2015 Tracks

Registration and Breakfast 7:30a - 8:45a

Registration and Breakfast


Digital Publishing on the Bus 10:15a - 11:30a

Delivering digital content for TV stations, newspapers, and magazines is more complex than you might think. Myriad content integrations, publishing workflows, and the sheer scale at which most mass media outlets operate present a plethora of technical challenges that service bus technologies are well suited to solve. From the case studies presented, you will learn successful patterns for implementing service bus approaches that you can apply to your own business domain. Examples will reference NServiceBus, but the approaches presented can be easily generalized to any service bus technology.

David Boike David Boike is a Solution Architect at Particular Software, the makers of the NServiceBus platform, and the author of Learning NServiceBus, Second Edition. He is also a husband, father of two, craft beer homebrewer, and all-around nerd. Follow him on Twitter @DavidBoike or check out his blog at www.make-awesome.com.

Everything You Wanted to Know about X.509 Certificates But Were Afraid to Ask 1:00p - 2:15p

Digital X.509 certificates are the fundamental technology enabling secure communication over the web. However, for most of us, our experience with certificates begins and ends with installing a purchased certificate on a server. Come to this session to learn: - How RSA public/private key encryption works - How x.509 certificates and TLS implement RSA encryption - Tools and libraries available for working with certificates - How CRLs and OCSP account for compromised private keys - How to build your own Certificate Authority to issue client certificates for authentication

Joe Strommen Joe is an independent software consultant & entrepreneur with a wide range of expertise across .NET and web technologies. If he could go back in time 10 years, he would tell his former self: "Learn Javascript now!" Joe lives in Bloomington with his wife and two kids, and is an avid (or maybe rabid?) basketball fan.

Rethink-ing your data store 2:30p - 3:45p

We all know and (sorta) love relational databases. Why not, we've only been using it for years now! But relational databases presents challenges for the modern web developer: it's hard to scale and there's an upfront cost in designing a schema. Enter RethinKDB, an open-source, scalable database for use with the real-time web.

Brian Maula A Senior 1 Consultant for ILM who enjoys cooking and eating lots of food.

Beyond REST: Web Services Designed for Mobile 4:00p - 5:15p

Creating the best possible mobile experience extends beyond the device to the services your app depends on. The unique constraints imposed by mobile devices should influence your API design. Learn how to build great mobile web services, what REST doesn't cover, and lessons from years of experience designing and refining mobile web services.

Sam Kirchmeier I'm a speaker, teacher, and software developer at Livefront. I build awesome backend web services and iOS apps, and I speak at conferences on web and mobile. When I’m not coding, you might find me dreaming about coding, exploring Minnesota’s great outdoors, or teaching at Smart Factory.

Tame the Mobile Jungle to build cross platform apps with VS 2015 10:15a - 11:30a

The only thing that’s constant is change, and nowhere is that more true than in mobile technology. New phones, tablets and phablets mean new opportunities for developers to create great ways of connecting people and the data. Developers today have choices to make in terms of platform, frameworks and technologies to use to create apps. Cordova, Xamarin, and Mobile Web have their points, but they also have tradeoffs. In this session we’ll explore the options available to the developer to see how you can go cross platform with data, identity and services to create the ultimate connected experience.

Mike Benkovich Mike is a former Microsoft developer evangelist who is passionate about helping people explore what's possible with the latest technologies. He is an avid blogger on www.benkotips.com, and is active with the local TechMasters club - Toastmasters for Geeks.

Beyond Notifications: Creating Apps for Android Wear 1:00p - 2:15p

The Android Wear framework may be best known for its rich support of Android notifications, but it also allows developers to go beyond notifications and actually build full apps for Android Wear devices. We will give an in depth look at the available tools and best practices for doing so, with a particular emphasis on building custom UI.

Brian Yencho Brian has a background in theoretical physics and currently works as an Android and Ruby on Rails developer for Livefront. Sean has been working with web technology for more than ten years and mobile technology for a bit less than that. Currently he works at Livefront where he focuses on Android development.
Sean Weiser

iOS Game Development with UIKit 2:30p - 3:45p

For developers interested in game development using native iOS technologies. I'll give a brief overview of various game architecture issues and strategies, and then talk about implementing games using various apple frameworks.

Martin Grider Martin Grider has been programming for iOS since late 2008, only a short time after Apple's first iPhone SDK was announced. Three months later, his first app was in the app store, ActionChess, an action puzzle game combining elements of Chess and Tetris. Since 2012, he has owned and operated Abstract Puzzle LLC, where he balances time between contract iOS work and independent mobile game creation. He is a co-organizer for the International Game Developer Association's Twin Cities chapter (http://igdatc.org/). Martin writes passionately about mobile game development and game design on his blog at http://chesstris.com/.

Biometrics and Secure Storage with iOS & Swift 4:00p - 5:15p

Learn how to use the Touch ID and Keychain APIs in iOS to implement secure authentication strategies.

Jason Shapiro 20+ years of professional software leadership, architecture, and engineering experience, with a current focus on technical training and courseware authoring (Java EE, iOS, and Web Development).

Angular Killers - What to watch out for 10:15a - 11:30a

"Using Angular? Memory Leaks! Redundant Code! Too many directives! BreezeJS? RequireJS? It's testable (with unit tests) What about end to end (gui) testing? In this discussion Mike Emo will talk about Do's and Don'ts when building your SPA using Angular. We'll take a look at a sample Angular application using WebAPI and what to consider when designing your SPA".

Mike Emo Mike Emo is the founder of iEmosoft, a software developent firm in the twin cities that specializes in agile development efforts using .Net, SQL Server and web development with AngularJS and KnockoutJS
Nick Thurow

An Aurelia Story – A Primer 1:00p - 2:15p

Interested in Aurelia but not sure where to start? You've done the navigation skeleton project but you’re not sure how to translate that knowledge into your own app? Announced in early 2015, Aurelia has gathered much attention for its use of plain JavaScript classes and simple HTML templates. I will cover going from an empty directory to setting up a SPA that has multiple views, uses custom elements, and makes HTTP requests. Come learn how and where to get started using this new and exciting development tool and leave your boilerplate code at home.

Brett Nelson I’m a Consultant at ILM with experience in the .NET web stack creating modern responsive website(s) with MVC and JavaScript frameworks. I spend my free time learning new technologies and generally trying to improve myself as a developer. You can read about those exploits at WIPDeveloper.com.

Node.js & MongoDB API: Fully tested, from scratch 2:30p - 3:45p

We’ll discuss & build a Node API using Express and MongoDB from scratch explaining how it all works with tips and tricks along the way. Not to worry, we’ll be doing more than just some simple CRUD operations. Some bonuses include custom middleware for logging and output formatting on-top of some exotic Mongo queries. We’ll then explore full integration testing of the API + Mongo to make sure it all works. Expect to leave knowing how to and if you should be leveraging this stack for your next project.

John Culviner John Culviner is an independent software consultant specializing in using the right tools for the job. More recently this has been Angular.js, Node.js, MongoDB and Groovy/Java but I still have a not so secret love for C# and elegant strong typing.

AngularJS and TypeScript Two Great Tools Together 4:00p - 5:15p

Writing an AngularJS application with TypeScript takes a lot of pain out development process and how helps in learning the AngularJS API and best practices. In this session I will show the best practices for building an AngularJS app with TypeScript and explain why the two are a great combination. Some of items we will cover include: authentication, authorization, controllers with ControllerAs, services, minification, and routing. We will also talk about how to use the TypeScript tooling to make learning and working with the AngularJS API easier while automating the compilation process.

Kurt Wiersma Kurt is a developer and software team leader from Minneapolis, MN. Over the course of his 13+ career he has built primary web based applications using many different technologies including Java, CFML, Javascript and Groovy. Lately his favorites are Python and C# with an AngularJS front end assisted by Typescript.

Stop writing unit tests! 10:15a - 11:30a

Making a case for ending (or significantly cutting down on) the dreaded practice of writing unit tests. What is the motivation behind unit tests? Testing functionality? Testing individual components? Making sure all the tiny circles are green? Let's examine this together and maybe you'll end up writing more (and better quality!) code instead of spending your time writing unit tests.

Alec Wojciechowski I'm a Senior Consultant at ILM Professional Services. I have worked on back end document generation systems, front-end workflow tools and everything in between! My primary expertise is with C# ASP.NET web applications though I've been writing a lot more AngularJS lately. My primary interests lie in the software development life-cycle and application security. When I'm not writing code, I'm probably somewhere above the Twin Cities in a Cessna.

Applying IoT 1:00p - 2:15p

"Have you seen information on things like Rasperberry PI, Arduino, or the like? Wondering what either of those are or why you should care? In this talk we'll look at how to get stared with embedded systems/IoT devices and build something to solve a real-world problem along the way."

Documents applying_iot.pdf
Brett Hazen Brett is a senior consultant with ILM Professional Services with years of experience in technologies including the Microsoft stack, various content management systems, and client side frameworks.

The Modern Web Arsenal 2:30p - 3:45p

Now that most projects require a javascript 'build' step, it's good to know what is available out there. I will briefly go over a handful of tools to make your life easier and your process (and your javascript) better.

Sean Epping Sean is a principal consultant with ILM and is focused on ASP.NET Web applications and front end architecture.

A Developer's Guide to Web Images 4:00p - 5:15p

Many web developers have only a casual understanding of image formats and how to use them, yet they are 60% of the client footprint for most web sites. Learn which image formats are appropriate for different types of images. Discover techniques for improving the performance by using a CDN, CSS Sprites, and other approaches. Review the new "picture" and “srcset” standards and how to use them for responsive images and high pixel density displays while still supporting older browsers. Web developers understand HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, why not review how to best utilize images as well!

Documents webimages.pdf
Robert Boedigheimer Robert Boedigheimer works for Schwans Shared Services, LLC providing business solutions with web technologies and leads Robert Boedigheimer Consulting, LLC. Robert has been designing and developing web sites for the past 20 years including the early days of ASP and ASP.NET. He is a Pluralsight Author, an ASP.NET MVP, an author, and a 3rd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. Robert has spoken at industry conferences including VSLive, SDD, HDC, DevLink, DevTeach, Tulsa Tech Fest, DevWeek, DevReach, SDC, TechEd, DevConnections, AJAXWorld, and numerous national and international events.

Your DBA says 'It Depends'. Now what? 10:15a - 11:30a

"Do you feel like most interactions with your DBA/IT team result in statement ""It Depends""? Do you wonder what metrics your DBA is evaluating to make assertions about the system? Do you want to know key tips for performance tuning applications? A former DBA turned full-stack web developer will take you through some of the metrics and tools that DBAs use to evaluate performance so that you can more easily communicate with your DBA or troubleshoot your SQL server personally."

Documents Pint DBA.pdf
Maggie Pint Maggie Pint is the Web Development Manager at TempWorks Software. She spent the first several years of her career working as a SSRS developer and accidental DBA before converting into a full-stack ASP.NET developer. She currently specializes mostly in Angular JS, but there is a special place in her heart for bridging the gap between developers and DBAs. In her spare time, Maggie shows and breeds Australian Shepherds, hangs out with her three year old son, and engages in a constant battle of technical one-upmanship with her husband Joe – also a .NET developer.

I woke up and found myself in middle management, now what!? 1:00p - 2:15p

As company IT departments continue to grow, many of us have woken up at that crossroads between IT leadership and People leadership. While mentoring other IT resources can come natural to most, it can also be overwhelming; setting up “career pathing”, setting "SMART" goals, establishing HR policies such as work at home, flexible time, etc... Also a key area of middle management is how to work with groups outside of IT and how you manage your manager and Sr. management has an art form all its own. In this session we will review many of these topics in some real life examples.

Aaron T Lange Aaron Lange has been working up corporate latters for over 21 years. He has had the luxury for working for companies of all sizes and shapes from companies of 3 to 3,000+. He has worked with all kinds of technologies, from COBOL to Java to .Net and it seems everything in between. While continuing to be IT focused, Aaron has found several opportunities to build IT departments from the ground up which have been the most challenging and rewarding. In his current role, Aaron oversees an extremely talented group of IT professionals who are responsible for the largest growth area of Affinion Group (Connexions Loyalty) which delivers loyalty programs to over 200 Million people worldwide and homes the world largest loyalty only travel supplier.

Texas BBQ, Raspberry Pi 2, and Windows 10 2:30p - 3:45p

Windows 10 Core supports development of apps, using XAML and C#, on the Raspberry Pi 2. In this session we will walk through everything necessary to build a BBQ temperature monitor using Windows 10 and a Raspberry Pi 2. This talk will be focused on writing the code for the application, but a step by step set of instructions will be shared for wiring up the hardware as well. You'll leave with a knowledge of how to work with GPIO devices, and some great pointers on BBQ from the Captain of the Improving Enterprises BBQ Team.

Tim Rayburn Tim Rayburn is a Vice President of Consulting with Improving, a software and project management consulting company headquartered in Dallas, TX, whose newest enterprise is Improving – Twin Cities. He is a passionate advocate of apprenticeship and mentorship in corporate environments. Since 2007 he has been awarded the Microsoft MVP in recognition of his expertise and community leadership. He is also a conference organizer, an author, and can be found speaking across the nation on agile processes, software design, and career management. He lives in the North Dallas area with his amazing wife Kate and their loyal dog Gandalf. He is also the Captain of the Improving Enterprises BBQ team.

Creating Small Teams that Kick A$$ and take names 4:00p - 5:15p

This is an interactive talk NOT a lecture. Tired of working at a big company? Want to start your own small team, studio or startup? Managing smaller teams, budgets and timelines are much different than when you had levels of management or a large company behind you. You will need to take a completely different approach when creating your own team. you need to be be prepared to manage communicate and interact with your studio team.

Chip Pedersen Chip Pedersen has been in the tech Industry for over 26 years. Chip has held senior positions at Microsoft Game Studios, Activision, Griffin International, Outdoor Partners Entertainment and Concrete Software. His team and development experience covers numerous platforms and genres. Chip has directly managed AAA development teams of 60 people and working with remote teams around the world. Prior to joining the gaming industry, Chip honed his tech skills as a Research & Development Specialist at Apple Inc. in Cupertino, California and Andersen Consulting's Advanced technology Group in Chicago. Chip’s team building philosophy centers around one key concept: the project always comes first. Born up on the range Chip is back in Minnesota after spending too much of his life on the West coast. One of his major goals is to help build Silicon Prairie and kept talent, teams here in Minnesota.

Introduction To The 10th Annual Minnesota Developers Conference 8:45a - 9:00a

Introduction To The 10th Annual Minnesota Developers Conference


Keynote Speech 9:00a - 10:00a

Keynote Speech

John O'Donovan John O'Donovan is CTO of Dow Jones, Barrons, and Financial Times and is a technologist obsessed with delivering great products on top of great platforms. Previously Chief Architect of BBC iPlayer, BBC News and BBC Sport and Director of Technology at the Press Association redefining how real time data, news and other content is made and distributed. John has a broad experience in all things technology and loves connecting this knowledge with business outcomes to build great products.

Break 10:00a - 10:15a


Lunch 11:30a - 1:00p


Break 2:15p - 2:30p


Break 3:45p - 4:00p


Happy Hour 5:30p - 7:30p