Most Active Speakers 2024

Sessionize proudly presents the list of the most active speakers in the year 2024!

  • 1008 speakers
  • Auto-generated
Galen Keene

Galen Keene

Galen Keene is a highly accomplished architect, technical project manager, trainer, and engineer with over 20 years of experience transforming businesses through innovative technology solutions in the Information Technology industry. Since 2007, Galen has focused on collaboration technologies, emphasizing Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, the Power Platform, and Microsoft Copilot.

A Microsoft MVP in Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams, Galen is an international speaker, president of the San Diego Microsoft 365 Productivity Group, and president of the San Diego chapter of the International Association of Microsoft Channel Partners (IAMCP). As a community leader, Galen fosters knowledge-sharing and innovation, building bridges between professionals and driving the growth of Microsoft technologies.

Galen delivers specialized training on Microsoft technologies, including Copilot, helping organizations of all sizes strategically plan, develop, implement, and adopt these technologies. He empowers organizations to integrate Copilot into their workflows, driving efficiency, fostering innovation, and unlocking new capabilities for teams and leaders. He has become an integral figure, equipping clients with the skills to set up Copilot practices, run effective adoption campaigns, and maximize the value of their investments in technology.

Galen architects and leads projects focused on digital, cultural, and process transformations, enabling enterprises to become more efficient and innovative. With a track record of success across diverse industries and challenging environments, he brings expertise in business strategy, process optimization, solution architecture, and technical project management. His global experience includes leading projects spanning continents and designing information architectures for sensitive defense data under strict international regulations.

As an Architect, Trainer, and Business Transformation Leader, Galen believes in unifying people, communications, and data through processes and methods that align with his clients' strategic goals. He meets organizations where they are and guides them to their desired state, helping them thrive in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Galen Keene is a highly accomplished architect, technical project manager, trainer, and engineer with over 20 years of experience transforming businesses through innovative technology solutions in the Information Technology industry. Since 2007, Gale... Show more

Peter van Vliet

Peter van Vliet

Peter started his career as a full-stack software developer in 2002 and has since progressed to a lead architect role. Over the course of these 20+ years, he has fulfilled many roles in various industries and gained extensive experience with a wide range of technologies such as Java, C#, JavaScript, and others. Nowadays, he leverages his expertise to assist companies, write articles, and speak at conferences.

His main focus is on making software development more cost-efficient and future-proofing applications. Additionally, he has picked up making illustrations as a hobby because he is a strong believer in visual communication. There are no boring slides in any of his presentations.

Peter started his career as a full-stack software developer in 2002 and has since progressed to a lead architect role. Over the course of these 20+ years, he has fulfilled many roles in various industries and gained extensive experience with a wide r... Show more

Rob Richardson

Rob Richardson

Rob Richardson is a software craftsman building web properties in ASP.NET and Node, React and Vue. He’s a Microsoft MVP, published author, frequent speaker at conferences, user groups, and community events, and a diligent teacher and student of high quality software development. You can find this and other talks on https://robrich.org/presentations and follow him on Mastodon at @robrich@hachyderm.io.

Rob Richardson is a software craftsman building web properties in ASP.NET and Node, React and Vue. He’s a Microsoft MVP, published author, frequent speaker at conferences, user groups, and community events, and a diligent teacher and student of high ... Show more

Richard Harbridge

Richard Harbridge

Richard Harbridge is a seasoned Chief Technology Officer, successful entrepreneur, author, internationally recognized speaker, and a Microsoft MVP. With a wealth of experience, Richard has owned and operated multiple thriving businesses and currently serves as a trusted advisor to hundreds of organizations. He specializes in helping businesses understand their current and future needs, guiding them to take strategic actions that drive growth and achieve their ambitious goals.

Richard brings a hands-on approach to digital transformation, guiding organizations with strategies that drive growth and maximize technology impact. With leadership experience in sales, marketing, operations, and service delivery, he helps businesses amplify engagement and build connections. Richard collaborates with executives, IT, HR, and communications leaders, shifting them from reactive to proactive strategies. Together, they accelerate success with AI and cloud solutions, while elevating employee experiences, skills, and business impact.

A sought-after speaker, Richard frequently shares his expertise on employee experience, AI, the digital workplace, technology adoption, and Microsoft technologies at industry events worldwide. Richard also contributes to several committees, leads EX and technology groups, and serves as a Board Member of the Microsoft Community Leadership Board.

Richard Harbridge is a seasoned Chief Technology Officer, successful entrepreneur, author, internationally recognized speaker, and a Microsoft MVP. With a wealth of experience, Richard has owned and operated multiple thriving businesses and currently... Show more

François Bouteruche

François Bouteruche

I am currently a Senior Developer Productivity Specialist at Microsoft, dedicated to helping developers enhance their productivity in this new AI era.

I have over 15 years of experience as a .NET developer. I have had the honor of being recognized as a Microsoft MVP in 2014 & 2015. After spending three years at Microsoft as a technical expert specializing in Visual Studio products and .NET, I joined Amazon Web Services (AWS) in 2019. At AWS, I assisted .NET developers in efficiently and securely building, testing, and deploying applications on the AWS Cloud.

Now, I am back at Microsoft, focusing on their extensive developer tools ecosystem.

I am currently a Senior Developer Productivity Specialist at Microsoft, dedicated to helping developers enhance their productivity in this new AI era. I have over 15 years of experience as a .NET developer. I have had the honor of being recognized... Show more

Ambesh Singh

Ambesh Singh

I am a father, software engineer, and architect at Visionet Deutschland GmbH, currently living in Germany. My interests range from technology to travel. I am also interested in entrepreneurship, reading, vlogging and programming.

I am a father, software engineer, and architect at Visionet Deutschland GmbH, currently living in Germany. My interests range from technology to travel. I am also interested in entrepreneurship, reading, vlogging and programming. Show more

Patricia Rodríguez Vaquero

Patricia Rodríguez Vaquero

🚀 Welcome to my profile!

I'm Patricia Rodríguez Vaquero 😊, a certified Azure Data Engineer 💻☁️. With 5 years of experience in Microsoft Azure services (Microsoft Fabric, Azure Synapse Analytics, ADF, Azure Databricks, Python, T-SQL, Spark, etc), I bring passion, dedication, and a drive to master Microsoft technologies.

Beyond work, I consider myself honest, perseverant, curious, and a committed lifelong learner💡.
I’m an animal and nature lover 🐾🌿, an avid traveler ✈️, and an active participant in community events 🤝.

💬 Hablo español
💬 I speak English
💬 Parlo italiano

✨ ATTITUDE IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS! ✨

📩 Want to connect? Reach me at: pati.rvaquero@gmail.com

🚀 Welcome to my profile! I'm Patricia Rodríguez Vaquero 😊, a certified Azure Data Engineer 💻☁️. With 5 years of experience in Microsoft Azure services (Microsoft Fabric, Azure Synapse Analytics, ADF, Azure Databricks, Python, T-SQL, Spark, etc... Show more

Clarissa Rodrigues

Clarissa Rodrigues

Clarissa Rodrigues is graduated by University of Vale dos Sinos (UNISINOS), specialist in Software Engineering by Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) and master student in Applied Computing by UNISINOS. With more than 10 years of IT experience, she has been working in different roles and companies, such as a Business Analyst at SISPRO, ADP, SAP and most current Technical Quality & Program Manager at Uber. On her journey, she has been advocated for quality inside QAs work to make sure goods and services are designed, developed, and made to meet or exceed customers’ expectations and requirements.

Clarissa Rodrigues is graduated by University of Vale dos Sinos (UNISINOS), specialist in Software Engineering by Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) and master student in Applied Computing by UNISINOS. With more than 10 years of IT exper... Show more

Samir Makwana

Samir Makwana

Samir Makwana is on a mission to help enterprises and governments to build and grow secure and value driven businesses using Microsoft Cloud Services. Trained as Software Developer, Pre-sales and Solution Architect, he has a unique 17 years of experience in delivering diverse IT projects from initiation to completion, providing his clients with unique advantages.

He is a leading expert in security, automation, messaging and collaborative technologies; He has designed multiple Automation and Office 365 Architecture solutions for various enterprises and governments. Over the years, he has been instinctive in coordinating large-scale projects, handling designs, deployment, upgrades, and documentation of large IT Cloud Environments.

He is currently the founder and Principal Architect of Cloudtrify Inc. He has innovative ideas to develop and implement short- and long-term automation and cloud solutions, increasing user adoption, ROI, security, and ease of maintenance.

Outside the professional sphere, he enjoys spending quality time with family and friends.

Samir Makwana is on a mission to help enterprises and governments to build and grow secure and value driven businesses using Microsoft Cloud Services. Trained as Software Developer, Pre-sales and Solution Architect, he has a unique 17 years of experi... Show more

Jakub Scholz

Jakub Scholz

Jakub works at Red Hat as Senior Principal Software Engineer. He has long-term experience with messaging and currently focuses mainly on Apache Kafka and its integration with Kubernetes. He is one of the maintainers of the Strimzi project which provides tooling for running Apache Kafka on Kubernetes. Before joining Red Hat he worked as messaging and solution architect in the financial industry.

Jakub works at Red Hat as Senior Principal Software Engineer. He has long-term experience with messaging and currently focuses mainly on Apache Kafka and its integration with Kubernetes. He is one of the maintainers of the Strimzi project which provi... Show more

Tim te Beek

Tim te Beek

Tim te Beek is a staff software engineer at Moderne, which automates software refactoring at scale. He has extensive experience contributing to and presenting on Open Source software within the Java ecosystem. Previously he worked as a consultant specializing in migration engineering and developer productivity.

Tim te Beek is a staff software engineer at Moderne, which automates software refactoring at scale. He has extensive experience contributing to and presenting on Open Source software within the Java ecosystem. Previously he worked as a consultant spe... Show more

Sue Bayes

Sue Bayes

Microsoft MVP Data Platform
Microsoft Certified: Fabric Data Engineer Associate, Fabric Analytics Engineer Associate, Azure Enterprise Data Analyst Associate, Power BI Data Analyst Associate

Over 7 years successfully working as an independent Power BI developer and data analyst within the public and private sector.

Reporting solutions range from project management, planning , financial reporting, specific service sector reporting, bespoke data cleansing and sentiment analysis.

15 years of lecturing in Business and Computing before starting my own business.

I am passionate about data in general and how we can harness information to grow business. Knowledge of R, SQL and C# but main love is Python, M and DAX.

When not in front of the screen, I love to run and walk my dog and be outside.

Microsoft MVP Data Platform Microsoft Certified: Fabric Data Engineer Associate, Fabric Analytics Engineer Associate, Azure Enterprise Data Analyst Associate, Power BI Data Analyst Associate Over 7 years successfully working as an independent Po... Show more

Elena Drakulevska

Elena Drakulevska

Hi there! 👋 I’m a BI & UX Consultant passionate about turning data into meaningful, user-friendly stories. My goal? To help businesses create reports that are not just visually stunning but also intuitive and accessible—because great design makes data easier (and more fun!) to use.

Through my blog MoonStory 🌙 and speaking at international conferences, I share my love for combining dataviz and UX Design to empower teams to see their data in a whole new way.

When I’m not working magic with data, I can be found exploring the world, picking up new languages, doing yoga, and immersing myself in great books.

Hi there! 👋 I’m a BI & UX Consultant passionate about turning data into meaningful, user-friendly stories. My goal? To help businesses create reports that are not just visually stunning but also intuitive and accessible—because great design makes da... Show more

Sébastien Paulet

Sébastien Paulet

20 years as consultant, dev, tech lead, project manager, trainer, team leader, speaker around SharePoint and M365 technologies and fond of topics around #compliance, #GDPR, #ITSec, #AI, #documentManagement, #recordsManagement, #lean, #scrum, #roi.
Various aMS events around the world + MWCP Paris organizer.

20 years as consultant, dev, tech lead, project manager, trainer, team leader, speaker around SharePoint and M365 technologies and fond of topics around #compliance, #GDPR, #ITSec, #AI, #documentManagement, #recordsManagement, #lean, #scrum, #roi. V... Show more

Michael Durkan

Michael Durkan

Michael is a Microsoft Azure MVP with over 20 years experience in both On-premises , Hybrid and Cloud environments with a particular focus on giving customers trusted advice in their Cloud Migration strategy.

Michael has spoken at both user groups and in-person conferences covering topics across the entire Azure platform from Azure Core Compute to Azure PaaS services. He has published LinkedIn Learning courses on the AZ-801 exam objectives, and regularly blogs at michaeldurkan.com. He contributes regularly to the Microsoft Q&A platform as an Azure Community Champion.

He works for Avanade Ireland as their Azure Practice Lead.

Michael is a Microsoft Azure MVP with over 20 years experience in both On-premises , Hybrid and Cloud environments with a particular focus on giving customers trusted advice in their Cloud Migration strategy. Michael has spoken at both user grou... Show more

Rowdy Rabouw

Rowdy Rabouw

Rowdy Rabouw is a Google Developer Expert in Web Technologies with over 25 years of experience in HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Currently, he works as a Front-End-Focused Senior DevOps Engineer on Vue, Node and NestJS projects, paying special attention to usability and accessibility. Rowdy loves his electronic drum kit and dabbles in creating music on his laptop.

Rowdy Rabouw is a Google Developer Expert in Web Technologies with over 25 years of experience in HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Currently, he works as a Front-End-Focused Senior DevOps Engineer on Vue, Node and NestJS projects, paying special attention t... 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

Kanwal Khipple

Kanwal Khipple

Kanwal Khipple is the CEO and Founder of 2toLead, a trailblazing consulting firm dedicated to innovative digital workplace transformations. Over the past decade, he has established himself as a trusted authority in creating engaging, award-winning employee experiences that seamlessly blend design, technology, and human-centric thinking. Recognized by the Nielsen Norman Group for designing two Top 10 Intranets, Kanwal continues to influence how modern organizations enhance collaboration, learning, and performance.

As AI reshapes how employees interact with information and one another, Kanwal focuses on leveraging cutting-edge tools—like personalization engines, intelligent chatbots, and workplace analytics—to drive meaningful, future-ready workplaces. A long-standing Microsoft 365 community contributor and Microsoft and Business Applications MVP since 2009, he frequently speaks on the value of embracing emerging technologies to amplify rather than replace human connection. His mission is to ensure that as we evolve our workplaces with AI, we do so ethically, responsibly, and with enduring human value at the core.

Kanwal Khipple is the CEO and Founder of 2toLead, a trailblazing consulting firm dedicated to innovative digital workplace transformations. Over the past decade, he has established himself as a trusted authority in creating engaging, award-winning em... Show more

Joseph Guadagno

Joseph Guadagno

Joe Guadagno is a currently Senior Vice President of IT for RT². He has been writing software for over 20 years, has been an active member of the .NET community, formerly serving on the .NET Foundation Board of Directors, as President, and has been a Microsoft MVP in .NET for more than 15 years. He has spoken through the United States and international events on topics ranging from Microsoft .NET, Microsoft Azure, Ionic, Bootstrap, and many others. You can see the complete list at https://www.josephguadagno.net/presentations. When not sitting at a computer, Joe loves to hang out with his family and play games. When not playing games with the family, Joe is checking out the latest in Home Automation. You can connect with Joe on Bluesky at @jguadagno.com, Facebook at JosephGuadagnoNet, and on his blog at https://www.josephguadagno.net

Joe Guadagno is a currently Senior Vice President of IT for RT². He has been writing software for over 20 years, has been an active member of the .NET community, formerly serving on the .NET Foundation Board of Directors, as President, and has been a... Show more

Lenin Alevski

Lenin Alevski

Lenin Alevski is a Full Stack Engineer and generalist with a lot of passion for Information Security. Currently working as a Security Engineer at Google. Lenin specializes in building and maintaining Distributed Systems, Application Security and Cloud Security in general. Lenin loves to play CTFs, contributing to open-source and writing about security and privacy on his personal blog https://www.alevsk.com.

Lenin Alevski is a Full Stack Engineer and generalist with a lot of passion for Information Security. Currently working as a Security Engineer at Google. Lenin specializes in building and maintaining Distributed Systems, Application Security and Clou... Show more

Javier Villegas

Javier Villegas

Javier Villegas is IT Director (DBA & BI Services) at Mediterranean Shipping Company with 30 years of experience working with SQL Server, Including Azure SQL.
His specialization is Administration, Performance Tuning, High Availability and Disaster Recovery.
Javier is a Microsoft MVP Data Platform since 2016 and MCT
He is a frequent speaker in technical conferences and events such as SQL Saturdays, PASS Virtual Groups, PASS Marathons, 24 Hours SQL PASS , vOpen , GroupBy , Data Saturdays and Azure Global Bootcamps.
He is one of the group leaders of SQL Argentina Community and former Microsoft Azure Data Advisory Board Member

Javier Villegas is IT Director (DBA & BI Services) at Mediterranean Shipping Company with 30 years of experience working with SQL Server, Including Azure SQL. His specialization is Administration, Performance Tuning, High Availability and Disaster ... Show more

David Patrick

David Patrick

Dave has been developing database applications for over 30 years. A Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) since 2001, he has taught many classes from Intro to Programming to Advanced SharePoint Development. Dave is a seven time Microsoft MVP and runs three user groups, MAD SharePoint, www.madsharepoint.com, the Mid Atlantic Cybersecurity Experts MeetUp, www.meetup.com/MACEME, and the Baltimore Cloud Meetup, www.meetup.com/Baltimore-Cloud.

Dave does SharePoint training and application development for DSA, Inc., a DoD contractor that does great work for the U.S. Army over at Aberdeen Proving Ground. Dave has a bunch of certifications, including MCSD App Builder, MSCE for SharePoint, and MCSA SQL Server certification.

In his spare time, Dave teaches as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Maryland College Park's iSchool, Towson University and Stevenson University.

Check out www.PatrickPerspective.com to hear about Dave and his daughter Sarah's different views on tech!

Dave has been developing database applications for over 30 years. A Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) since 2001, he has taught many classes from Intro to Programming to Advanced SharePoint Development. Dave is a seven time Microsoft MVP and runs thr... Show more

Alpa Buddhabhatti

Alpa Buddhabhatti

Alpa is an Azure Data Engineer with a passion for data and technology. She is Microsoft Certified Trainer and certified in Azure Data engineer and Azure Data Science. She is working on Azure services such as Logic Apps, Azure Functions, Azure Key Vault , Azure , Azure Data Factory, Azure Storage and Azure Data Lake .

Alpa is an Azure Data Engineer with a passion for data and technology. She is Microsoft Certified Trainer and certified in Azure Data engineer and Azure Data Science. She is working on Azure services such as Logic Apps, Azure Functions, Azure Key Vau... Show more

Cortney Nickerson

Cortney Nickerson

Cortney is Head of Community at Nirmata. As a CNCF and Civo Ambassador, co-organizer of CNCF Bilbao Community, and speaker and organizing member of various KCD events, she is a recognized voice in the cloud native space. Initially, a non-techie, she turned techie as employee 7 at a startup acquired by DataDog while writing content for the Data on Kubernetes Community. When not talking tech, you can find her talking DEI, sharing her struggle with imposter syndrome, and wrestling her kids to bed.

Cortney is Head of Community at Nirmata. As a CNCF and Civo Ambassador, co-organizer of CNCF Bilbao Community, and speaker and organizing member of various KCD events, she is a recognized voice in the cloud native space. Initially, a non-techie, she ... Show more

Fabio Bonolo

Fabio Bonolo

The Future of Modern Work. That's not just a slogan. It's my passion.

Through my channels, I screen all aspects of the modern, digital workplace, especially focussing on AI and Copilot for Microsoft 365 and focus my wide-ranging view on both the present and the (near) future. 🚀

The Future of Modern Work. That's not just a slogan. It's my passion. Through my channels, I screen all aspects of the modern, digital workplace, especially focussing on AI and Copilot for Microsoft 365 and focus my wide-ranging view on both the p... Show more

Simon Binder

Simon Binder

"The Human side of IT" has always been Simons vision, with a passion for technology but with a focus on creating value for users. Simon holds dual MVP awards within Microsoft Intune and Azure Virtual Desktop and have been a part of the MVP program since 2018. He works as the Lead Architect at Advania Knowledge Factory, based in Sweden, and have a broad – and deep – technical background within workplace and security solutions. Simon is an appreciated speaker who travels the world talking about technology, workplace- and security strategy as well as the value technology partners to build an appreciated and security digital workplace. He hold numerous certifications and awards and is also a Microsoft Certified trainer.

"The Human side of IT" has always been Simons vision, with a passion for technology but with a focus on creating value for users. Simon holds dual MVP awards within Microsoft Intune and Azure Virtual Desktop and have been a part of the MVP program si... Show more

Barret Blake

Barret Blake

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

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 previou... Show more

Steve Bilogan

Steve Bilogan

Steve is a Senior Engineer, a Microsoft MVP, and one of the core maintainers of the open-source Uno Platform project. When not at his computer, he is either watching the Montreal Canadiens lose or asleep on the couch.

Steve is a Senior Engineer, a Microsoft MVP, and one of the core maintainers of the open-source Uno Platform project. When not at his computer, he is either watching the Montreal Canadiens lose or asleep on the couch. Show more

Gilles Pommier

Gilles Pommier

Gilles Pommier is a senior SharePoint Consultant and Office 365 MVP. During the last 15 years, he has helped numerous companies in their implementation for SharePoint architecture and development. Since 2005, he has also participated in several events such as SharePoint Saturday, SQL Saturday, Microsoft TechEd U.S., TechEd Australia, TechEd EMEA TechEd Dubai TechDays France as a speaker on Office 365, SharePoint, .Net and VSTO technologies.

Gilles Pommier is a senior SharePoint Consultant and Office 365 MVP. During the last 15 years, he has helped numerous companies in their implementation for SharePoint architecture and development. Since 2005, he has also participated in several even... Show more

Will Velida

Will Velida

Will is a Senior Software Engineer at Microsoft, working in the Industry Solutions Engineering team.

Will has extensive experience in software development, building solutions in the financial, health and agricultural industries. Will has also previously been a Microsoft MVP for Kubernetes and Open Source before joining Microsoft.

Will regularly speaks at conferences, user groups and developer events around the world, such as Microsoft Ignite, NDC Conferences, and Techorama. When he is away from his keyboard, you'll find him hiking around the countryside.

Will is a Senior Software Engineer at Microsoft, working in the Industry Solutions Engineering team. Will has extensive experience in software development, building solutions in the financial, health and agricultural industries. Will has also pre... Show more

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

Most Active Speakers 2024

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 2024.

The 3% is calculated from the pool of all speakers that have at least one accepted session in year 2024. We don't include inactive speakers or speakers that had no accepted sessions during the year. There are around 38,000 unique accepted speakers this year, the 3% is 1036. 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 2024. 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.