Diego Cardenas, Diego Cardenas Technology Management & IT Consulting

Diego shares his passion for technology and writes for the biggest Spanish language technology blogs such as tutecnologia.org and compuhombre.com. In addition to this, Diego is the principal consultant in www.diegocardenas.com. A boutique consulting located in southern California which focuses on small and mid-size businesses and teaches them on how to make technology a competitive advantage. In addition Diego has been a Titanium level power seller on the eBay marketplace and one of the fastest growing resellers in the video game category. Diego has taught for the ABL Academy of Business Leadership in the USC campus. Diego has won the Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2003 from the Minority MBA Magazine.The 2nd Small Business from the ICESI University in Cali, Colombia. He has been nominated to the Brillante awards.

Russell Poucher, Creative Resources Technology Group, Inc.

Russell Poucher is President and founder of Creative Resources, the top Mac training company in Southern California. Prior to starting Creative Resources, Russell worked as a Macintosh Network Administrator for several leading pre-press firms in Orange and Los Angeles Counties. He has numerous certifications in networking and telecommunications as they relate to the Macintosh environment. Poucher is President and founder of Creative Resources, the top Mac training company in Southern California. Prior to starting Creative Resources, Russell worked as a Macintosh Network Administrator for several leading pre-press firms in Orange and Los Angeles Counties. He has numerous certifications in networking and telecommunications as they relate to the Macintosh environment.

Chris Keller, Consultant Alliance

Chris Keller has been troubleshooting technology since he started on the Apple II in 1979. He has programmed commercially since 1981 and started consulting in 1983. His current gig is with Consultant Alliance, the company that he started in 1995 with his wife Dennise. He's a member of the Apple Consultant Network, is ACSA Certified and works in FIleMaker and Cocoa.

Ben Levy, Solutions Consulting

Ben Levy has been working as a Macintosh Consultant for more than 20 years as the owner of Solutions Consulting. He is a member of the Apple Consultants Network, on whose Advisory Council he served for five years. A long-time speaker at Macworld Expo Mr. Levy has spoken at each of the last 15 Expos and delivered more than 40 individual sessions on a wide range of cutting edge topics. Mr. Levy is also an Apple Certified Trainer and delivers Apple training to IT professionals at schools, corporations and training centers around the country.

Peter Linde, Linde Group

Peter Linde founded Linde Group in 1989. In addition to running his growing consultancy, Peter has written columns for publications such as Microtimes and has been a speaker at technology conferences in California, Boston and London. Linde Group is a Microsoft Certified Partner and a member of the Apple Consultants Network. Last year, Peter was selected to serve on the Apple Consultants Network Advisory Council.

Eric Ullman, Retrospect, Inc.

Eric has worked in the tech industry for more than two decades—including time spent moonlighting as an independent Mac IT consultant. He has spent the last 15 years focused solely on backup and synchronization issues and is today co-owner and products guy at Retrospect, Inc., makers of the Retrospect backup and recovery software for professionals and small businesses.

Adrian Sifuentes, Informatica Technology.

Adrian Sifuentes has been working with Apple technology since the first Mac launched in the early 1980s. He joined IBM as a training specialist to train corporate clients for commercial and proprietary applications and database development consulting, in the U.S. and Mexico. He later went to work for himself and served clients such as The Getty Center and the United Way of Greater Los Angeles. He later worked for a German-based consumer products manufacturer where he served in the sales force and functioned as technology liaison for his sales team. He has written technical and instructional manuals for his clients’ software and development projects. With the exciting return of Steve Jobs in the late 90s and the subsequent release of the first iPod, Mr. Sifuentes had a renewed interest in Apple and rededicated himself to the world of IT – “Apple Style.” He went on to form Informatica Technology, a boutique full service firm, to serve the IT needs of home and small to medium sized businesses that wish take advantage of the robust, stable, and easy to use environments found in Apple computers and mobile devices. Mr. Sifuentes is a certified Apple Mobility Technology Consultant specializing in Mobile Device Management (MDM) and expert in user desktop experience. Mr. Sifuentes earned his degree in Business Administration and Information Technology from California State University, Northridge. He currently resides in Los Angeles and Palm Springs.

Building Your Brand: Marketing and Business Concerns

You are new in business, or you've been doing this for years; in either case you can't apply your skills as a technology consultant until you have customers to apply them to! Marketing is one of the most important, but most overlooked skills in our business. We will teach you how to market yourself using your social skills, and contacts, as well as people and organizations you may not have considered. You will learn to market your skills to specific communities where word of mouth can catch fire to set your business above the rest.

Best practices: Hardware, Software and Network Deployment

What are best practices for installing new computers? What about Windows partitions, how to install an OS, software updates, and more? What do you need to know about password strength, printer setup, and more? How do you handle serial numbers? What are the basic choices your clients need to know for wired and wireless networks, and VPNs? What are the benefits of master images and deployment methods? We’ll discuss these and other items.

The New World of Apple IDs, iTunes, and Mac App Store

Apple has changed the rules for Apple IDs, iTunes accounts, and more. Learn the new rules, how devices are treated, migrating to new hardware, dealing with multiple IDs, and iCloud. Find out how iTunes Match works, how Mac App Store differs from iTunes, and the right way for doing deployment and imaging. Learn the restrictions for merging Apple IDs and how to combine them.

Troubleshooting Methodologies:Hardware, Software and Network Problems

You've worked your magic on the problems you've encountered and nothing is working. It must be hardware, but how can you be sure? What are the tests and tricks you should try, and in what order? How do you know when a problem is software based or hardware based, and how will that determination change your plan of action to get the problem solved for your customer?We walk you through the best tests and utilities, along with a best practice methodology for troubleshooting, and what to do when you are sure hardware is the problem.

Business Technologies:Mobility, Virtualization and Windows

Businesses of all sizes need business technology. Find out your options for integrating mobility, virtualization and Windows into your clients’ networks.Mobility is a big part of today's world, and it's getting bigger. Who are the main mobility players? What are your Mobile Device Management Options? How do you deal with iOS integration to the Mac/PC?With everything you've done for your customer so far, they think the world of you. It would be horrible to lose that trust just because they ask you to put Windows on their Mac. You may not be a Windows person, but you can absolutely handle Windows on your customers Mac, and we're going to show you how. We will give you the pros and cons of virtualization and non-virtualization options. We'll help you understand some of Windows' main technologies, security and best practices.

An Experts Guide to Working with Clients

So your marketing paid off! You have clients. Now, can you talk to them? Can you translate those often misspoken needs and wants into tangible technical deliverables? Can you help your hard won customers to understand your ongoing value and keep coming back for more? We’ll guide you through some of the most important steps to help you lead your customers; guide them to the right solutions, and convert their unfocused dreams into fully understood needs.Learn how to best protect yourself from scope creep, incorrect needs assessment, miscommunicated rate structures and other communications faux pas' that can lead to unpaid invoices, or worse. Your customer now knows what they want, and what you can deliver and you have agreed to do it for a mutually understood price. You are well on your way to a positive customer experience, and repeat business.Now, how are you going to document all of this? In fact, once you get started, how will you document your work, the customers serial numbers, inventory, and other important data they surely assume you will gather, keep and protect on their behalf? We will show you how to safely and securely document information for your customers, and we will expose you to some of the pitfalls of failing to do so properly.

Storage and Protecting Oneself: Backing up, Archiving and Restoring Data

Well, you've learned your lesson, the hard way. Before making a major change to a system, get a clean backup. But what about backups? There are so many options, some free, some very expensive, and some require you to roll your own. We expose you to the software available to perform backups, and we give you best practices for backup strategies related to backup rotation, media types, online, offline and nearline storage solutions, as well as over-the-net solutions. We talk about the pro's and con's so you can make an informed decision that is right for your specific customers needs. There is no "one size fits all" solution, so we prepare you to make an informed decision.One of the things that is the most fun about computers is making them do things for you automatically, so you can focus your time and effort on more important things in your life. We will talk about how to use tools like Automator, and AppleScript, and even shell scripting to help you to make your computer or your customers computers, do the types of things people expect computers to do.

How to Make Remote Consulting Work for You

You have setup the perfect small office for your customer. Every best practice followed, no expense spared, everything is right. Still, customers love to call with questions, and when they do, you need to deal with their needs in a way that meets their expectations, is fair to you and the loved ones who have to deal with you answering your phone at all hours of the day and night. We will give you solid guidance on how to handle support calls from your customers so you can keep them happy, and keep your sanity all at the same time.If you can't fix it over the phone, you'll probably have to actually work on the customers’ computers to fix the problem. But how wonderful would it be to do so without driving across town? If you plan ahead, and setup the proper systems like ARD, VNC, VPN and a host of other possible technologies, you can solve many support problems for your customers remotely. We show you the currently available options, talk about proper configuration, and costs to you and the customer, and ways you can track your remote support to be sure you make money for your efforts.

You Can't Know Everything: Getting the Support You Need

Your job is off to a fantastic start. You are fantastically prepared, yet as so frequently happens, you run into a snag right in the middle of the job. Something you've never seen before and have no idea how to solve. You feel that knot in your throat that sinking sensation in the pit of your stomach. Where do you turn for help? Where can you find answers to those last minute, on site, make or break questions that can be the difference between success or failure? We show you our favorite places to find those answers, and how to express your searches in the most search engine efficient language.