• Sun Microsystems
• Cisco
• IBM
• Motorola
• Solectron
• San Carlos School District
• Yu Ai Kai
• PC/104 Consortium
• Sunnyvale Chamber: Star B2B
• High Technology Consortium
• NEC
• PeopleSoft
• Netscape/AOL

High Tech Consortium

Catherine Tornbom, CEO of Interfuse Associates, was engaged by the High Tech Consortium (HTC) to facilitate enhanced communication, trust and goodwill among the HTC membership. Comprised of senior executives from a number of high-tech giants like Cisco Systems, Dell Computer, IBM, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, Motorola, Solectron and Sun MicroSystems, the HTC needed immediate guidance to move forward in fulfilling its desired objectives.

Months had gone by and the group was stymied by concerns regarding proprietary vendor relationships. A key objective was to pool resources and leverage shared information about the Y2K readiness of key suppliers and service providers. Beyond that decision, however, there was considerable disagreement and conflict among the HTC membership as to how to proceed given the confidential, proprietary relationships and competitiveness between some of the HTC member companies.

Catherine Tornbom infused open communication and trust into the HTC membership through carefully orchestrated goal-setting training sessions. With her mentoring and coaching skills, Ms. Tornbom fostered a shared vision of group created objectives. This led to strong commitment, co-ownership and critical results. The outcome was a collaborative environment in which the HTC moved ahead, met its objectives and its deadlines in an amicable and powerful manner.

_________

"Catherine Tornbom did an excellent job of putting the High Tech Consortium membership on the same page. With this many high-level Fortune 500 executives and competitors in one group, it was inevitable that there were differing perspectives on how to best get things done. Where there had been months of delay and tension, Ms. Tornbom rapidly transformed the group to one of cohesion and unity. Collaboration does work when handled properly. Ms. Tornbom made a substantial difference and the High Tech Consortium achieved its mission. I strongly recommend Catherine Tornbom to all companies when the stakes are high."

Board of Directors Retreat

Catherine Tornbom was hired to help the Executive Director and the Board of Directors of Yu Ai Kai (Japanese Senior Services in San Jose, CA) resolve major differences tied to divergent perspectives on policies, procedures and communication issues. An immediate requirement was the resolution of these long standing issues and the creation of a strategic plan that would entail full member participation.

Ms. Tornbom, CEO of Interfuse Associates, resolved the highly charged issues in a systematic and constructive fashion by devising an organizational assessment, structuring effective team meetings, designing a retreat, facilitating the retreat and conducting a post retreat integration. Her constructive suggestions and process-oriented focus kept things on track.

The outcome was a very creative strategic plan. The Board Members were delighted to see a wonderful new direction for Yu Ai Kai. The anxiety going into the process, due to long standing conflict, was completely diffused and the team spirit among the Board of Directors was dramatically enhanced. Everyone walked away with a fresh enthusiasm and sense of team unity.

_________

"Catherine Tornbom made a major impact and improvement on behalf of Yu Ai Kai. Where there had been stalemates and conflict, Ms. Tornbom instilled team spirit and a results-oriented approach. With her outstanding assistance, the Board of Directors resolved its differences and an excellent and highly creative strategic plan was formulated and implemented. Whenever organizations are at an impasse or have conflict among their leadership, Ms. Tornbom can put things back on track and ensure that things get done."

Partner Forum Spring 2004

Catherine Tornbom was featured as a key presenter of this year's Partner Spring Forum, an annual leadership training conference for corporate strategic alliance and partnership professionals. The theme for this year's conference was the "Courage To Lead". The goal was to provide new insights and competencies in leadership to the conference participants who come from all over the globe to achieve and sustain their competitive edge in forming and maintaining the best strategic alliances.

Strategic alliances have emerged as a distinct competency over the past decade in the management of the business enterprise and have contributed greatly to the transformation of the corporation in the United States and Europe. Companies estimate that alliances account for 35% of their market value and expect that to rise to 48% by 2007 according to the CGCP, University of Maastricht and Eindhover University of Technologies.

Ms. Tornbom set the stage for the conference in which she requested the members to tap into their own experience as wisdom to find meaning in their work and to take responsibility for their success at the workshop. In follow on sessions, Ms. Tornbom explored leadership issues around thought-provoking topics such as fearless questions, collaborative answers and compelling solutions. The conference participants were enthusiastic and delighted with Ms. Tornbom citing the power of her sessions and how her methods made a demonstrable impact upon the attendees.

_________

"I really enjoyed Catherine Tornbom's thought-provoking presentations at Spring Forum 2004. I walked away filled with new ideas and inspiration on leadership that were crafted due to her excellent discussions. I particularly enjoyed fearless questions and collaborative answers. Two thumbs up for Ms. Tornbom. If you have an opportunity to attend one of her presentations, go."

Testimonial:

"Ms. Tornbom's presentation and supporting material was truly outstanding during the Partner Summit 2004. I found her worksheets and suggestions to be focused, practical and out-of-the-box. In my role, it is critical to find the value-add and Ms. Tornbom certainly provided it for me."

Strategic Planning for STAR B2B

Catherine Tornbom, CEO of Interfuse Associates, was engaged to conduct a strategic planning session to formulate annual goals for calendar 2004 for one of Silicon Valley's few business-to-business networking groups. Comprised of successful business entrepreneurs, STAR B2B is a by-invitation-only membership filled with smart professionals who value their time and want an outstanding networking experience.

Ms. Tornbom designed the two sessions so that they were highly interactive and participatory. The result was an abundance of creative and practical responses around the question of how to ensure future success and group vitality over the coming year. During this excellent process the members came away with a clear idea of what success meant to them, the participants committed to agreed upon specific activities to fuel that success, to date all the members have enthusiastically participated in meeting agreed upon goals, and there is demonstrably stronger group cohesion and flourishing membership.

_________

"Catherine Tornbom of Interfuse Associates is truly a breath of fresh air. She has this wonderful way of drawing the audience in for complete participation. The process of goal setting can be challenging in a group of twenty people. Ms. Tornbom made it collegial and very enjoyable. We became creative, playful and open to change. The outcome was an excellent set of objectives that all of us own and implement. This is definitely not another of those "stick-it-in-the-drawer " sets of goals that sound good but go nowhere. When high quality results are important, I encourage any organization from Fortune 500 to emerging companies to contact Ms. Tornbom. She really makes great things happen in a powerful and persuasive manner."