Meet the SIOP Administrative Office Staff

The SIOP Administrative Office staff is a small but mighty group of professionals who handle a myriad of responsibilities. From member recruitment and engagement to conference and event management and helping the general public get their questions about I-O psychology answered, these 10 team members wear many hats. If you need help or have an idea, read on to find out which staffer can help. Want to know more about them? Visit https://0-www-siop-org.library.alliant.edu/About-SIOP/Staff

Tracy L. Vanneman, CAE, Executive Director
In my 15-year association and nonprofit career, I have worked in sponsorship sales, event planning, governance, membership, volunteer management, fundraising, and communications. As executive director for SIOP, I lead a team of 9 talented staff members and manage the operational work of the Society. I also provide insight, information, and perspective to the Executive Board and committee leaders to partner with our volunteer workforce in pursuit of SIOP’s mission. Although no 2 days are the same, I spend most of my working hours conversing with and assisting board leadership, advising and supporting staff, planning for upcoming events and initiatives, reading and writing reports and communications, analyzing financial data and legal documents, researching opportunities, and monitoring the external environment. I was honored to be selected as SIOP’s executive director in April 2020, and I value the challenge inherent in the job (especially in these uncertain times). Even so, my most important responsibility is co-parenting my four children with my husband. Our family enjoys time spent together outdoors, playing sports, reading, and traveling. I am grateful to have fulfilling work that also permits a full life—a true benefit of working on behalf of I-O psychologists whose science and practice understands work–life needs so well!

 Jenny Baker, Sr. Manager, Publications and Events
I’ve been part of the SIOP team for over 19 years, in various capacities. Currently, I am the senior manager of publications and events. My duties include working with TIP and IOP editors, proofreading and typesetting SIOP documents, handling logistics and print materials for the annual conference and the Leading Edge Consortium, and preparing documents for the SIOP Foundation. My favorite part of my job is attending the conference where I can see my SIOP friends and make new ones. I love being able to put faces with impressive names I see!

Scott Case, Business Process Manager

As the business process manager for SIOP, my responsibilities include interacting with our association management system vendor JL Systems, software configuration, software use and the troubleshooting of the software. I also work closely with project owners to understand document business process and project requirements and offer solution options. I also provide support to assist users with installs, updates, and training on current/new application systems. This also includes the creation of documentation for SIOP members. Prior to SIOP, I spent over 20 years in higher education.

 Jamie Keblesh, Finance and Operations Manager
I have been at SIOP for almost a year now, and what an adventure this year has been! I am the finance and operations manager. I work on the SIOP financials, annual budget conference planning, awards, and Fellows. I also work with SIOP Foundation with their day-to-day operations and fundraising opportunities. My favorite part of my job is getting to help plan activities for the AO staff. We have gotten creative with ways to keep the communication going while working remotely and participating in team-building activities this year.
 

 Larry Nader, IT Manager

In answering “What do I do at SIOP?” my first question might be “When?” I started with SIOP in 1998. There were three of us. Lee Hakel was the office manager (what is now executive director), and Esther Benitez was the membership manager. Our website was around 50 flat pages, mostly TIP. At that point all of us worked on everything. I handled the computer network, setup of all computers, and installations and troubleshooting of their programs (still do). I was the webmaster. With the tutelage of Milt Hakel, I became the master of the database. Everything we did involved paper forms. Conference submissions were mailed in triplicate and had to be delivered to our office by the deadline. Dues were mailed in. I used to spend early mornings running credit card numbers over the phone lines. Conference registrations were also mailed in and had to be manually entered into the database.

Our first online submission project was the development of JobNet, now called I-O Job Network. This was spurred on by the incredible amount of manual labor the Placement Center caused at the conference. Resumes and job ads had to be copied and bound into booklets overnight each day of the conference. JobNet proved to be a success, and we moved on to putting conference registration and dues online.

Now 22 years later, there are 10 of us. SIOP membership has more than tripled since I started. Our database is in the cloud with our membership management software. Our website has thousands of pages (still a lot of TIP). Social media rules. My job has evolved yet stayed the same. I still handle computers and the network for everyone. I continue to work on many aspects of SIOP. I work with the Program Committee for the conference. I interface with the AV for most of our events, including the conference. I am the voice that makes announcements at the conference plenaries.

 Susan K. Rogers, CAE, Business Development Manager
I joined SIOP as manager of business development in late 2018 after moving to northern Ohio from Ypsilanti, Michigan. Previously, I worked in membership and marketing at the Society for Manufacturing Engineers (SME) in Dearborn, MI, and the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP) in Ann Arbor, MI. I graduated from Central Michigan University with a journalism degree, and I began my career in public relations at Washington University in St. Louis. I honed my marketing skills by promoting the executive programs and management seminars at the Executive Education Center in the School of Business at the University of Michigan. While I enjoy writing news and feature stories, I found marketing and sales to be more intellectually stimulating and challenging. As a result, I became a marketing professional who understands what makes a partnership valuable to an organization. I strive to create the kind of advertising, exhibiting, and sponsorship opportunities that help connect SIOP members with the right organization, product, or service when needed. I also manage the CE credit program and its relationship with APA, HRCI, and SHRM.

 Barbara Ruland, Marketing and Brand Strategy Manager
Since I joined SIOP as a temporary staffer in 2016, I’ve had a whirlwind tour of duties related to communications, with two constant themes running throughout: video and data analytics. Beginning in early 2017, we started leveraging my extensive background in live and preproduced television broadcasting to create video marketing and information pieces for SIOP. I am passionate about the value of analytics to understand customers and inform marketing communications. I have been continuously expanding my capability for measuring and interpreting digital interactions to understand SIOP members and refine our communications and have helped other members of the staff learn these skills as well. This driving interest led me to enroll in the prestigious Integrated Marketing Communications master’s program at Northwestern University’s Medill School, and I expect to finish the 2-year program this spring.

I am currently the staff liaison for the Visibility Committee and handle much (though not all) of SIOP’s email and other marketing activities. I also work with the executive director on member communications related to governance and advocacy topics. My recent focus has included video infrastructure for the virtual SIOP conferences; launching the SIOP webinar series, including marketing and building out the web resources; and working to improve SIOP’s online presence through content marketing initiatives such as the “Working Through Covid-19” resources and SEO (search engine marketing). What I love about working with SIOP is the way members use the scientific method to solve human challenges at work. I count myself fortunate to have had the opportunity to get to know several members and work with the amazing AO staff.

Amber Stark, Communications Manager
As SIOP’s communications manager, I am primarily responsible for NewsBriefs, SIOP social media, and media relations.

• SIOP Source, SIOP’s weekly member e-newsletter, features important information about SIOP events and membership opportunities. SIOP Source is often booked out weeks in advance, so please contact me as soon as you think you might have a placement request.
• SIOP has four active social media accounts: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Please reach out to discuss how we can use these platforms to share your information.
• Reporters regularly reach out to me for experts who can talk about various workplace topics; I also share SIOP information with the media. If you have questions about media relations, please let me know. If you’ve been interviewed by the media and would like to have that interview link shared on social media, please email it to me.

I have long-held interests in creative team leadership and employee well-being. One of the things I enjoy most about working at SIOP is learning about and sharing the work our members are doing in these and other important work areas!

 Jayne Tegge, Member Engagement Manager
I have worked in membership services at SIOP for the last 6 years. My favorite part of the job is speaking with members and potential members in person and at events. I love finding the connections between my knowledge and what someone needs. As the member engagement manager, my job is to coordinate all membership activities including dues renewals, recruitment, membership materials, member benefits, and to improve member engagement with SIOP. I also direct SIOP’s volunteer programs, including committee management, the online SIOP Volunteer System sign-ups, and training for SIOP’s volunteer leaders.

Since working at SIOP I’ve developed the concept for the Conference Commons (Committee Zone), redesigned membership brochures and a new poster explaining I-O psychology, created the Sterling Circle to recognize long-term members, helped evolve the Membership Committee’s efforts, especially in terms of data analytics, worked to upgrade member benefits and the website, developed advertising about membership, and implemented a new member onboarding program. I’m currently very excited about the data analytics and look forward to the membership dashboard, which is coming in the near future to the SIOP website.

 Michelle Zavaleta, Member Relations Specialist
I’ve been working with SIOP for 2 years as the member relations specialist. My primary responsibility is responding to emails that come in through siop@siop.org and answering phone calls. Whether you’re reaching out about picking a graduate program or needing help logging in to your SIOP account, I’ll likely be the one who responds. This is my favorite part of the job because I have the chance to get to know members outside of SIOP’s events. I am also responsible for managing the I-O Job Network, from writing promotional emails to assisting employers and job seekers with their questions. I take care of the annual reviews of the policies and procedures on the SIOP governance page. This requires reading through the documents, then sending them to the respective committee chair for their edits. This ensures that SIOP’s governing documents are always relevant to what committees are doing, so members can stay in the loop.