SPECIAL SPEAKERS – MARY JO FOLEY AND PAUL THURROTT

We are delighted to announce that we have two special speakers at Cloud Camp 18, the top two Microsoft watchers and awesome tech journalists, Paul Thurrott and Mary Jo Foley.

 

Mary Jo Foley

has covered the tech industry for 30 years for a variety of publications, including ZDNet, eWeek and Baseline.  She is the author of Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft plans to stay relevant in the post-Gates era (John Wiley & Sons, 2008). She also is the cohost of the “Windows Weekly” podcast on the TWiT network. Got a tip? Send her an email with your rants, rumors, tips and tattles. Confidentiality guaranteed.

 

Paul Thurrott

is an award-winning technology journalist and blogger with over 20 years of industry experience and the author of over 25 books. He is the News Director for the Petri IT Knowledgebase, the major domo at Thurrott.com, and the co-host of three tech podcasts: Windows Weekly with Leo Laporte and Mary Jo Foley, What the Tech with Andrew Zarian, and First Ring Daily with Brad Sams. He was formerly the senior technology analyst at Windows IT Pro and the creator of the SuperSite for Windows.

 

 

Who are Mary Jo Foley and Paul Thurrott?

Even if you don’t know Mary Jo and Paul by name, you probably know some of their work. When some secret Microsoft thing is leaked, when some hidden nugget of information becomes public, there’s a very good chance that one of these two was the first to publish it. When Microsoft wants to know what Joe-public thinks, they often ask Mary Jo and Paul. When Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO, bumped into Mary Jo, he asked her how her Microsoft experience on her new Android phone was going. When a Microsoft staff member feels like sharing, Paul often receives the classified docs. Got some Windows 10 questions – Paul knows the features, the previews, the tricks, better than anyone. When Microsoft wants to launch a new Surface, Mary Jo and Paul are invited to the event. When Steve Ballmer announced his retirement, Mary Jo was one of the very few to be granted an interview. These are “next level” people and we are honoured to have them come to Cloud Camp.

Mary Jo (@maryjofoley) and Paul (@thurrott) know more about Microsoft than anyone. They know the history, the know what’s happening today, and they often know what’s coming in the future. And that’s why we have asked them to wrap up Cloud Camp with a keynote, talking about what’s happening in Microsoft today and tomorrow. If you’ve seen or listened to these two on their Windows Weekly podcast, on the TWiT network, then you know there will be lots of good information and some laughs.

And speaking of the Windows Weekly podcast … how would you like to be an audience member when Paul and Mary Jo host it live from Dublin? The recording will start a few hours after the conference just a few minutes’ walk from the Cloud Camp venue. Seating will be limited and we will announce ticket plans very soon. There might even be some craft beer to drink!