Thank you to the greater Grand Rapids developer community for an exceptional Beer City Code 2025! This year, I was honored to speak at my local conference for the first time, and it was such a joy to attend and connect with so much of the talent and passion in our community. I look forward to seeing how we can continue to grow and support each other in the future. Cheers!
This blog post is a reference for those who attended my presentations as well as a thank you letter to everyone involved.
My first presentation was titled "Aspire to Effortless" and focused on Aspire, the coolest topic in software development. I shared its invitation to a modern .NET platform, what it is, and how the developer dashboard and orchestrator provide an effortless local development experience. For those interested in learning more or finding the resources available, I recommend reading more on my blog and following along as I continue to explore Aspire. Some helpful links and resources include:
My second presentation was titled "AI for Dummies" and focused on an overview of artificial intelligence, the value of AI as a service, and how to get started with Azure AI services for building applications without a data science degree. I shared my own experiences building the Mocking Mirror application that uses Azure OpenAI in a .NET application to provide a simple, yet powerful AI experience. I recommend reading more here on my blog or the Leading EDJE blog for staying up to date on the latest in AI. Some links worth checking out include:
Thank you again if you attended my presentations or any of the other amazing sessions at Beer City Code 2025. I hope to see you again next year at the 2026 event! Also thank you to the organizers and volunteers who made this event possible. And a special thank you to the sponsors. These are the companies helping to make this event happen and investing in the future Grand Rapids developer community: