About Us

Brendon Ford
MS Communities Role:
 President
Company:
 Provoke Solutions Limited
Phone:
 +64 21 624 449
Website:
 http://www.provoke.co.nz
Twitter:
 @stewartisland
Blog:
 http://brendonford.com
Brendon is the CTO and a founder of Provoke Solutions. His role focuses on selecting and driving the technology that Provoke delivers to the market, the rest of the time he loves playing with all things technology and as a result of that got involved in MS Communities, he got a big induction into MS Communities when the Wellington SharePoint user group started and since then has not looked back.

As the President of MS Communities one of Brendon’s goals is to insure that the sharing and access technology skills and expertise through MS Communities is enjoyable and easy to access for all involved.  In his personal time Brendon is learning to sail a Spencer 32 called Tryst which is proving to be a bunch of fun, helpful suggestions are welcome.

Gary Payne
MS Communities Role:
 Communication Manager
Company:
 Small Steps Computing Ltd
Phone:
 +61 3 741 1103 , +64 21 266 0753
Website:
 http://www.smallsteps.co.nz
Twitter:
 @garypayne
Blog:
 ttp://sharethelearning.blogspot.com
Gary’s first taste of SharePoint was back in 2001, architecting an out-of-the-box intranet product based on SPS 2001. Since then, he has been assisting clients large and small (both in NZ and in the UK) to create business solutions, intranets and internet sites built on top of the SharePoint platform. A particular area of interest is in helping clients to create rich and interactive web pages by combining HTML and CSS with growing technologies such as jQuery and OData.

As co-organiser of the Christchurch SharePoint User Group, he is keen to help encourage co-operation amongst the SharePoint User community. And just occasional, he finds time to go biking and climbing in the hills around the city!

Jian Sun
MS Communities Role:
 Events Manager
Company:
 PGG Wrightson Ltd
Phone:
 +64 27 445 8091
Website:
 http://www.pggwrightson.co.nz
Twitter:
 @Sundium
Blog:
 http://sundium.wordpress.com
MSCRM Specialist @ PGG Wrightson, Shaky Christchurch, New Zealand. I’m a MCTS, MCPD, Microsoft Certified Business Management Solutions Professional in Dynamics CRM and Microsoft Certified Trainer in CRM.I was also honoured with the MVP award in 2010. I’m interested in all sorts of technologies. My primary focuses are on Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 / 4 / 3, SharePoint and K2 BlackPearl. Outside work, I enjoy skiing, riding motorbikes, mountaineering, diving, flying and sailing.

Paul Salmon
MS Communities Role:
 Treasure/Secretary
Company:
 Katrinka
Phone:
 +6421 839200
Website:
 http://www.katrinka.co.nz
Twitter:
 @katrinka
Blog:
 http://paulesalmon.blogspot.com
Paul has been working with Microsoft technologies for over 15 years from Access 95 and VB3 through to C#, ASP.Net, SQL Server, and more recently WPF, WCF, Silverlight as well as dabbling with Biztalk and MVC.   I have been involved with the following vertical markets: retail oil, finance – hedge funds, education and poultry production.

I tend to work a lot with people these days, managing software products, development teams development practices.  I am the leader of the North Shore .Net User Group and Treasurer of NZ MS Communities.  Outside of programming

I enjoy hiking, sailing and reading (I don’t get much non-technical reading time). Certifications include MCSD, MCSE, MCDBA, MCTS (WPF and BI), CAIA and I am currently working toward my MCPD.

Mark Smith
MS Communities Role:
 Online Manager
Company:
 Magnetism
Phone:
 +64 21 885 401
Website:
 http://www.magnetism.co.nz
Twitter:
 @nzCRMguy
Blog:
 http://www.magnetism.co.nz/blog.aspx
Mark has been working with Microsoft Dynamics CRM since version 1.2 and has extensive knowledge of the product, both as a Microsoft Certified Trainer in Microsoft Dynamics CRM and through his company Magnetism, Microsoft Business Solutions and Independent Software Vendor (ISV) capacities.

Mark worked at Eagle Technology for 7 years during which time he was involved in the management of the Auckland and Wellington offices. He was also part of the team that implemented Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Eagle Technology, one of the first companies to implement in New Zealand. During his career Mark has had extensive involvement with the medical industry nationwide.

Mark is a tenacious leader with the ability to motivate and manage his staff and colleagues. In 2009 he led the company to win the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Solution of the Year at the Microsoft Partner Awards.

Mark has an energetic and inspiring character and demonstrates a passion and drive to see the Dynamics CRM and xRM community progress, both in New Zealand and around the world.