This is my quick shot at the obligatory "About Me" page. I am a Systems Consultant for Sybase iAnywhere working in Boise Idaho. My primary focus is on Advantage Database Server but I do work with several other Sybase products. My job focuses on pre-sales which allows me to work with current and potential customers on a wide range of topics. I provide technical support, training and even consulting services.
I have spoken at several technical conferences such as VS Live, BORCON, Southwest Fox as well as many user conferences. I have also presented to many user groups over the years including .NET groups, Delphi groups and FoxPro groups.
A Brief History
I started with Extended Systems in November 1999 as a Technical Support Representative for Advantage Database Server. At that time Advantage 5.6 was the current version and the development team was working on version 5.7. I had a background in Visual Basic so I was tasked to do testing on the new OLEDB provider.
I briefly left the Advantage team to become the Sales Engineer for a new product called Xtend Connect Mobile objects which provided a mechanism for message based remote procedure calls. This product eventually got rolled into the Mobile Office product and I moved back to the Advantage team as a Sales Engineer.
After a brief stint in Iraq with the Idaho Army National Guard I returned right after the acquisition by Sybase. I was able to resume my role with Advantage with a brand new title, and the rest is history.
Development Experience
I worked on several database projects while working for the Idaho Army National Guard full time. These projects were in both Microsoft Access and Visual Basic 4 through 6. When I arrived at Extended Systems I saw the light and started working with a real database server. I continued to work with Visual Basic while learning Delphi and improving my SQL skills. When Visual Studio .NET was released I focused more on C# which is my primary development language today.
I completed my Computer Science degree online through TUI University, which included C, Java, JSP, PHP and Python courses. I also had the opportunity to work on some C and C++ projects with some of the development teams here at Sybase.
Army National Guard
I joined the National Guard in 1991 as a Preventative Medicine Specialist. I did basic training at Fort Knox Kentucky and my Advanced Individual Training at Fort Sam Houston in Texas. A few years later I got my Combat Medic MOS allowing me to expand my role with my unit. I served with Charlie Company of the 145th Support Battalion for sixteen years in various capacities.
In June of 2004 our unit was called up for Operation Iraqi Freedom III. The photo was taken in the As Sulaymaniyah Provence in Northern Iraq. We did a few months of training in Fort Bliss Texas and Fort Polk Louisiana before being deployed to Kirkuk Iraq. I served as the operations NCO for Charlie Company while we were deployed. We returned from Iraq in November of 2005 after being in country for about eleven months.
I am still serving part-time as a Medical Team Leader with the state Medical Detachment.
Contact Information
You can subscribe to this feed to get the latest posts automatically. I also have a facebook page where I post various announcements. Although, I don't use Twitter alot you can find me there under the name adsevangelist. Finally you can e-mail me with questions and comments.
Feel free to comment on any of my posts. I do my best to respond to all the feedback I receive.
