Clare Welman - President
Sandy Azevedo - Vice President, Finance
Ted Benoit - Vice President, Membership
Giselle Collins - Vice President, Programs
Kristina Etter - Vice President, Communications
Marlena Vanderwal - Web Editor
Barry Leinbach - Executive at Large
Kerry Wong - Executive at Large
Karen Yuen - Past President

Clare Welman - President

Clare has over 15 years experience in the IT support industry. She started assisting end-users while working at BC Housing and hasn't looked back since. While at BC Housing, she participated in the first team to win a “Can Do” Employee Performance Award for their innovative document naming standards.

In the early 1990s, she moved to Victoria as the Help Desk Analyst for the Office of the Auditor General. While there, she enhanced their desktop support environment with her skills, knowledge and dedication to customers.

The opportunity to be Help Desk Team Lead lured Clare back to Vancouver where she joined Kvaerner Chemetics's Help Desk team. Her process improvement and customer service skills combined to improve their Help Desk's performance and her ability to learn new skills enabled the Help Desk to adapt to changing business needs. It was during this time that Clare first joined the HelpDesk BC Executive team as Vice-President of Communications.

In 2003, Clare moved to Sierra Systems as Help Desk Team Lead. With her ITIL Foundation Skills certification, Clare continues to improve the process, tools and technology to support their internal customers.

Sandy Azevedo - Vice President, Finance

Sandy Azevedo - Vice President, Finance
After graduating from BCIT's Computer Systems program, Sandy worked for the federal government providing user support and programming before she joined the Information Technology department at a local school board. While determining best practices for a centralized support environment, Sandy was contacted by a group called Help Desk Local Chapter and it was then that her Help Desk career was borne. After many years in the public sector, Sandy moved into the private sector where she worked as a Help Desk Analyst, intranet webmaster and then as a Help Desk Supervisor in some of the larger mining, chemicals and utilities organizations. Sandy missed working in the education sector as well as being on the front line and she is very happy to be back in the education sector and on the IT Service Desk. Sandy's philosophy is “Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations”.

Sandy joined HelpDesk BC as a member in 1991. In 1992, she joined the HelpDesk BC Executive as Secretary. Over the course of the next nine years, she held the positions of Treasurer, VP Programs and Executive at Large. Sandy has taken several of the courses offered through HelpDesk BC and has her ITIL Foundations certificate.

Ted Benoit - Vice President, Membership

Ted Benoit is a Senior Manager with extensive experience in Customer Support and IT Service Management including a demonstrated track record in leadership roles managing service management strategies with customer and technical support teams.

Ted began his IT career after deciding 10 years in management with White Spot was no longer a challenge. He attended CDI to get a Diploma in Computer Maintenance Technology and then work for 4 years in computer retail, managing the maintenance department. Then the call to Software Customer Support was heard and he spent the next 11 years developing his customer service and management skills at Chancery Software. In 2005, he went back to hardware support roots managing the Global Helpdesk and Field Services team at Intrawest ULC where grew his ITIL and Service Management knowledge. Ted has certifications in Help Desk Management from the Help Desk Institute as well as IT Service Management (ITIL v2 and 3 Certification).

He joined Helpdesk BC in 1999 and has been an active member ever since. In 2006, he was one of the original committee members and judges of the chapters Analyst of the Year. Ted was also a member of the Program Advisory Board for Vancouver Community College for several years. This year, 2009 he finally saw the light and joined the executive as the VP, Membership. If you have any questions about membership feel free to ask him at the monthly meeting or via email and if you are brave ask him about his annual Halloween party.

Giselle Collins - Vice President, Programs

Giselle began her IT career 20+ years ago and has held various positions including Mainframe Computer Operator, Computer Programmer, Operating System Support Analyst, Integration Specialist, and Help Desk Analyst (first and second-tier support). She has worked in several different environments (banking, health care and education) from which she has gained valuable experience and knowledge.

Currently employed as second-tier support in the Client Services (Help Desk) department at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) her position has a primary focus on initiatives which enhance the delivery of support to BCIT staff and students. A couple of these initiatives include Incident and Problem Management.

Giselle has a Computer Systems diploma and various industry certifications (ITIL Fundamentals, Enterprise Architecture Fundamentals, Project Management lite version). She is working on obtaining a Bachelors of Technology degree with an emphasis on Computer Crime.

Barry Leinbach - Executive at Large

Barry honed his IT skills in the Network Computing Services (NCS) department at BC Hydro. With over 30 years in technology he has experienced most every aspect of “computerology” including mainframe, desktops, training, technology support, help desk, client service relations and management. With technology changing at a fervent rate his motto is …. “If Technology hasn't invented it today then wait until tomorrow at noon, it will be there.”

After his Hydro years Barry founded his own training company now called “Tatlow Training Group”. He is a well known and respected presenter in the IT and Business Community and is an expert in customer service excellence, help desk support and communications skills. Barry uses real-life experiences to teach support professionals how his solutions can be applied effectively.

Barry is a “HDI Faculty Member” of speakers and has presented at many of their International Conferences in Canada and the USA . He is also a popular speaker at the BC Colleges “IT4BC” conferences and at HelpDesk BC . His accomplishments include workshops on Achieving Excellent Customer Service, Help Desk Support, Call Center skills, Team Building , Telephone and Office Skills, Listening and Communicating Skills. Barry has also conducted motivational presentations for many large corporations in Canada and the USA His light hearted and motivational approach keeps students actively involved in all aspects of his presentations.

Barry is a member of the Program Advisory Board for Vancouver Community College and has been serving on the Help Desk BC board for over 15 years. In his spare time Barry is also a volunteer MC at the Kitsilano Showboat in Vancouver where his interactive style entertains upwards of 2000 audience participants. He also plays Trumpet with the Vancouver Firefighters Band.

Marlena Vanderwal - Web Editor

Marlena Vanderwal is the Work Term Instructor in the School of Computers and Academic Studies at British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT). Here she manages the work terms/practicums for students in the High Tech Professional programs. She has worked in the Information Technology industry for over twenty years as a Computer Support Analyst, Network Administrator, and an Instructor and Department Head of IT programs.

Marlena's educational qualifications include a Master of Education degree at Simon Fraser University. She also holds several diplomas and certificates, including, a three-year Diploma in Business Administration, a Provincial Instructor's Diploma, Certificate in Web-Based Instruction. She is a Novell Certified Administrator, and is certified in ITIL Fundamentals.

Karen Yuen - Past President

For over 15 years as an active practitioner, Karen Yuen's primary focus has been on delivering exceptional customer service through the successful combination of life skills, continued formal education and applied best practice. She is well respected among the support industry community in achieving customer service excellence. This is performed by building and strengthening relationships while realizing measurable contributions. Her support career began with the Royal Bank, Western Canada Help Centre where support in five provinces was centralized to one Help Desk and calls were tracked on paper. She spearheaded building the Internal support from the ground floor up and was the recipient of numerous awards. During her tenure at the Western Canada Help Centre, her team came in second place in the Help Desk Team Excellence Award against Boeing International and Taco Bell International. In 1998, Karen joined EDS as the Client Service Manager (CSM) for PLNet. She continues to apply thought leadership, creative energy and the ability to pass on the skills to turn around and retain satisfied customers.

Karen's experience and knowledge is a continual life learning experience. She leads by example and is constantly challenging the people around her to challenge their personal paradigms and think outside the box to improve customer service and their personal goals.

Globally, Karen has held positions with HDI on the Member Advisory Board (MAB) since 1995. She is currently the Help Desk Institute (HDI) MAB Chair, has participated in the HDI Certification Program and contributed for 3 years on the Team Excellence Award Committee for the HDI. She is heavily involved with Special Interest Groups in the Lower Mainland and numerous educational institutions.

Locally, Karen was involved in the creation of the Help Desk Local Chapter 15 years ago and has served in every executive position capacity. She currently holds position of President. She is also active with the BCIT Call Centre for Excellence since 1997, VCC Program Advisory Board since 2003, Canadian Support Professional Advisory Board since 1999, HDI Standards Committee since 2002, and the Canadian Call Centre Advisory Board since 2002. She also provides one on one mentoring for future support professional leaders. In past, Karen has been involved with the Call Centre Local Chapter 1996 – 1999, the 1997 and 1998 Help Desk Institute International Service Excellence Awards Committee, Women in Technology 1999, the Langara IT Advisory Board 2000 and ITSMF in 2002.

From a personal perspective, Karen actively volunteers for Fraser Valley Cancer Society, Kidney Foundation, Orphaned Wildlife (OWL), SPCA, Delta Humane Society, the Heart and Stroke Foundation and other local initiatives.