Smith,Joseph Michael

I began my professional career as a lobbyist with the American Business Conference in Washington, D.C., where I was able to apply my interest in politics and business. Next, I went to work for one of our members, MCI, also headquartered in DC. It was during the heydays of telecommunications, just following the breakup of the AT&T monopoly. I had the opportunity to experience many different aspects of the business, many as they were in their infancy stage. In finance, I worked on the start-up of the company´s Retirement Savings Plan, now commonly known as a 401(k). I next moved on to the Fax Business Center, when that technology had just begun to flourish, working with manufacturers to promote the use of the service. I then did a stint in the 900 Business Unit, where we were attempting to legitimize the use of 900 service for business. Next, I worked as a project manager, working with the local phone companies to combine MCI charges on their local phone bill. I then did a stint as a manager in cross product marketing, where I had the opportunity to interact with some of the brightest and innovative minds in marketing at the time, as well as with many other aspects of the company (e.g., product development, information technology, and legal, among many others). My final position in my nearly two decades at MCI was as a senior manager in finance, where I managed a team of project managers, oversaw the pre-paid calling card business from a finance perspective, and played a role in our emergence from bankruptcy, following fraud committed following the purchase by WorldCom, and eventual purchase by Verizon. Next, I worked as a consultant enterprise architect for a boutique consulting firm, Information Dynamics, in their DC office, and whose primary client was NASA. My primary role there was to work with NASA in their strategic planning process. In 2013, I arrived at TEC CEM, to teach a few classes. It is, by far, the most fascinating and rewarding job I have ever had!