A Reading Odyssey

Kimarie Matthews (A2009)

Kimarie Matthews manages the customer research, loyalty and voice of the customer programs for Wells Fargo's Internet Services Group. She is currently working on buidling the "Customer Experience Scorecards", a tool to help the business act on customer feedback to positively impact the customer experience. She welcomes calls and questions on this topic. 

She is also interested in how businesses should engage in social media to listen to and talk to their customers.  She believes that while customer loyalty is primarily built by consistently delivering on the basics of why customers use your product/service, loyalty can be cemented by making customers feel important and "heard."  She is working on projects to let customers know Wells Fargo is listening through social media, such as responding to customer comments in the blogoshpere and developing an online customer community at wellsfargo.com. 

Prior to joining Wells Fargo in 2006, Kimarie worked in a combination of online financial services and retail firms: Bank of America, WeddingChannel.com, and Andersen Consulting's financial services practice (now Accenture). Kimarie earned a B.A. in political science from Stanford University and currently lives in Burlingame, CA with her husband and 2 sons.

Laurel Stanley (A2009)

I've been designing and building web sites since 1995. I moved into developing online business applications in 1999 for companies like Herman Miller, Steelcase, and Wolverine Worldwide. Since May 2008, I've been Director of Design at Spout.com, managing the visual brand and redefining the user interface based on usability research. My goal is to support marketing and business development efforts while improving the overall customer experience. Previously, I was at Priority Health, a Michigan-based health insurance company, managing their intranet, corporate site, logged-in service portals, and other online ventures. While at Priority Health I got the opportunity to attend Jakob Nielsen's Usability Week. I had applied that knowledge to moderate the first usability sessions at Priority Health while developing online tools. Since learning about the Creative Good way of hosting “listening labs”, I've strived to incorporate observing how users navigate and use web sites to advance the overall design and functionality. I’ve already been able to take advantage of this in my new role at Spout. We are holding a second round of listening labs in August.

Happy birthday to Hedy!

Folks,

Please join me in wishing happy birthday to our longtime reader, colleague and friend, Hedy Williamson.

Happy birthday, Hedy!

Phil

Phil Terry
CEO, Creative Good
Founder, The Councils
www.creativegood.com
www.goodexperience.com

Erik Hagerman (A2009)

Depending on when and whom you ask, Erik Hagerman is either a creative executive with an art problem, or an artist with a creative executive problem. As a creative executive, he's designed online user experiences and led creative teams for companies ranging from the small and startuppy (PlanetRx, Cuil) to the large and behemothy (Wal-Mart, Disney).  He is currently Vice President, Creative for Cuil.com, a startup search engine. Prior to joining Cuil, he was Vice President, Creative at Walmart.com, where he led marketing and site design and built and managed the user experience  team. As an artist, he builds sculpture and assemblage out of mostly salvaged materials and found objects, including salvaged lumber, wooden foundry molds and used wooden toy building blocks (pics at http://www.flickr.com/photos/erikhagerman/ ).  Hagerman recently moved his art-making operations into a superfantabulous warehouse space in Brooklyn, NY, which would be awesome except for the fact that the company he recently joined is located in Menlo Park, CA.  Is this awkward? Yes it is. He holds a BA in History from Dartmouth College and an MA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Magdalen College, Oxford University, where he studied as a Marshall Scholar.

Felice Bochman (A2009)

Formally the Senior Editorial Director for Care.com, and Managing Editor for Babyzone.com, Felice continues her work in e-commerce and web content.  She has a BA in English and Philosophy and an MA in English Literature. Her web content and freelance work have appeared on Babyzone.com, Care.com, The Content Wrangler, Poshtots.com, and Interfaithfamily.com.

Felice is also an erstwhile fresco painter. Though currently on hiatus from the art world, her artwork has been featured in a number of shows and has sold to clients across the country. Free time comes at a premium—but when she does have some—she indulges in hiking, yoga, playing with her kids, reading an eclectic selection of books and journals, and reminding herself to enjoy the present and not spend too much time worrying about the future. She lives in Boston with her kids, utterly detests being bored, isn’t very good at relaxing, and yet loves the rare moments when life can be enjoyed at less than the speed of the internet.

Sari Harris (A2009)

I am the Senior Information Architect on the product team of Thumbplay, Inc., where I get to focus on people's obsessions with their handheld devices and mobile media. Previously, I spent six years at the Economist Group as an information architect and interface designer. I hold an MLIS from Pratt Institute and a BA in English Literature and Creative Writing from UIC. In my free time I study the intersection of people, media, and technology--when I'm not reading philosophy, literature and comic books, or programing interactive toys. 

Jonathan Gordon (A2009)

I am married with three kids and live on the Upper West Side in New York City.  I am an investment banker with The van Tulleken Company, an M&A boutique firm focused on information, media, publishing, education and technology companies.  Prior to joining them, I worked with VNU Business Media (subsequently Nielsen), Primedia and JP Morgan in various financial, operational and business development roles.  I qualified as an attorney in South Africa where I grew up and spent the earliest part of my professional career.

Ravi Bhatia (A2009)

I am a Project Executive with Madison Equities, a mid-sized real estate development firm in Manhattan.  Currently, I am in charge of construction of an 11-story boutique condominium on Irving Place and am working on design development of a hotel in the West Village.  I have over 20 years of project management experience spanning real estate, electrical construction, construction management, general construction, telecommunications deployment and technology integration.

I reside in Roslyn, NY with my wife of 18 years and my three-year old daughter.  I was born in Mumbai, India and emigrated to the U.S. in 1970.  I was raised in Flushing, NY and have lived in NYC most of my life.  I enjoy reading, traveling, teaching, public speaking and connecting with people.  I serve as an Adjunct Associate Professor at NYU's School of Continuing Education (Real Estate Institute).   

I'm a registered Professional Engineer (PE) and a Certified Project Management Professional (PMP).  I have a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering (Polytechnic University), a MBA (Hofstra University) and a M.S. Telecommunications and Information Management (Polytechnic University).

Anne Dunning (A2008)

Anne Dunning was born and raised in Canada.  Before coming to New York, she spent ten years with the Danny Grossman Dance Company in Toronto where she was director of communications, associate general manager and administrative director.  She became a principal consultant at ARTS Action Research, a Brooklyn-based consulting group specializing in strategic planning, organizational development and resource building for the nonprofit arts, in March, 2004.  In Canada she was founding chair of the national council of the Canadian Dance Assembly, whip of The Creative Trust endowment campaign and continues to serve on the George Cedric Metcalf Foundation’s Strategic Initiatives Advisory Committee.  In the United States, she has been a trustee and Chair of the Board of Dance/USA, the national service organization for dance.  She has contributed to the Dance Umbrella of Ontario’s Step by Step electronic workbook, has taught for Humber College’s arts administration program and been a mentor and guest speaker for the University of Toronto’s arts administration program. Before becoming involved in the arts, Anne studied biology at McGill University in Montreal, where she received an honors Bachelor of Science in ecology, evolution and behavior.  She lives in Manhattan with her husband, Gary, who is executive director of the Big Apple Circus.

Mike Nagel (T2008 & A2008)

Mike is the Online Producer for Care.com, where he manages blogs and creates and edits site content. After leaving a career in network television journalism, Mike earned a M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Emerson College. His freelance work has appeared in the Boston Globe, with the Beijing Olympic News Service, Good Catch Publishing, and as a featured travel writer for STATravlers.com. In his spare time, Mike is an avid traveler, sports fan (Red Sox and Bills), music junky, coffee enthusiast and mildly interesting blogger. He lives in New Hampshire's seacoast region and will marry his fiance, Sonja, in June of 2009.