Posted by Jon
We announced a few weeks ago that we’d be forming a Readers’ Panel here at The Proposal Guys, and we’re now delighted to introduce the panel members to you. We hope you’ll enjoy hearing the perspectives of a cross-section of proposal professionals from around the world.
They’ll be contributing thoughts every couple of months on topics of interest to our readers. (Feel free to send us your suggestions). The first topic we’ve asked them to consider is:
We announced a few weeks ago that we’d be forming a Readers’ Panel here at The Proposal Guys, and we’re now delighted to introduce the panel members to you. We hope you’ll enjoy hearing the perspectives of a cross-section of proposal professionals from around the world.
They’ll be contributing thoughts every couple of months on topics of interest to our readers. (Feel free to send us your suggestions). The first topic we’ve asked them to consider is:
“What are the single most (a) frustrating and (b) rewarding aspects of proposals in your organisation?”
Check back in a few weeks’ time to hear their views! Our volunteers are as follows:
David Blume works for the Sant Corporation in the UK, a leading provider of proposal automation solutions. He has responsibility for sales and account management in a number of industry sectors across Europe including Asset Management, Insurance, IT, logistics, and telecommunications. David has nearly 20 years of international sales and management experience and has worked specifically in the field of sales effectiveness since 2001.
Lesa Camarri manages the RFP department for VSP Vision Care, a national employee benefits organization specializing in eye health care. She started out as the company’s only RFP specialist and over the past 15 years has built the proposal team to include eight full-time proposal specialists, one full-time editor, one full-time knowledge base manager and part-time administrative support. Lesa’s team responds to about 350 formal RFPs annually and they outsource fulfillment to a popular print-on-demand company.
Robin Davis began her career at Healthways Inc. eight years ago as an Administrative Assistant. She quickly moved into a sales support position as a Manager that included responding to RFPs. With no formal process in place, she developed and implemented a robust proposal and content management process that has grown exponentially since 2003. As the company continues to grow and expand, her team has grown to 11 proposal and content management professionals who delivered over 250 proposals over the last year.
Barbara Esmedina is Communications Manager for CONEXIS. She has more than 25 years RFP experience in both government (DoD) and commercial (healthcare) sectors. She is a long-time Pragmatech software user and APMP member. Barbara specializes in document automation, knowledge bases, online surveys, market research tools, and learning management systems.
Roisin McCorry works for Tata Consultancy Services, the Indian offshoring giant. She graduated five years ago, spending a year in Business Analysis and the subsequent four years in proposal management. She is responsible for all bids generated from the Insurance and Manufacturing verticals with the occasional foray into government, utilities, etc. “as a disaster recovery agent when things begin to go horribly wrong”. Roisin is currently based in Belfast, working from home, but she travels to the UK for 90% of her working time. She’s currently working towards the APMP Practitioner qualification.
Lisa S. is an assistant vice president and proposal team member with a global financial services firm in New York. She has also held high-level proposal writing and content management roles in two additional industries over the last seven years. With more than 13 years of professional writing and communications experience and a Master of Fine Arts in writing, her publications extend beyond proposals and into the journalistic and literary realms.
Jeff Scurry is the North American Proposal Manager for Baker & McKenzie and has a very keen interest in all facets of proposals, business development and professional services marketing. Previously Jeff led Grant Thornton’s National Proposal Center. Prior to Grant Thornton, Jeff was with KPMG Corporate Finance LLC. He received his bachelor of science in organizational behavior from Northwestern University.
Thanks in advance to each of them for their support and their input.
* Yes, we know that ‘panellista’ isn’t a real word, but it should be, don’t you think?
* Yes, we know that ‘panellista’ isn’t a real word, but it should be, don’t you think?