As the founder and owner of The IMPROV EFFECT, Jessie weds her lifelong passion for and expertise in applied improv with the fast pace and demands of the corporate world. She helps people become better listeners, team players, problem solvers, leaders, and communicators. Throughout her career, Jessie has worked with companies such as Microsoft, Skype, Living Social, Expedia, Fidelity Investments and Groupon. Her workshops have been successfully implemented with start-ups, as well as Fortune 500 companies. Jessie has also been speaker at conferences such as CodeMash, Madison Ruby, Conferencia Rails, UXMad, Scrum Alliance, and Agile DC. To find out more go to www.improveffect.com

Rails committer, Jumpstart Lab instructor, nomad philosopher.

Based in Baltimore, Bryan Liles is the Senior Vice President of Thunderbolt Labs. Since 1993, Bryan has hacked into systems which he was then paid to protect; written more assembler than anyone should ever have to; worked with and against the government. Currently, Bryan is exploring the limits of Ruby and other trendy programming languages while building that next great product product company. In his spare time, he trolls Twitter and grows miniature herb gardens.

Jeanne Carpenter is a cheese geek, but she didn’t start out that way. Raised on Velveeta on a family farm in Wisconsin, after college she worked as a journalist, a corporate project manager, and a spokesperson for the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture. In 2007, she started a public relations company to promote artisan cheese, and in 2009, launched Wisconsin Cheese Originals, a member-based organization dedicated to tasting and learning about Wisconsin artisan cheeses. She leads a variety of events, including cheese classes, tours, cheesemaker dinners, and the annual Wisconsin Cheese Originals Festival. Since 2006, she has blogged on CheeseUnderground.com, giving cheese-starved readers everywhere the inside scoop on America’s Dairyland.

In 1972, a crack commando programmer was sent to prison by a military court for a crime he didn't commit. He promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Seattle underground. Today, still wanted by the government, he survives as a developer of fortune. If you have a problem, if no-one else can help, and if you can find him, maybe you can hire the Tenderlove.

"Big Tiger" has several years of government-sector, full life-cycle business process automation projects under his belt before joining the Ruby community via Hashrocket in 2007. Years of experience in leading a maintenance team means he has answered to angry customers and the developers, project leads, and clients responsible. A simple philosophy of building simple software that works as expected emerged from that experience. You will find him speaking at user groups, conferences, and board rooms on everything from agile development tools and techniques to deep technical dives into Ruby or other best in breed technologies.

Robert[rbxbx] enjoys cats, aspartame, and hipster rubbish (but not that). He is currently having difficulties dealing with being a sellout fatcat, however 27" iMacs and new shoes are helping ease the transition. He’s run a hardcore DIY underground (mostly) electronic net-label for around 6 years now, before Radiohead and NIN ‘revolutionized’ free music in the digital age. Merrr. Originally became interested in web-programming as a matter of utility, due to realizing the importance of a strong net-presence early on. From there, an interest in the MAX/MSP programming environment took that to another level, which finally culminated in programming bliss upon discovering _why(rip)’s Poignant Guide to Ruby (and thusly the Ruby programming language). There’s been no looking back since then as being able to turn one’s interests into a career is quite rare and amazing. Huzzah. You can find him arguing with your girlfriend at the local pub about her horrible taste in music. Hah hah, only serious.

Lark Paulson was first introduced to yoga in 2000, fully embracing the healing power of this practice the following year when she sought remedy for a knee injury from dancing. Following a year-long life changing solo journey to India, she became a 200 hr. – RYT Prana Vinyasa teacher having trained with international teacher Shiva Rea. Lark was featured as a yoga model on the front cover of “Arogyadham Magazine”, India’s most popular family health magazine and featured with an Ayurvedic Practitioner daily on Channel TV Asia on the television show “Arogyadham Ek Vardan” in the US, UK and Europe, demonstrating specific yoga poses and breath work to prevent and treat common health disorders. Lark has been teaching yoga for 5 years, and began teaching semi-private yoga classes on the near eastside in Madison 3 years ago. She is also passionate about bringing yoga into the workplace to educate people who sit at co mputers for hours (like her) or have stressful jobs on how to prevent repetitive motion injuries and relieve tension through yoga.

In her position as director of sales, Margaret has a unique viewpoint on a client's relationship to software. Clients know that a well-built piece of software can provide a solution to their problems. What is often a mystery is how that piece of software is built, and how that process is integral to its quality. Margaret sees her job as an opportunity to connect a client with a team who can remove that mystery through communication. Craftsmanship thrives in an atmosphere of open discussion with the client, and she is the one who makes the introductions. Margaret has over twenty years of experience in sales management and publishing. In her spare time she enjoys golf, biking, reading, and the beach near her home in sunny Florida. Margaret received a B.S. in Education from the University of Wisconsin - Madison.

I tend binary zen gardens at Neo.com in Columbus, OH