Central Ohio IT Community Unites at CDO Magazine's Year-End Celebration Dinner

CDO Magazine celebrated a successful year with Central Ohio’s senior technology executives at The Club at Corazon in Columbus December 6. The Central Ohio IT Community Leaders Year-End Celebration Dinner presented a unique opportunity for networking and reflection, fostering a deeper sense of community among participants.

CDO Magazine Founder and Publisher Steve Wanamaker says, "The gathering was more than just a celebration; it truly reflected the unity and spirit within our Ohio IT community. Getting all the tech and data leaders together to reminisce about the past year and discuss what lies ahead — that's what makes the event special.”

It was a “great opportunity to mingle and mark the year,” for Anupam Srivastava, CIO and CISO, State of Ohio Department of Administrative Services.

Payal Thakur, JobsOhio CAO/Director of Enterprise Analytics, says: “It is an absolute honor and a pleasure to be here at this CDO Magazine event. I must say this is a great, great collection of powerful brains, powerful people, human people that are not just connecting, but advising each other. We are throwing out ideas and talking about it and it is amazing. We usually don’t get this time and the people to actually talk about things, whether it is generative AI, or something as simple as data governance. Steve and his team are phenomenal and have taken care of every single thing I can think of and it is one of the best events I have been to this year.”

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Sharing her experience from the holiday gathering, Hope Yin, U.S. Bank SVP and Head of Engineering Engagement, says, “It is really good to see all the friends, the Central Ohio community and CDO Magazine. We can really learn from each other and celebrate the holidays!”

“It’s a great event. It’s always interesting to meet new people, and talk about different industries and the challenges,” says Chris Crites, Director of Cyber Security Operations and Incident Response at Diebold Nixdorf. “Ohio is a really big tech place, and I feel like it just keeps getting bigger and bigger, especially Columbus. It’s a small world out there, so it’s nice to run into people and know we are going to connect again at different events,” Crites adds.

Executives attending the CDO Magazine Columbus End of Year Holiday Party included:

Colonel (Retired) Craig W. Baker, The Adjutant General's Department Cyber Reserve Administrator; David Blum, United Wheels Inc. CIO; Lauren Burke, CoverMyMeds Data Scientist; Tracie Cleveland Thomas, Key Bank Senior Vice President, Digital Transformation; Chris Crites, Diebold Nixdorf Director of Cyber Security Operations and Incident Response; Samuel Davis, Nationwide Business Delivery Operations Leader E & S Specialty E-Risk; Renee Tolliver, Gartner Executive Partner; Steve Gruetter, Expedient Director of Market and Channel Strategy; Rooma Hartman, CAS Director, Application Technology; Erich Henderson, JPMorgan Chase Software Development Agility Lead; Brett Hudspeth, Humana IT VP, Clinical & Interoperability Segment CIO; Jeff Jacobs, Intellitech Corporation Chief Technologist/ CIO; Connie Matthews, ReynCon Founder and CEO; Angelo Mazzocco, Avaap Vice President of Advisory Services; Duane Powell, City of Hilliard CIO; Sumeeti Shrivastava, Cardinal Health Manager, Cyber Security; Praba Siva, Target Engineering Leader; KJ Skapik, Andelyn Biosciences Head of Digital Workplace; Jason Skidmore, Vernovis Partner, President & CEO; Orlando Sprockel, Cameron Mitchell Restaurants Director of IT; Anupam Srivastava, Department of Administrative Services State of Ohio CIO; Payal Thakur, JobsOhio CAO/Director of Enterprise Analytics; David Vasquez, Nationwide Insurance VP, Enterprise Data Strategy and Enablement; Jeffrey Voorhees, Bread Financial VP, Enterprise, Analytics & Data Science; Sharon Wilhelm, Highlights for Children VP, Digital and Enterprise Solutions; Yanling (Hope) Yin, U.S. Bank SVP, Head of Engineering Engagement; Joy Zhao, Nationwide Insurance AVP, Analytic Technology and High Performance Computing Practice; Mohit Garg, Tiger Analytics Director of Analytics Consulting; Brian Hudson, AHEAD Principal Client Solutions Architect, Manager; Ujwal Joseph, Tiger Analytics Director, Analytics Consulting; Audra Petruziello, AHEAD Client Director; Rahul Relan, Tiger Analytics Client Partner, Analytics Consulting; Kamlesh Singh, Tiger Analytics Director Business Development; Andy Stein, AHEAD Managing Director; Owen Stein, AHEAD Client Director; Heather Sutter, Enlivened Tech President, Business Development; Michael Sutter, Enlivened Tech President, Business Development; Mindy Mobley, CDO Magazine Global Events Director; Jackie Osborne, CDO Magazine Global Communication & Partnership Leader; Lisa Runkle, CDO Magazine Global Events Manager; Steve Wanamaker, CDO Magazine Founder & Publisher; Michelle Ziegler, CDO Magazine Global VP, Partner Development & Events.