Lisa Rowan

Lisa Rowan serves as IDC’s Program Director for HR, Learning and Talent Strategies research. In this role, she provides expert analysis focused on both the business services addressing HR and talent-related process issues, such as human resource consulting, processing services, and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services; and HR IT Services, such as systems integration and IT consulting.

For the ten years prior to joining IDC, Lisa held business development, product management and marketing positions in the human resource software and services markets. Lisa held director positions in both business development and marketing within Genesys -- a provider of human capital management software and services based in Methuen, Mass. Prior to Genesys, she held positions in both technical marketing and IT at Digital Equipment Corporation. As a result, she has gained a depth of experience with both core human resource and talent-related solutions, and understands firsthand the unique challenges her vendor clients face.

Lisa holds a Masters in Business with a specialization in marketing and product management from the University of Southern New Hampshire. She received a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.

Josh Bersin

Josh Bersin has worked with hundreds of companies to deliver high impact employee learning, leadership development and talent management. In 2001, he founded Bersin & Associates to provide research and advisory services focused on corporate learning. Today, the firm is the "go to" source for learning and HR decision makers seeking product and market data, insight on trends and expert advice on enterprise learning and talent management.

Bersin is a frequent speaker at industry events including the HR Technology Conference, the ASTD International Conference, and the Learning Technologies Conference. In addition, he has been a columnist since 2007 for Chief Learning Officer magazine and is a frequent contributor to other leading training and HR publications. He has been quoted on talent management topics in BusinessWeek, Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, on BBC Radio and National Public Radio.

In 2010, Bersin was named by HR Examiner magazine among the "Top 100 Influencers in HR" and the "Top 25 Online Influencers in Talent Management." Bersin also serves on the editorial advisory board for Workforce Solutions magazine and as a volunteer on the scholarship committee for the SHRM Foundation.

He is the author of The Training Measurement Book: Best Practices, Proven Methodologies, and Practical Approaches (April 2008, Pfeiffer) and The Blended Learning Book: Best Practices, Proven Methodologies, and Lessons Learned (October 2004, Wylie/Pfeiffer).

Earlier in his career, Bersin spent 25 years in product development, product management, marketing and sales of e-learning and other enterprise technologies at companies including DigitalThink (now Convergys), Arista Knowledge Systems, Sybase, and IBM.

Elaine Orler

Elaine Orler has been implementing recruitment software for large organizations since 1993. Her introduction to recruitment technology started as an employee of Qualcomm. She implemented an early version of Resumix and became the head of the regional user group for Resumix customers. She then joined Gateway Computers to define and lead a vendor selection process. She started her consulting career in 1999 for Watson Wyatt Consulting and has been instrumental at building recruitment software consulting practices for Talent Market Group, The Newman Group, and Knowledge Infusion. Elaine has taken an active role in over 75 recruitment software implementations across 15 different vendor platforms. In her 16 years in the industry she has worked with both practitioners and solution providers to shape the way Talent Acquisition solutions are delivered. A dyed-in-the-wool "early adopter," Elaine has guided her clients through the evolutionary shifts in the market including:

The widespread adoption of enterprise-wide, client-server recruitment systems
The dawn of Internet-based electronic recruiting (job boards)
The emergence of SaaS recruitment solutions
The move towards outsourced recruitment
The proliferation of global recruitment implementations
The emergence of the Talent Management paradigm
The revolution of social media platforms

Elaine is respected as a recruitment functionality expert and she takes an active role in industry events and associations. Recent publications and presentations include:

SHRM Special Expertise Panel – HR Technology, 2007 – 2010
Publication of the ERE 2007 Buyers Guide (Project Manager)
Article, "Industry Trends and Predictions for 2007″
HR Technology Conference and Expo presentation, "Knowing When to Switch Your Vendor," 2006
IHRIM Global SIG, presentation, "Delivering a Global Talent Acquisition Foundation to Recruit Locally at Yahoo!" 2006
HCI (Human Capital Institute), Talent Management Technology panel member (third year), 2006

What Elaine says About Her Work: "I can’t help but share my passion for technology. I love building relationships with clients. I love contributing to a client’s vision so that the project will be a success. I am always grateful for what my clients teach me."

Elaine started her professional career as a teacher and she holds a B.S. from the University of Arizona. She is an avid baseball fan (San Diego Padres). She has two kids and is based in San Diego.

Brian Sommers

Brian Sommers Brian is one of the application software industry’s most senior market watchers. His career began at Accenture where he ran the company’s global Software Intelligence unit for 10 years.

For the first part of his career, Brian worked exclusively with software buyers. Now, he has now grown a successful business advising some of the world’s largest software and technology firms. Brian and his team at Vital Analysis are highly sought after experts by consultancies and software firms. While many of their projects involve market assessments, a growing number of them rely on Brian’s knowledge of software buyers, software markets and selling of software to craft winning strategies and messages.

Brian has a widely read blog on ZDNet. He covers the SaaS, ERP and professional services marketplace. He’s also a frequent speaker at vendor events, user conferences and university MBA programs.

He can be reached at: brian@vitalanalysis.com

Mark Schmitt

Mark Schmitt Mark J. Schmit, Ph.D., is the Director of Research for the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM). In this capacity he leads the association’s research activities, including four program areas: SHRM Survey Research, Human Capital Benchmarking Service, the Leading Indicator of National Employment (LINE), and SHRM Research Content Development. He provides strategy and thought leadership for SHRM’s extensive survey and related research programs. Prior to joining SHRM, Dr. Schmit served as an expert witness and consultant representing the field of HR/Industrial and Organizational Psychology in employment discrimination litigation. He has more than 25 years experience in the field of human resources and has also been an academic, applied researcher, HR generalist, and internal and external consultant to both public and private organizations. He has developed recruitment, selection, promotion, performance management, organizational effectiveness/development tools and systems for numerous organizations. Dr. Schmit earned a Ph.D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Bowling Green State University in 1994. He has published more than 25 professional journal articles and book chapters and delivered more than 50 presentations at professional meetings on HR and Industrial/Organizational Psychology topics.

Kelly Cartwright

Vice President and General Manager,
The Newman Group, A Future step Company

Kelly Cartwright is Vice President and General Manager of The Newman Group, a Futurestep Company and leading provider of talent management consulting services to enterprise organizations. In this role, Ms. Cartwright oversees the strategic direction, development and growth of The Newman Group, Futurestep’s U.S. Consulting services business. Prior to her current role, she was Vice President of Marketing and Business Development Strategy for Futurestep, where she led the development and execution of marketing strategy and drove the evolution of key Futurestep business processes to address changing market needs.

Ms. Cartwright joined Futurestep as part of The Newman Group, which was acquired by Futurestep in 2007. As Vice President of Marketing and Business Development for The Newman Group, she was responsible for marketing strategy and management of customer relationships as well as communications and sales. With experience in key aspects of talent strategy and business leadership, she was an integral part of the company's growth and success as a provider of talent management consulting services.

Prior to joining The Newman Group, Ms. Cartwright was Vice President of TeamRewards, providers of an employee referral and applicant tracking solution. Prior to TeamRewards, she helped lead the development and implementation of an outsourced recruiting business model for recruiting and human capital management consulting firm Knowledge Workers, Inc. During her tenure, the company grew from a 15-employee start-up to a multimillion-dollar enterprise. Before joining Knowledge Workers, Ms. Cartwright held management positions with two of the nation's largest national staffing services firms.

Ms. Cartwright is a trustee on the Global Board of the Human Resources Outsourcing Association (HROA). She also serves on the board of the Northwest Recruiters Association, based in Seattle. Ms. Cartwright holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maine.