I’m really excited about BlackBerry Jam Asia coming up on 26-27 September. If you’re a BlackBerry Developer in Asia, you already know the reasons you should attend. The Dev Alpha C giveaway, the Jam Space and the presentations of which Jesse covered some of the highlights are just a few of the many things happening throughout the week.
There’s something we haven’t talked about yet though − the speakers!
These leaders aren’t just experts in their respective fields, they are spearheading what’s next in mobile computing. When they aren’t presenting, our BlackBerry Jam Asia speakers can often be found walking around the show floor. Make sure to say hi, introduce yourself and let them know what you’re working on. BlackBerry Jam Asia is a great way to meet new people and have spur of the moment, exciting conversations with industry leaders who share the same passion as you − incredible mobile experiences.
Gary Klassen is a 12-year veteran of BlackBerry software development and was the key developer behind projects such as BlackBerry Messenger, the BlackBerry 950 browser, Themes, Instant Messaging, Maps, HTML Email, Clock and the now iconic BlackBerry Spark. As Principal Architect, he works alongside the world-class development teams at BlackBerry to innovate and drive key initiatives like responsiveness, efficiency, fluidity and seamlessness, which are key to mobile and what we call the BlackBerry DNA.
Presentations:
JAM836: Building Responsive Applications: Performance Tuning for Cascades Applications
Tim leads Application Platform & Tools Product Management at BlackBerry. This includes APIs, Frameworks and Tools for the BlackBerry Platform. He can be found hanging out in the development forums or Twitter trying to help out where he can and to bring your feedback into the next releases of BlackBerry tooling. You’ll also see Tim presenting various topics at the BlackBerry Developer Conferences and BlackBerry World, so be sure to stop by and say hi. Just don’t start talking about cars or Batman; you won’t be able to get rid of him!
Erik is an Application Development Consultant on the Developer Relations team with a focus on HTML5 Gaming. He’s been with BlackBerry for almost four years, seeing the rise of WebWorks on BBOS to its current form today.
Presentations:
JAM817 – Case Study: Performance Tuning Your WebWorks App to Perform Like A Native App
Tom started his career in 1986 as a Program Manager with Microsoft Corporation, working on products such as Windows 3.11, Windows for Workgroups, Windows 95 and Internet Explorer. He was also the creator of the Windows Resource Kit, which began that product line. In 1995, he formed Three Points Consulting with two partners, which focused on bringing the power of the emerging internet technology to everyday life. Tom’s innovative technology solutions played a key role in the successful acquisition of Three Points. In 2004, Tom decided to become a high school teacher as his primary method of giving back to the community. In 2005, he joined the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School (PA CYBER), where he was awarded the Keystone Award for Innovative Use of Technology in the Classroom. During this time, he also earned a master’s degree in Software Design through Capella University. In 2009, in addition to teaching, Tom returned to software development, creating various web and mobile applications. Tom joined BlackBerry in 2012 as Senior Developer Evangelist.
Russell is the Product Manager for the Native SDK at BlackBerry. In this role, he is responsible for the vision and direction of the Native API and associated tooling. Russell previously worked in the Operating Systems Group where he was leading the OS Graphics team that was responsible for significant portions of the Graphics stack. Russell has also been involved in various software development roles both at BlackBerry and elsewhere. While his specialty is C/C++ development, Russell is passionate about technology in general and is always happy to share his passion for technology with others.
Presentations:
JAM828 – What’s New in 10.2: The Evolution of BlackBerry 10 APIs and Tooling
…And that’s just five of them! There are more speakers than we can highlight in a single blog post, so take a look at the BlackBerry Jam Speaker List and keep an eye out for these experts during BlackBerry Jam Asia.