employers in wage and hour compliance and has defended employers in cases involving race discrimination, age discrimination, disability discrimination, workers' compensation retaliation and Family Medical Leave Act violations. He has also represented clients before the Unemployment Compensation Review Board, the Bureau of Workers' Compensation and the Social Security Administration. Mr. Fuller received his law degree from Case Western Reserve University and his bachelor's degree from Miami University. Marty Guastella, SPHR is the Director of Human Resources at King’s Medical Group, a leader in medical diagnostic imaging services based in Hudson, Ohio. Prior to joining King’s in 2001, Mr. Guastella was Managing Partner & Director of Services for eleven years with a recognized human resources consulting practice where he served the varied HR needs of both private and public companies. Previously, he was Vice President, Executive Recruitment for a seven-year period with a leading Cleveland-area executive search firm. There he was retained by local and national corporations to identify and recruit the most talented candidates for hard-to-fill executive and managerial positions. Mr. Guastella holds a BBA in Finance and an MBA in Human Resources, Labor Relations & Management as an honors graduate from Cleveland State University. He also holds the designation of Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) from the Society for Human Resource Management, and is a Certified Personnel Consultant (CPC) as recognized by the National Association of Personnel Services. Debra K. Wells is the Human Resources Director for Cuyahoga County Public Library (CCPL). Debra has been with CCPL for nearly three decades, initially serving as the first EEO/AAP Officer, then as Personnel Manager before her current position. She drafted CCPL's first comprehensive Personnel Policy and Procedures Manual, which was adopted in 1982, and coordinated CCPL’s first successful effort to develop position descriptions, job performance standards, and a formal pay classification process. She also served on the management team that negotiated the first collective bargaining agreement in 1983 and has played a key role in every contract negotiation since then as chief negotiator. In addition, Debra developed the initial plan for the automation of the HR recordkeeping and reporting system. Since then, CCPL has had three systems with Debra as the system administrator on each of these successful conversion efforts. Debra is currently exploring e-learning and online benefits with the hope of moving to full self-service in the near future. Debra earned her undergraduate degree at Kent State University and studied toward her Juris Doctorate in EEO Law through Antioch School of Law in Washington D.C. Debra has served on Advisory Boards for United Cerebral Palsy, Kaiser Permanente, and The Center for Families and Children and currently serves on the Boards of IPMA and IHRIM. Tom Tomasula, Jr. is a Senior Consultant and Trainer with ERC, the area's largest organization dedicated to HR and workplace programs, practices, training and consulting. In his consulting role, Tom assists Northeast Ohio organizations with recruiting process assessments, staffing strategy development, specialized recruiting assistance, metrics development, interview skills training, interview script development, and retention programs. Tom also conducts customized management training in the areas of recruiting, finance, budgeting and general business. He is a member of ERC's Advanced HR University and Great Workplace Servies faculty and teaches programs in ERC's Advanced Supervisory Series. Tom has a diverse professional background that includes experience at Arthur Andersen and Cole Vision, where Tom led national staffing efforts and was responsible for the hiring of over 3,500 people annually ranging from non-exempt positions to professional and executive level positions. Tom is the Past Chairman of the Northcoast Employment Management Association and holds a Masters of Arts in Business Administration from the University of Michigan. Paul Meshanko is an author, professional speaker and seminar leader with over 15 years of adult education experience. After a 12-year career with Honeywell Automotive, he joined Edge Learning Institute in 1997 to open and manage the company’s Cleveland, Ohio office. Edge Learning is a Tacoma, WA based provider of leadership and staff development curriculums. Over the past decade, Paul has addressed thousands of professionals across the United States, primarily in the manufacturing, healthcare and public service sectors. In addition to change management, his most popular speaking topics include: work life balance, high performance work teams, and organizational cultural shaping. Paul holds a marketing degree from The Ohio State University and an M.B.A. from Baldwin Wallace College. He is a member of the American Society for Training & Development’s Cleveland Chapter and serves on the Board of Directors for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Cleveland. Paul's latest book, Conversations on Success, was released in May 2005. Jerome Gerber is a Regional Vice President for Volt Workforce Solutions and leads its Client Solutions team in the Midwest. Based in Minneapolis, he has responsibility for an eight state region and focuses on designing customized solutions for Volt’s customers. Jerome has 18 years of experience in the recruiting services industry, including a small, family-owned staffing company and, most recently, 8 years at Volt. In addition, Jerome spent 3 years managing recruitment suppliers as part of Imation Corp’s procurement team. Today, Jerome manages the staffing programs for over two dozen Fortune 1000 companies in the Midwest, including business on 4 continents. Jerome has served on the Board of Directors for the Staffing Association of Minnesota and is a graduate of the University of St. Thomas (St. Paul) with a degree in Human Resources Management. Thomas Wirbel is Vice President of Corporate Plans, Inc. (CPI). Originally joining CPI as a Benefits Consultant, through innovative and successful strategies, Tom has achieved notable results in aiding client-companies manage the escalating costs of health insurance. Motivated by client feedback that continues to point to health insurance as the number one HR concern, Tom focuses his expertise on developing and designing employee benefit plans. Throughout his career, Tom has also acted as an HR consultant to small and medium-sized businesses in Northeastern Ohio. A native of Cleveland, Tom graduated from John Carroll University with a B.S.B.A. and earned an M.B.A. from Cleveland State University. Jodi S. Bush is the Region Manager, Retirement Wealth Strategies with Ameriprise Financial. She has been in the financial and retirement plan industry since 1985. In her present role, she is responsible for rollover and retirement income sales strategies, small business retirement plans, and client seminars. In addition, Jodi has experience in financial education and planning services for large institutional clients. Jodi is a graduate of the University of Minnesota and holds an RPA designation from the Wharton School. Anahid V. Berberian is the President of PerformingPeople Consulting, Inc. An experienced learning and performance consultant, Anahid is known for designing high-quality and effective custom solutions for both small and large-scale clients. Backed by nearly 20 years of experience, Anahid specializes in creating performance improvement experiences that work across varying industries and audience types. She has been engaged by clients to design large, highly interactive learning systems, corporate universities, and phased-learning approaches, as well as standalone, one-time training programs. Anahid's current focus is on designing a collection of hands-on workshops geared specifically to the small-to-mid-sized business market. Prior to forming PerformingPeople Consulting in 2000, Anahid honed her skills with successful companies such as Management Recruiter's International, Ernst & Young LLP, and Xerox Document Company. Anahid holds a Master's in Instructional Design and Development, with an emphasis on additional MBA coursework. Braden L. Albert is the Founder and President of the HR Star Conference and its parent company, Abbington Court Media. A graduate of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, Braden began organizing job fairs and trade shows in the mid-1990's. Intrigued by the idea of bringing people together for a shared, learning experience - and impressed by the impact such an experience can provide - Braden organized his first HR Star Conference in 1999. Today, the scope of the HR Star Conference includes annual events in Los Angeles, California; Atlanta, Georgia; San Francisco, California; and Cleveland, Ohio. Over 2,550 HR professionals attended an HR Star Conference in 2007. Ever eager to explore new formats and innovative concepts, Braden recently added the HR Executive Summit to his event line-up. The HR Executive Summit is a roundtable, discussion-based forum designed exclusively for VPs of HR and Directors of HR that takes place in early June.