Jason Follas is a Technical Architect for Perficient, serving clients primarily located in the greater Detroit region (including Toledo, where he lives and serves as the President of the Northwest Ohio .NET User Group). Since 1994, he has developed many interesting solutions on the Microsoft platform, including an Aircraft Weight and Balance system used by an air freight company, several e-Commerce websites, Risk Management systems, and blend optimization software. In the past, Microsoft recognized Jason as a Microsoft MVP (SQL). Jason is involved in organizing a number of local conferences including CodeMash and Ann Arbor Day of .NET.

You can find his blog at jasonfollas.com.

Chris Anderson has been very involved in Technology Commercialization in Ohio and the Central Ohio for more than 5 years. He has extensive experience in evaluating and developing business plans, investor presentations, as well as developing market entry strategies and execution. His experience on the funding side has allowed him to sponsor more than a dozen companies in raising capital and has performed due diligence on many others. He is currently the Director of Venture Development for TechColumbus where he provides business assessment, consulting, resource planning, technology community building, and capital investment services to Central Ohio technology based start-ups. Prior to TechColumbus he was the Technology Outreach Coordinator for the Technology Business Assistance Office at the Ohio Department of Development. In that role he managed programs with combined annual budgets of greater than $5 Million. Programs include the Ohio Research Commercialization Grant Program, Technology Investment Tax Credit Program, the Edison Incubator Program, Targeted Industry Attraction and the Small Business Innovation Research Outreach Program. Chris holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.

How TechColumbus grows Technology Companies in Central Ohio; The 315 Corridor and Beyond.

Steve Gruetter has provided the technology resources available from TechColumbus' Platform Lab since the company's inception in January 2002. As the non-profit organization's director, he was awarded a Wright Project Grant from the Ohio Department of Development in 2005 to expand Platform Lab statewide in order to provide a competitive advantage to Ohio firms. As one of the most successful Third Frontier Program grant recipients, Steve has driven business nationally into Ohio via the Platform Lab Cloud offering and the Platform Lab Expertise Partner Program, an information brokerage program that matches client needs to Ohio consultant core capabilities. Today, Platform Lab provides infrastructure for projects and testing for 300+ firms around the world.

Rick Kierner is the Solution Delivery Manager at HMB. He's been developing software for organizations around Central Ohio for over a decade. For the past few years, he's been delivering custom XAML based applications for his clients that complement the functionality and power of custom software components with robust, dynamic and fluid applications interfaces that work with users instead of against them.

Chris Woodruff (or Woody as he is commonly known) has a degree in Computer Science from Michigan State University's College of Engineering. Woody has been developing and architecting software solutions for almost 15 years and has worked in many different platforms and tools. He is a community leader, helping such events as Day of .NET Ann Arbor and Day of .NET Grand Rapids. He was also instrumental in bringing the popular Give Camp event to Western Michigan where technology professionals lend their time and development expertise to assist local non-profits. As a speaker and podcaster, Woody has spoken and discussed a variety of topics, including database design and open source. He is a Microsoft MVP in Data Platform Development and was recently recognized as one of the top 20 MVPs world-wide. Woody works at RCM Technologies in Grand Rapids, MI as a Principle Consultant.

Woody is the co-host of the popular podcast "Deep Fried Bytes" and blogs at www.chriswoodruff.com. He is the President of the West Michigan .NET User Group and also is a co-founder of the software architecture online portal nPlus1.org.

Woody has worked in many arenas throughout the years, including healthcare, manufacturing, publishing, promotion execution and the automotive industry. He has experience with starting and running new ventures, including past work with technology startups. Woody continues to develop his expertise by learning & developing new technologies to better meet the needs of his clients, while devoting his free time to improving the development community at large, and giving back to the community in which he lives.