Most Active Speakers 2023

Sessionize proudly presents the list of the most active speakers in the year 2023!

  • 756 speakers
  • Auto-generated
Sander Molenkamp

Sander Molenkamp

Sander Molenkamp is a principal cloud architect and Microsoft Azure MVP with over 25 years of professional experience. He works for Info Support (http://www.infosupport.com) designing and developing customer solutions using cloud native architectures.
Sander is also an accomplished speaker, having shared his insights and expertise at numerous international conferences. He is passionate about technology and freely shares his knowledge through the dotnetFlix YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/dotnetflix).
Furthermore, Sander actively contributes to the organization of multiple free community events, including the Dutch Azure Meetup, Azure Fest, and Bitbash.
In his free time, Sander enjoys traveling, is (still) learning to play the ukelele, and tinkers with technology and LEGO. He has also defeated the sword master of Mêlée Island™️.

Sander Molenkamp is a principal cloud architect and Microsoft Azure MVP with over 25 years of professional experience. He works for Info Support (http://www.infosupport.com) designing and developing customer solutions using cloud native architectures... Show more

Tejas Chopra

Tejas Chopra

Tejas Chopra is a Senior Software Engineer, working in the Data Storage Platform team at Netflix, where he is responsible for architecting storage solutions to support Netflix Studios and Netflix Streaming Platform. Prior to Netflix, Tejas was working on designing and implementing the storage infrastructure at Box, Inc. to support a cloud content management platform that scales to petabytes of storage & millions of users. Tejas has worked on distributed file systems & backend architectures, both in on-premise and cloud environments as part of several startups in his career. Tejas is an International Keynote Speaker and periodically conducts seminars on Micro services, NFTs, Software Development & Cloud Computing and has a Masters Degree in Electrical & Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, with a specialization in Computer Systems.

Tejas Chopra is a Senior Software Engineer, working in the Data Storage Platform team at Netflix, where he is responsible for architecting storage solutions to support Netflix Studios and Netflix Streaming Platform. Prior to Netflix, Tejas was workin... Show more

Filip Popović

Filip Popović

Filip Popović is a Senior Product Manager at Microsoft and part of the Fabric Product Group, focusing on SQL performance. Before joining Microsoft in 2019, he spent over ten years in the software and financial services industry, delivering business analytics solutions using the Microsoft technology stack.

Filip Popović is a Senior Product Manager at Microsoft and part of the Fabric Product Group, focusing on SQL performance. Before joining Microsoft in 2019, he spent over ten years in the software and financial services industry, delivering business a... Show more

Vanessa Toves

Vanessa Toves

When I was young I wanted to be an architect. As it turns out, I'm a different type of architect. I am a Microsoft 365 Solutions Architect.

When I was young I wanted to be an architect. As it turns out, I'm a different type of architect. I am a Microsoft 365 Solutions Architect. Show more

Anders Norås

Anders Norås

Anders Norås started out in arts and design, but for the last 25 years he has been creating magic with code instead of paint. Blending creativity with technical skill, he brings a perspective on technology that is as much about people as it is about software.

He has given more than 100 talks at conferences around the world. His presentations are not just lectures, they are experiences. With a sharp delivery and high energy, Anders turns even dry technical material into something lively, memorable and often funny.

Whether you are into computer science, design, media or anything else, Anders offers insights that will make you think and probably make you laugh. He does not just talk about technology. He brings it to life.

Anders Norås started out in arts and design, but for the last 25 years he has been creating magic with code instead of paint. Blending creativity with technical skill, he brings a perspective on technology that is as much about people as it is about ... Show more

Mohamed Wali

Mohamed Wali

Mohamed is an experienced technical leader with a deep technical and strategic background in cloud computing and digital transformation. Skilled in engaging with C-level executives to drive cloud migration, modernization, and digital transformation strategies, with a strong focus on achieving business goals. Proven track record in building and leading cross-functional teams, and identifying opportunities. Adept at influencing decision-making processes and fostering trusted relationships with enterprise clients.

Mohamed is an experienced technical leader with a deep technical and strategic background in cloud computing and digital transformation. Skilled in engaging with C-level executives to drive cloud migration, modernization, and digital transformation s... Show more

Lara Newsom

Lara Newsom

In addition to the many conference talks I have given online and around the globe, I am an Angular GDE, NX Champion, and a co-host on the Angular Plus Show where we talk about all things Angular and Angular adjacent. During the day, I am a Senior Software Engineering Technical Leader at Cisco working full time on a large enterprise Angular application using NgRx state management and leveraging Nx Monorepos. I am always energized by sharing my knowledge and being part of the software engineering community. I specialize in talking about cats and random facts but also love talking about software.

In addition to the many conference talks I have given online and around the globe, I am an Angular GDE, NX Champion, and a co-host on the Angular Plus Show where we talk about all things Angular and Angular adjacent. During the day, I am a Senior Sof... Show more

Tracy Boggiano

Tracy Boggiano

Tracy, a Senior SQL Developer with Abarca Health, juggles SQL queries and civic responsibilities. When she isn't busy exchanging banter with databases, Tracy amplifies her impact in the real world. Her dedication to the NC Guardian ad Litem program since 2003 has been louder than any keynote speech, providing a voice for the voiceless foster children. SQL Server might be her day job, but it's clear that her heart beats for these kids. She's not just a member but an active voice on several councils and boards, defending those with mental illness and foster families. A Day in the Life of Tracy: from data architect to architect of change!

Tracy, a Senior SQL Developer with Abarca Health, juggles SQL queries and civic responsibilities. When she isn't busy exchanging banter with databases, Tracy amplifies her impact in the real world. Her dedication to the NC Guardian ad Litem program s... Show more

Renato Fajdiga

Renato Fajdiga

Renato Fajdiga, a seasoned Microsoft Dynamics NAV/365 Business Central consultant and blogger, currently leads the Business Applications team, overseeing F&O, BC, and other applications. An MVP and MCT since 2018, he specializes in Business Applications, particularly Dynamics 365 Business Central and Power Platform. He thrives on learning new technologies and concepts that enhance customer processes. Occasionally, he delves into coding, but his primary motivation is resolving community-posted issues with Dynamics 365 Business Central.

Renato Fajdiga, a seasoned Microsoft Dynamics NAV/365 Business Central consultant and blogger, currently leads the Business Applications team, overseeing F&O, BC, and other applications. An MVP and MCT since 2018, he specializes in Business Applicati... Show more

Antonio Liccardi

Antonio Liccardi

Antonio Liccardi is a seasoned speaker, book author, and trainer, currently serving as Chief Technology Officer at Blexin. His passion for knowledge sharing led him to co-found "DotNetCampania," an Italian .NET community where he helps others enhance their skills in DevOps, the .NET ecosystem, and software development in general. Antonio is a frequent speaker at both national and international conferences, including Microsoft Build, and has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for Visual Studio Developer Technologies since 2015. He also hosts a live show called "DevOps Time" for UgiDotNet, Italy’s largest .NET community, and runs the podcast "Il corriere del DevOps."

Antonio Liccardi is a seasoned speaker, book author, and trainer, currently serving as Chief Technology Officer at Blexin. His passion for knowledge sharing led him to co-found "DotNetCampania," an Italian .NET community where he helps others enhance... Show more

Tiago Costa

Tiago Costa

Tiago Costa is a Senior Cloud Architect and Advisor focusing on Microsoft Azure, International Speaker, Trainer and Author. For the past 20 years has been architecting and developing solutions using Microsoft technologies. In the last years Tiago have been helping companies to migrate and build Cloud native workloads in Microsoft Azure. Tiago has been working as at the Senior Architect level, but he always like to do some hands-on tasks on the Azure Administration and Development side of things. You can find him regularly in the classroom or online teaching Microsoft Azure. All this real-world experience allows him to deliver amazing trainings on Microsoft Azure.

Tiago has several Microsoft Certifications and awards:
- Microsoft Azure MVP (2016 – …)
- MCT – Microsoft Certified Trainer (2006 – …)
- MCT Regional Lead (2013 – …)
- Microsoft Certification Council Member (2020 – …)

He loves diving into new technologies and share his experience at conferences and training classes. What excites him about it's work is to help others exploring new frontiers in technology and to become better professionals. He's free time is spent with his family in the surroundings of the sunny Lisbon, Portugal, and building some cool geek projects.

Tiago Costa is a Senior Cloud Architect and Advisor focusing on Microsoft Azure, International Speaker, Trainer and Author. For the past 20 years has been architecting and developing solutions using Microsoft technologies. In the last years Tiago hav... Show more

Aaron Cutshall, DHA, MSHI

Aaron Cutshall, DHA, MSHI

Dr. Aaron N. Cutshall is a proven leader in Healthcare Informatics with nearly 40 years of experience in application and database analysis, design, and development. He focuses on clinical quality and massive databases. He actively speaks nationwide at conferences and user group sessions on data architecture, analytics, and professional development topics.

Dr. Aaron N. Cutshall is a proven leader in Healthcare Informatics with nearly 40 years of experience in application and database analysis, design, and development. He focuses on clinical quality and massive databases. He actively speaks nationwide a... Show more

Gavita Regunath

Gavita Regunath

Gavita Regunath is the Chief AI Officer with Advancing Analytics and a dual Microsoft AI MVP and Databricks MVP. She has a PhD in Computational and Experimental Fluid Dynamics andhas spent more than a decade transforming data into high-impact solutions in aeronautics, automotive, finance, and agritech. Gavita is addicted to learning and in her spare time when she is not blogging or talking about AI, she enjoys being a mother, going for a run and cooking something new.

Gavita Regunath is the Chief AI Officer with Advancing Analytics and a dual Microsoft AI MVP and Databricks MVP. She has a PhD in Computational and Experimental Fluid Dynamics andhas spent more than a decade transforming data into high-impact solutio... Show more

Johan Ludvig Brattås

Johan Ludvig Brattås

Johan Ludvig Brattås is a director at Deloitte, and a dedicated community guy. He has worked with MS SQL server since late 1999, mostly with BI in one form or another. Since 2015, most of his work has been in the cloud working on data platform services such as Snowflake, Databricks and Synapse.

Combining his passion for MS SQL Server with his passion for sharing knowledge, he started speaking at various events in the SQL Community. This is also a way to give back to the community for all the things he has learned over the years. When not working, Johan Ludvig either spends his time with his kids, playing with new technology or teaching coeliacs how to bake glutenfree food.

Johan Ludvig Brattås is a director at Deloitte, and a dedicated community guy. He has worked with MS SQL server since late 1999, mostly with BI in one form or another. Since 2015, most of his work has been in the cloud working on data platform servic... Show more

Victor Dantas

Victor Dantas

Victor Dantas has over 25 years of experience in digital transformation. Recognized as a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP), he is part of a select group of over 3,000 global MVPs known for their deep expertise in Microsoft technologies. Victor is the founder of Eyedeas Inc., where he helps businesses enhance productivity and innovation through Power Platform services.

Victor is also an international speaker, sharing his knowledge on digital transformation with audiences around the world. His work has not only improved numerous organizations but has also inspired many in the tech community. Victor continues to guide businesses through digital transformation, solidifying his reputation as an expert in the field.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ZeroToHeroesAcademy

Twitter: https://twitter.com/thevictordantas

Instagram: https://instagram.com/thevictordantas

Victor Dantas has over 25 years of experience in digital transformation. Recognized as a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP), he is part of a select group of over 3,000 global MVPs known for their deep expertise in Microsoft technologies. Vict... Show more

Gerald Versluis

Gerald Versluis

Meet Gerald Versluis, software engineer at Microsoft, who wields the power of .NET MAUI to conquer any project that comes his way. With a career spanning over a decade, he's tackled it all, from frontend to backend and everything in between, using Azure, ASP.NET, and all the other .NET goodies.

But it wasn't until he discovered the magic of Xamarin that he truly fell in love with mobile and cross-platform development, becoming an active community member and sharing his knowledge through writing, tweeting, and presentations. When he's not saving the world of software, you can find him on Twitter @jfversluis, blogging at https://blog.verslu.is, or making videos on his YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/GeraldVersluis.

Meet Gerald Versluis, software engineer at Microsoft, who wields the power of .NET MAUI to conquer any project that comes his way. With a career spanning over a decade, he's tackled it all, from frontend to backend and everything in between, using Az... Show more

Brayan Kai Mwanyumba

Brayan Kai Mwanyumba

Brayan is a data scientist passionate about technical writing and open-source advocacy. He volunteers at different developer communities across Africa including OSCA Nairobi, and CHAOSS Project Africa, and is also a GitHub Campus Expert. All this owing to his strong passion for supporting fellow upcoming technologists and advocating for DEI. It makes him happier, and more balanced and gives him a stronger sense of purpose to innovate, share, and teach in and with the community rather than just for it.

Brayan is a data scientist passionate about technical writing and open-source advocacy. He volunteers at different developer communities across Africa including OSCA Nairobi, and CHAOSS Project Africa, and is also a GitHub Campus Expert. All this owi... Show more

Nico Jacobs

Nico Jacobs

Dr. Nico Jacobs started his career as a data mining researcher at the university of Leuven, Belgium. He joined U2U in 2004 as an instructor, author and technology strategist. His current technical expertise focuses on Power BI and Data Engineering/Data Science on Microsoft Azure. As a passionate trainer, Nico likes to inspire his students to gain a thorough knowledge on the subject. Nico regularly speaks at local and international conferences. You can see what he’s up to by following @SqlWaldorf on Twitter .

Dr. Nico Jacobs started his career as a data mining researcher at the university of Leuven, Belgium. He joined U2U in 2004 as an instructor, author and technology strategist. His current technical expertise focuses on Power BI and Data Engineering/Da... Show more

Ian Cooper

Ian Cooper

Polyglot Coding Architect in London, founder of #ldnug, speaker, tabletop gamer, geek. Tattooed, pierced, and bearded. The 'guv' on @BrighterCommand

Polyglot Coding Architect in London, founder of #ldnug, speaker, tabletop gamer, geek. Tattooed, pierced, and bearded. The 'guv' on @BrighterCommand Show more

Mats Necker

Mats Necker

I like lots of stuff 👉 Power Platform 💘 Dynamics 365 🚀 Azure 🧙‍♂️

Microsoft MVP ✍ blogs at https://nckr.de

I worked for over 10 years with Microsoft Biz Apps as a solution architect / developer, starting with Business Central, nowadays loving the Power Platform & Azure

Building repeatable software has always been my passion and I'm continuing to talk about the best ways to do that 🙂

I like lots of stuff 👉 Power Platform 💘 Dynamics 365 🚀 Azure 🧙‍♂️ Microsoft MVP ✍ blogs at https://nckr.de I worked for over 10 years with Microsoft Biz Apps as a solution architect / developer, starting with Business Central, nowadays lovi... Show more

Håkan Silfvernagel

Håkan Silfvernagel

Håkan holds a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master’s degree in Leadership and Organizational behavior. He has also taken courses on university level in psychology, interaction design and human-computer interaction. He has 25 years’ experience of software development in various positions such as developer, tester, architect, project manager, scrum master, practice manager and team lead.

Håkan is Chairman of the Norwegian .NET User Group Oslo (NNUG) and is active as an Ambassador for Oslo AI, the local chapter for the global City.AI community. In addition, he is the co-founder of AI42, an online school for learning about AI and Data Science and the Azure User Group Sweden, a meetup focused on Azure.

Håkan is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) in AI, a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) and a MCT Community Lead.

Currently Håkan is working as an AI Evangelist at Sopra Steria.

Håkan holds a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master’s degree in Leadership and Organizational behavior. He has also taken courses on university level in psychology, interaction design and human-computer interaction. He has 2... Show more

Stas Lebedenko

Stas Lebedenko

Stas Lebedenko is a full-stack cloud architect and platform engineer at Solidify AB. He is also a co-organizer of the Odesa Microsoft. NET User Group, a speaker and author, and an active member of the international and Ukraine .NET/Azure/Operations communities. He has been building and designing software for the last twenty years and has been the Microsoft Azure Most Valuable Professional since 2020.

Stas Lebedenko is a full-stack cloud architect and platform engineer at Solidify AB. He is also a co-organizer of the Odesa Microsoft. NET User Group, a speaker and author, and an active member of the international and Ukraine .NET/Azure/Operations c... Show more

Peter De Tender

Peter De Tender

Peter has an extensive background in architecting, deploying, managing and training Microsoft technologies, dating back to Windows NT4 Server in 1996, all the way to the latest and modern cloud solutions available in Azure today. With a passion for cloud Architecture, Devops and Security, Peter always has a story to share on how to optimize your Enterprise-ready cloud workloads. When he's not providing a technical Azure workshop out of his role as Azure Technical Trainer at Microsoft Corp, for which he relocated from Belgium to Seattle early 2022, he's developing some new apps on .NET Blazor as a new hobby.
Peter was an Azure MVP for 5 years, is a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) for +13 years and still actively involved in the community as public speaker, technical writer, book author and publisher.

You can follow peter on twitter @pdtit and read his technical blog adventures on http://www.007ffflearning.com

Peter has an extensive background in architecting, deploying, managing and training Microsoft technologies, dating back to Windows NT4 Server in 1996, all the way to the latest and modern cloud solutions available in Azure today. With a passion for c... Show more

Christian Decker

Christian Decker

Christian Decker has been inextricably linked with Microsoft and the optimal use of tools for more than 20 years. After 9 years at Microsoft and over 12 years of experience with the best Microsoft Gold Partners, he is very familiar with Office 365 and Microsoft in general.
Christian is double MVP: Security and Teams - which reflects perfectly his passion

Christian Decker has been inextricably linked with Microsoft and the optimal use of tools for more than 20 years. After 9 years at Microsoft and over 12 years of experience with the best Microsoft Gold Partners, he is very familiar with Office 365 an... Show more

Angeliki Patsiavou

Angeliki Patsiavou

I am a Microsoft Business Applications MVP and Prosci® certified, Dynamics 365 and Power Platform functional lead. My experience is in business applications, CRM operations and enterprise change. With a FTSE 100 client background in Financial Services, CRM and Marketing across Microsoft, Adobe, and Salesforce platforms, I manage global transformation and adoption programs with deep human impact. I am also a speaker in the Microsoft Community, advocating as a human evangelist about user-centered design and enabling governance.

I am a Microsoft Business Applications MVP and Prosci® certified, Dynamics 365 and Power Platform functional lead. My experience is in business applications, CRM operations and enterprise change. With a FTSE 100 client background in Financial Service... Show more

Jimmy Bogard

Jimmy Bogard

Jimmy is the creator and maintainer of the popular OSS libraries AutoMapper and MediatR, and the originator of Vertical Slice Architecture. Jimmy is an independent software consultant based in Austin, TX. Jimmy has received the "Microsoft Most Valuable Professional" (MVP) award every year since 2009.

Jimmy is the creator and maintainer of the popular OSS libraries AutoMapper and MediatR, and the originator of Vertical Slice Architecture. Jimmy is an independent software consultant based in Austin, TX. Jimmy has received the "Microsoft Most Valuab... Show more

Josh Ether

Josh Ether

For the past 15 years, I have been an integral part of many successful organizations due to my experience and dedication. My coaching and consulting has allowed clients to achieve excellence as well as exceed their goals. It has been a privilege to be associated with such great achievements.

My Human Centered based methods have been proven to be successful, having been applied in a variety of projects with resounding results. My approach is comprehensive, taking into consideration all contributing factors to obtain the desired outcomes for clients that provide real value.

I'm passionate about empowering individuals and systems to identify and tackle the obstacles they face on their journey to success. Building trust within their systems through means of inspection, experimentation, and adaption we revise collaboration, & communication. I'm committed to helping my clients achieve long-term results. My ultimate goal is to support them in C.E.C. so that they can make lasting progress in life.

Collaboration is critical for the success of any solution. Working with a diverse group of people helps produce more effective results, and that's why I always strive to create an atmosphere where such collaboration can take place. By leveraging the skillsets of different individuals, we can develop high-quality solutions in a timely manner.

Experimentation is an invaluable tool in finding suitable solutions. To approach a problem in an effective manner, it's important to look beyond the traditional methods and explore something new. This might include using different techniques or tools to test out potential ideas and uncover the best solution. Experimentation gives us a chance to discover and try something that could potentially be groundbreaking, so it shouldn't be overlooked when dealing with complex problems.

Trust is essential for any team or organization to be successful. This confidence is established through effective communication and how information is shared. It's important to understand the power of these interactions, as they can create a feeling of reliability that allows everyone in the group to collaborate confidently.

The challenge organization’s face today is how to sustainably provide for the needs of growth while simultaneously protecting what has been built. A balanced approach is needed, one that combines sustainability with modern innovations. We must build a foundation for future prosperity that takes into account the needs of the organization, individual and the consumer.

For the past 15 years, I have been an integral part of many successful organizations due to my experience and dedication. My coaching and consulting has allowed clients to achieve excellence as well as exceed their goals. It has been a privilege to b... Show more

Elizabeth Fuentes Leone

Elizabeth Fuentes Leone

As a Data Analytics and ML/AI Specialist, my mission is to break down complex concepts into easily understandable terms and practical, production-ready code. I create hands-on tutorials, open-source projects, and live demos that help developers build real-world solutions with Python—from RAG systems and agentic workflows to multimodal applications.

Through conference talks, workshops, and accessible educational resources, I empower developers to confidently implement advanced technologies in their projects, regardless of their starting skill level. My goal is simple: turn complex AI/ML theory into deployable solutions that developers can use immediately.

As a Data Analytics and ML/AI Specialist, my mission is to break down complex concepts into easily understandable terms and practical, production-ready code. I create hands-on tutorials, open-source projects, and live demos that help developers build... Show more

Matt Gordon

Matt Gordon

Matt is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP and has worked with SQL Server since 2000. He is the leader of the Lexington, KY Data Technology Group and a frequent domestic and international community speaker. He's an IDERA ACE alumnus and Redgate Ambassador. His original data professional role was in database development, which quickly evolved into query tuning work that further evolved into being a DBA in the healthcare realm. He has supported several critical systems utilizing SQL Server and Azure SQL and managed dozens of 24/7/365 SQL Server implementations. As a consultant, he works with customers large, medium, and small to migrate to the cloud, make their data estate operate efficiently, and find the right tools and solutions within the Microsoft Data Platform.

Matt is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP and has worked with SQL Server since 2000. He is the leader of the Lexington, KY Data Technology Group and a frequent domestic and international community speaker. He's an IDERA ACE alumnus and Redgate Ambassador... Show more

Rizel Scarlett

Rizel Scarlett

Rizel Scarlett is a Staff Developer Advocate at Block. With a diverse background spanning GitHub, startups, and non-profit organizations, Rizel has cultivated a passion for utilizing emerging technologies to champion equity within the tech industry. She moonlights as an Advisor at G{Code} House, an organization aimed at teaching women of color and non-binary people of color to code. Rizel believes in leveraging vulnerability, honesty, and kindness as means to educate early-career developers.Rizel Scarlett is a Staff Developer Advocate at Block. With a diverse background spanning GitHub, startups, and non-profit organizations, Rizel has cultivated a passion for utilizing emerging technologies to champion equity within the tech industry. She moonlights as an Advisor at G{Code} House, an organization aimed at teaching women of color and non-binary people of color to code. Rizel believes in leveraging vulnerability, honesty, and kindness as means to educate early-career developers.

Rizel Scarlett is a Staff Developer Advocate at Block. With a diverse background spanning GitHub, startups, and non-profit organizations, Rizel has cultivated a passion for utilizing emerging technologies to champion equity within the tech industry. ... Show more

Please note that Sessionize is not responsible for the accuracy or validity of the data provided by speakers.

Most Active Speakers 2023

Every year, we put together a list of the most active speakers. This list features the top 3% of speakers who have participated in events using Sessionize during the 2023.

The 3% is calculated from the pool of all speakers that have at least one accepted session in year 2023. We don't include inactive speakers or speakers that had no accepted sessions during the year. There are around 25 thousand unique accepted speakers this year, the 3% is 771. Not all of them have their speaker profiles set as public, and we respect that, so the list doesn't show all of them.

The calculation is based on the number of accepted events, that's the main criteria, but to get more refined results we also look at things like multiple sessions per event, sharing a session with a co-speaker and how big the event is. Number of submissions and declined sessions don't affect the list.

Please note that the count of events and sessions in this list does not represent the number of events and sessions from the year 2023. Instead, it shows the number of events and sessions featured on the speaker's public speaker profile; these numbers have nothing to do with the award itself.