Mike Benkovich delivers technical presentations around the U.S. as a developer evangelist on the Microsoft Developers Network (MSDN) team at Microsoft. He has worked in a variety of professional roles, including architect, project manager, developer, and technical writer. Mike is also an author of two books, published by WROX Press and APress, that show developers how to get the most from their SQL databases. Since appearing in the 1994 Microsoft DevCast, Mike has presented technical information at seminars, conferences, and corporate boardrooms across America. Twitter: @mbenko

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.

Doris is a Developer Evangelist at Microsoft for the Western region of the United States. Doris has over 13 years of experience in the software industry working in several open source web tier technologies, Java platform, and distributed computing technologies. She has developed and delivered over 400 keynotes, technical sessions, code camps worldwide, published widely at numerous international conferences and user groups including JavaOne, O'Reilly, SD Forum and worldwide Java User Groups (JUG). Doris works very closely to create and foster the community around NetBeans, Glassfish, and related technologies. Before joining Microsoft, Doris Chen was a Technology Evangelist at Sun Microsystems. Doris received her Ph.D. from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) in computer engineering, specializing in medical informatics. She loves to travel and she has visited 48 countries (out of 872) so far. In her spare time, she also enjoys music, movies and museums.

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.

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.

Randy Guthrie is an Academic Developer Evangelist for Microsoft Corporation. In this role, Randy provides academic and research support to faculty and students at schools in the southwestern portion of the US. Prior to his working at Microsoft, Randy was a professor at California State Polytechnic University - Pomona, where he taught software engineering, programming and information systems courses. During his tenure at Cal Poly, Randy was also the volunteer Director of a community employment center where he coached hundreds of job seekers in job searching, resume writing and interviewing. Before his appointment at Cal Poly, Randy spent thirteen years working for the Northrop Grumman Corporation, where he was a contract manager on the Stealth Bomber project, a project manager, and financial analyst. Randy earned his Bachelors Degree in Business from the University of La Verne in 1991, an MBA in 1998 from the Peter F. Drucker School of Management, and a PhD in Information Science in 2007 from the School of Information Science and Technology at Claremont Graduate University. Randy currently resides in the Denver, Colorado area where he likes to ski, bike ride, and hike.

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.

Take having worked in IT in industry for several years and then moving into being a professor for a number of years and combine the best of both of those worlds - that is what I do! I also am responsible for the Microsoft Enterprise Consortium where we offer large-live datasets to faculty and students around the world for their use in research and teaching. I am also in the process of assembling a set of security modules for faculty that are focused on Critical Infrastructure Protection. For fun, I sit on the Texas Business Education Coalition for K-20 for the state of Texas where our primary focus is driving students to STEM degree programs and careers.

It all started in 1979 with an Atari 800 computer, helping his friend write a simple programming language for his little brother. Since that time, Chris has worked as a developer and architect for dozens of enterprise customers, helping them build compelling applications across their various platforms. After joining Microsoft as a Developer Evangelist in the spring of 2007, Chris has helped launch several amazing products including Silverlight, Expression Studio, Windows 7, Visual Studio 2008 and 2010, Windows Azure and most recently Windows Phone 7. Currently, Chris channels his passion for technology by helping to build, grow and enhance the developer communities of North Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Windows Phone 7 in hand, Chris is always eager to share his passion for technology with anyone willing to listen. When he's not evangelizing the latest amazing Microsoft technology, he can be found at home helping with homework, Scout meetings, football games, music studies and chauffeur duties for his 4 children, and experimenting with new and interesting food recipes while planning exciting vacations with his amazing wife. Keep up with Chris on his blog at http://chriskoenig.net or reach him via Twitter at @chriskoenig.

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. 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. 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. 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. Jennifer blogs at http://blogs.msdn.com/jennifer and tweets at http://twitter.com/jennifermarsman.

For over 15 years Zain has been working with the latest Microsoft technologies. He’s been a consultant and trainer since 1995. He currently creates the Visual Studio Tips and Tricks series. Also he created Online Community Evangelism; which is an effort to build communities in virtual places like LinkedIn, Facebook, and elsewhere. He is not only a proponent of the community aspect of online environments 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 has been interviewed by Forrester Research, Gartner, and the Science Channel for his work. He is a frequent speaker at events in LinkedIn, Facebook, and other online venues. Zain also lectures world-wide on a variety of developer topics.

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.

Prior to joining Microsoft, J. "Michael" Palermo IV served as a Microsoft RD and MVP based in Phoenix, AZ. Michael is a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) and maintains a number of industry related certifications. Michael is a published author on web technologies, and currently writes articles for DevProConnections regarding HTML5 technologies. Michael is invited to speak at developer events around the world.

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. Brian is the co-author of “Azure in Action”, published by Manning Press. 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.

Brandon Satrom is a Developer Evangelist for Microsoft, based in Austin, TX. He has eleven years of industry experience, splitting his time evenly between consulting/service organizations and internal IT shops before joining Microsoft in June of 2010. A Software and Enterprise Architect, Brandon has worked on projects of all shapes for companies large and small, most recently using technologies such as WCF, WF and ASP.NET MVC with a healthy dose of OSS. Brandon loves writing and speaking. He has written articles for The Architecture Journal and MSDN Magazine and can be found speaking at events all around the region. He lives in Austin with his wife and two sons and blogs about software architecture and development at http://www.userinexperience.com.

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.

Sara Summers is a User Experience Evangelist at Microsoft and has coauthored the recently published book for experience designers, entitled Dynamic Prototyping. She has a personal design mantra: happy, healthy designers and developers working and playing together to create beautiful, inspirational products. Sara loves to talk about big ideas, changing everything, breaking your toys, throwing away your designs and capturing new ideas. Sara reads everything she can get her hands on and prides herself in being an armchair social and cognitive scientist and researcher. Academically, she is trained as a technologist and visual designer, with a BS in Computer Graphics Technology, from Purdue University.

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.