Initial Speaker Line Up. More to come.
Some of the most talented, experienced, and insightful people in the industry come to MacTech Conference to share their experiences, and teach their craft to you. Here is the most up-to-date list that we can share publicly of the speakers already scheduled for MacTech Conference 2014.
Note: All times are approximate. All sessions, speakers and descriptions are subject to change at any time without notice.
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Ed is the Executive Editor of MacTech Magazine, the author of several books, and Worldwide Mac Operations Dude at Google. As MacTech Conference’s Sessions Chair, Ed heads up the sessions, and lab content. |
Neil not only plays host for all MacTech events, but aids the session chairs for all MacTech events (over 60 events since 2010). Neil has been the Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of MacTech Magazine since 1992. With both a technical and business background, Neil has authored hundreds of articles including most of MacTech’s well known benchmarking articles on productivity applications, virtualization, and performance products. |
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Adam C. Engst is the publisher of TidBITS, one of the oldest and most-respected Internet-based newsletters, distributed weekly to tens of thousands of readers. He has written numerous technical books, including the best-selling Internet Starter Kit series, and many magazine articles – thanks to Contributing Editor positions at MacUser, MacWEEK, and Macworld. His innovations include the creation of the first advertising program to support an Internet publication in 1992, the first flat-rate accounts for graphical Internet access in 1993, and the highly successful Take Control electronic book series. In addition, he has collaborated on several Internet educational videos and has appeared in a variety of radio and TV programs, and the MacHeads documentary. His indefatigable support of the Macintosh community and commitment to helping individuals has resulted in numerous awards and recognition, including the MDJ Power 25 survey of industry insiders, the MacTech 25 list of influential people in the Macintosh technical community, and one of MacDirectory’s top ten visionaries. And how many industry figures can boast of being turned into an action figure? |
Allister Banks produced the first season of the AFP548 podcast, was the reviewer for Charles Edge and TJ Houston book Instant Apple Configurator, and analyzes desktops in NYC. He contributes to various open source projects and speaks enough Japanese to order food. |
Amanda Walker has been a Mac developer since shortly after the Mac’s release in 1984. She’s worked on a variety of projects for a variety of companies, including InterCon, where she helped write some of the first commercial Internet software for the Mac. She has just passed 8 years at Google, where she worked on bringing up the Mac version of Chrome, and currently leads a team whose work she can’t talk much about. |
Andrew McDonnell, Principal Security Consultant with AsTech Consulting, has over ten years of experience in information security and technology. Utilizing a unique composition of skills and expertise, Andrew has worked with numerous enterprise customers to improve application, network, and organizational security practices. Andrew has designed and deployed enterprise vulnerability management programs, embedded robust security practices into software development life cycles (SDLCs), and led the response to critical security incidents. Andrew’s work prior to AsTech included tenures with Veracode, Qualys, AppSec Consulting, and the U.S. Department of Energy |
Andy Hendrickson leads Walt Disney Animation Studios’ efforts to create magical new worlds by providing the tools and technology the filmmakers need to tell their stories in exciting and imaginative ways. He is responsible for overseeing all aspects of strategy, design and implementation related to software and systems used in the production of Disney’s animated features and short films including such recent global hits as “Frozen,” “Wreck-It Ralph” and “Tangled.” Hendrickson first joined Disney in 2006. Prior to that, he served as head of technology at PDI/Dreamworks, where he worked on such popular film as “Shrek” and “Madagascar.” Hendrickson’s career highlights also include a stint as senior technology officer for Industrial Light + Magic (ILM), where he was responsible for strategic technology planning and operations. Hendrickson began his career in the motion picture industry in 1990 at Skywalker Sound, a division of Lucasfilm. He holds a degree in Physics from the University of California, Berkeley and has been awarded several U.S. Patents during his career. His numerous areas of interest include image perception, high dynamic range, color sciences, non-photorealistic rendering, and motion simulation/synthesis. |
As an internationally beloved tech journalist (not to mention that he’s Chicago Sun Times’ Technology Columnist), Andy is insightful, funny, and always a pleasure to listen to. He appears on Leo Laporte’s podcasts, specifically MacBreak Weekly and TWiT. He’s also a regular on the MacNotables podcast, hosted by Chuck Joiner where he often is paired with fellow technology journalists. |
Andy Lee is a freelance Mac developer in New York City. He fell in love with Cocoa back in 1988 when Steve Jobs demoed it at Boston Symphony Hall and it was called NeXTSTEP. |
Anthony was born in a small log cabin in Illinois. He worked his way through law school by splitting rails. Later he became president of the United States during one of the most tempestuous periods in our history. He is largely credited with freeing the slaves. (Now that you’re paying attention: Anthony is systems engineer on Google’s Macintosh Operations team in New York. He is extremely funny and likes apartment gardening.) |
Bobby Toledo was first introduced to Apple in 2007 where he worked in Apple retail for 6.5 years. While at the Apple Store, Bobby facilitated market-wide core trainings and led his store in development. During the last two years at Apple, Bobby helped manage the Genius team as a Genius Administrator where he furthered his technical knowledge. In 2013, Bobby transitioned to a Danish wireless speaker company as the North American Western Regional Sales Manager where he refined his sales and business acumen skills. With his passion for training and technology, Bobby Toledo is now a Microsoft trainer who loves to motivate others. |
Boisy G. Pitre is Affectiva’s Mobile Visionary and lead iOS developer. His work has led to the creation of the first mobile SDK for delivering emotions to mobile devices for the leading emotion technology company and spin-off of the MIT Media Lab. He also owns Tee-Boy, a software company focusing on Mac and iOS applications for the weather and data acquisition markets, and authors the monthly Developer to Developer column in MacTech Magazine. Boisy holds a Master of Science in Computer Science from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and resides in the quiet countryside of Prairie Ronde, Louisiana. Besides Mac programming, his hobbies and interests include retro-computing, ham radio, vending machine and arcade game restoration, and playing Cajun music. |
When Brent Royal-Gordon got his first Mac in 2007, he planned to wipe the hard drive and install Linux. Somehow he became a Cocoa programmer instead. He has written several iOS and Mac apps as an independent developer, some of which he’s even released. Brent is currently working on tools for independent authors at Groundbreaking Software, including BookTrakr, a web app for tracking ebook sales, and Typesetter, an upcoming Mac app for producing and publishing ebooks. |
Charles is the Product Manager at JAMF Software. While certified with Microsoft, Symantec and others. Charles is the author of several books on OS X systems administration, including the Enterprise Mac Administrator’s Guide and the Enterprise iPhone and iPad Administrator’s Guide. Charles enjoys speaking at great conferences. This year he’ll be at MacTech and MacSysAdmin. Charles has previously spoken at the PSU MacAdmins conference, LinuxWorld, BlackHat, LayerOne, the JAMF Nation User Conference and DefCon as well. |
Christian Woodward is a serial co-founder, programmer, security consultant, and compulsive hacker. His passion lies with analyzing systems, tackling complex software and network projects, and troubleshooting obscure issues. Christian currently works closely with Watchman Monitoring to expand their platform, and is the founder and lead analyst at Intuitive, a consulting company in Las Vegas that caters to the unique high security needs of casinos, medical offices, and other information-sensitive industries. Once found singing an ode to his Powerbook, these days Christian can be found cooking, biking, or dreaming of fringe electronic projects. |
Based in New York City, Edward has been a Macintosh System Administrator for over 25 years. He is currently working at Google to help manage the largest managed corporate fleet of Macs in the world. Prior to Google he ran a small IT consultancy working with clients ranging from a three person ice cream company to The New York Times, NASA and Major League Baseball and before that was a Senior Systems Engineer at Apple |
Graham is the Technical Director at pebble.it in London, and is the creator of Crypt, a FileVault 2 escrow solution, and Sal, a reporting solution for Munki. He has a slight obsession with automating all of the things. |
Greg has created or contributed to several tools used by Mac systems administrators around the world. Among those are Munki, a software deployment framework, Reposado, a platform-agnostic replacement for Apple’s Software Update service, and AutoPkg, a tool to automate obtaining and preparing software for mass deployment. Greg is pleased to return to the MacTech Conference for the fifth year. |
Gwynne Raskind began programming when she was 3 years old using a TI-99/4A console. Since then, she’s been an avid Apple user and developer. Self-taught in all respects, she found a fascination with the deepest, darkest secrets of the machine, signing on in 2012 to write the second edition of Amit Singh’s landmark text, Mac OS X Internals: A Systems Approach. She runs her own small consulting company by night, and works for Apportable, Inc. by day. Her passion remains the internals of the systems with which she works, and the effort to share her understanding with those who want to learn. |
Jeanette Lee has over 20 years of experience in high-performance networking. She has been deeply involved in product sales, marketing and network architect positions with companies at the forefront of their fields such as Ruckus Wireless, Aruba Networks, and FORE Systems. Jeanette has written or co-authored dozens of technology papers on topics ranging from security to educational tutorials and best practices. |
James Rea is the founder of ProVUE Development, and has been developing Macintosh software since early 1984. Mr. Rea has been the lead developer and architect for ProVUE’s flagship RAM based database programs, OverVUE and Panorama. |
Joe Workman has been in the Mac development community since 2009. He got his start developing [add-ons for RapidWeaver]( http://joeworkman.net/rapidweaver/), a popular web development app for Mac. He has since become one of the most prolific developers within that community. In 2012, Joe authored the [first book](http://rapidweaverbook.com) on developing websites with RapidWeaver. In 2011, Joe became a full time indie developer. He currently has two Mac applications: DomainBrain and Climate. [DomainBrain](http://domainbrainapp.com) is a central datastore for web domain data. [Climate](http://joeworkman.net/mac/climate] allows you to control your Nest thermostats directly from your Mac menu bar. Joe currently lives in the SF Bay Area with his lovely wife and 3 children. In his copious amount of spare time, he enjoys photography and soccer. He loves hats. His dream car is a Viper. And he sleeps on the right side of the bed. |
Although Jon spent the first few years of his professional life as an attorney, he quickly found chasing bits more interesting than chasing ambulances. Jon is most at home spelunking, trying to figure out exactly how things work. Deducing the details and disseminating that information to other developers is his passion. Currently Jon is working as an iOS developer at OpenX. |
Kelly is an Editor at The MacObserver, covering Apple news and software, including guesting the TMO Daily Observations podcast. When she isn’t speaking at conferences like Macworld and MacTech, Kelly spends her time hosting The Aftershow with Mike Rose and explaining technology to the masses. |
Matt Schnittker began his association with Walt Disney Animation Studios in 1998, and currently serves as a Manager in the Systems department. His first film contribution was on Disney’s ambitious 2000 animated feature, “Dinosaur,” and he most recently worked on the Studio’s upcoming feature release, “Big Hero 6”. Schnittker has been involved in both traditional 2D, and fully digital 3D animation pipelines. He has contributed to several Disney patents and won an International 3D Society Lumiere Award for his work on 3D Pipelines. He currently is a manager in technology systems focusing on web and mobile software development. |
Michael Lynn is a Mac OS X and Windows desktop administrator in an Active Directory environment for a moderately sized government department in Washington state. His day job is spent wrangling third-party software and update deployments, workstation imaging, and utilizing commercial tools like Microsoft’s SCCM and open source projects like munki and reposado. In his free time he is a writer for AFP548.com, helps with administration and service hosting for the Mac enterprise ##osx-server channel on Freenode, and is a vocal advocate for the python language and its use in the administration and automation of all things OS X. He has enjoyed using Macintosh computers for over 20 years and loves getting the most out of iOS and OS X by writing scripts and applications in any number of languages – including (but not limited to) python, Applescript, bash, ruby, and Objective-C. His code contributions are credited and can be found in such projects as CreateUserPkg, munki, and Python for iOS. His current programming obsession is writing python-based administration helpers that can be loaded into iOS without jailbreaking with the use of Pythonista. When not dealing with computers, Michael loves spending time with his wife and 2 children, reading hard science fiction, and working on his house. |
Mike Dodge has worked as a Client Platform Engineer for Facebook since 2009, working in a very large and dynamic hacker environment, and building automated solutions to interesting IT problems. |
Nathan is a consultant, writer, and podcaster. He honed his professional technology skills after college and now owns and operates rojoroboto, a boutique technology consulting firm in Austin, TX. He is an expert in cloud technology integration in the workplace, specifically with OS X, iOS, Linux, and AWS. He has spoken at SXSW Interactive, CES, and MacTech Conference. He has written a kickstarter funded manifesto on disruptive technology and the cloud and has contributed to MacTech Magazine and Wired.com. He currently hosts the Embracing Disruption Podcast. |
Nick McSpadden is the Client Systems Manager at Schools of the Sacred Heart, San Francisco. He is in charge of the deployment of all client workstations and devices, including the faculty laptops and the school’s 1:1 iPad program. He’s used to working with different models for deployment and management of iOS devices alongside OS X devices. |
Pepijn is a Mac Development and Operation Specialist Senior at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He specializes in OS X and Linux server and client deployment. With more than a decade of experience in a variety of areas, his skills include Systems Administration, Operations Management, Mac/Linux/Windows Server and Desktop integration, software deployment, configuration management and process improvement. |
Rich Trouton has been doing Macintosh system and server administration for over a decade and has supported Macs in a number of different environments, including university, government, medical research and advertising. His current position is providing support for Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Janelia Farm Research Campus in Ashburn, Virginia. |
Ryan Grimes started HoosierMac Consulting 10 years ago this June. Two years ago he transformed HoosierMac from a “Break Fix” company to a Managed Services provider on the Apple platform and hasn’t looked back. HoosierMac has been able to better serve business/education customers by shifting focus and now tells customers when they’re having problems instead of the other way around. When Ryan isn’t working with his amazing staff at HoosierMac, he’s probably watching his kids play a sport somewhere. |
Samuel Marshall is an iOS and OS X Developer. He has been hacking on Apple Operating Systems since his first computer, a Macintosh LC II. Now an iOS developer and reverse engineering wizard for OS X, he has been honing his programming skills on both platforms for the past 5 years. |
Scott M. Neal has been utilizing and programming Apple products since first getting his hands on an Apple ][+ and later NeXTcube. Scott believes strongly in automation–getting devices to do your work the way you want to, with minimal effort and stress. Often, the real benefits of device automation are underutilized–Scott would prefer that you be empowered with how to automate (meaning script and program) devices YOURSELF to do what YOU want, not just what you may see yourself limited to by default application and service setups. With that goal specifically in mind, Scott co-created acmefoo, the Apple Technology focused training and development co-op, which offers training, courseware, and consulting on a peer level, without being tied to specific device sales or marketing. |
Sean Colins is the founder of CoreQuick LLC, a professional services company specializing in Apple’s constantly evolving set of products. In addition to professional services, CoreQuick is evolving to provide professional development training for teachers, and to develop and license educational materials for K-12 schools. You may recognize Sean’s voice from the popular OS X Server series he authored and presented for publisher lynda.com, or if you are a long time Apple Consultants Network member you may remember him as the Regional Champion for the southwest United States many years ago. Within the MacTech BootCamp community Sean is known as the “curriculum Godfather”, an unofficial title that makes him chuckle inside every time he thinks about it. Sean recently started a column in MacTech Magazine, and is always looking for new opportunities to write professionally. Sean’s wife is the creative director of her dance company DRDT, and Sean’s two children Natasha and Nicholas attend school near their home in Beverly Hills, California. Sean’s dog Duncan makes occasional appearances at events, but only when he’s being a very good boy. |
Simon Allardice is a software developer, lynda.com senior author, trainer, and writer with 25 years spent programming and consulting for corporations throughout the U.S. and Europe. He’s programmed everything from safety routines for nuclear reactors to music drivers for computer games. Simon’s been a trainer for many years and has spoken at multiple conferences, user groups and code camps. He has authored, contributed, and edited several books on advanced web development. |
Steve has been developing mobile apps for iOS and Android platforms since 2010. Before that, he spent most of his time working in C++ and on robotics systems. |
Tad Johnson is the Commercial Marketing Manager for JAMF Software, makers of the Casper Suite. He informs and educates IT leaders around the world about the changing landscape of technology and how they can embrace and leverage the Apple platform. Tad started his career in technology with GE Healthcare and joined JAMF Software in 2009. You might find Tad on a bicycle, in the workshop, or lost in the woods. He’s a Midwest native and recently returned from an assignment in Amsterdam back to Minneapolis, Minnesota. |
Tim is a Systems Consultant for Centre for Digital Arts, Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. He maintains the Mac client management infrastructure in the Faculty of Fine Arts using Munki, DeployStudio, Active Directory integration and more. Using dual-boot systems management, automation of packaging and deployment, and custom development of management utilities in Python, Tim has built a set of solutions using an array of technologies. And, he’s looking forward to sharing these and other experiences. |
Tonya Engst co-founded TidBITS with Adam Engst back in 1990. TidBITS is an electronic newsletter and Web site about all things Macintosh that was the first Internet publication to have a sponsorship/advertising revenue model. Along with performing nearly every imaginable role involved in running TidBITS, Tonya has worked at Cornell University’s academic computer store (selling Macs, PCs, and NeXTs), done technical support at Microsoft, authored and co-authored several books, written oodles of articles for the likes of MacWEEK and Macworld, and edited many books about technology. She has consistently advocated for the person behind the personal computer, working to make technical writing easy to understand. In 2003, she found her dream job as editor-in-chief of TidBITS Publishing’s Take Control series of ebooks. |
v.2 Consulting, Inc. provides dedicated Macintosh and iOS support to education & businesses of all sizes since 1999. We started offering Apple certification training in 2002 and have evolved to be one of the top Apple Authorized Training Centers in the US. |
Vanessa White is a lifelong Mac geek who has done everything from end user support to client systems and server administration. She has worked in higher ed, small business, enterprise, and general public facing settings, supporting users and customers from all walks of life. She currently works at New Relic’s Portland, OR office supporting software and support engineers, client systems administration for users’ Macs, and solving a variety of issues. |
Edward Marczak, 
Neil Ticktin, 
Adam Engst, 
Allister Banks, Montefiore Medical Center
Amanda Walker, 
Andrew McDonnell, AsTech Consulting
Andy Hendrickson, Walt Disney Animation Studios
Andy Ihnatko
Andy Lee
Anthony Vcherushniy, 
Bobby Toledo, Microsoft
Boisy G. Pitre, 
Brent Royal-Gordon, Groundbreaking Software
Charles Edge, 
Christian Woodward, 
Edward Eigerman, 
Graham Gilbert, 
Greg Neagle, 
Gwynne Raskind
Jeanette Lee, 
Jim Rea, 
Joe Workman
Jon Flanders, 
Kelly Guimont, 
Matt Schnittker, 
Michael Lynn
Mike Dodge, 
Nathan Toups, 
Nick McSpadden, 
Pepijn Bruienne, 
Rich Trouton, 
Ryan Grimes, 
Sam Marshall
Scott Neal, 
Sean Colins, 
Simon Allardice, 
Steve Malsam, 
Tad Johnson, 
Tim Sutton
Tonya Engst, 
v.2 
Vanessa White,