The People Have Spoken! IT Honors 5 Superstar Associates

At the fourth annual IT People’s Choice Award ceremony this month, five associates were honored for their positivity, teamwork and collaboration.

The results of two online surveys determined the recipients. The first asked associates to nominate those who met the criteria developed by Phil Stevens, the Exchange’s Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Information Officer, and senior IT leaders.

The second was multiple choice, listing three to five associates who received the most nominations. Team members made one selection for each category.

“IT is a large directorate. It’s more important than ever to highlight the ways our associates support the Exchange across the organization.”

-Phil Stevens, chief administrative officer,
chief information officer

Infrastructure Support Manager Mike Waycaster was recognized by fellow associates in the Leadership category for the third year in a row.

“It’s an honor to be chosen again,” said Waycaster, who works at Exchange headquarters. “Hopefully I continue to make a positive impact on the directorate and do something good for those who’ve voted for me.”

In addition to Waycaster, the other winners were:

• Marissa Tireng, quality assurance analyst, HQ, for the category Programmer/Developer/ Analyst
• Angela Peasley, mail server administrator, HQ, for the category Infrastructure/Operations/ Business Intelligence
• Angela Comstock Bertog, field technology manager, HQ, for the category Field IT/End User Computer Technician
• Terry Vo, telecom engineer analyst, HQ, for the category Enabling IT Support

“I appreciate hearing from the front line which of our teammates is having the biggest impact on our results and our culture,” Stevens said. “IT is a large directorate. It’s more important than ever to highlight the ways our associates support the Exchange across the organization.”

7 criteria

The criteria for the IT People’s Choice Awards include:

• Focuses on delivering great results and quality solutions
• Passionate, positive and determined
• Effective collaboration and communication
• Solves for “yes”
• Offers the analytical and critical feedback to improve IT
• Enjoyable to work with
• Shares knowledge and gives credit for successes

‘People and their ideas’

IT Policy and Risk Specialist John Perry has coordinated the IT People’s Choice Awards since the first ceremony in 2015. The awards, plus the IT Innovation Award in late summer, reflect the Exchange’s values, he said.

“The two most precious aspects of any directorate are the people and their ideas,” Perry said. “That’s what we hope to cultivate with the People’s Choice Awards and the Innovation Award.”

A slide presentation can be found here.