Did you know that we have a monthly meeting with the members?

Bet not.

In an effort to increase the level of communication about the things that go on behind the scenes, we thought we’d introduce the council (including some new members that were just inducted).

This team of folks represents the collective community of providers to the OnForce management team. Issues that are of particular importance to the community are raised and we often test product and program ideas with the Council as part of our research (we also engage non-Council members, buyers, and other related parties).

How do they know what issues are pressing? First and foremost, they are providers themselves and they work with the OnForce platform every day. Second, they use our provider-only forums to communicate with their peers to learn about pressing issues, general sentiment, and more. Not active in the forums? Want to be? Go to your Online Office and “sign up in the lower right-hand corner”:1 and then ask for access to the provider-only section (click on the link in your OLO and you’ll be redirected to the right place).

So here is the Provider Advisory Council (with their forum screennames) - reach out to them, tell them what you think. You can always “contact us”:2 to tell us what you think. We love to hear from members of our community about how we can improve their experience on the platform.

h3. Jay Austin (jayaustin)

My name is Jay Austin and I run Austin Computer Solutions located in Black Mountain in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina. I started doing IT work professionally when I was in high school over 20 years ago. I opened my own business in January of 2004 and have loved every minute of it. I have been involved on the OnForce platform since July of 2004 and have been a member of the Advisory Council since September 2005. I service residential and small/midsized businesses throughout Western North Carolina. I am currently a single person shop that uses contract help when the need arises.

h3. Dave Hayden (alltechnw)

Hi everyone. I just wanted to take a minute to introduce myself. I live in Portland Oregon and am a single father. I have been running my computer repair business for 2 years. Before that I worked providing tech support to HP’s corporate customers and their authorized service provider techs. That was both fun and very frustrating but was important in my skill development. I hold Comptia A+, Network+, Microsoft Server, HP Mastertech, and Dell DCSE certifications. I’ve completed 750+ work orders for OnForce since joining. A good portion for one Client that I very much like working for. In the last year the volume I’ve been doing has slacked off somewhat and I am doing more independent work for my own customers. I was very surprised to have the opportunity to join the AC but take it very seriously and hope we can continue to make OF a better place. Any questions, concerns or issues please contact me. It is only with your help that we can make OF all that it can be. Thanks very much!

h3. Charles “Chuck” Kuntz (Cfkdsa1)

Member of OnForce since January of 2005. To date, between myself and the other technicians at our company have closed 37 work orders. I have over 17 years of computer experience and combined with the other technicians in our company, we have 38 years total.We are located in Erie, PA which is in the northwest corner of the state on the shores of Lake Erie. I have my A+ Certification and also several service authorizations from manufacturers including Dell, Acer, HP, Okidata, 3COM, and Cisco

h3. David Lay (dalay3)

David Lay has been in the IT industry since1982 where he began working for the Harris Corp doing component level break-fix work on mainframes and minis. David’s background includes Unix, AS400, Apple and the ever popular Windows based systems. David currently teaches the CompTIA A+ and MCSE certification courses for the local community college. David’s desire to teach others began with Fujitsu Network Transmission Systems where he taught fiber optics and telecommunications to the leading BOC and RBOC. David began building a successful business as A PC Geek in January of 2001. In October of 2004 he found ComputerRepair (currently OnForce) and has worked diligently to become a leading provider for the DFW area. Aside from owning and operating his own business and teaching certification classes; David is also the Pastor for Cedar Hill Church of the Nazarene in Cedar Hill, TX.

h3. Kapi Love (pandoralove)

My name is Kapi Love and I’ve been working in the technology industry for about 10 years now. I have been with OnForce for close to two years though I didn’t start picking up a lot of work orders till this past June when I started my own computer repair company. I have completed 197 work orders and am active in the advisory council of an OnForce PPN. I currently reside in Salt Lake City, Utah, where we have pretty much gone from Summer to Winter this year. I hope as part of the advisory council that I will be able to bring the concerns of the provider community to OnForce in a constructive way.

h3. Robert Martin (bamajr)

HELLO WORLD:My name is Robert Martin, however online communities know me as BAMAJR. “Roll Tide!” I have been working in the IT industry for about 11 years now, and continue to enjoy what I do. My business is currently located in Marion, Iowa and we offer our services to customers in the neighboring states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, and Kansas as well. “HAVE TOOLS, WILL TRAVEL!” I became affiliated with OnForce sometime prior to June or July of 2004. My Tech ID is 4907. My company has over 120 closed work orders, and I have well over 550 posts on the OnForce forums.

h3. Charles McLeod (pcparamedix)

_update coming_

h3. John Rice (ricecomputersolutions)

John J. Rice, owner of Las Vegas based Rice Computer Solutions, has been a member of OnForce since June 2004. Since that time John has personally completed over 522 work orders, with complexities ranging from break/fix pc work to server installations and troubleshooting. Also, John is a member in good standing of various PPNs. Currently John is seeking his masters degree in computer engineering, John has been in the information technology field for over 12 years.

h3. Don Ridings (bsreg)

Educated as a Electrical engineer and specialized as a Video engineer Don started in the Computer/electrical industry in 1976 and was awarded a First class Radio Communications License that same year. Don opened his first computer store in 1983. His computer certifications include DCSE Cert, TAT Cert, HP Trained. Ingenico trained, Cisco Trained, Adtran trained. Number of POS training courses. ATM trained, Kiosk trained, Metro Area network trained. Don has also worked with and trained computer techs in the basics of computer repair and has taught A+ certifications courses. Don has created a number of courses for computer technology training for senior citizens Don became involved with OnForce during November of 2003 and accepted his first work order in January of 2004. Currently he has run approx 224 work orders and only regrets two of them. Don’s desire is to continue to grow with OnForce .

[1]http://forums.onforce.com/profile.php?mode=register
[2]http://www.onforce.com/contact

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 25th, 2006 at 6:05 pm and is filed under Pros Community, User Policies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.