Morning Keynote

Dr. Rick Rigsby - 

In 2017, Dr. Rick Rigsby delivered one of the most passionate speeches ever heard.  More than 200 MILLION PEOPLE worldwide viewed the speech in a video that went viral in just a matter of days.
 
When audiences hear Rick Rigsby . . . they are never the same.
 
Dr. Rick Rigsby is President and CEO of Rick Rigsby Communications. 

The former award-winning journalist followed a television career with graduate school—and two decades as a college professor . . . most of those years at Texas A&M University, where he also served as character coach and chaplain for the Aggies football team.

Dr. Rick’s dynamic presentations motivate, empower and inspire worldwide—from Australia, Africa and Asia, to the Americas, Europe and Canada. Rick’s audiences include Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies, academic communities, and service organizations. The internationally acclaimed speaker is a favorite among professional sports organizations, including the National Football League and the PGA.  In addition, Dr. Rigsby is a regular contributor on various national media platforms, including the Fox Business Network.

Named twice as an outstanding professor in the College of Liberal Arts at Texas A&M, Dr. Rick has numerous publications.  His first non-academic book—Lessons from a Third Grade Dropout—is a USA TODAY, Wall Street Journal and Amazon best-seller.  His latest book, Afraid to Hope is now available in markets worldwide.

Workshop

Dr. Rick Rigsby 

In 2017, Dr. Rick Rigsby delivered one of the most passionate speeches ever heard.  More than 200 MILLION PEOPLE worldwide viewed the speech in a video that went viral in just a matter of days.
 
When audiences hear Rick Rigsby . . . they are never the same.
 
Dr. Rick Rigsby is President and CEO of Rick Rigsby Communications. 

The former award-winning journalist followed a television career with graduate school—and two decades as a college professor . . . most of those years at Texas A&M University, where he also served as character coach and chaplain for the Aggies football team.

Dr. Rick’s dynamic presentations motivate, empower and inspire worldwide—from Australia, Africa and Asia, to the Americas, Europe and Canada. Rick’s audiences include Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies, academic communities, and service organizations. The internationally acclaimed speaker is a favorite among professional sports organizations, including the National Football League and the PGA.  In addition, Dr. Rigsby is a regular contributor on various national media platforms, including the Fox Business Network.

Named twice as an outstanding professor in the College of Liberal Arts at Texas A&M, Dr. Rick has numerous publications.  His first non-academic book—Lessons from a Third Grade Dropout—is a USA TODAY, Wall Street Journal and Amazon best-seller.  His latest book, Afraid to Hope is now available in markets worldwide.

Breakout Session 1

1-A Winning the War for Talent 

Chris Czarnik, Career Research Group 

Chris Czarnik (ZAR-NICK) is a national career search expert with 17 years of job search counseling, training and motivational speaking experience. His innovative research project approach to job search has helped thousands of people land rewarding careers.  

Chris has served in HR management roles, as the Director of Career Services for Wisconsin's largest two-year technical college and is a leading adjunct career search instructor for the 5th largest research university in the nation, UW Madison. He also currently serves as the Subject Matter Expert on career choice and career change for Pearson Publishing, the largest publisher in the country.

Chris' process, The Human Search Engine, was introduced to the 113th United States Congress as a national job search and workforce development model in 2013. In Sept. 2016, The US House of Representatives adopted his process as the outplacement tool for their EAP program.

Author of the book Winning the War for Talent, that has already sold more than 2,500 copies.



 

1-B  Finding Your Way in the Modern Compensation Data Landscape

Summer Rector, The QTI Group 

Summer is Chief Operating Officer of QTI’s Total Rewards Consulting practice specializing in total rewards strategy, executive compensation, incentive plan design, and governance best practices.  Her experience includes working with clients from a variety of industries, geographies, ownerships, and phases in the business life cycle.
 
Prior to joining QTI, Summer gained experience through positions in H.R. consulting as well as H.R. departments.  Some of her experience includes working at Mercer with a focus in Executive Compensation Consulting and at a start-up organization called DayNine (an Accenture company), implementing an H.R. technology solution called Workday.  Both opportunities gave Summer exposure to a wide variety of clients’ compensation and H.R. programs.  Most recently, Summer worked for one of her large insurance clients in its Executive Compensation Department. 
 
Summer graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Management and Human Resources and has passed the Professional in Human Resources (PHR) exam and Level 1 of the Certified Equity Professional (CEP) designation.  Summer serves on the Board of Directors of the Literacy Network, and she regularly lectures at the Graduate School of Banking and the Wisconsin School of Business.

 

1-C Employment Law Update

Jennifer Mirus and Brian Goodman, Boardman & Clark Law Firm

Breakout Session 2

2-A   Smoke and Mirrors: Separating Real Trends from Fads in Benefits Strategies

Mary Jo Spiekerman SHRM-SCP, SPHR and Mike Johnson, Hausmann Johnson Insurance 

With over 20 years of human resources management in numerous industries, Mary Jo is uniquely qualified to advise the clients of Hausmann-Johnson Insurance on human resources related issues. She provides guidance on complex employment topics such as employee relations, talent management, recruitment, onboarding, and training. Mary Jo and her team help “lighten the load” for clients that may otherwise spend a lot of time, effort and energy attempting to do their own risk management and employee benefits administration.
 
Mary Jo is especially excited about the journey Hausmann-Johnson has taken to become certified as a Great Place to Work by the Great Place to Work Institute. She began studying the process over 10 years ago and when she joined Hausmann-Johnson she knew that the organization had what it takes to achieve certification. In the years since 2015, Hausmann-Johnson has remained certified and has been recognized on a number of award lists to include “Best Place to Give Back” and “Best Small and Medium Workplace” lists. While winning awards is the icing on the cake, the most important thing is the journey of continuous improvement that the organization is focused on.

Mike Johnson joined Hausmann-Johnson Insurance in 2018 and brings a wealth of employee benefits knowledge and experience to the team. He recognizes that employee benefits are often one of the top three expenses for a business, but benefits also directly impact employees’ everyday lives. From his point of view, the world of insurance has become seen as insensitive to the needs of employees and their families. To combat this, he aims to create a win-win situation for employees and employers.

Mike knows that the best problem he can solve is one he can identify proactively and transparently. By looking 2-3 years out and addressing any type of cost or compliance concerns head on, he is able to help his clients and their employees achieve their goals. He works to build repeatable processes that address his clients’ benefit costs, compliance, and communications.

Besides employee benefits, one thing Mike can’t stop talking about is his family. He enjoys cooking weekend breakfasts for his wife, Shannon, and their two children, Cade and Atalie. He also enjoys fishing, hunting, and golfing in the great outdoors, and is a big Wisconsin sports fan. “Wisconsinite” describes Mike to a tee.
Mike is proud to be recognized as a member of the In Business Magazine “40 under 40.” He gives back to the community, through his role as Vice President of Membership for the Greater Madison Area Society for Human Resource Management, while also participating on the Advisory Board for Wisconsin Recruiters.

2-B Adult Learning “Better” Practices in Diversity & Inclusion

Jacqui Regenbogen, PhD, CUNA Mutual Group 
Jacqui Regenbogen, PhD, currently works at CUNA Mutual Group as a Diversity & Inclusion Consultant. Currently she utilizes her teaching and theatre background  to provide interactive trainings on inclusivity to business units; to lead the Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Learning Series aimed at all employees; and to direct and facilitate the Inclusion Institute, an 18-participant, six-week deep dive into core concepts of diversity, equity, and inclusion and their applications in the workplace.  Prior to this role, Jacqui worked at UW-Madison in the Division of Diversity, Equity, and Educational Achievement: her proudest accomplishment is the successful design and launch of the first ever Campus Climate survey distributed to over 43,000 students. She holds an MA and PhD from UW-Madison in Theatre: her dissertation entitled “Overturning Topsy’s Legacy: Black Theatre for Youth & the Black Arts Movement” received the national “Distinguished Dissertation Award” from the American Alliance for Theatre & Education. Jacqui serves as the Secretary for the Madison Area Diversity Roundtable and on the core group for the Sherman Neighborhood Association.
 

2-C Employment Law Update 

Jennifer Mirus and Brian Goodman, Boardman & Clark Law Firm