"QuESTions Answered" Team Wins QuEST Forum/UTD Marketing Competition

DALLAS, May 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- QuEST Forum recently hosted a marketing competition in conjunction with the Naveen Jindal School of Management at the University of Texas of Dallas.  The purpose of the competition was to realize QuEST Forum's goal of increasing our share of currently underrepresented segments of the ICT industry in the Americas.

The competition kicked off 30 January and teams composed of students prepared a comprehensive marketing plan for a 3-5 year planning horizon to attract and retain North American telecommunication service providers as members of QuEST Forum.

On 26 April, the five finalist teams presented to a panel of senior executives in the telecom industry.  While all of the teams demonstrated a true understanding of QuEST Forum and made insightful recommendations, the "QuESTions Answered" Team, comprised of Preston Hanisko, Tony Listi, Troy Presentenberg and Sabrina Williams, made an especially strong presentation. 

The "QuESTions Answered" Team will receive $10,000, be featured in an article in OSP Magazine and participate on a panel at a major trade event hosted by OSP in the fall of 2013.

The competition was judged by:

• Steve Pickett, President and CEO, Telmar Network Technology (A Jabil Company)
• Julia Pitlik, Senior Director of Marketing, Fujitsu Network Communications
• JoAnn Brumit, CEO and Chairman, KARLEE
• Trevor Putrah, President and COO, KGP Logistics
• Frank Antonacci, President - Central Texas Region, Verizon Wireless
• Todd Miller, Vice President, Network Reliability Center, CenturyLink
• Sharon Vollman, Editorial Director, OSP Magazine and President, PCI
• Fraser Pajak, CEO, QuEST Forum

Fraser Pajak, CEO of QuEST Forum noted, "I am very pleased with the result.  Each and every team has given us valuable input to our strategy for this segment of our market in the Americas.  I believe we have also crested a repeatable model for use in other parts of the world, to leverage the talent in local universities to develop our markets."

Formed in 1998, QuEST Forum is a unique collaboration of information and communication technologies (ICT) network operators and suppliers across the world dedicated to improving operational and supply chain quality and performance.  QuEST Forum unifies the global ICT community through the implementation of TL 9000, an ICT specific quality management system that is built on ISO 9001.  Performance benchmarking and a broad array of common metrics support both the rapid industry adoption of new technologies and the consistent quality of communication networks around the world.

SOURCE QuEST Forum