Speaking: Topics
Note: This is not a typical blog post. As time goes on, I will be updating it.
The goal of this page is to be referenced from my speaking page, so that anyone looking for speakers can get an idea of my capabilities. I have a number of prepared sessions, but this page will give you an idea of topics I can cover.
Some things to know about me:
- I've never given a keynote, but I am open to it.
- I typically don't travel outside of North America, but I am open to it.
- I have given workshops in the past; I don't really seek them out anymore, but I'm open to it.
- If you are budget conconscious, don't let that stop you from contacting me! I can be very affordable!
Here are the topics I'd be very comfortable speaking on or discussing:
- Couchbase and/or NoSQL. I use Couchbase every day. Couchbase is a data platform with a number of features. I can talk about them all at a high level, or drill down individually: JSON, document database, NoSQL, caching, session storage, full text search, analytics, SQL for JSON (N1QL), why NoSQL, when NoSQL, etc.
- ASP.NET/C#. I don't write "production" ASP.NET right now, but I've written quite a lot in my day. I'm a Microsoft MVP and I help to run a .NET user group, so I try to stay as up to date on this as possible. I'm happy to speak about ASP.NET/ASP.NET Core and all the periphery, including WebAPI, Razor, C#, unit testing, integration testing, Azure, Visual Studio, SQL Server, OR/Ms and lots more.
- Aspect-Oriented Programming/AOP. I wrote a book about AOP called AOP in .NET. It's been a while since I've written any AOP for production, but it's still a topic I'm very interested in. I can speak about AOP in general. I can also speak about tools like PostSharp and Castle DynamicProxy.
- Podcasting/blogging/presenting/speaking/writing/developer advocating/teaching/streaming. I do a lot of this stuff, but this is kinda a meta-subject with a relatively small audience.
- WordPress. I've used a lot of WordPress, installed a lot of WordPress, written plugins for it, taught people to use it, and more. In my current role it doesn't come up very much (except as a user).
- jQuery. I don't use this much any more, but I've used a TON of it over the years.
Here are the topics I can speak about, but I'm not terribly interested or have limited experience with:
- Angular. This framework doesn't appeal to me very much. I'll use it or speak about it if I have to.
- ASP Classic / Visual Basic. I did lots of this early in my career, but I haven't touched it in a long time.
- PHP. I've written a lot of PHP and used the CakePHP framework, but I have not kept up with the rapidly changing pace of the language.
- Docker/Kubernetes. I've not deployed any of this stuff to production, but I use them often (especially Docker).
- Xamarin. I've been on and off with Xamarin (aka Mono for Android aka MonoDroid) over the years. I'm not really a mobile developer, but I can talk about it a little bit.
Here are some topics that I have no authority/experience to speak about, but I am interested in:
- Aurelia. Among the explosion of MVC/MVVM frameworks for JavaScript, this is the one I've enjoyed using the most.
- Blazor. Or any tool that let's me write C# instead of JavaScript for the frontend. In my current role, I don't have a lot of need for it. But it's very interesting to me!
- Apache Nifi. This is a very interesting visual data flow tool that I've immensely enjoyed working with, but I've only scratched the surface of.
Here are some topics that I have no authority/experience to speak about, and I'm not intersted in:
- React. Another JS framework that I'm not very interested in.
- Ruby, CoffeeScript, pretty much any language without the semicolon. For whatever reason, my aesthetic preference is to curly braces and semicolons. Same goes for meaningful white-space too. I'm happy that you like it and are productive with it, but as for myself: no thanks.
- Politics. Once upon a time, I was very into politics and current events and all that stuff. The internet has pretty much killed my enthusiam for it. I still have opinions; I still vote. Just not interested in talking about it (especially on the Internet)
Other random stuff that no one will ever want me to speak about, but I could blab for hours on:
- Baseball. Major League Baseball. The Reds. Everything.
- Water. Water treatment, water softening, water filtering, water heating, hot tub, well water, septic systems. I've accumulated all this knowledge of water after buying a house with well water, and it's just sloshing around in my head.
- Adventure Games. Sierra, LucasArts, and others. I love playing them and talking about them.
- Doodling. I draw for fun sometimes, mostly logos. If you want someone to speak about this, you're much better off with David Neal.
- 3d Printing. I'm a total neophite with 3d printing, but it's fun.
- Christianity. I'm an active member of my church. Always happy to talk about it constructively (i.e. not on the Internet or with people I barely know).
- RiffTrax / MST3K.
