Category Archives: Who's Coming?

Mary Beth Hertz, Teacher

By Roz Duffy | Published: November 12, 2009

me1What do you do?
I am a Computer Teacher and Technology Teacher Leader at Bluford Elementary School in West Philadelphia. I support the school and the staff with their technology needs and I am always trying new ways to integrate technology into the curriculum.

What do you wish you did?
I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else. I only wish I had more time outside of the classroom for training teachers and modeling lessons.

Have you ever been to a BarCamp before? If so, which one(s)?
No! I’m intrigued to see what it’s all about.

If you were to lead a session, what would it be about?
Using technology to help teachers be more effective in the classroom and ways that new technologies can support instruction in the classroom.

Give us one interesting fact about yourself!
I lived in Senegal (in West Africa) for a semester (4 months) studying French and Wolof culture.

Got a website or blog?
philly-teacher.blogspot.com

Twitter?
@mbteach

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Roz Duffy, Tech Lead & Community Chick

By Roz Duffy | Published: November 12, 2009

Roz DuffyWhat do you do?
I (co)organize events all over the city for the tech and creative communities of Philadelphia, including BarCamp Philly, Refresh Philly, Ignite Philly and UX Book Club Philly. By day I am a tech lead, running weekly code developments for a realllly big website.

What do you wish you did?
So many things! I love being involved with the community stuff, so I would love if that were more part of my job focus. I’m also totally obsessed with user experience, social experience design and product development. I want to create amazing experiences for people on and off the web.

Have you ever been to a BarCamp before? If so, which one(s)?
I organize BarCamp Philly and attended HigherEd Camp.

If you were to lead a session, what would it be about?
I’ve always wanted to do a session on Yoga for Geeks. I’m also interested in the relationship between being a web developer and an artist — how programming is like painting, how obsessive attention to detail harms and helps the work that you do.

Give us one interesting fact about yourself!
I like totally love alliteration. And graph paper.

Got a website or blog?
stellargirl.com

Twitter?
@stellargirl

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JP Toto, Web App Developer

By Roz Duffy | Published: November 12, 2009

headshot2What do you do?
Balance. Weave. Frolic. I’m also the V.P. for Application Development at Cognis IT, an IT solutions and software consulting provider I helped found. When I’m not doing that I help to organize Barcamp Philly, which I co-founded with Roz Duffy, and actively attend and participate in other local organizations like Philly ALT.NET and Philly.rb.

What do you wish you did?
I’d really like Anthony Bourdain’s job. That guy has it made.

Have you ever been to a BarCamp before? If so, which one(s)?
My first Barcamp was Barcamp Orlando in 2008. When I got home from that I was transformed. I really wanted to bring Barcamp to Philadelphia. Luckily I met Roz Duffy and we made it happen!

If you were to lead a session, what would it be about?
One thing I’d like to see more of is collaboration and cross pollination of developers from different disciplines. .NET programmers, Ruby programmers, PHP coders, and designers all seem to be on their own island sometimes. I’d love to host a panel discussing things that could be done to help bridge those islands so that developers from different backgrounds could learn from, and hopefully learn to respect each other’s areas of expertise.

Give us one interesting fact about yourself!
I went to Space Camp. No, I didn’t accidentally get launched into the stratosphere via the wacky hi-jinks of a malfunctioning emotional robot. That’s just silly.

Got a website or blog?
viceclown.com

Twitter?
@jptoto

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Kelani Nichole, Interactive Lead

By Roz Duffy | Published: November 12, 2009

facerzWhat do you do?
I am the Interactive Lead for a Creative Agency called M. I make websites, and love killer content. It is important. Lately, I’ve been stretching my event planning muscle as a Co-organizer of BarCamp and BeerCamp. BUT my heart is with Art. I don’t make it, I just love to think about it and write about it. In my off-time, I work with the best little artblog on the planet, which combines both my true loves, art + web.

What do you wish you did?
I do pretty much everything I dream up. It makes me busy and tired, but happy!

Have you ever been to a BarCamp before? If so, which one(s)?
Yes, I was at the first BarCampPhilly and can’t effin wait to see it grow in its second year. I also helped organize HealthCamp last spring.

If you were to lead a session, what would it be about?
Last month I attended my first ‘An Event Apart’. I’m hoping to share some of the game-changing things I learned in a session that condenses two days of inspiration into one hour.

Also, an idea for a break-away session: my partner-in-crime @howdiz and I would like to lure people with snacks into Usability Testing our new Artblog Maps & Listings. This is a trick I learned from Whitney Hess at An Event Apart. I think it will work well in the hallways of BarCamp.

Give us one interesting fact about yourself!
I love avocados.

Got a website or blog?
kelaninichole.com

Twitter?
@kelaninichole

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Lori Widelitz-Cavallucci, UX Designer

By Roz Duffy | Published: November 11, 2009

lwcprofileWhat do you do?
I am the Principal of Catenation. We do User Experience Design.

What do you wish you did?
Nothing else. I love what I do. I would like to add some hours to the day, however.

Have you ever been to a BarCamp before? If so, which one(s)?
No, this is my first time.

If you were to lead a session, what would it be about?
Good question…Moving beyond failure, perhaps?

Give us one interesting fact about yourself!
I had 2 horses growing up and spent my childhood participating in horse shows.

Got a website or blog?
catenation.com

Twitter?
@lwcavallucci

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Jenn Carvin, IT Process Operations

By Roz Duffy | Published: November 11, 2009

avatarWhat do you do?
IT Process Operations Consultant at a major technology company.

What do you wish you did?
More IA and UX work. Would LOVE to work with animals full time.

Have you ever been to a BarCamp before? If so, which one(s)?
This will be my first and I’m so excited to attend!

If you were to lead a session, what would it be about?
I think this year will be for learning and seeing how BarCamp works. Maybe next year?

Give us one interesting fact about yourself!
In my spare time I volunteer with an organization that saves orangutans. (Orangutan Outreach)

Got a website or blog?
jennifercarvin.com

Twitter?
@jcarvin77

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Alex Hillman, Resident Badass

By Roz Duffy | Published: November 11, 2009

Alex Hillman002.JPGWhat do you do?
I’m pretty good at stirring things up and challenging the status quo.

What do you wish you did?
I’d love to write and speak for a living. I also wish I could travel the world working with communities who are trying to improve their cities.

Have you ever been to a BarCamp before? If so, which one(s)?
I’ve been to BarCamp Philly, BarCamp Jacksonville, BarCamp Miami, FlashCamp, BarCamp Austin…I’m sure I’m forgetting somewhere.

If you were to lead a session, what would it be about?
How to live life by accelerating serendipity. A.K.A. “Why did Saul Rosenbaum buy me a last minute plane ticket to LessConf?”

Give us one interesting fact about yourself!
My original plan for my career was to be a professional magician. When I got old enough to realize that David Copperfield was kinda creepy, I started looking for alternatives.

Got a website or blog?
dangerouslyawesome.com

Twitter?
@alexknowshtml

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Brian Bransteitter, Senior Software Engineer

By Roz Duffy | Published: November 11, 2009

bbransteitterWhat do you do?
Senior Software Engineer at WorkXpress LLC.

What do you wish you did?
Astronaut – There will always be a part of me that loves the idea of flying into space, even if I do have trouble standing on a ladder.

Have you ever been to a BarCamp before? If so, which one(s)?
Nope this will be my first.

If you were to lead a session, what would it be about?
5th Generation Programming Languages (5GL) and Cloud computing combine to empower more people to develop and distribute software.

What is 5GL?
How it will help “The Excel Person” become a Software Developer.

Give us one interesting fact about yourself!
The picture is from my wedding this June, Love You Tiffany.

Bonus fact: I lost weight playing video games!

Got a website or blog?
workxpress.com

Twitter?
@bbransteitter

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Tom Boutell, Symfony Developer

By Roz Duffy | Published: November 11, 2009

tom_suitWhat do you do?
Mostly Symfony development in PHP. If the site has moving parts, I’m often the one moving them. I’m heavily involved in the Apostrophe CMS project.

Before that I built lots of other things, like the gd library and the WWW FAQ and Mapedit and blah and blah and blah, but what have I done for you lately?

What do you wish you did?
This is an extraordinary time in my life.

Professionally speaking, though…
more product, less project. I prefer helping individuals for the joy of it and then generalizing that to billyuns and billyuns of people as a business model, rather than helping individuals for a large project fee and hoping the politics pan out.

Have you ever been to a BarCamp before? If so, which one(s)?
Nope.

If you were to lead a session, what would it be about?
Testing websites on your very own Mac. Uploading stuff to a server somewhere just to find out if your PHP is valid? Totally for the birds.

Give us one interesting fact about yourself!
I spend several nights a week on the salsa dance floor. It’s the hardest thing for me, or it was, and it’s been incredibly good for me. These facts are related.

Got a website or blog?
window.punkave.com

Twitter?
@tommybgoode

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Bonnie Aumann, Agile Project Manager

By Roz Duffy | Published: November 11, 2009

dress_climbingWhat do you do?
Agile Project Manager at Algorithmics

What do you wish you did?
The same thing, but even better

Have you ever been to a BarCamp before? If so, which one(s)?
Nope, totally stoked for my first time out

If you were to lead a session, what would it be about?
Make More Money w/ Estimate-Free Planning – a Demonstration

Give us one interesting fact about yourself!
I like firespinning with poi, but don’t get nearly enough opportunities to do so

Got a website or blog?
bonniea.com

Twitter?
@bonniea

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