Tuesday, December 6, 2011 – 8:00 a.m.
Keynote: Mary Jo Foley on Microsoft in 2012 and Beyond
Mary Jo Foley with Andrew Brust
Visual Studio Live! gives you plenty of coding deep dives, but kick off the show with this lively discussion on the big picture around Microsoft, its products and its place in the tech world going forward. Blue Badge Insights founder and Visual Studio Live! Co-Chair Andrew Brust will interview ZDNet’s “All About Microsoft” blogger Mary Jo Foley, covering everything from Microsoft’s future product roadmaps to its most promising research projects – and exploring how all the Redmondian dots will connect (or won’t) in the coming months and years. Audience questions and participation will be welcome and encouraged. Come with your best Microsoft-centric questions, quibbles and insights.
Mary Jo Foley has been a tech journalist for more than 25 years. She has worked for a variety of tech publications and Web sites, including PCWeek/eWeek, CRN and ZDNet. She is the editor of the "All About Microsoft" blog (allaboutmicrosoft.com) on ZDNet, and the author of the book "Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft Plans to Stay Relevant in the Post-Gates Era" (John Wiley & Sons). She also is the co-host of the Windows Weekly show on the TWiT network and a frequent commentator and speaker on all things Microsoft-related on TV, radio, podcasts and at industry events.
Andrew Brust is Founder and CEO of Blue Badge Insights, an analysis, strategy and advisory firm serving Microsoft customers and partners. Brust also serves as CTO for Tallan, a Microsoft National Systems Integrator; is a Microsoft Regional Director and MVP; an advisor to the New York Technology Council; and co-author of "Programming Microsoft SQL Server 2008" (Microsoft Press, 2008). Brust is a frequent speaker at industry events and is a contributing editor to Visual Studio Magazine. He’s been a participant in the Microsoft ecosystem for over 15 years, and has worked closely with both Microsoft's Redmond-based corporate team and its field organization for much of the last 10. Brust is a member of the Microsoft Partner Advisory Council and several "insiders" groups that supply him with insight around important technologies out of Redmond.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011 – 8:00 a.m.
Keynote: Cloud Applications Today on the Devices of Tomorrow
Scott Cate, CTO, EventDay.com
The world today is vastly different from yesterday with regards to your applications. There once was a day when you built a Client, to talk to your Server, and you were happy with a static n tier architecture. You forced your clients, customers, and employees from Desktop to Web introducing them to all the both the pain and the beauty of HTML. Tomorrow will bring a new array of devices that your application will be forced to support. What can you do today, to mitigate your risk, and enjoy the success of these new devices?
Scott Cate is the CTO of EventDay.com, an online Event Management company specializing in Web, Mobile, and Cloud technology for in person events. Scott is a Microsoft Regional Director, and has been an ASP.net MVP since 2003. Scott is commonly invited by Microsoft for Software Design Reviews and used as a resource to help guide future technologies.