Our Team
René Shimada Siegel, President and Founder
A true Silicon Valley girl, René cut her teeth on high-tech companies like Novell, 3Com and SynOptics, as well as start-ups and PR agencies. For the past 20 years she’s been a corporate communicator, independent PR consultant and entrepreneur.
René started High Tech Connect in 1997 from a home office while raising three children and working on her own consulting gigs. Her innovative business model and inspiration for home-based consultants has been documented in several books and publications like Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek Japan and Daniel Pink’s Free Agent Nation.
René has grown High Tech Connect to a leading provider of marketing consultants in the nation, and one of the largest women-owned businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area. She’s extremely proud of the team she’s built: like-minded professionals who are equally passionate about helping clients and inspiring consultants.
René is currently a member of the Silicon Valley IABC Executive Advisory Board and an IABC 500 Lifetime Member.
When she’s not working her magic for clients, you can find René managing a soccer team, doing yoga or spoiling her two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels.
| Favorite food: | Misoyaki butterfish and melting hot chocolate soufflé from Roy’s |
| Favorite drink: | Non-fat latte with Splenda |
| Best movie line: | “Life moves pretty fast. You have to stop and look around once in a while or you could miss it.” (Ferris Bueller from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) |
| Would rather be… | sunning on the beach in Cabo San Lucas, next to the mango-on-a-stick and tamale vendors |
| More about René: | http://www.facebook.com/#!/renesiegel |
Shandy Dunn, Vice President
Shandy is the skipper who keeps our team on course while tackling operational issues and aiding distressed marketing managers. Being a former hospitality industry executive means Shandy creates a culture of service-focused teamwork that exceeds customer expectations. She’s also a staffing industry executive with 20 years of experience, so there’s little in the areas of HR, payroll, compliance or contracts Shandy hasn’t tackled before.
At home Shandy is equally adept at motivating kids and managing a myriad of family activities. She can often be found at basketball practice, martial arts classes or at the dog park with her family and their beloved dog Melvin.
| Favorite food: | Breyer’s mint chip ice cream and Paul’s home-made french fries |
| Favorite drink: | Cakebread Cabernet wine |
| Best movie line: | “…Bond. James Bond.” |
| Would rather be… | backpacking in King’s Canyon National Park or on a beach in Thailand |
| More about Shandy: | www.facebook.com/shandydunn |
Michelle Stewart, Client Services Director
For 14 years Michelle has managed our major accounts and has been the primary matchmaker at High Tech Connect. She knows the fine art of getting a consultant on-boarded, creating three-way-wins, and many times guiding our larger clients through their own internal procurement processes.
Exceptional service is what keeps managers coming back to Michelle time and again, even after they’ve moved on to other companies. She honed her HR skills at Silicon Graphics, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Nordstrom. And if you’ve ever worked with Michelle in the past, chances are she’ll remember when and where—probably your email address and phone number, too.
When she’s not filling marketing gaps for clients, Michelle loves to collect wine and spend time with her family in Lake Tahoe and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
| Favorite food: | Filet Mignon from Morton’s Steakhouse |
| Favorite drink: | Rombauer Chardonnay |
| Best movie line: | “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming…” (Dory from Finding Nemo) |
| Would rather be… | Lounging under a palapa on the beach in Cabo san Lucas |
| More about Michelle: | www.facebook.com/michellestewart |
Lori Rocereto, Consultant Services Director
If you’re an independent consultant or want to be, there’s nobody better to know than Lori. She will help you fine-tune a custom profile that pinpoints your strengths and increases your chances of attracting the right client. Lori knows how to find the needles in our haystack—the really tough consulting projects that require much more than a keyword search. Her sixth sense and sleuthing skills result in minor miracles for our choosiest clients. She also manages our diversity supplier relationships with key clients like Cisco Systems, Kaiser Permanente, NetApp and Apple.
Lori’s pre-High Tech Connect background includes marketing and operations positions at IBM, Cunningham Communication and Taylor Made, as well as experience in the real estate and insurance industries.
When she’s not on the computer you’ll likely find Lori riding dressage with her daughter or taxiing kids to baseball, softball or taekwondo.
| Favorite food: | Poki sushi roll from Meiko Sushi |
| Favorite drink: | Diet Coke |
| Best movie line: | “You can’t handle the truth!” (Colonel Nathan R. Jessep, A Few Good Men) |
| Would rather be… | riding dressage on her horse Cappi or water skiing with her family |
| More about Lori: | www.facebook.com/lorirocereto |
Kai Morrison, Operations Demigod
Kai is our resident swashbuckler, an operations and benefits wrangler by day and a fight director, actor and playwright by night. His responsibilities include employee communication, events, marketing support and database management.
Kai grew up in Alaska and attended Western Washington University where he graduated with a degree in Performing Arts. His favorite class? Cultural anthropology, the study of human society. He says, “My studies in acting have been less successful in pursuing a Clooney-esque career; more successful in simply understanding people and their motivations.”
Kai came to us from the U.C. Berkeley Extension Fall Program where he honed customer service and presentation skills placating thousands of frustrated parents and students. After surviving that, and being a stage combatant in San Francisco Opera’s production of Cyrano de Bergerac with Placido Domingo, High Tech Connect should be a piece of cake for Kai.
| Favorite food: | Beef Stroganoff a la Mom |
| Favorite drink: | Pirate Grog from Forbidden Island in Alameda, CA |
| Best movie line: | “I know something you don’t… I am not left-handed!” (Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bride) |
| Would rather be… | Board game marathon! |
| More about Kai: | www.facebook.com/berkeleyfightguy |
Tammy Ferraez, Accountant
Tammy is a former corporate accountant who recently started her own business, so she is extremely sensitive to the financial and accounting challenges of our clients and consultants. She’s always on the run, juggling multiple clients and chasing a toddler.
Actually, Tammy is much more than our accountant. She’s a saint. Payables, receivables, expenses—you name it—Tammy quickly and efficiently does her magic, even making it look FUN while the rest of us cringe at the thought of balancing a checkbook. We are oh so lucky to have her left brain on our side!
| Favorite food: | Hawaiian luau plate (lomi lomi salmon, squid luau, kalua pig, lau lau, poi) |
| Favorite drink: | Authentic Thai iced tea |
| Best movie line: | “I feel the need…the need for speed! Oww!” (Tom Cruise in Top Gun) |
| Would rather be… | boogie boarding and eating a rainbow shaved ice cone at Lanikai Beach in Oahu, Hawaii |
| More about Tammy: | www.facebook.com/tammy.gindenferraez |
