Loren Abdulezer is CEO and President of Evolving Technologies Corporation, a New York-based technology consulting firm. He is an experienced IT professional serving many Fortune 500 companies. Loren is the author of Excel Best Practices for Business and Escape from Excel Hell and served as technical editor of Crystal Xcelsius For Dummies, all published by Wiley. Loren is always exploring new technologies and finding pragmatic and innovative applications. When Skype came along he was quick to recognize its benefits in business and all walks of life. This book is a direct result of wanting to bring those benefits one step closer to a broader audience. Susan Abdulezer is currently a full time Multimedia Developer in New York City. Susan creates interactive DVDs, documentaries, and Web-delivered media. She has received many honors for technology innovation, winning the prestigious Computerworld/Smithsonian Award in Technology and Academia in both 1996 and 1997. Susan has also written numerous feature articles on education and technology as the contributing editor of Converge Magazine from 1998 to 2002. Susan is active in the Digital Storytelling community, exploring the nature and power of the emerging digital culture. She has also been known to tear herself away from the computer to play classical violin in the Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra.
Howard Dammond is an experienced IT professional and technical instructor, having consulted at several major Fortune 500 companies. Howard has 20-plus years of experience as a technical trainer and developer of innovative learning materials. His perspective on teaching and skills development was first inspired and then intensively developed at Yale University in its unique Master of Arts in Teaching program, where he focused on learning theory, the acquisition and nurture of analytic skills, and interdisciplinary methods of curriculum planning and development.
