Energy, laughter and a contagious passion for coding - Mike brings it all to the podium. His career has taken him from minion to business owner, and he's been programming since the late '70s, when a friend brought a Commodore CPM home for the summer. He wrote his first software in Basic (including a math game that was shown at the University of Wisconsin in 1982) and later completed a degree in aerospace engineering. In 1994 he started a consulting firm with his brother, focusing on the effective use of relational technologies for scalable, high performance and mission critical applications. Mike has worked in a variety of roles including architect, project manager, developer and technical writer. The coolest part of his job? Running into people who are still using (and liking) his software applications. Mike is a published author with WROX Press and APress Books, writing primarily about getting the most from your SQL Server database. Since appearing in Microsoft's DevCast in 1994, Mike has presented technical information at seminars, conferences and corporate boardrooms across America. This music buff also plays piano, guitar and saxophone - but not at his MSDN Events.

Ultra passionate. That’s how Jeff describes his relationship with web development – and who’s to argue? Over the past 10 years, Jeff has enthusiastically applied his technical expertise to build industry-changing websites and marketing efforts for mega brands including Victoria’s Secret, Abercrombie & Fitch, Ford Motor Company, Sony, and several pharmaceutical companies. He’s especially proficient in user interface design, web standards and web application development. In addition to his developer evangelist role for Microsoft, Jeff contributes to the O’Reilly title Windows Developer Power Tools on the subject of code validation services and serves as an organizer for the CodeMash and Stir Trek conferences. On the academic front, Jeff holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Ohio’s Bowling Green State University. When he’s not solving web development challenges, Jeff’s on a mission to convert iPod users to the Zune MP3 player – one music lover at a time.

Guess what first sparked Dave’s computer infatuation? The iconic Commodore 64 and an assembly language program he wrote to sail a hot air balloon across the screen. After completing a computer science degree at Northern Illinois University, Dave launched his professional career in the Unix/C world and has spent over 15 years honing his skills as a software developer and solution architect. Before joining Microsoft, Dave cut his teeth as a technical mentor and consultant for a number of Fortune 500 companies. He’s spent most of the last decade building web-based applications for the Microsoft platform and now co-hosts the Thirsty Developer podcast. In his downtime, Dave loves discovering new music with his Zune pass, defending the universe against rogue 13-year-olds on Xbox Live (thanks, Dave), and playing golf – whenever his wife lets him.

Chris Bowen is a Developer Evangelist with Microsoft in the Boston area. He works with all things .NET, but has specialties in application architecture and building highly-scalable transactional web systems. A software architect and engineer with over 15 years of experience, Chris joined Microsoft after holding senior positions at Monster.com, VistaPrint, Staples, and IDX Systems. He is coauthor of "Professional Visual Studio 2005 Team System" from WROX and the upcoming “Essential Windows Communication Foundation” from Addison-Wesley. He holds an M.S. in Computer Science and a B.S. in Management Information Systems, both from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Jeff joined Microsoft just after the release of Windows 95 – what he calls “heady days” that laid the groundwork for his current fascination with all things .NET. He also watched the long march of Windows 2000 and can brag that he was on the ground for the browser wars. At Microsoft, Jeff has worn a number of different hats, working as an infrastructure consultant, an e-commerce specialist, and an enterprise technology advisor. In his current role, Jeff helps customers and developers to evaluate, develop and deploy applications built on the .NET framework and the Microsoft platform.

An avid reader and Starbucks junkie, you will inevitably find Mithun riding a caffeine high with a book in his hand. Before joining the MSDN Events roster, he served as a product manager with the Microsoft Speech Server team, from the product’s incubation to the final release of Microsoft Speech Server 2007. Mithun also conducted a road show evangelizing and recruiting partners and ISVs to expand the Speech Server partner ecosystem and conducted trainings across the country. He’s passionate about the unified communications sector and loves applying his technical background and business savvy to make Microsoft a top player in the field. He’s spoken at numerous conferences, including SpeechTek, Microsoft Global Briefing, ICCM, Tech Ready, TechEd, and the Microsoft Mobile and Embedded Devices Conference. Before joining Microsoft, Mithun worked at Oracle on the 9iAS product and at Aditi/Talisma Corporation on a CRM product for mid-market users. He enjoys meeting customers with different backgrounds and profiles, and helping them build products that will simplify people’s lives. In his downtime, Mithun takes road trips and goes flying – after a round of double espressos, of course.

Danilo Diaz, aka Dani, is a Developer Evangelist for Microsoft's Mid-Atlantic State district. In this role, he helps developers understand Microsoft's product offerings and strategy. Prior to joining Microsoft, he worked at Perficient Philadelphia where he helped establish their Mobility Practice. Dani has over 8 years of experience in the IT industry. His ability to identify and utilize the right blend of technologies to solve business needs has been an asset on all projects he has worked on. Dani's first .NET project was a Web-based eLearning application which was built on ASP.NET 1.0 Beta 2. As a consultant he has served the roles of system architect, technical lead, developer and mentor on various large and small projects. He has worked on SOA-based applications, Web applications, Windows applications and mobile systems.

Andrew is a Developer Evangelist for Microsoft Corporation, covering the Mid-Atlantic states. He has been working with computers since the days of the Commodore PET, hacking game programs loaded from cassette tapes to say funny stuff, and has been writing and speaking about developer technologies for more than a decade. While his developer specialty is web development, Andrew also enjoys gadgets of any stripe, gaming, cigars, and poker. In his free time he can be found spending time with his wife and two sons, reading, or playing music.

For Clint, it's all about the architects. He was educated as a mechanical engineer, but quickly saw the error of his ways and has spent his entire 17-year career in software development, preparing for his current role as an architect evangelist. Cutting his teeth on Turbo Pascal (with Objects!) in high school, he moved to C++ and immersed himself in the Windows API when he landed his first professional job. When .NET and C# were released he immediately jumped in head first and never looked back. Clint has applied his expertise to a wide range of industries, including utilities, education, call centers, construction, and beer brewing (tough assignment, Clint!). When he’s not deep in a conversation or delivering presentations on software layering, Clint enjoys studying game design and 3D game engine architecture.

Originally from Chicago, Daniel moved to California in the early ‘90s – right when the Bulls were stampeding the NBA. He dabbled in several industries (from hospitality to law) and soon found his niche in engineering and information technology. Before joining Microsoft, Daniel served as the Chief Architect and CEO for Odyssey Consulting Group, which provided custom application development for mid-range companies. In the Microsoft fold, Daniel has been a Regional Director, an MVP (ASP / ASP.NET), a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT), a Microsoft Certified Solution Developer, and a .NET insider for the Southern California region. He’s also the founder of the SoCalDotNet Developers Group, teaches a .NET certification course at California State University Fullerton, and previously served as president of INETA – the international .NET association. Away from the screen, you’ll find Daniel racing to bring down his marathon times (don’t ask for numbers) or putting his Canon camera through the paces in search of the perfect shot.

Sara Ford is a Microsoft Developer Evangelist for the South Bay area in California. Previously, she was the Program Manager for CodePlex, Microsoft’s open source project hosting site. Prior to CodePlex, she worked on the Visual Studio team for 4 different releases and ran the popular Visual Studio Tip of the Day series. In 2008, she authored her first book Microsoft Visual Studio Tips by Microsoft Press and donated all her royalties to start a scholarship fund for Hurricane Katrina survivors of her hometown. Her life-long dream is to become a 97 year old weightlifter, so she can be featured on the local news.

Call it a tech-world walk on the wild side. Glen once used a VB 3.0 data control in a production application – and lived to tell about it. Now he's getting his adrenaline fix by diving deep into the .NET technologies. "There's a lot in there!" says Glen, a self-described natural paraphraser who has a knack for explaining complex ideas without inducing snores. Glen, who is MCAD and MCSD.NET certified, has over 12 years of experience as a software trainer and presenter. He's delivered MSDN Events seminars to thousands of developers and spoken at conferences including Tech-Ed and Dev Days. Glen has also managed the design, implementation and deployment of several enterprise software solutions built on Windows DNA and .NET architectures, and has worked extensively with Microsoft SQL and other members of the Microsoft server family. His expertise includes designing for scalability, usability and supportability, and his current passion is developing mobile applications. Glen graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in Applied Psychology, specializing in learning and human-computer interactions. Originally from New York, Glen lives near Atlanta and spends his downtime relaxing with his wife and three children, playing the piano and performing improv comedy.

Based in Tampa, Joe is the developer evangelist for Microsoft Gulf States district, bringing all things .NET to his fellow coders in Florida. He serves a variety of different clients, from corporate accounts to broad-reach events and user groups. He also lectures on numerous development and architectural topics, with a spotlight on .NET frameworks, Visual Studio.NET, and associated servers. Joe worked previously for Microsoft Consulting Services in the custom application development arena, specializing in Internet, Web Services, Rich Client, B2B, and browser-delivered systems. Joe has also lent his technical expertise to eAngler.com, Arthur Andersen, Cap Gemini, EDS and IBM. Away from the office, you’ll find Joe trying to coax redfish, snook, and trout from various nooks and crannies around Tampa Bay, and playing an occasional game of poker at Derby Lane. His two little girls, Ryan and Morgan, are already honing their angling skills and will soon give Joe a run for his money on the local waters.

Brian Hitney is a Developer Evangelist with Microsoft Corporation, covering North and South Carolina. He frequently delivers presentations and works with local community groups and customers on emerging technologies, .NET, and developer tools. Prior to his Developer Evangelist role, Brian worked as a software engineer on a Windows Vista team in Redmond, and before he joined Microsoft he helped build large scale e-commerce applications for various companies across the United States. Brian is based out of Greensboro, NC.

Ever since creating his first "Choose Your Own Adventure" video game using Commodore BASIC, Dave has been fascinated by the potential of computers and the worlds they can bring to us. Debuting in the Enterprise space with Visual Basic 5, he has over 12 years IT experience and has worked for numerous Fortune 100/500 companies. These include industries such as retail and life sciences on projects ranging from smart Devices, Web services, and rfid to the creation of Web sites within the retail industry. He enjoys talking about technology and has taught full day courses on various Microsoft topics as well as being a presenter at both MSDN Events and Microsoft DevDays. His current passion is showing companies in the Mid-Atlantic states how important good user experience is within the Enterprise as well as how easy it is to get to. In his spare time, Dave enjoys gaming online with fellow Massive Multiplayer Online (MMO) users, as well as reliving the 80's arcade classics on X-Box Live.

After serving as the drum major for his high school marching band (Go Brahmas!), Chris quickly turned his attention to technology. He worked as a senior architect for The Capital Group in San Antonio and as an architect for the global solution provider, Avanade. As a consultant, Chris has worked on enterprise-class Windows and web-based applications for a variety of clients in numerous vertical markets, ISVs, and other solution providers. In March 2007, Chris joined Microsoft and now keeps his plate more than full with a focus on building, growing and enhancing the developer communities in North Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Although he retired the band uniform some time ago, Chris is still an avid music fan and amateur composer who’s accomplished in both clarinet and guitar. He’s also a former Cookie Dad for his daughter’s Girl Scout troop and Committee Chair for his children’s Cub Scout pack. Oh, and if you’re looking for a little bribe material, Chris is seriously hooked on the iced tea from Bill Miller’s BBQ in San Antonio and Austin, Texas.

What inspires someone from Fargo, North Dakota to dream of becoming a United Nations translator? Love of words, of course. A self-described language geek, Lynn is fascinated by languages and semantics. She understands that life rarely travels in a straight line, and her own career reflects this winding path. Lynn moved from a degree in linguistics to become a business executive, and then launched her own software development, training and consulting company. She’s done production work with all versions of .NET, BizTalk, K2.Net, SharePoint, SQL Server, Analysis Services, InfoPath, MOM, and Active Directory, and holds an array of certifications, including MCT, MCSD, MCITP, MCSE, MCDBA and MSF. Lynn is also the author of Foundations of SQL Server 2005 Business Intelligence from Apress. She gets her biggest on-the-job buzz from developing architecture – translating business needs into technical solutions that provide real value and opportunities. In her spare time, Lynn gives back to the community by supporting children’s education. Her current projects include work with the Mona Foundation (Redmond, Washington) and SmartCare (Lusaka, Zambia).

Peter Laudati is a Developer Evangelist with Microsoft. In his current role, Peter works with the developer community in New York and New Jersey to support area user groups, code camps, and other events. Previously, he worked as a consultant in Microsoft’s services division. As a consultant, he worked on several application development projects and provided architectural guidance for large customers throughout the NY & NJ metro area. He lives with his family in central New Jersey and loves kayaking and biking at the Jersey Shore.

Jennifer claims she’s got the coolest job in the company. She learns about Microsoft’s new technologies for developers, takes them for a spin, then delivers the details to her colleagues and clients. Before she landed the prized developer evangelist gig, Jennifer was a software developer in Microsoft’s Natural Interactive Services division, where she filed two patents for her work in search and data mining algorithms. She also held positions with Ford Motor Company, Natural Instruments, and Soar Technology. In the last year, Jennifer dove headfirst into the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), the Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), Windows Workflow, Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO), ClickOnce, the UAC in Windows Vista, Silverlight, the .NET Framework 3.5, and Visual Studio 2008. Jennifer holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering and a Master’s degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where her (seriously brainy) graduate work focused on artificial intelligence and computational theory.

Technology is useless if it doesn’t serve a clear purpose. That’s Zain’s philosophy. In fact, showing people how technology can make their lives better delivers his greatest on-the-job thrills. For over 14 years Zain has been teaching and consulting on the latest Microsoft technologies. He’s been a Microsoft Certified Trainer since 1995 and holds all major Microsoft certifications, plus credentials from Cisco, Checkpoint and CompTIA. Zain launched his development career with Visual Basic 3.0 and honed his implementation skills with Windows NT 3.51 and OS/2. He is the creator of Virtual World Evangelism (VWE) which is an effort to build communities in virtual places like Second Life and OpenSim. He is not only a proponent of the community aspect of virtual worlds but also is a supporter of the myriad business applications that these new mediums offer. Zain’s efforts have been featured by eWeek, Redmond Developer News, and many others. He is a frequent speaker at events in Second Life and other virtual worlds. Zain is polishing his gaming chops and hoping that someone will hire him as a professional video game player. You can also find him sneaking off to eat Dairy Queen Blizzards whenever he’s on the road. Just don’t tell his wife.

Digging for answers and discovering connections are Jim’s obsessions. He’s built his fair share of applications for fun and profit, but attacking new technologies, understanding how they work, and communicating the details back to fellow developers is what gets him going each day. Starting with Microsoft C on a 286 in the late ‘80s, Jim’s career has focused on standalone Microsoft technologies and interoperability with the likes of CORBA and J2EE. He holds an MCPD: Enterprise Application Developer certification and was a certified Sybase instructor. As the co-author of two books on PowerBuilder, Jim has spoken at numerous events in the U.S., Canada and Europe over the past 15 years. If he weren’t digging around in technology, Jim would have been a classical archaeologist. That’s why he takes a week off every July to help run the National Junior Classical League Convention for secondary school students of Latin and Greek.

Expect Brian to get (in his own words) “super excited” whenever he talks about technology, especially cloud computing, patterns, and practices. That’s a good thing, given that his job is to help customers strategically leverage Microsoft technologies and take their architecture to new heights. Before joining Microsoft in March 2008, Brian was senior director of technology strategy for a major Midwest partner and has over 13 years of expertise in information technology management. His consulting experience includes e-commerce, extranets and business technology for numerous industries, including real estate, financial services, health care, retail, and state government institutions. Brian also has exceptional proficiency in the Microsoft .NET framework, Service Oriented Architecture, building ESBs, and both smart client and web based applications. Brian’s the co-founder of the non-profit organization CodeMash (www.codemash.org) and speaks at various regional and national technology events, such as TechEd. Armed with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science and Physics from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, Brian is a zealous gamer with a special weakness for Fallout 3.

Name a role in the software industry, and Clark has probably played it. He started as a Y2K tester and has since worked as a developer, lead, “build monkey,” solutions architect and project manager. His professional sweet spot however, lies in designing and building software solutions that make life easier – there’s no chance for boredom and constant opportunities for growth. Clark is MCSD certified and received top Microsoft honors with the Circle of Excellence Award. He’s a graduate of Western Illinois University and before joining Microsoft in 2005, he served as a solutions architect at Allstate Insurance Company. As a senior developer evangelist and Visual Studio team system ranger, Clark brings a good dose of humor and a zest for life to the podium. You can hear Clark’s technical musings on “The Smackdown” at DeveloperSmackdown.com and The Thirsty Developer podcast – or find him getting grease under his nails in the garage. Clark’s a muscle car fanatic who’s currently finishing a body-off restoration of his 1970 Chevrolet Camaro.

Bill loves creating the applications that often pop right into his head. Unfortunately, it takes his fingers a little longer to type them in. Bill is MCSD certified and has logged more than 20 years as a software developer. Previously, Bill worked for a regional consulting firm where he developed applications that managed internal business operations in areas including IT service management, transportation logistics, and financial management. Bill was responsible for building integration applications between various ISV's products and the client's IT infrastructure. He also spent more than seven years at StrideRite Corporation, where he honed his development skills in Visual Basic, C++ and a range of IT roles. Bill has been collaborating with Microsoft since 1992, and continues to prize his Visual Basic 1.0 Beta Thunder Clock. He's given over 300 presentations to date, and is currently developing software for a flight computer in NASA’s Small Aircraft Transportation System. One additional item, Bill is also a very active pilot. Want a good story? Ask Bill about his Hurricane Katrina efforts sometime. What's the toughest part of managing a 50-member team? "Those developer types always think they know it all," Bill says with a wink.

Like James Bond on secret assignment, Bruno spent his pre-MSDN Events days as a Microsoft premier field engineer – traveling around the clock to solve the most hair-raising client problems and meltdowns. From Asia to Latin America to Europe and Canada, Bruno has taught in nuclear power plants, assisted with life-or-death medical applications, and debugged multi-million-dollar financial trading software. Bruno has a finance and accounting degree from UC Berkeley and worked for several years as a money manager. Developing financial models to construct low-risk, high-return investment portfolios sparked his interest in computing, and the rest is self-taught history. Bruno brings two decades of worldwide training experience to his MSDN presentations, instructing students on C#, .NET, C++, SharePoint, J++, HTML, Web Parts and much more. He’s a Microsoft Certified Solution Developer with a wide array of platforms in his repertoire, a seasoned author and Microsoft channel partner trainer, and a confirmed thrill seeker. Bruno’s also a stand-up comedy connoisseur who works hard to make his audiences laugh – just like his role model, Anders Hejlsberg.

Philip Wheat started out in development back when you learned from Compute Magazine (by typing in the code) and had to know something about soldering to expand your memory with most computers. When he entered college he had his eyes set on Aerospace Engineering, but between the call of the code, and the job market at the time, he quickly realized that there was pay in knowing about his passion, and he completed his studies in Computer Science. After his graduation, he worked in the field for a number of years, and seeing the state of the industry decided to go back into the Master's Program in Computer Science – which was one of his better ideas as it brought him to the attention of Texas Instruments, which enabled him to work in the early stages of some of the groundbreaking technologies that are in use today. Some of his personal projects include Embedded Systems, Knowledge Management, Augmented Reality, and Autonomous Systems. You'll find him supporting groups of both geek social, and developer focus, and connecting with as many interesting people as he can. He's always interested in hearing what people are doing, and learning from the innovative people he knows, passionate developers, designers, and architects! If you want to keep up with where he is and what he's doing, you can find out some of his current activities at his blog.