One:One Home > What We're Doing For YouMeet Dan Connors - BT Conferencing's New CEO
On February 2, 2007, BT Conferencing, the largest provider of end-to-end conferencing solutions and the leading provider of managed video services, announced the appointment of Dan Connors as Chief Executive Officer. Dan has a long and successful history in executive leadership roles with Kinko’s, Bain & Company (an international management consulting firm), as Deputy General Counsel of Wang Laboratories in Bethesda, Maryland, and was a Senior Associate at Crowell & Moring, a large law firm in Washington, D.C. Dan started his career as an Air Force Captain and attorney in the Air Force General Counsel’s Office,and holds law degrees from Georgetown University (LL.M.) and The Ohio State University (J.D.), and an MBA from The Wharton School. He earned an undergraduate degree in finance from the University of Notre Dame. (A more detailed biography can be found here.)
Dan took some time to answer a few questions about his role at BT Conferencing.
Q: Congratulations on taking the CEO spot at BT Conferencing. What are your impressions of the company so far?
A: First of all, thank you, and let me say what an honor it is to be leading a great company like BT Conferencing. It’s a responsibility I take very seriously.
My initial impressions have been great! Our company is the leader in our industry space, and our brand enjoys a great reputation. I have spent much of my first 30 days talking and listening to our customers, our employees and our vendor partners. I have come away with the strong impression that we have done much to earn the trust of our customers, and that this customer focus is what has distinguished us from our smaller competitors. Our employees are excited to help our customers, and this sort of focus is tough to beat! Likewise, our vendor partners know of our reputation for great customer service, so it’s easy for them to name us their “partner of choice.” Being the #1 reseller of both Polycom and TANDBERG equipment really puts us in the best position to help our customers choose the right hardware. That expertise, coupled with our unmatched service capabilities, means that we have a very compelling story to tell, I think. It’s easy to see why I’m so excited to be here.
Q: What will be your focus in 2007?A: It’s important for BT Conferencing to build upon our history of outstanding customer service to further differentiate us from the smaller regional players in our industry. Delivering world-class customer service means that we must be constantly improving—no resting on our laurels! We must continue to listen to our customers and find new ways to delight them and exceed their expectations.
This “listen to the customer” notion will also evidence itself in our initiatives to deliver the strongest solution set to our customers. The conferencing/collaboration industry continues to develop new technologies, some of which are really exciting! Creating and maintaining capabilities with these developing solutions will be increasingly important, I think, as will supporting and strengthening our relationships with our manufacturing partners. The shift to high definition and telepresence is exciting for both our customers and for BT Conferencing. We’ll be working hard to further develop the same service capabilities with new technology that we currently have with mature offerings.
Q:What about BT Conferencing and the conferencing industry appealed to you?
A: I’ve always been fascinated with how businesses interact with and integrate technology into their processes…and I’ve always been drawn to video-related technologies. So to be able to work with the industry-leader in business related video is a real thrill for me. The conferencing/collaboration space is clearly growing strongly and has already weathered some discontinuities. Helping businesses weather such discontinuities is fun for me - so taking BT Conferencing to new levels of growth and customer service is an ideal situation for me. I couldn’t be more pleased to be here!
Q: What do you see as BT Conferencing's biggest challenge?A: We’re growing rapidly, and we can’t lose our focus on customer service – a focus which helped BT Conferencing grow as big as it is today. We must continue to develop scalable, replicable processes and tools to help our customers, even as that customer base grows ever larger. Today we serve over 54% of the Fortune 500, and those customers demand (rightfully!) high levels of service. Maintaining those levels while helping our industry grow in the right directions will be important.
Q: What are some of your hobbies or interests outside of work?
A: Well, I’ve never had a great work/life balance—I like to work too much! And with a company like BT Conferencing, I tend to get really focused because there are so many interesting and fun projects we’re working on. But outside of work I like to run marathons and participate in triathlons. And of course, there’s Notre Dame football in the fall - I’m crossing my fingers for this coming season!
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