GARY CONNOR DirectLine Technologies' chief information officer, Gary Connor, is one of the reasons the fundraising company has received recent awards: an "IT Award" for technology from Stanislaus County, "Top 100 Small Businesses in California", and "Top 500 Small Businesses in America". Gary is the architect of automated information systems that have garnered national attention. The integrated systems Gary created allowed DirectLine to provide live data access to customers in a PCI-DSS certified environment, while automatically moving real-time calling data into sales, quality control, billing, and administrative processses, something that has benefited DirectLine as well as its clients. Gary had an aptitude for analysis early on. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, his father's work with the United States government caused the family to move frequently. "In school, I was always the quiet, smart one. In the second grade, my mother used to take me to the beach, and for fun, she would give me algebra problems to do in my head," says Gary. Gary began his college education at General Motors Institute, which ran joint programs with MIT and Renssalear, where he studied engineering on a full scholarship. After deciding that engineering wasn't for him, Gary transferred to Northern Arizona University where he earned both bachelor's and master's degrees in educational psychology. Even while majoring in psychology, his analytic skills paid off. "During my master's program, a third of the students in my statistical analysis class hired me to help them," he says. A doctoral fellowship took Gary to UCLA where his career path soon changed; while taking classes at UCLA he needed a job and went to work at the school's cross-town rival, the University of Southern California (USC). Working in the registrar's office he met Martha, also a university administrator. Gary subsequently completed his PhD in Educational Administration and the two moved to Portland Oregon where Gary served as director of institutional research at the prestigious Reed College. Gary's next career move was to California State University, Stanislaus (CSUS) in Turlock, California, where he became the university's first director of institutional research. His work included program and budget planning, enrollment projections and creating detailed database-supported cases for university projects-all data intensive undertakings that required his skills in analysis and information systems. His expertise with computers led Gary to become one of the founding members of the Macintosh Consultants Network. In 1989, Gary left CSUS to start his own software business, which served communications, pharmaceutical, and engineering firms such as Nippon Telephone and Telegraph, Disney, AMGEN, Matsushita, Sony, and Rockwell International. Gary later sold his two software companies to join Martha at DirectLine, where he created Funder, the technological backbone of the company. "Our good fortune, in having a world-renowned software engineer under our own roof, has allowed us to sustain growth while continuously improving customer service," reports Martha Connor. Funder is a fully integrated system comprised of database management, telecommunications, secure interactive web access, voice recording and report writer components. This one automated and integrated system displays each employee's performance in relation to goals and rankings minute-by-minute throughout work shifts and produces detailed reports. Clients can access Funder through DirectLine's secure website where they can review employee performance, enter payments they have received, update information, view calls per prospect and listen to the voice recording of each donor call. The system also accepts and segments client data, automatically dials calls appropriate to each time zone, displays the script relative to the specific prospective donor and project, documents donor commitments, creates a digital voice recording of each commitment and prints thank-you letters and reminder notices. In addition, Funder produces employee schedules, daily work plans, payroll timesheets and monthly employee performance evaluations-all automatically. "Each year we've added new, customer-driven features which enhance call quality and overall personnel management," stated Gary. "It's really a secret to our ongoing success."