Speakers BIOs

Keynote Address  and an Owner / Manager Breakout Session

DANNY CAHILL

Danny Cahill started at Hobson Associates right out of college. He became its Rookie of the Year, top producer and general manager by the age of 26. At 27 he bought the company and has since built it into one of the country’s largest search firms specializing in Software Sales, Bio Tech Sales and Industrial Sales talent. He is the only industry “guru” that runs a search firm every day. He does what you do.

He is the Educational Chairperson of the Pinnacle Society, 75 of the highest achievers in the industry. He personally mentors many members. He also owns and runs AccordingToDanny.com, an online training and mentoring company dedicated to enhancing the skills and jumpstarting the spirits of recruiters worldwide. His training products have become core tools for a generation of recruiters, and his keynote presentations have made him one of the most sought after speakers in the country. In a HireAbility survey he was overwhelmingly voted the industry’s most popular speaker. NAPS elected him to the Hall of Fame in 2006 and last year he was given the first NAPS “Spirit” Award. AccordingToDanny.com has been awarded the prestigious 2010 Best In Class Award for Training Excellence from MRINetwork.

In his other life, as a playwright, he has had works produced off Broadway, and won both the Maxwell Anderson and the CAB Theatre Award for playwrights. He has written for CBS Television and Muscle and Fitness Magazine, as well as numerous Trade Journals. He received his Masters Degree in Literature from Wesleyan University and believes salespeople enjoy the world’s only job security. Danny’s Self Help Novel, “Harper’s Rules”, which of course features a headhunter, will be in book stores and on Kindles April 1st. Available for pre-order now on Amazon.

Breakout Session – Recruiting Training Presentation

STEVE RATH

Originally from NY state, Steve graduated from SUNY Potsdam in 1985 with a degree in Computer Science.  He spent his first 12 years working and consulting for IBM, Coca-Cola Company, and Georgia-Pacific functioning in various roles, such as: programmer/developer, team lead, manager, BA, and QA.

In 1997, Steve had the opportunity to change careers and enter the staffing agency world – placing people “like himself” to work with clients in the Atlanta metro area.  He cut his teeth on the Sales/Account Management side of the business initially with Carson Associates (now Spherion) and MATRIX Resources (2 President Clubs & Top Performer of the Month Awards).  After much success on the Sales / Account Management side of recruiting, Steve decided to merge his technical expertise with his recruiting industry experience and offer his knowledge as an Independent Recruiting, Staffing, and Human Resource Consultant to develop, reorganize, and implement new recruiting processes for direct hire firms and staffing companies alike.

Since 2004, Steve has putting his expertise to work for firms, such as: Hanna Strategies (Autodesk), Home Depot, Manhattan Associates, International Game Technology, Microsoft, Dolby Labs, Genesis10, etc.

Although, his experience is as a hired specialist to redevelop and create recruiting processes for firms, Steve centers his process strategies on finding “A” prospects/candidates. This is the most time intensive part of recruiting cycle. While the technical screening phase, although important, it can be developed into a repeatable function of the vetting process, thus requiring less man hours to implement while effectively weeding out those less technically astute.  Steve uses his strong software methodology background to teach organizations how bring truly qualified candidates to the hiring manager in the most efficient and cost effective manner.

Breakout Session – Sales Training Presentation

LISSA C. VERSTEEGH

Since 1992 Georgia Sales Development has been helping companies increase their sales effectiveness by focusing on the people and the processes. Our approach centers on using a systematic sales process throughout a company. To increase sales effectiveness, we focus on the whole person – attitude, behavior and techniques.

Lissa has over 19 years of sales and management experience in corporate America. Her most recent position was as the Southeast Regional Sales Manager covering 6 states with 15 direct reports. In this capacity, Lissa, through her hiring, coaching and mentoring skills developed the unit to be the top performing Region in the country for the past five years.

In the past, Mrs. Versteegh has worked extensively in the insurance and managed care industries dealing with the Fortune 100 companies as well as mid size organizations. More recently she has worked with small to mid-sized companies in the Atlanta area, including several staffing and recruiting companies on both a consulting and sales training basis. She has a unique understanding of the associated sales nuances related to business in general.

After receiving her Psychology degree from the University of Georgia, Mrs. Versteegh honed her sales force development skills through 19+ years in both sales and sales management positions. She is also a member of Georgia Executive Women’s Network and currently serves on their board of directors.

Top Producers Panel

GWEN HIX

Gwen Hix, Vice President of Pathfinders, Inc., began her recruiting career in 1981 when she joined Pathfinders as a Consultant specializing in recruitment of administrative candidates for businesses in the Atlanta area. Because of Gwen’s recruiting accomplishments and thirty-year tenure with Pathfinders she is widely sought by Atlanta corporations to identify and recruit top administrative and executive support talent.

Since 1985, Ms. Hix has won consecutive awards of excellence for annual billings through the Georgia Association of Personnel Services (GAPS). Of the last seven years, Gwen has billed in excess of $500,000 per year for three of those years and in excess of $400,000 for two of the years. In 1991, she achieved membership into the Georgia Association of Personnel Services Million Dollar Hall of Fame and soon after earned her CPC (Certified Personnel Consultant) from the National Association of Personnel Services.

Ms. Hix has been an active member of many organizations and has served on several local and national committees and panels for high achievers. In 2000 she had the honor of being asked to join The Pinnacle Society, the national honors organization for permanent placement recruiters in the United States. Gwen received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Georgia.

MICHELE JORDAN

Michele Jordan, CPC, joined Medical Staffing Resources in 2005. Working a blended desk, specializing in healthcare staffing, Michele has received numerous in-house achievement awards for her consistent high billings and excellent service to her clients. She earned her Certified Personnel Consultant designation in 2006.

Michele received her Masters and Bachelor’s degrees in Counseling from Jacksonville State University. Prior to joining MSR, she worked as an Employee Assistance Program counselor, working with employees and their family members. Michele then worked with case management and utilization review for at risk juveniles.

Michele is an active member of the Georgia Medical Group Management Association, Greater Atlanta Medical Management Association, Atlanta Medical Group Management Association, North Fulton Medical Group Management Association, Physician’s Alliance, and Rockdale Physician Office Association.

SONYA BUCKLEY

Sonya Buckley – Talent & Retention Manager

With 14 years of experience, Sonya is a seasoned staffing industry insider in the Atlanta market. She brings a wealth of expertise in staffing management and sales. Sonya spent seven years with Randstad and two years with Spherion in various Sales/Management positions. She joined Hire Dynamics in 2005 and leads all of Hire Dynamics talent acquisition. Sonya is a Penn State graduate.

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