The Instructors of the USGS Technology Information Center - TIC

Lisa Austin is a certified trainer for The Telephone Doctor Customer Service Training Company. She has been developing, training and delivering customer service presentations for over a decade. She is a seasoned professional with years of hands-on experience dealing with the challenges and frustrations faced in the fast changing business world. Her enthusiasm and energy make for a highly motivational and "entertraining®" workshop. She will share with you skills that are practical, proven and 100% effective.

In business since 1984, Dawn Bjork Buzbee has been a contractor with the Technology Information Center from the beginning. Dawn, The Software Pro®, is a Certified Microsoft Office Expert and Microsoft Office Specialist Master Instructor, designations earned by demonstrating expert proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, and Outlook. Dawn served as Communications Director and Board Member for the Colorado Chapter of the National Speakers Association. She also holds a business degree from the University of Colorado-Boulder.

Dawn Bjork Buzbee is an fun and informative professional speaker, trainer, consultant, and business owner that transforms geek speak to people friendly and helps you focus on people over technology. With 24 years experience and her highly interactive, non-intimidating style find out what more than 100,000 individuals have learned-Dawn helps you make sense of technology and delivers easily understandable information that can be used immediately. Dawn is the author of over 50 self paced software training videos on Microsoft Office including Microsoft PowerPoint and Microsoft Word. At the TIC, Dawn teaches Microsoft Office applications, and graphics.

When she is not in front of a audience or a computer, Dawn enjoys entertaining with her husband, travel, reading, movies, scuba diving, and gardening.

John Custy is the Founder and Principal of JPC Group, a professional services company focused on the four cornerstones of Service and Support: People, Process, Technology, and Measurement. Mr. Custy is a ITIL certified Service Manager, and provides consulting and training for IT Services Management (ITSM).

John Custy has a BS from Lowell Technological Institute and an MS in Innovation and Technology from Boston University. Mr. Custy is a co-author of the paper Customer Oriented Enterprise Integration Technology.

John has over 25 years experience working in Information Technology. He has designed and implemented global customer restore and resolution processes, integrated support requirements into product like cycle processes and developed change & release management procedures.

He was a key contributor to the development of the support Center Practices (SCP) Certification, Software Support Certified Consultant (S2C2) program and the HDI International Certification Standard Committee (ICSC). He has been a Sr. Advisor Consultant and Instructor for both the Service and Support Professionals Association (SSPA), and Help Desk Institute (HDI). John is a well known speaker at industry conferences and has worked with customers globally to successfully plan and implement Support operations and services.

Mitzi is an educator by training and taught a variety of special education classes in Kansas, Montana, and Alaska for the early part of her career. As the first personal computers were introduced to the market, Mitzi took an interest in technology and made a change in careers from public school education to private computer training. Mitzi has been teaching students how to use applications ever since (25+ years). She prides herself in "gentle" instruction. Mitzi teaches all levels of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher Outlook, and Project.

Mitzi worked as Program Manager for the Computer Applications program at CU Boulder's Continuing Ed Division and as a senior education consultant for a company implementing Oracle and SAP solutions. She has a Masters in Education and has developed and presented audio and video computer training programs.

Virtual assistance is a new service she has added to her business. This entails office overflow work, documents that are "out of control," manuals, light bookkeeping, etc. Mitzi enjoys the work as a balance to teaching and has found that it helps her stay in touch with challenges students face in their everyday work.

After spending several years in the accounting profession, Issy Kilbride began teaching people to use their computers in 1983. She has worked with several local computer training centers, teaching and helping to set up their curriculum and class materials. She does individualized tutoring for professionals, government agencies, and private clients. Issy teaches classes for the Federal Government, many private clients, and the University of Colorado. In the last few years, Issy has been working with various agencies and departments of the government and CU to build and maintain their Access databases. She has also created a billing company working with medical professionals. Issy has won awards for her work with computer training for people with disabilities.. She enjoys being able to help people use their computers more efficiently and with a greater sense of fun.

Chris graduated from California State University-Chico in 1983. He has a BS in Computer Science and BA in Business Administration. In 1983 he moved to Boulder, CO. He has been an instructor at the TIC since 1993 specializing in Windows, PowerPoint, Access, and Windows NT. During the 80's and early 90's he did contract work with NOAA and Microsoft. He currently teaches at the University of Colorado in Boulder also.

Shell has been in the Design & Training industry for over 13 years. She has been an instructor at the TIC since 1994 specializing in Internet, Website Development, and graphics classes. She has worked with some of the most prestigious companies in the country including: Walt Disney Attractions, The Chicago Tribune - The Orlando Sentinel, Universal Studios, Arnold Palmer Golf Management Company, Government agencies (BLM, GSA, DOI, BOP, VA, and others), The Colorado Avalanche, MetLife, Blue Cross Blue Shield, 96.5 The Peak Radio, University of Colorado at Boulder, IBM, Kodak. Shell's friendly/fun personality helps to impart knowledge to all different types of learners in a way they understand and retain. Her creativity makes her classes fun while keeping them packed with information.

Shell enjoys a challenge. She divides her time training with directing creative projects (including web sites, corporate identity,and marketing) for small and large clients around the country.

Joel Rosenblum is a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer with more than 14 years of experience in technical training. Joel also utilizes a broad range of skills related to his real-world experience in the areas of network design and administration; computer data center design; and network and computer systems security. Joel is a well-respected speaker and trainer with an emphasis on Microsoft, Novell, and Cisco product architecture and deployment. Joel, a Colorado native, also holds a Masters degree in Computer Engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and has extensive technical and management experience with various companies prior to starting his own consultancy. He holds several certifications including:

• Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP);
• Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE);
• Master Certified NetWare Engineer (MCNE);
• Cisco Certified Network Architect (CCNA);
• Certified Technical Trainer (CTT+).

Sco Scofield is a Microsoft Access consultant in Denver, Colorado. He has been working with Access since Microsoft released version 1.0 in 1992. Sco spends a large amount of his time as an instructor training all levels of Access from the introductory level all the way through advanced programming. He is an active member and officer of the Denver Area Access Users Group. Sco is a frequent speaker at the group helping others explore the various aspects of Access. When he is not training or consulting, Sco spends time helping other Access users in the Access newsgroups on the Internet. He has been awarded the prestigious "Microsoft MVP" award in 2001-2002, 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 in recognition of the time he spends helping other Access users. Sco is a "Microsoft Certified Solution Developer," a "Microsoft Certified Professional," and is A+ certified. At the TIC, Sco taught:

• Microsoft Access
• Introduction (L1)
• Intermediate (L2)
• Advanced (L3)
• Application Development (L4)
• VBA Programming Part 1 (L5)
• Microsoft Visio
• Introduction (L1)
• Intermediate (L2)
• Microsoft Excel
• VBA Programming Part 1
• ANSI SQL
• Introduction (L1)
• Advanced (L2)
• XML
• Introduction (L1)