Speakers

We will be putting together the best speakers in the region to deliver relevant and high impact presentations
Michael Wood
Bio: Michael Wood is a Microsoft Practice Director for Strategic Data Systems in Centerville, OH, but lives across the river in Kentucky. He describes himself as a problem solving, outdoorsy, user group leading, dog-loving, blog writing, solution creating, event planning, married, technology speaking, father of one kind of guy. When he's not living up to that title he's an avid reader, (horrible) violinist and gamer. Michael is one of the Founding Directors of the Cincinnati .NET User Group as well as the founder of the Cincinnati Software Architecture Special Interest Group. He is also a founding member of the software architecture web resource nPlus1 (http://nplus1.org), instigator of the informal code pairing Bitslinger events in Cincinnati and a Microsoft MVP in Windows Azure. You can catch up with Mike on his blog at http://mvwood.com/blog and on twitter under the handle @mikewo
Jay Harris
Bio: Jay is a .NET developer, a software consultant, and is president of Arana Software (www.aranasoft.com). He has been developing on the web for 15 years, since he abandoned VB3 for JavaScript because he didn’t have to wait for a compile. With a career focus on end-user experience, he is a strong advocate of practices and processes that improve quality through code, ranging from automated testing, continuous integration, and performance analysis, to designing applications from the user’s perspective. Jay is also an active speaker and leader in the developer community, serving as President of Ann Arbor .NET Developers and is co-founder for the Lansing and the Indianapolis Give Camp. Originally from Rochester, New York, he and his wife, Amy, have lived in Michigan since 2003. They like Michigan, but still consider themselves tourists, and probably always will.
Jeff McWherter
Bio: Jeff McWherter is a graduate of Michigan State University and has over 12 years of professional software development experience. Jeff is a Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer (MCSD), Microsoft Certified Database Administrator (MCDBA), Microsoft Certified Application Developer (MCAD), and Microsoft Technology Specialist (MCTS). In 2010 Jeff was awarded with the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for the third year in a row. Jeff is also a published author, with Testing ASP.NET Web Applications published by Wrox Press. Along with being an author and software developer, Jeff is very active in developing programming communities across the country by speaking at conferences and organizing events such as the Lansing Give Camp, which pairs developers with non-profit organizations for volunteer projects.
Jennifer Marsman
Bio: Jennifer Marsman is a Developer Evangelist in Microsoft’s Developer and Platform Evangelism group, where she educates developers on Microsoft’s new technologies. In this role, Jennifer displays her contagious enthusiasm for technology by speaking on a variety of Microsoft technologies. She is a frequent speaker at software development conferences across the United States. In 2009, Jennifer was chosen as "Techie whose innovation will have the biggest impact" by X-OLOGY for her work with GiveCamps, a weekend-long event where developers code for charity. She has also received many honors from Microsoft, including the Central Region Top Contributor Award, Heartland District Top Contributor Award, DPE Community Evangelist Award, CPE Champion Award, MSUS Diversity & Inclusion Award, and Gold Club. Prior to becoming a Developer Evangelist, Jennifer was a software developer in Microsoft’s Natural Interactive Services division. In this role, she earned two patents for her work in search and data mining algorithms. Jennifer has also held positions with Ford Motor Company, National Instruments, and Soar Technology. Jennifer holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Engineering and Master’s Degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Her graduate work specialized in artificial intelligence and computational theory. Jennifer blogs at http://blogs.msdn.com/jennifer and tweets at http://twitter.com/jennifermarsman.
Jeff Fansler
Bio: Jeff Fansler is the Founder and President of Fanzoo Technology, Inc. He is also a father, hockey player, home brewer, major geek, and enjoys long walks in his office with a picture of the beach on the monitor. Jeff’s career has been focused on bringing the benefits of software and the internet to a wide range of business needs. Jeff started Fanzoo Technology, Inc. in 2006 and has helped several clients design, develop, and support products and custom line of business applications. Throughout his career he has learned a lot about the business of software but more than anything, he has learned that there is always more to learn and that everyone has something to contribute.
Micheal Eaton
Bio: Michael Eaton has been developing awesome solutions using Microsoft tools and technologies since 1994, but in 2001 he broke free from the confines of the cube farm to go out on his own. While he lives in the middle-of-nowhere Michigan, he serves clients throughout the mid-west. Well known for his dislike of web development and box lunches, his focus over the past few years has been on XAML-based technologies like WPF and Silverlight. He speaks at regional events and user groups, runs the Kalamazoo X Conference and helps with the Ann Arbor Give Camp. He is also a C# MVP. When not working on projects or spending time with his family, he treats his World of Warcraft addiction with ample doses of time on his XBox 360.
Amelia Marschall
Bio: Amelia Marschall is a Partner and Creative Director at Gravity Works (www.GravityWorksDesign.com) in East Lansing. She holds a Bachelors degree from Northern Michigan University in Graphic Design and Marketing. Amelia has over five years of graphic design experience ranging from logos and branding, print media, and website design. She is continually exploring the latest techniques in website design and is one of the rare designers who likes to code. (Or, one of the rare coders who likes to design!) She also has a love of typography, and can probably identify any font you show her. When she is not designing or building websites, she enjoys swimming, rock climbing, skiing, pottery, and competing in triathlons.
Leon Gersing
Bio: Leon is a software artisan with EdgeCase, LLC. (edgecase.com) He works primary with web technologies providing custom solutions to our worldwide clients. He has recently started a new endeavor No Spoon Software, with co-founder Jerry Nummi, that seeks to bring new and exciting solutions to the emerging mobile markets. No Spoon’s first app is a Campfire business chat client called Sparks which is available now for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch in the Apple App Store. You can read more about No Spoon Software at http://nospoonsoftware.com.
Jamie Wright
Bio: Jamie Wright is president of Brilliant Fantastic, a software development consulting service provider and ISV for software management applications. He has over ten years software development experience in Microsoft technologies and has developing in .NET since the first beta release. He specializes in application architecture, design patterns, object-oriented design, and business objects using the .NET framework. He loves spending time with his family, blogging at http://ww.wrightin.gs and he is currently getting therapy for his gadget addiction.