I'd like to take the opportunity to thank Mario for everything he's done for theSpoke in the last two years. He's taken it from an idea; through two versions; to the community it is today. I wish him the best as he moves on.

I am excited about the opportunities we have to build theSpoke community in the future. As I am new to the community, I look forward to getting to know all of you. I’ll start out by introducing myself.

As Mario said, I was just married a month ago. I have to say that was the best day of my life. I’ll post some pictures of the day so you can check it out. Now just because I’m married doesn’t mean that I'll be the person to go to for relationship advice. I think I must have just lucked out.

I joined Microsoft in 2002 and worked in the CRM team of the corporate marketing group for three years before joining the Academic team in April 2005. I worked with Shreyas on the Imagine Cup finals in Yokohama. That was a great experience. I was very impressed by the great work that I saw there. Watch for more information on this year’s competition to be posted on November 1st. I would encourage everyone to check it out.

When I’m not at work I enjoy hiking, skiing and working on my house. A year ago I purchased a house that needed a lot of work. I’ll also post some pictures of some of the work I’ve done. I still have a lot to do, but I’m making pretty good progress.

Again, I thank Mario for everything he's done in the past two years and look forward to the great things we can do as theSpoke community in the future.

JustinB