Corporate Vision August 2017

44 CORPORATE VISION / August 2017 , Redback Conferencing (Redback) is an Australian conferencing service provider, delivering an integrated conferencing service that’s simple, powerful and offers exceptional value. CEO and co-founder, Jeff Downs was recently included in our Australian CEO Top 25 and received theMost Outstanding Telecommunications Service Provider CEO accolade. To celebrate these successes, we interviewed him to find out more about the man himself and the firmhe has been at the helmof for over 10 years. Simple, Powerful and Cost-Effective As CEO and co- founder of Redback Conferencing (Redback) since July 2007, Jeff Downs is a proud father of a girl and two boys. Having moved from Canada, he loves the fact that he can go to the snow and it doesn’t come to him! He loves ice hockey and cricket – two completely opposite sports! Jeff can be summed up as an aggressive entrepreneur, who specialises in building highly successful sales organisations. He begins this interview with an insight into his approach to leadership and what Redback delivers. “I am most happy taking a leadership role - within fast paced customer centric environments. Helping these organisations both grow and develop exercises my creative side. I really enjoy making a difference – to my family, my customers and my co-workers. In addition, I have extensive conferencing and leadership experience in Australia and North America. “I am an entrepreneur, responsible for successful businesses both in Australia and further afield. It’s my unrelenting commitment to customer satisfaction, that has allowed me to build winning teams in every organisation that I have been responsible for. I would say that leading Redback Conferencing has been my most satisfying endeavour to date. “Simply put – Redback delivers simplicity and peace of mind. Everything that I do at Redback is designed to ensure that we exceed that promise.” In Jeff’s view, Redback consistently redefines conferencing, because it’s about helping you communicate in more meaningful ways with colleagues, customers, associates and members. He develops this point, before revealing the firm’s approach to social responsibility. “Whether it’s daily conference calls or professionally managed online events, we’ve got you covered! Our fully supported conferencing solutions provide a leaner greener alternative to business travel, allowing you to interact with anyone, anywhere, face-to-face in real time. “When it comes to social responsibility, giving back is part of who we are. From the very beginning, Redback has always been cognisant of the role we play in society and how we can help Australian organisations. Our collaboration and online event services provide a green alternative to travel and allows organisations, both large and small, to reduce their carbon footprint and cut down on their emissions. We have also made the conscious decision to provide monthly invoices and usage reports online, through our carbon friendly account management portal. “We’re dedicated to the Australian Charity Sector and acknowledge the value and contribution that they make in everyday lives. All registered charity customers receive a 10% discount on all Redback services. They also can create awareness and market their campaigns to the firm’s highly-engaged community, via our educational webinar series. We also encourage employees to play their role and offer them two days off per year, where they can volunteer their time to a charity of their choice. “The Redback Charity Spotlight is a quarterly initiative, which allows us to create exposure and awareness for four of our charity customers. Anyone who attends an online event, hosted by Redback or downloads content within this period, is automatically redirected to a page where they can vote for the charity closest to their heart.” 1706CV17 Looking at the firm’s work more generally - Jeff tells us that Redback make transitioning to the latest conferencing technologies easy for you to achieve - by combining teleconferencing, desktop video conferencing and web conferencing into one single platform. “Redback Conferencing services thousands of clients from every industry sector located in all states across Australia and New Zealand. Clients commonly use Redback for: business meetings; software demonstrations; record presentations to archive; discussing graphic or web designs; taking meeting minutes; sales presentations; training, CPD and online learning; online seminars and non-profit committee meetings. “Webinars, web conferencing, video conferencing – after a while it all starts sounding the same and we eventually give up on trying to implement collaboration solutions or engaging with digital events. So, here’s where it all changes, because we exist to deliver simplicity and peace of mind. “In terms of what we do, we’re an Australian organisation dedicated to helping the way that you meet, present and