Doug Woestendiek: 
Candidate for STC Treasurer

by Doug Woestendiek, Quill Contributor

STC Involvement

My name is Doug Woestendiek. I have been active in STC in a variety of roles, from the local chapter to the international level. Since 2001, I have had the honor to serve on the Society Board of Directors as the Assistant to the President for Technology. I was Special Events Coordinator at the STC Annual Conference in 1996. I have presented and moderated sessions at several Annual Conferences, and I have worked with stem managers as a peer reviewer for annual conference proposals. During my career, I have been a member of the Mid-Hudson Valley, Austin TX, Twin Cities, and Central CT Chapters. I served as the Mid-Hudson Valley chapter newsletter editor.

I would like the opportunity to continue my service to the STC as your Treasurer. The STC Treasurer has a dual role, working as the CFO for the Society and as a member of the Board. I have the necessary experience in both those roles.

Experience

I received my BS and MS in Mathematics of Operation Research and Statistics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, with a Management Minor. I later earned a Human Computer Interaction (HCI) Certificate from RPI. I hold several Technical Achievement Awards from IBM, including intellectual property and publication awards. In 1995, I received a Distinguished Technical Communication award in the Northern California Technical Communication's STC Competition.

I am a member of the American Society for Quality (ASQ). In 2004, I became an ASQ certified six sigma black belt. I believe I can apply this skill to the financial processes of the STC.

I have the direct financial experience needed for this role. Since 2002, I have been Treasurer and Finance Manager for a $16M+ valuation private property corporation. I have also served that group as VP and Director. During my career, I have managed budgets over $10M and have reengineered financial processes.

I also bring the knowledge needed to be an effective member of the STC Board. I have worked in large international companies and small companies. I have led major projects, worked collaboratively with competitors, and represented views to industry forums.

Early in my career, I led IBM's documentation team in the COSE CDE (Common Desktop Environment) project. This was a joint development effort with HP, Sun, and Novell, involving online help, hardcopy, and softcopy documentation. I also represented IBM in the Open Group Single UNIX Documentation project.

From 1999-2004, I was a Senior IT Architect in Financial Systems at IBM. I focused on emerging technology and e-business strategies across the worldwide portfolio of IBM finance applications. I was the lead technical architect on the Finance Portal, which served as the conduit for web-enabled Finance applications and as a productivity tool for IBM's 10,000 worldwide Finance employees.

As a Senior IT Architect at IBM, I re-engineered financial processes and systems. I also helped recommend and implement a Sarbanes Oxley solution for IBM which IBM now markets to other companies. (Sarbanes-Oxley is a bill passed by Congress which forever changes the financial reporting landscape. It mandates numerous changes to financial reporting, intended to protect investors by improving the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures made pursuant to the securities laws.)

I am now the Director of Software Architecture at Marketing Management Analytics (MMA), responsible for the overall architecture of our Avista solution, holding an $11M+ direct development budget.

Plans

Our industry is changing. From the outsourcing of jobs to the state of the global economy in the area of technology, the world we live and work in is changing. And it is changing FAST. STC needs to continue to change too. During the change, we as a Society must re-evaluate our spending and ensure it is aligned with our member needs.

It's an exciting time for STC as it transforms to provide better value to its members. I can provide fiscal oversight to the society, ensuring sound processes and adequate controls are in place. I can assist the board in making wise financial decisions. I will manage the budget prudently and make it clear to the members how money is being spent.

The Society must become more nimble in reacting to trends. We must put policies in place so we can adjust quickly to provide programs that add value for our members and address their changing needs in a fiscally responsible manner.

I would like the opportunity to continue my service to the STC by continuing on the Board as the new STC Treasurer. I want to help ensure that the STC remains relevant to our members, and that STC uses our combined fiscal resources to deliver meaningful value to members in their professional lives.

You can learn more about me at http://hometown.aol.com/dougwoestendiek.

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