Top Echelon Network’s 2014 Fall Conference will be here before you know it (namely because the event is in September this year), and that’s why we’re pleased to announce that the keynote speaker for the conference is . . . Mike Gionta of RecruiterU!

I and other members of the Top Echelon team have had the opportunity to hear Mike present sessions at seminars and other events, and we believe that he is a good fit for this year’s Fall Conference.  One of the reasons is that his training is geared toward independent recruiting firms, and those are exactly the types of agencies to which we cater.

Below is the official bio for Mike Gionta:

Mike helps recruiting firm owners and solo recruiters explode revenue, hire great recruiters, and become a “trusted adviser” (vs. annoying vendor) to their clients by getting them out of their own way and systematizing their businesses.  Mike’s clients are able to “leap-frog” other recruiters by learning from his techniques that have resulted in annual desk-level production of $1 million to $2.1 million, as well as a firm that consistently produced $2 million to $3 million and was the 11th-fastest growing IT search firm in the country.

The dates for the 2014 Top Echelon Network Fall Conference are Tuesday, September 23, and Wednesday, September 24, and the location is the Sheraton Suites O’Hare in the Windy City of Chicago, Illinois.

Early Bird Registration for the Fall Conference is just $199 per person!  We’ve kept the cost of attending our conferences and conventions practically the same ever since we started holding these events.  We want to make it easy for you to attend so that you can meet new Trading Partners and grow your business.

We want to see YOU in Chicago.  We believe that this year’s conference offers plenty of value for your firm and will help you enjoy a great year in 2014!

Since Top Echelon Network is a split placement network, there are many different types of recruiters who are Preferred Members.  Some are exporters who provide candidates (candidate recruiters) and some are importers who receive candidates (job order recruiters).

Each year in the Network, we recognize the recruiter who provides the most candidates in a split placement situation and the recruiter who places the most candidates in a split placement situation.  These recruiters are referred to as The Supplier of the Year and The Placer of the Year, respectively.

The Supplier of the Year for 2012 is Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group.

The Placer of the Year for 2012 is Maria Hemminger of MJ Recruiters, LLC.

Trey made a total of 35 placements in the Network last year, and he supplied the candidate for every single one of those placements.

Maria, on the other hand, made 19 placements in the Network last year, and she placed the candidate in every single one of those split placement situations.

As with all of our awards, Trey and Maria will also be recognized at the 2013 Top Echelon Network National Convention in St. Petersburg Beach, Florida.  As part of that recognition, they’ll receive a plaque in front of their peers during the Awards Luncheon at the convention.

Congratulations, Trey and Maria, from everybody at Top Echelon Network!

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Up next on our list of award winners for 2012 is The Largest Split Placement Fee of the Year, and the story associated with this placement is a rather interesting one. We highlighted this placement in our “‘Comments’ and Compliments Extra” last year, not only because of the size of the fee, but also for the circumstances that surrounded it. Let’s start with the basics, though.  The placement was made by Steve Copeland of Albert Energy, LLC and Jeff Gilbert of Kingfish Technology, LLC.  Steve was the job order recruiter, and Jeff was the candidate recruiter.  The two of them placed a Global Alliance Program Director-Business Development. The amount of the fee that they split for placing that candidate: $49,000. With that total in mind, it’s not surprising that one of the recruiters was a bit superstitious about the placement.  After all, it’s not every month that a recruiter earns a placement fee as large as that one.  But I digress.  Instead, I’ll let Steve and Jeff tell the story in their own words.

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“‘The Kingfish’ of passive recruiting!  It was the fact that Jeff wore his ‘stinky lucky socks’ since January 1 that gave this hire the boost it needed.  Jeff didn’t take those socks off until our candidate showed up on the job!  He even wore them to bed.  I bet he slept in the other room with the dog . . . if the dog could stand it, that is.”

Submitted by Steve Copeland of Albert Energy, LLC regarding his split placement with Jeff Gilbert of Kingfish Technology, LLC Position Title—GLOBAL ALLIANCE PROGRAM DIRECTOR Fee Percentage—25% (Editor’s note: this is the first split placement that Copeland and Gilbert have made together in Top Echelon Network.)

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“We recruiters are a very superstitious bunch!  What can I say, I have my ‘lucky socks.’  Now that summer is upon us, you can imagine . . . they look pretty ridiculous with my flip flops.  Regardless, we have many more deals to close by year’s end!”

Submitted by Jeff Gilbert of Kingfish Technology, LLC regarding his split placement with Steve Copeland of Albert Energy, LLC Position Title—GLOBAL ALLIANCE PROGRAM DIRECTOR Fee Percentage—25%(Editor’s note: this is the first split placement that Copeland and Gilbert have made together in Top Echelon Network.)

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As you may have noticed, we’ve been recognizing Preferred Member recruiters in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog for their performance in the Network in 2012.

We’ve announced The Recruiter of the Year, the Top Ten Recruiters and the Regional Award winners in past issues, and in this blog post, I’d like to unveil “The Firm of the Year” award.  That award goes to . . . the Cameron Craig Group in Mooresville, N.C.!

Actually, this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, since Trey Cameron earned Recruiter of the Year honors for 2012.  However, Trey was one of two recruiters in the offices of the Cameron Craig Group.  The other was Gene McQueen, and their combined production helped propel the firm to the top.

Trey made a whopping 35 placements in the Network in 2012.  The truth be told, that total alone was probably enough to win The Firm of the Year award.  However, Gene contributed two more placements to that total, boosting it to 37 placements overall for the firm.

Trey and Gene have been busy already this year, with Trey making three split placements in the Network during the month of January and Gene adding another placement.

The Cameron Craig Group will be further recognized at the upcoming 2013 Top Echelon Network National Convention in St. Petersburg Beach, Florida.  From everybody at Top Echelon, I’d like to congratulate Trey and Gene for winning The Firm of the Year award for 2012!

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Why would I say that you’ll “love” the Virtual Core Group conference call schedule for the month of February?

Because during the second week of the month, we’ll be holding our calls on Valentine’s Day!

Of course, I didn’t do that on purpose. It’s just a twist of scheduling fate.  However, what better way to celebrate your love of your Trading Partners and Top Echelon Network than to attend a VCG meeting?

No?  Well, I tried.  How about your love of making more placements?  Will that get you there?  Yes?  Okay, then let’s run with that.

Virtual Core Group meetings are regularly scheduled conference calls for Preferred Member recruiters who work in the same industry or niche.

During these calls, recruiters share information about the activity they’re seeing, they share hot job orders and candidates, and they also bounce ideas off one another.  These are the activities that lead most directly to making split placements.

Below is the Virtual Core Group teleconference call schedule for the month of February (all times listed are Eastern Standard Time).

You might have noticed that I’ve made a small change to the February schedule.  The Insurance group is back on the boards.  Their meeting is slated for noon to 1 p.m. on—you guessed it—Valentine’s Day.

Remember, if you think you’d like to start a new Virtual Core Group—or join an existing one—please contact me!

Until next month, stay warm, buy your significant other something nice for the upcoming holiday, and remember that I don’t really care who wins the Super Bowl.

Love, Drea.

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As you may remember, we announced Top Echelon Network’s Regional Award winners for 2012 in five of the nine regions in last week’s issue of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.

Now it’s time to announce the winners in the other four regions!

As I mentioned before, for the purposes of this award, we break the country up into nine different regions.  The Regional Awards are based upon the Frequent Placer Program (FPP) points that Preferred Member recruiters earn during the course of the calendar year.

Members can earn FPP points in a variety of ways, starting with making split placements.  They can also earn them for telephone interviews, face-to-face interviews, and meeting other Preferred Member recruiters in person.

Below are the winners of the remaining four regions within Top Echelon Network for 2011.  The top five recruiters in each region are listed, along with the number of FPP points they earned.  The top recruiter in each region will receive an award at the 2013 National Convention in St. Petersburg, Fla. in April.  (And I’d better see you there!)

Below are the 2012 winners in our final four regions:

South Atlantic

539,699—Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

187,121—Georgette Sandifer of Gallman Consulting

172,561—Jim Strickland of BioSource International

133,788—David Kersey of Kersey & Associates, Inc.

132,828—Gene McQueen of the Cameron Craig Group

East South Central

144,879—Daniel L. Williams, CPC of The Williams Company

107,674—Ken Nunley of 7 Solutions USA

106,398—Veronica Snyder of Career Professionals, Inc.

80,321—Paul Johnson of Paul Johnson & Associates

80,286—Pamela Ratz DeVille, CPC/CIR of Managed Medicaid Services

West South Central

335,902—Sean Napoles, CPC of Career Brokers, Inc.

109,935—Ron Sunshine of Ron Sunshine Associates

104,889—Travis Jones of Career Development Partners

86,791—Greg Downs of Downs Associates

66,175—Carolyn Barcus of Barcus Associates

Mountain

97,850—Peter Oettinger of Front Line Solutions, LLC

67,077—Steve Bret Jensen of Superior Search Consultants, Inc.

62,893—Ram Kola of Stewart Cooper & Coon

56,913—Thomas Edwards of Front Line Solutions, LLC

47,749—Marty Stan of Samaritan Technical Professional

We’d like to congratulate ALL of our Regional Award winners for 2012, and we wish them continued success in Top Echelon Network in 2013!

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Now that we’ve announced the Top 10 recruiters in Top Echelon Network for 2012, let’s move on to the Regional Award winners.  (Awards are fun, are they not?)

For the purposes of this award, we break the country up into nine different regions, and the Regional Awards are based upon the Frequent Placer Program (FPP) points that Preferred Member recruiters earn during the course of the calendar year.

Members can earn FPP points in a variety of ways, starting with making split placements.  They can also earn them for telephone interviews, face-to-face interviews, and meeting other Preferred Member recruiters in person.

Below are the winners of five of the nine regions within Top Echelon Network for 2012.  The top five recruiters in each region are listed, along with the number of FPP points they earned.  The top recruiter in each region will receive an award at the 2013 National Convention in St. Petersburg, Fla. in April.

Which reminds me . . . have you registered for the convention yet?  Sign up now during Early Bird Registration.  (This is our 25th anniversary convention, so you can believe it will be one of our best events ever.)

Below are the winners in five of the Network’s nine regions for 2012.  The winners of the other four regions will be announced next week:

Pacific

101,839—Gail Williams of Williams Recruiting, Inc.

83,648—David Wood of The David Wood Company

71,365—Debbie Winkelbauer of Apple & Assoc. Inc.

53,450—Hani Mussa of KnowPeople, Inc.

35,802—Bob Moore of Computer Recruiters, Inc.

West North Central

115,167—Matt Scheihing of J. Miles Personnel Services

100,636—Bob Ferris of Ferris & Associates, LLC

62,386—Larry Baker of Computer Careers

57,645—Justin Bidwell of Bidwell & Associates, LLC

52,871—Twanda DeBorde of CMD and Associates Executive Search

East North Central

314,216—Maria Hemminger of MJ Recruiters, LLC

140,834—Chuck Szajkovics of Bulldog Recruiters, LLC

134,032—David M. Sgro of True North Consultants, Inc.

127,258—Michael Stuck of Gables Search Group, Inc.

126,870—Karen Akbal-Sturgeon of KLA Industries

New England

120,858—Richard Connors of Vista Technology

90,933—Eric Berg of JN Adams & Associates, Inc.

61,375—Joe Miglizzi, CPC of Perspective

49,826—Rob Spaulding of Spaulding Associates

45,228—John Barry of ITech Consulting Partners, LLC

Middle Atlantic

78,017—Wendy Johnson of Professionals Incorporated

73,130—Denise Milano Sprung of JA Pharma, Inc.

69,714—Larry Radzely of Adel-Lawrence Associates, Inc.

69,647—Lawrence T. Ploscowe of EXEK Recruiters, Ltd.

64,529—Kerry Boehner of KOB Solutions, Inc.

Be sure to check next week’s issue of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog for the rest of our Regional Award winners for 2012!

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Welcome to perhaps the least-surprising blog post in this issue of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.  (Or perhaps so far this year.  Or maybe ever.)

That’s because Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group has won the “Recruiter of the Month” numerous times during 2012, and he also won three of the four “Recruiter of the Quarter” awards (he was second in the fourth quarter).

So it should come as NO surprise that he was the Top-Producing Recruiter in Top Echelon Network during 2012.  (Cameron was also the Network’s Top-Producing Recruiter in 2011, and here’s the proof.)

However, there are some new names in the Top 10, as well as some familiar ones.  Besides Cameron, repeat performances were turned in by Sean Napoles, Jim Strickland, and Judy Kaplan.  Those recruiters in the Top 10 for 2012 who were not there the previous year include Maria Hemminger, Georgette Sandifer, Marc Tappis, David Kersey, Richard Connors, and Chuck Szajkovics.

Congratulations to all of these recruiters on a great 2012 to even more awards, accolades, and placements in 2013!

Below is the complete list of the Top 10 Producers Overall for 2012:

1st—Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

2nd—Sean Napoles, CPC of Career Brokers, Inc.

3rd—Maria Hemminger of MJ Recruiters, LLC

4th—Georgette Sandifer of Gallman Consulting

5th—Jim Strickland of BioSource International

6th—Marc Tappis of Opportunity Search

7th—David Kersey of Kersey & Associates, Inc.

8th—Richard Connors of Vista Technology

9th—Chuck Szajkovics of Bulldog Recruiters, Inc.

10th—Judy Kaplan of Prof’l Recruiting Consultants

We’d like to congratulate all of these recruiters and thank them for their hard work and dedication as Preferred Members of our Network.  Their efforts are greatly appreciated, and we certainly wish them even more success in the future.

We’ll be publishing the winners of other 2012 awards in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.  (In fact, we have other award winners in THIS issue!  We don’t like to waste any time.)

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Last week in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog, I presented a trivia question in our post containing recent Completed Placements.

That question was as follows: name the product television commercial contained the catchphrase, “No runs, no drips, no errors.”

And then, as a bonus: name the spokesperson for said product, who also appeared in the television commercial.

Cindy Szajkovics of Bulldog Recruiters, Inc. submitted the correct answer to both questions!

“No runs, no drips, no errors” was the catchphrase for Krylon Spray Paint commercials in the 1980s.  The spokesperson?  Johnny Bench, former catcher for the Cincinnati Reds!

Below is a YouTube embed of one of the Kryon Paint commercials in question.  This one not only features Bench, but it also includes another former Major Leaguer, one who became an actor after his baseball career: Bob Uecker.

“He missed the tag!  He missed the tag!”

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Is this really the last chance for your recruiting firm to get a FREE website evaluation from Top Echelon?

No, it’s not . . . not really.

BUT the response to our free offer has been tremendous, as over 125 recruiting firms have indicated they want to have their website evaluated.  As you might imagine, we’re working at a fever pitch to provide those evaluations.  (Each one involves a three-page document outlining our analysis and recommendations.)

We’re in the process of scheduling consultations to review the evaluations.  Since it’s only January 2, there’s still plenty of time to request an evaluation and schedule a consultation.  (Unless, of course, you’re still on vacation.  In that case, you might have some hesitation in regards to this proclamation.)

Where was I?

Ah, yes.  This blog post will be the last time we reference our free website evaluations for a while.  We have other irons in fire, bigger fish to fry, more chickens to count before they hatch, and so on.  (Not the least of which is the 2013 Top Echelon Network National Convention!  Have you registered?  Have you?)

In the meantime, let me reiterate that there are four areas we address during these evaluations.  Of course, in keeping with Top Echelon’s mission statement, our focus on these areas is designed to help recruiting firms make more placements.

The four areas are as follows:

1. Layout/design
2. Navigation/functionality
3. Search engine optimization (SEO)
4. Mobile availability (responsive design)

Our recommendations are based upon over 15 years of providing website services for recruiting and staffing firms and our dedication to staying up-to-date on the latest in website tools and technology.

Remember, all we need to conduct a website evaluation is your firm’s website address, which you can submit by clicking on the link below:

Click here for your FREE website evaluation!

The year 2012 was more like a compressed zip file than an actual year, 12 months condensed into what seemed like six.  The next time you turn around, it will be the Fourth of July . . . then Labor Day . . . then Christmas again.

Take the opportunity now for an evaluation.  Then you won’t have to worry about it.  The site you save may be your own.

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