Barret Blake
#MicrosoftMVP, speaker, husband, father, solutions architect, manager, developer, gamer, Buckeyes fan, model railroader
Columbus, Ohio, United States
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Microsoft MVP, husband, father, speaker, mentor, writer, solutions architect, former manager, developer, gamer, Buckeyes fan, model railroader. When I'm not doing all that other stuff I also occasionally develop applications. Find links to my previous speaking, podcasts and sessions at my website: https://barretblake.dev
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Shall We Play A Game?
The history of science fiction is the history of AI technology gone wrong. Almost from the very beginning, stories of AI going rogue have filled the pages of books and screens large and small. In recent years, stories of ChatGPT and other AI bots turning bad or getting manipulated have filled our news feeds.
Now, with tools like Microsoft's Copilot Studio, it's easier than ever for people to create their own AI companions. How can we keep our creations from going on a racist rampage or from promising to sell cars for $1?
Join me as I talk through some AI pitfalls and ways you can fortify your AI to help reduce the odds of it trying to start World War III.
Revolutionizing Business Processes with Power Automate RPA
We all have to deal with them, those legacy desktop applications that are too important to get rid of, but not important enough to replace, the kind of application where someone has to open it up and click a few buttons a couple times a day.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is transforming the way businesses operate, letting us automate those ridiculous legacy app processes. And Power Automate RPA is at the forefront of this revolution. In this talk, we'll explore the features and capabilities of Power Automate RPA and show how it can be used to automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks with those legacy applications. From automating legacy applications, to reducing errors, to increasing efficiency, we'll cover the benefits of RPA and demonstrate how Power Automate RPA can be used to improve business processes.
Whether you're a business leader, IT professional, or developer, this talk will provide valuable insights and best practices for leveraging Power Automate RPA to drive innovation and growth in your organization.
Unlocking the Power of Data Movement with ETL: Simplify, Transform, and Scale
Data is everywhere. It’s scattered across different systems, platforms, and tools, creating an overwhelming web of disconnected information. For businesses to harness its true potential, they need to move that data seamlessly between systems. But how do you tackle the mess of mismatched formats, data silos, and complex integrations?
That’s where ETL comes in. ETL—Extract, Transform, Load—makes moving and transforming massive amounts of data a breeze. It's the secret sauce that connects your data, ensuring it’s where it needs to be, in the right format, and ready for use.
In this session, we’ll explore how ETL systems can simplify these complex data interactions and streamline the flow of information between systems. With real-world examples from Azure Data Factory, we’ll dive deep into how ETL processes can be leveraged to automate data movement, transform raw information, and load it into systems for actionable insights.
By the end of the session, you'll have a clear understanding of how to harness the full power of ETL to take your data integration to the next level—making your systems smarter, faster, and more connected than ever before!
Effective Application Logging for Maximum Success
Writing info to the console is fine, for a little while. Once your app reaches a certain stage, those print/writeline statements no longer do the job. Even before your app achieves that MVP state, you must ensure that it has effective logging in place.
Logs play a crucial role in the application development and support process. Effective logs can mean the difference between a quick 30-minute hotfix and hours or days of production downtime tracking down a problem.
In this session, we'll talk through strategies for effective application logging and demonstrate some of the tools available to help you achieve maximum success in tracking, tracing, and fixing your applications.
Finding Your Next Developer Job: A Guide to Navigating the Job Market
You never know when you'll find yourself needing to find a new position. And finding the right developer role can be challenging, especially in uncertain times when the market is suddenly filled with thousands of workers all looking for a position. In this talk, we will learn tips and strategies for finding your next developer job. This talk will cover effective job search strategies, how to showcase your skills and experiences, networking, preparing a strong resume, and what to look for in a potential employer. We will talk about the current job market's impact on the industry and how to gather the information you need and use it to your advantage. This talk is targeted at both entry-level and experienced developers and aims to provide you with a roadmap to guide your next job search.
The Low Code Revolution: Transforming the Way We Build Software
Low-code platforms are revolutionizing the way software is developed. It enables organizations to build and deploy applications faster and with less effort. In this talk, we'll examine the benefits and limitations of a low-code approach to software development and how it is changing the face of the industry.
Whether you're a developer, analyst, or IT professional, this talk will provide valuable insights into the future of software development and how you can take advantage of the low-code movement to empower your next project and drive innovation and growth in your organization.
A Hands-On Overview to Building AI Solutions with AI Builder
Whether it's generating automated interactive chat experiences or automating business processes, AI is the future of business software. AI Builder is a powerful tool for organizations looking to incorporate the power of AI into their business processes.
In this talk, we'll explore the key features and capabilities of Power Automate's AI Builder and demonstrate how it can be used to build and deploy AI models quickly and easily. From automating tedious tasks to enhancing customer experiences, we'll examine the various use cases for AI Builder and show how it can help organizations drive innovation and growth. Whether you're new to AI or looking to expand your knowledge, this talk will provide valuable insights and best practices for using AI Builder to unlock the full potential of artificial intelligence to automate your work processes.
Soft Skills for Developers: The Key to Success in Tech
As technology and the modern work environment evolve, the importance of soft skills for developers is growing. In this talk, we'll explore the critical soft skills that every developer needs to succeed in today's dynamic workplace. From effective communication and problem-solving to collaboration and organizational skills, we'll discuss how to cultivate the critical skills required to build relationships with co-workers, leaders, and clients. Whether you're a seasoned developer or just starting in your tech career path, this talk will provide practical insights and advice to help you develop the soft skills that matter most to help you grow, survive, and thrive in the modern tech industry.
Rediscovering Entity Framework Core: Speed, Flexibility, and Power for Modern Development
Are you tired of wrestling with data access layers and managing complex database interactions in your applications? It’s time to give Entity Framework Core (EF Core) another look. This session will show you how EF Core has evolved and why it’s now an even more powerful and flexible tool for modern application development.
Whether you’re building cloud-native apps, microservices, or just looking for a faster and more efficient way to interact with databases, EF Core has significantly improved in performance, scalability, and ease of use. We’ll dive into the latest features, optimizations, and best practices that make EF Core an indispensable tool for developers in today’s fast-paced world.
From raw performance gains to advanced querying capabilities, to the flexibility of working with various databases (SQL Server, SQLite, PostgreSQL, and more), EF Core has become a highly capable, cross-platform solution for all your data access needs.
In this session, we’ll explore the latest EF Core performance enhancements, how they can supercharge your apps, and how to leverage new features like improved raw SQL support, better LINQ performance, and advanced migrations. We'll also talk tips and tricks for making the most of EF Core in your projects, including best practices for working with complex models and optimizing queries.
If you’ve written off EF Core in the past, this session will change your mind. Come see why it’s time to give EF Core a second chance and why it might just be the perfect fit for your next project!
Building Distributed Apps in Minutes with .NET Aspire: Simplifying Complexity
Building and managing complex, distributed applications can often feel like a never-ending puzzle, where aligning all the different components to work together smoothly takes days—sometimes even weeks—of painstaking effort. But what if there was an easier way?
Enter .NET Aspire. Now generally available, this cloud-ready framework is your secret weapon for building distributed applications quickly and effortlessly. With powerful orchestration tools, pre-built components, and seamless integration capabilities, .NET Aspire handles the heavy lifting, allowing you to focus on what truly matters. It effortlessly ties together web interfaces, data sources, APIs, messaging systems, caching solutions, and more, all with minimal effort on your part.
In this session, we’ll explore how .NET Aspire simplifies the development process, walking you through its core features and showing you how to set up the foundational framework of your next distributed application in just minutes. Get ready to transform the way you build with .NET Aspire!
Tales From The Trenches: Leading A Dev Team Is Hard
Let's face it, being a leader is tough. Whether it's wrangling the complexities of projects large and small, keeping your team members on task and their skills sharp, ensuring your clients are happy, or balancing all that with keeping your own boss happy, there's a lot on your plate.
In this session, using real-world examples from my own 20+ years of leadership experience in and out of tech, we'll delve into common hurdles such as maintaining morale, managing conflicting priorities, dealing with HR issues, and more, all while making sure you're keeping in line with your organizational goals.
So join me as we discuss practical strategies for overcoming these challenges to ensure the growth and success of your own development team.
Mastering Code Reviews: Fundamentals for Better Collaboration and Quality
Code reviews are an essential part of the development process, but how often do we pause and think about how to make them truly effective? In this session, we’ll explore the core principles of good code reviews that lead to better collaboration, higher-quality code, and a more cohesive development team.
Whether you're new to code reviews or looking to refine your process, we’ll dive into the key elements that make a code review valuable—not just for the author of the code, but for the whole team. We’ll cover how to foster a positive and constructive review culture, create clear guidelines for reviewing, and identify the common pitfalls to avoid.
In this session we'll focus on developing the proper mindset for code reviews, best practices for reviewers and developers, tips on how to present feedback to promote teamwork and improvement, and leveraging tools to streamline the process and reduce friction.
Whether you’re a developer looking to improve your review skills or a team lead building a healthy review culture, this session will give you the practical strategies to make every code review more effective, efficient, and beneficial for your entire team. Let’s build better code together—one review at a time!
CodeMash 2024 Sessionize Event
Festive Tech Calendar 2023 Sessionize Event
SciFiDevConMayTheFourthEvent 2023 Sessionize Event
Festive Tech Calendar 2022 Sessionize Event
Azure Back to School 2022 Sessionize Event
CodeMash 2022 Sessionize Event
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