Jim Priest is a husband, father of two, developer, and avid motorcyclist. He currently works for SRA International as a Configuration Manager and Senior Software Development Analyst. He works primarily with ColdFusion, JIRA and Ant, but also dabbles with Powerbuilder, as well as creating handheld applications in Visual CE. Jim is an active participant in the ColdFusion community; co-managing the Triangle Area ColdFusion User Group (TACFUG) in the Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina area. In 2009 he helped organize CFinNC, the first ColdFusion conference in North Carolina. He posts regularly to his blog: The Crumb

CFUnited session: Digging into the Developer Toolbox

1. Have you spoken at CFUnited in the past?

No. This is my first time and I am very excited to have been selected to speak (and slightly terrified!) :)

2. Why should people attend your sessions?

I watch a lot of developers code and it always frustrates me that people do things 'the hard way'. Computers are supposed to make our lives easier, yet people fail to leverage available tools and techniques that can save them time and effort.

3. Do you have any projects in the works that you will be revealing at CFUnited?

Hopefully I will have a new CFEclipse site up and running. We are trying to improve our communication with the CFML community and remind people of our free alternative to other CFML IDE's. :)

4. Besides your topic, what other sessions are you looking forward to?

All of them? :)

5. What are some of the hot topics you'd like to see at RoundTable discussions?

I'd like to see continuing discussions of CFML, how the three CFML vendors can work together to strengthen the core language and how we in the community can better spread the word about CFML. We need to end the "ColdFusion is dead" rumors but do it in a positive way - not by bashing other languages on Twitter and mailing lists.

6. Where can people find you at CFUnited?

Before my presentation: Hunkered down in my room practicing my presentation. After my presentation: At the bar.

7. What's the latest news with you? Has anything changed since last CFUnited?

No news is good news?

8. What is unique about CFUnited?

I think it's the perfect mix between the big conferences like Max and the more technical events like cf.Objective. Last year was my first conference and I had a great time. It was great meeting so many people I've known online for years but never met in person.

9. What do you like to do in your free time?

I'm a father of two so that keeps me rather busy! In my spare time I can usually be found on my motorcycle heading west to the mountains for some camping and relaxation. My other hobbies are building and flying remote control airplanes and dabbling in music.

This entry was posted on May 25, 2010 at 11:49 AM and has received 2568 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Sandra Clark has been developing ColdFusion applications since 1997 and speaking about ColdFusion, CSS and Accessibility since 2001. She is a passionate advocate on applying accepted and proven web standards to development as a way of creating websites that are usable by all people. Sandra currently works with AboutWeb as a contractor to the National Institutes of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, MD.

CFUnited session: Accessible Javascript

1. Have you spoken at CFUnited in the past?

I've spoken at CFUNITED since it was CFUN. I think my first speaking engagement there was 2002. I've spoken at every CFUNITED with the exception of 2009.

2. Why should people attend your sessions?

There are a lot of exciting updates in the world of Accessibility. The Section 508 refresh is out for public comment at this time and when that becomes law (hopefully by the end of this year), then RIA's will be able to meet the 508 criteria for the first time.

3. Do you have any projects in the works that you will be revealing at CFUnited?

None at the moment.

4. Besides your topic, what other sessions are you looking forward to?

I'm looking forward to Christian Ready's HTML 5 talk. I haven't done much with it yet and I'm eager to learn more. Bob Silverberg's ORM talks are always great. There are so many great talks, I can't possibly list them all. Hopefully I won't be talking at the same time as the ones I really want to see!

6. Where can people find you at CFUnited?

I'm all over the place. Its hard to miss me, since I'm one of the few female speakers. Come over, introduce yourself and lets talk!

7. What's the latest news with you? Has anything changed since last CFUnited?

After 7 years, I switched companies. I am now employed by About Web, which is a great company. I get to work and hang out with some really smart Programmers, which I really enjoy. I'm also back at the National Institutes of Standards and Technology which I love as well.

8. What is unique about CFUnited?

The people. I think the best thing about CFUNITED is the people it attracts, both as conference goers and speakers. I always come out of the conference with new ideas and more things I want to learn.

9. What do you like to do in your free time?

Anyone on my Facebook account can tell you that. I've really gotten into local and seasonal eating this past year. I've started preserving my own food (control issues, this way I know what is going into my food). I'm also trying to exercise more and spend less time on the computer.

This entry was posted on May 24, 2010 at 6:51 PM and has received 3242 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

John Paul Ashenfelter - With over 15 years experience in web application development, John Paul provides broad ranging analysis and development skills focusing on the rapid development of web-based business applications. His particular technical expertise lies in Ruby, Rails, ColdFusion, and database design and development with a strong focus on open-source software. John Paul is a frequent speaker at conferences and a contributor to online resources such as the O'Reilly Network and the (now defunct) WebReview site. He has written three books on web databases and ColdFusion and has contributed or been a technical editor on a number of other books on the web, databases, and development.
CFUnited session: ColdFusion with noSQL

1. Have you spoken at CFUnited in the past?

Every one except 2001.

2. Why should people attend your sessions?

A conference should expand your mind and challenge your assumptions. I'm talking about building CF applications that don't use a relational database. This is some *seriously* cool stuff.

3. Do you have any projects in the works that you will be revealing at CFUnited?

Probably -- the NoSQL community is growing quickly and there's a lot of work to do on the CF side to make it easier to integrate with these new tools.

4. Besides your topic, what other sessions are you looking forward to?

I really like FW/1 and look forward to seeing what open source projects are working their way into the ColdFusion world. I'm also always interested in seeing what folks are doing as far as testing and agile development.

5. What are some of the hot topics you'd like to see at RoundTable discussions?

Growing the open source community with ColdFusion. We've started to get pretty good about having projects run by a single person, but we're still not there as far as larger collaborative projects that involve many different people. This probably relates to 4CFF.

6. Where can people find you at CFUnited?

In the bar, coding.

7. What's the latest news with you? Has anything changed since last CFUnited?

I've started another company. Oh, and I'll be flying into the conference straight from two months of living in Mexico.

8. What is unique about CFUnited?

There's not a lot of places large numbers of CF folks gather -- CFUnited is unique in both the breadth of experience in attendees (n00b to guru). CFUnited also has some of the best-looking conference staff of any major conference I've ever attended.

9. What do you like to do in your free time?

Be outside, do thing with my boys. Travel.

This entry was posted on May 18, 2010 at 11:10 AM and has received 2552 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Chaz Chumley - Consultant, Instructor, Author, Husband and Father. Chaz has been specializing in web development and database design since 1995. He currently resides as a Web Developer for the Smithsonian. Chaz is also CIO for w3Consultants, an Internet Application Development & Hosting company. Consultant services include XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, Fireworks, Photoshop, Drupal and ColdFusion. Chaz is also a contributing author and partner at CommunityMX and a guest speaker at such conferences as Todcon and CFUnited.

CFUnited session: ColdFusion Report Builder

1. Have you spoken at CFUnited in the past?

I have spoken at CFUnited for the past 4 years, including CFUnited Europe, and every year is better than the last.

2. Why should people attend your sessions?

Often people overlook the importance of good report writing tools that ColdFusion provide you. They lean toward building queries and outputting the data in a table and that's their idea of reporting. A lot of the work is done for you in ColdFusion Report Builder. Stop by and find out just how easy.

3. Do you have any projects in the works that you will be revealing at CFUnited?

Actually. I have 2 projects that we will be showcasing at CFUnited this year - one for the Smithsonian and one for CommunityMX. Both utilize the CFWheels framework and will be awesome. Stop by and check them out.

4. Besides your topic, what other sessions are you looking forward to?

Being a Government employee I just blogged about the Top 10 topics you don't want to miss out on. Make sure to check it out, as there are too many great topics and too little time for one person.

5. What are some of the hot topics you'd like to see at RoundTable discussions? Frameworks - There are so many to choose from that it's often a hard decision for people to make. Mike Henke, Chris Peters and myself will actually be doing a Birds of a Feather on CFWheels so stop by to hear more.

6. Where can people find you at CFUnited?

When I am not taking in a presentation, chatting with attendees in the hallway then you can find me in the bar socializing.

7. What's the latest news with you? Has anything changed since last CFUnited?

I actually went over to the darkside. I am now a Government employee and work for the Smithsonian. Moved from the desert of Las Vegas to the Capital City of D.C. and participated in my first 10K. Does that count?

8. What is unique about CFUnited?

Where else could you sit and talk to such great people with such great backgrounds and never mention the word - ColdFusion.

9. What do you like to do in your free time?

Free time - is that what they call it?

This entry was posted on May 12, 2010 at 10:25 AM and has received 3192 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Speaker Aaron West has been affected by the flooding in Nashville. Lets get the community together to see if we can help.

"Aaron West's home is currently underwater in the Nashville floods. He and his family had about an hour to pack as much as they could before they needed to evacuate. Aaron West's home is currently underwater in the Nashville floods. He and his family had about an hour to pack as much as they could before they needed to evacuate."

A blog has been created on Aaron's behalf that gives images, video blogs, and other updates regarding his current situation. The blog site has a "Donation" area, which already has shown some tremendous love.

It's quite hard to imagine what he's going through, so any support and help is much appreciated.

This entry was posted on May 7, 2010 at 11:02 AM and has received 2806 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

We are excited to officially introduce our CFUnited 2010 Keynote Speakers: Adam Lehman, Terry Ryan and Charlie Arehart. Yes, you read correctly, Lehman, Ryan, and Arehart! Adam and Terry will double up for our opening Keynote on Wednesday! Make sure you get to there early to get the perfect seat! Charlie will be our keynote speaker on Thursday! You all are in for a real treat.

Adam Lehman is the Product Manager for ColdFusion at Adobe Systems based out of Washington, DC. Prior to joining Adobe, Adam developed enterprise applications for the US Department of State and Johns Hopkins University. Adam has spoken at over 100 events on topics ranging from web development to application security.

Terry Ryan is currently an Adobe Platform Evangelist for ColdFusion. He has been working with ColdFusion for 10 years. He's presented at various Adobe ColdFusion events including cf.Objective(), webDU, and Adobe Max. Prior to joining Adobe, Terry worked for the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania in various roles around ColdFusion from Application Developer to System Administrator.

Charlie Arehart is a veteran ColdFusion developer and troubleshooter since 1997 with over 25 years in IT. He's a longtime contributor to the community and a recognized Adobe Community Professional. As an independent consultant, he provides short-term troubleshooting/tuning assistance and training/mentoring for organizations of all sizes and CF experience levels (carehart.org/consulting).

Besides running the 2000-member Online ColdFusion Meetup (coldfusionmeetup.com, an online CF user group), he also hosts the UGTV repository of recorded presentations from hundreds of speakers (carehart.org/ugtv) and the CF411 site of over 1000 tools/resources for CFers (cf411.com). A certified Advanced CF Developer and Instructor for each version since CF 4, Charlie's spoken at each of the major CF conferences worldwide and is a contributor to all three volumes of Ben Forta's ColdFusion 8 and 9 WACK books.

There will be more details to come about Charlie's keynote speech, so stay tuned!

Join us at CFUnited 2010 to hear from our rock-star keynote speakers, as well as our other fabulous speakers!

This entry was posted on May 3, 2010 at 2:43 PM and has received 3382 views. There are currently 1 comments. Print this entry.