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Speakers
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 Adam Schechter, Precision Consulting,Inc.
As the President and CEO of Precision Consulting, Adam Schechter has established a reputation as one of the leading Macintosh solution providers in the country. After his introduction to Mac use in1985, Adam spent four years at the New York Times, rising to manage all Macintosh operations for the company’s magazine division. In 1997, he left the Times to start Precision Consulting, and since then has worked with numerous educational institutions, Fortune 50, Fortune 100, and Fortune 500 companies, including Playtex, Pepperidge Farms, Travelers Insurance, Aetna. Through his company, Adam has assisted firms with outsourcing IT responsibilities to streamline processes, implementing statewide 1 to 1 wireless initiatives, addressing design concerns (placement, radiation emissions, etc.), and integrating Macintosh and Windows services into existing networks. Precision has served its educational client base diligently – Yale, Quinnipiac, and Fairfield Universities have taken advantage of their expertise in addition to the hundreds of schools in Maine and New Hampshire that were part of massive 1 to 1 deployments and other smaller schools. Adam is a member of the Apple Consultants Network, a former Apple Advisory Council member for ACN; is an Apple Premier Developer and holder of many Apple certifications; and has been a frequent speaker at both MacWorld and Seybold. In addition, he has taught a number of courses at the Apple Market Center in Manhattan, including Network Design, Introduction to OS X, and Successful Support Technologies. |
 Andy Espo, Call Andy! Macintosh Consulting
In 1988, while running a successful event production company, Andy Espo realized his business’ need for a computer system. “At that time, the only choices available were DOS and Mac,” commented Andy, “It was a pretty easy decision!” With experience in professional audio, video, theatrical lighting and scenery, Andy was determined to add the automation of his own business to his technical repertoire. As his company grew, so too did his reputation for knowing Macs. In 1998, Andy transitioned out of event production and into being the full-time, “Mac-Guy”. Now in it’s fifteenth year, Call Andy! Macintosh Consulting retains an array of clients in the public relations, marketing, architecture, advertising and design sectors. Andy is an Apple Consultants Network member and is an ACN Advisory Council member emeritus
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 Ben Greiner, Forget Computers
Ben Greiner, Founder and President — Forget Computers (makers of RobotCloud.net) Leveraging his extreme attention to detail, logic fueled rationale, and practices like change management and proactive support, Ben leads Forget Computers as an innovator in the Managed Service Provider market, and hosted tools for Apple device management. The Forget Computers team is a group of highly knowledgable Apple support specialists, focusing exclusively on the Mac and iOS market. |
 Cheryl Schneider, The Mac Works
Cheryl Schneider has helped scores of organizations achieve change while eliminating the problems and frustrations associated with modern technology. In 1986, she led the transition to a digital production environment at the NY Public Interest Research Group. Cheryl created The Mac Works in 1990 in NY City and has successfully completed Macintosh-related projects with businesses and institutions throughout the Northeast. In 2003, Apple tapped her to be an IT trainer for their fledgling training and certification division. In 2011, understanding that mobile computing isn’t just a fad, Cheryl achieved Apple’s Mobility Technical Competency designation.
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 Christopher Holmes, The Orchard Solutions
Introduced to the world of Apple when he bought his first Mac (Core Duo Black MacBook) in 2006. Since then, this enthusiast turned expert has been on an incredible journey of technological discovery. In 2008 he started his I.T. professional journey by joining the Apple Consultants Network. Christopher now sits on this years ACN Advisory Council. Not long after he began consulting, he was recruited as CTO by an exciting new startup called The Orchard. Working for an Apple Specialist & Authorized Service Provider has placed him at the center of innovation in the South. Since 2006, Christopher has been empowering customers and helping shape the digital frontier for organizations.
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 Gabriel Soto, Celebration Church
Gabriel Soto is the IT Director of Celebration Church in Austin Texas with over 7 years experience in Graphic Design, Video Editing, Production and IT. He specializes in Media and Production Technology integration and Video and Graphic Editing workflow. He consults to non-profit organizations such as churches locally and missions in Africa. Gabriel and his wife Jazmin live in Austin, Texas and they are quite busy enjoying the birth of their first son. |
 Grant Dahlke, Newer Technology
Grant first made waves in the technology industry by launching the world’s only mass-marketed Apple II compatible computer in the mid 1980’s. After successful brand management roles with other consumer electronics/services firms, Grant returned to his tech roots by joining OWC in 2006. By strengthening product and brand development efforts, Grant has been an instrumental part of the OWC team that has earned numerous industry and business accolades including being named an Inc. 5,000 “Fastest Growing Privately Owned Companies in America” list honoree 2007-2012. Grant’s foremost belief in “serving the customer” results in product design and functionality that appeals to all user levels.
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 Jeffrey Korn, Talkler Labs
Founder and CEO of the recently-launched smartphone app startup, Talkler – Email for your Ears, Jeffrey Korn has delivered keynotes to business leaders worldwide — from New York to Las Vegas to London to Shanghai and Abu Dhabi. He also teaches communications at Harvard Business School. As the creative lead for Jeffrey Korn Creative, he has led strategic initiatives for clients such as Gucci/Yves Saint Laurent, H&M, Time Life Pictures, Harvard University, and the American Cancer Society. Now Jeff heads up the team that creates Talkler: the only smartphone app for heads-up, hands-off, reads-aloud-to-you, voice-controlled email. Cult of Mac called Talkler “a true game-changer” when the app hit the Productivity TOP 100 in its first month in the App Store.
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 Nathan Toups, rojoroboto
Nathan is a Mac geek with a background in collaborative design. He honed his professional IT skills after college and now owns and operates rojoroboto, llc., a small IT consulting firm based in Austin, TX. He has experience with a broad range of organizational practices and trends with in the realm of mobile device and cloud integration into the workplace, specifically with iOS. Nathan is an Apple Consultants Network member, holds a slew of Apple certifications, and is a Linux nut. He has published twice in MacTech Magazine and has been actively involved with Texas Linux Fest, MacTech BootCamp, MacTech InDepth, and MacTech Conference. |
 Neil Ticktin, MacTech Magazine
Neil not only emcees the event, but oversees the session chairs and content for each MacTech event. 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. |
 Peter Linde, Linde Group
Peter Linde founded Linde Group in 1989 as a consultancy to companies that use Macs. His goal from the start was to create a company that is staffed with kind caring human beings who help other human beings to get the most out of their technology. In the early days of the company, it seemed that every one of his clients had at least two Windows PCs in their accounting departments, so early on, he expanded his focus to include Microsoft technologies. His company has consulted to many of the largest financial institutions, pharmaceutical companies, and technology companies in the United States performing such services as integrating Macs and iOS devices into Active Directory environments, creating mobile device and workstation management solutions, architecting security solutions, and providing ongoing support. He is proud to have assembled and retained the best staff of consultants on the planet as well as a group of longterm clients who appreciate the difference that working with Linde Group brings.
In addition to sitting on the Advisory Council of the Apple Consultants Network, Peter wrote a weekly column for Microtimes and has spoken at Mac-related conferences in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, London, Tokyo, and even Las Vegas. |
 Rich Warren, Freelance Mad Science Labs
Rich splits his time between software development, teaching and technical writing. He has a strong background in Artificial Intelligence research (machine learning and probabilistic decision making), and software engineering. Rich previously worked as a computer scientist for a small R&D company, developing Java software focused on research and data analysis. Fortunately, he’s been able to put Java behind him. For the last three years Rich has focused on hands-on, freelance consulting work for the iOS platform. During that time, he has developed a broad range of iOS apps with an emphasis on casual gaming. Rich is also the author of iOS development, Creating iOS 5 Apps: Develop and Design (December, 2011, Peachpit Press) and Objective-C Boot Camp: Foundation and Patterns for iOS Development (July 2011, Peachpit Press). Additionally, he has written many articles for MacTech magazine over the last 6 years. Finally, Rich is one of the senior iOS and Objective-C instructors for About Objects. He has also taught iOS development classes for Future Media Concepts and MacAmerica. |
 Steve Favarger, Favarger Consulting
Steve Favarger, Owner of Favarger Consulting (pronounced Fah-Var-Jay). He has 15 years of experience in the field consulting for an array of customers. Steve currently focuses on the Medical Vertical Market. He was educated at Northwestern University and at Southern Connecticut State University, he does what many liberal arts degrees do: computer systems integration., Steve is an expert at heterogeneous integration, specializing in Medical Practices (Macs and Windows living together), He is an of the ACN, and he fully embraces the SteamPunk Aesthetic. 🙂 |
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Neil Ticktin, MacTech Magazine