Bender's Blog

Did you do your five recommendations? There is still time, so get to it!

Here are my "first" five (in no particular order):

Gayle Craig - Gayle is an extremely smart and talented developer who is not afraid of facing new challenges head on. Her recent move from Java to Ruby demonstrates that she is always looking for ways to expand and increase her knowledge. Instead of speaking, Gayle chooses to interact with the development community in a more personal, one-on-one mentoring role which I feel often does not get her the recognition that she so richly deserves.

Amanda Laucher - Amanda is one of the smartest people I have had the pleasure to know. Her ability to easily grasp and apply new, abstract and difficult concepts to mainstream development methodologies and techniques is nothing short of incredible. Her work in the .NET development community is highly appreciated and she can always be counted on to teach people something new and immediately useful.

Sarah Dutkiewicz - Sarah is an extremely smart, talented and energetic member of the .NET community. She and her colleges in Cleveland recently organized the first Day of .NET in the region with tremendous results. Her dedication to the development community is second to none. Her passion for technology is exemplified by her eagerness to learn and apply new technologies and techniques.

Jeff McWherter - Jeff has been instrumental in creating and nurturing a .NET development community in Eastern Michigan area that is an irreplaceable asset to its members. His commitment to the community was demonstrated by Jeff with the success of the Lansing Day of .NET which brought community members from as far away as Tennessee to participate and benefit from the knowledge and experience of his peers.  Jeff’s hard work and dedication to making this event so successful cannot be overstated. He is an asset to any team he is a part of.

Jeff Hunsaker - Jeff is an extremely smart, capable and talented member of the .NET community. Jeff is someone that enjoys tackling new challenges and helping others in the community overcome their own challenges. Jeff is very passionate about technology and is quick to learn new tools and techniques and find ways to leverage them in ways that make developments faster, less expensive and more successful.

So, what do I mean by my "first" five? Well, as I made my list I would think of a name that would make me think of two more names, which would make me think of two more names and so on and so on...

Currently my list is over 20 people. So, instead of trying to pare this down, I'm going to go ahead and write recommendations for ALL of them! It's going to take me probably most (all?) of the weekend, but now that I'm in the spirit of the "holiday" it seems the right thing to do.