2025 Sessions

Please note that this list is not final. Room assignments and times could change prior to the conference.


8:00 AM - Rath III

Welcome

Welcome to STC Squared

Sarah Jenkins
Hostess Extraordinaire
STC Squared

We’ll gather, as best we can, in the Exhibitor Hall and the main session space to get a warm welcome from STC and Sarah. We will discuss the plan for the day, lunch, happy hour, and set a tone for the day’s activities. That tone? It will be as fun, fast, and interactive and this very brief welcome. Sessions start in just 15 minutes!


8:15 AM - McLester

Breakfast Session

Sponsored by Snyk

Speaker Info
Coming Soon
Snyk

Session information coming soon.


8:15 AM - Rath I

Breakfast Session

Sponsored by Commscope

Speaker Info
Coming Soon
Commscope

Session information coming soon.


8:15 AM - Rath II

Breakfast Session

AI Traction Plan: Your Path to Smarter Business Operations

Jonathan Hodges 
VP of Technology
Classy LLama

Adopting Artificial Intelligence (AI) can feel overwhelming, especially if your business isn’t deeply rooted in technology. That’s why Classy Llama’s AI Traction Plan provides a structured, step-by-step approach to seamlessly integrate AI into your operations, helping you drive efficiency, optimize processes, and achieve long-term growth.


8:15 AM

Breakfast Session

Available

Speaker Info
Coming Soon
Your Company

Contact STC now for more information or see the Sponsor tab.


9:10 AM - Rath III

Session I - Leadership

Unlocking Gen Z+ Potential

Luke Goetting
Principal, Global Keynote Speaker
LTG Strategy

Ever had a Gen Z developer completely reinvent your team's workflow - and wonder why you didn't think of it first? This session draws from real trenches of tech transformation, where traditional leadership meets digital-native innovation head-on. My work with companies like Dell and IBM has given me a front-row seat to both spectacular successes and eye-opening failures in engaging next-gen talent.

The session is built for action - we'll use live engagement tools to identify where traditional approaches are failing (often in surprising ways) and discover how leading tech organizations are turning generational differences into innovation catalysts.

Forget everything you think you know about generational differences in tech teams - this session will transform how you think about building high-performance teams in the digital age.


9:10 AM - McLester

Session I - Physical Plant

Proactive Physical Security

John Stafford
VP of Engineering - Physical Security
HBS

As AI expands the possibilities for physical security, we have the opportunity to use AI and security technologies to take a more proactive approach to threats. "Left of Bang," meaning "before the shot," refers to acting ahead of time to identify and possibly prevent incidents. How can we better protect our employees, customers, and students by anticipating threats before they occur? And when an event does happen, how can we equip responders with more accurate, real-time information to streamline their response and effectively neutralize the threat?


9:10 AM - Rath I

Session I - IT

Navigating the Hypervisor Market post Broadcom Acquisition

Jared Pexa
Global Channel Sales Engineer
Verge.io

Jared will review some of the top VMware alternatives in the market and highlight differences between available solutions on the market today.


9:20 AM - Rath II

Session I - Cybersecurity

Real Cyber Attacks - Stories and Lessons from the Front Lines

John Wagnon
Enterprise Systems Engineer
Fortinet

Cyber attacks happen every day to customers all over the world.  Come hear some of the more interesting stories and learn how these attacks took place and how you can defend against them!


9:20 AM - Rath III

Session I - AI

Unlocking Copilot: Preparing Your Company Data for AI Assistance

Jacob Butcher
Client Lead
Pitt Technology Group

Whether you’re an IT admin, business leader, or just curious about leveraging AI, this session will give you the tools to make Copilot work smarter for your team and explore AI solutions tailored to your company’s needs.


9:20 AM - Scott

Session I - Developer

From Oops to Ops-timization - DevOps, SecOps, AIOps, GenOps

Andrew Osborn
Principal
Zrelyy Consulting

With an ever growing and changing landscape, from AI and LLMs to quantum computing, organizations are delivering faster, more securely, and with greater reliability, how are you changing to stay competitive?  Come learn what Fortune 100 companies are doing to edge out others.


10:15 PM - Glen III

Session 2 - Leadership

From Supporting to Scaling: Building Springfield's Tech Economy Through Innovation

James Stapleton
Founder
Codefi

In Missouri's tech economy, there's a striking opportunity gap: while nearly 40% of our population lives outside major metro areas, these regions host only a small fraction of the state's tech jobs. As the leader of Codefi, a nationally recognized tech-based economic development organization, I'll explore how Springfield can transform from celebrating our existing tech community to actively catalyzing its growth across our broader region.

With Missouri's tech industry generating $16 billion in wages and employing 150,000 people, Springfield is perfectly positioned to become a hub for tech growth that extends beyond city limits into surrounding communities. I'll present a practical roadmap for how our region can evolve beyond networking and support to become a true startup ecosystem that attracts and retains top tech talent. Drawing from Codefi's successful model and national best practices, I'll outline specific strategies for building an innovation economy that matches our region's potential and extends opportunities throughout Southwest Missouri.

This keynote will challenge our tech community to move from spectator to active participant in growing Springfield's tech sector, providing actionable steps to transform our approach to economic development and create a more balanced distribution of tech opportunities across our state.


10:15 PM - McLester

Session 2 - AI

“Hello, I’m your new network engineer”; Using Large Language Models (LLMs) with an agentic framework to aid in initial network fault analysis.

Todd & Canin Christell
Network Architect (Retired) & Cloud Security Team Lead
SpringNet/CU & Ryan Specialty

Agentic frameworks extend the power of Large Language Models (LLMs) by allowing the use of a wide range of tools. This allows the extensive knowledge of network architectures, technologies and protocols to perform initial autonomous network fault analysis using well known tools like netstat and tracert, identifying potential network anomalies as well as providing additional troubleshooting suggestions.
This talk examines some sample implementations of this idea and offers insight into other diagnostic uses of LLMs and agentic frameworks.


10:15 PM - Rath I

Session 2 - Cybersecurity

Dissecting the Security Breach: Identifying Vulnerability in Real-Life Breaches and Strategies to Minimize Risk

Dave Hiechel
President and CEO
Eagle Technologies

This session examines real-world data breaches, exploring how they occurred and outlining preventative strategies. We'll analyze how attackers gained access, what actions they took within the compromised network, and methods for minimizing attacker dwell time. Finally, we'll discuss implementing layered security to prevent data loss.


10:25 PM - Rath II

Session 2 - Cybersecurity

Hacking Humans - The psychology of cyber awareness training

Jared Kucij
Information Security Analyst
Springfield Public Schools

Cybersecurity isn’t just a tech problem—it’s a people problem. Understanding how humans think and make decisions is the key to stronger security. We will explore how cognitive biases influence behavior and how we can use psychology to drive real security change. From leveraging social proof to replacing fear with empowerment, you’ll walk away with actionable strategies to build a security-aware culture that sticks.


10:25 PM - Rath III

Session 2 - AI

AI - Shaping Today, Imaging Tomorrow

Tom Marsden
Vice President
Marathon Consulting

AI is having impacts felt on many of the projects that Marathon is undertaking today, and what better way to think about how to apply it in your own organization is learn from some examples. Tom will give a brief intro into the AI space, not only focusing on generative AI but some of the other applications. Then we will look through some practical applications of AI being incorporated into systems Marathon has developed. This would include a preventative maintenance example, web content development generation, integrations of co-pilots, and AI assisted parsing.


10:25 PM - Scott

Session 2 - Developer

How to Exit Vim

Zachery Smith
Junior Software Developer
CNH Reman

What place do our favorite terminal-based 90s development tools have in a world filled with AI Editors and high-octane SAAS productivity tools?

Vim is not an arcane art left to the programmers of yesteryear, the ability to quickly navigate and surgically edit our code is as important as ever.

Vim has also evolved with the time, becoming highly configurable for whatever you need it to do. With newer flavors, you can integrate your favorite language servers and even AI Copilots into this unique and powerful editor.

With perks like these, who needs a mouse?


11:20 PM - Scott

Session 3 - AI

How do words become numbers and how this will reshape business

Tim Condello
Director of Cloud & AI/ML
DTG

Discover how the revolutionary process of transforming human language into mathematical patterns powers today's AI breakthroughs. Through clear, practical examples, I'll demystify how words become vectors and show you exactly where this technology can create immediate value in your organization. No PhD required - just curiosity about how this fundamental shift in computing will reshape how we work, communicate, and solve problems.


11:20 PM - Glen III

Session 3 - AI

How do words become numbers and how this will reshape business

Tim Condello
Director of Cloud & AI/ML
DTG

Discover how the revolutionary process of transforming human language into mathematical patterns powers today's AI breakthroughs. Through clear, practical examples, I'll demystify how words become vectors and show you exactly where this technology can create immediate value in your organization. No PhD required - just curiosity about how this fundamental shift in computing will reshape how we work, communicate, and solve problems.


11:20 PM - McLester

Session 3 - Physical Plant

A/V Session Title Coming Soon

Paul Ebert
Senior Accounts Manager
Pitt Technology Group

Session info coming soon.


11:20 PM - Rath I

Session 3 - Leadership

Workplace Experiences: A Data-Driven Exploration of Southwest Missouri's Tech Industry

Paige Oxendine
Director of Consulting Services
Habitat Communication & Culture

In 2024, Springfield Women in Technology and Springfield Tech Council commissioned Habitat Communication & Culture to undertake a comprehensive research effort focused on the lived experiences of tech workers in southwest Missouri. The findings highlight the unique experiences of people in our region's tech workforce, with a particular focus on the ways in which the experiences of women and gender minorities compare to the experiences of their male peers.


11:30 PM - Rath II

Session 3 - Cybersecurity

Catch Me If You Can: Hunting With Detection Engineering

Reanna Schultz
SOC Team Lead
Garmin/CyberSpeak Labs LLC

Attendees will gain insight as to why detection engineering is crucial for a cyber program. Attendees will learn how to build and mature a detection engineering program. Additionally, attendees will gain further knowledge as to how to automate manual detection engineering processes through AI.


11:30 PM - Rath III

Session 3 - AI

Solving Problems by Leveraging AI

Josh Marek
Senior Data Consultant
HBS

Discover how Microsoft Cloud can radically accelerate your organization’s productivity with built-in AI, differentiate from competition with intelligent apps, and run on trust with the most secure and responsible AI platform. Gain a competitive edge with intelligent applications while ensuring trust through robust security measures. Leverage zero-trust principles to safeguard sensitive information, control access, and mitigate threats across Windows and integrated cloud services.


11:30 PM - Scott

Session 3 - Developer

Containers without Docker

Frederick Lawler
Software Developer
Cloudflare

Dockers are cooln' all, but did you know containers exist as a concept on the operating system level? Lets explore how to create and use containers for rapid prototyping and testing.


12:30 PM

Lunch Session

Exploring the State-of-the-Art in Mobile Security and Its Implications for Society

Augusto Morales
Technology Lead - CTO Office
CheckPoint

Explore the past, present, and future of mobile security and its implications on personal, professional, and corporate levels. We will review past security incidents, the perception of mobile security across different technology areas, and proactive measures and strategies to enhance it.


12:30 PM

Lunch Session

More than a VMware Alternative: Cutting Costs While Boosting Performance & Data Resiliency

Jared Pexa
Global Channel Sales Engineer
Verge.io

VergeOS is Hyper-Converged Infrastructure (HCI) software solution that integrates virtualization, storage, and networking into a single data center operating system.  Verge.io is designed to be completely hardware agnostic meaning the software can run on existing hardware or new. It reduces costs, simplifies operations, and improves performance and data resiliency.


12:30 PM

Lunch Session

Sponsored by Business Solutions

Speaker Info
Coming Soon
Business Solutions

Session information coming soon.


12:30 PM

Lunch Session

Sponsored by Airlock Digital

Speaker Info
Coming Soon
Airlock Digital

Session information coming soon.


12:30 PM - Scott

Lunch Session

AVAILABLE

Speaker Info
Coming Soon
Your Company

Session information coming soon.


12:30 PM - Gracies

Lunch Session

Sponsored by TierOne

Speaker Info
Coming Soon
TierOne

Session information coming soon.


1:30 PM - Glen III

Session 4 - AI

AI: Demystify and Apply

Jonathan Hodges
VP of Technology
Classy Llama

AI is transforming industries, but for many businesses, understanding where to start can be overwhelming. Demystifying AI is your roadmap to clarity—breaking down complex concepts into practical applications that drive efficiency, reduce costs, and future-proof your business. With real-world examples, industry expertise, and a step-by-step approach, AI: Demystify and Apply equips you to make informed decisions and take action with confidence. The future of automation isn’t coming—it’s here. Let’s make sure you’re ready.


1:30 PM - McLester

Session 4 - Physical Plant

Building Insights and Operational Efficiency

Garrett Scarlett
Security Consultant
Axis

In today's modern world, security cameras go far beyond simple security measures. Now, leveraging edge and cloud computing, computer vision means real time and historical insights into operational functionalities and data previously only glimpsed at. Come learn about how you could be utilizing the power of video to increase profits and efficiency, enhance customer satisfaction, and improve overall insights into HOW you can be doing business and not just protecting it.


1:30 PM - Rath I

Session 4 - Leadership

Creating Significance: Workplaces That Make People Feel Essential

Heath Rust
Sr. Manager Security Operations
CircleCI

Imagine leading a team where everyone feels seen, heard, and valued. In this talk we will learn how the old mentality of transactional relations in business should be reconsidered and how using a few tactical considerations can plummet turnover. From micro check-ins to meaningful delegation, explore practical strategies to boost engagement, performance, and loyalty. Join us to redefine leadership as a human-centric journey that fosters irreplaceable teams and long lasting impact.


1:40 PM - Rath II

Session 4 - Cybersecurity

Are Your Workers "Famous"? A Look at Famous Chollima and DPRK Worker Schemes

Beth Young
Sr Security Incident Response Consultant
Aflac

A discussion of Famous Chollima, a North Korean threat actor group that is placing people in developer positions in US companies to funnel money to the government's weapon program.


1:40 PM - Rath III

Session 4 - AI

AI Security & Ethics: Private vs. Cloud-Based Systems

Tyler Drennon
Technology Strategist
Pitt Technology Group

If you're concerned about data security, compliance, or ethical AI use, this session will give you practical insights into making the right AI decisions for your company.


1:40 PM - Scott

Session 4 - Developer

The Modular Monolith: Patterns for .Net Engineers

Jonathan Smith
Software Engineer/Consultant
Xelseor LLC

Microservices are great—until they aren’t. What if I told you that you could achieve the scalability and maintainability of a microservices architecture while keeping the simplicity of a monolith? In this talk, we’ll explore how to design a Modular Monolith in .NET, leveraging internal queues, MediatR, and strategic handler segregation to create a system that’s both flexible and robust. We’ll discuss why it’s time to move beyond the traditional Repository Pattern and embrace modern patterns for cleaner, more maintainable applications. If you’re tired of distributed headaches but want to future-proof your system, this session is for you!


2:35 PM - Glen III

Session 5 - Special Feature

Special Feature Highlighting the Use of Drones in Policing

Major Eric Reece
Police Major
Springfield Police Department

Hear from Springfield Police Major Eric Reese how SPD is utilizing drone technology in their work along with a special demonstration.


2:35 PM - McLester

Session 5 - AI

Voice AI: Empowering IT to Act Decisively

Tim Goree
Director of Client Solutions
Connection.app

As Voice AI reshapes industries, IT leaders face a paradox: seize its transformative power or fall prey to its risks. This session equips IT professionals with actionable strategies to lead the charge in Voice AI adoption while safeguarding against data mishaps and workflow vulnerabilities.


2:35 PM - Rath I

Session 5 - Leadership

7 Mental Health Boosts for Your Team / That They May Intuitively Already Know / but probably need reminding of anyway

Karl and Shannon Wendt
Director and Communication Instructor
Mt. Hope Counseling and Ozark Christian College

We all want to be our best selves. Mentally, Emotionally, Relationally. But life often makes that hard to achieve. This fast-paced, interactive workshop will provide you (and your team) quick, actionable strategies to boost mental health and enhance performance.


2:45 PM - Rath II

Session 5 - Cybersecurity

Presenting CyberRisk to Boards – Experiences from a CISO

Jeremiah Sahlberg
Principal Consultant
Tevora

This session, led by a CISO and vCISO, will share experiences of regularly reporting to Boards and Audit Committees. It will cover understanding your board, establishing a common language for discussing risk, and strategies for CISOs. Additionally, it will prepare attendees for surprise conversations and highlight the most regularly discussed topics.


2:45 PM - Rath III

Session 5 - AI

How to spot the low hanging fruit for Generative AI

Tim Condello
Director of Cloud & AI/ML
DTG

We are all told the revolution that AI will usher in but where to start? In this presentation we will discuss where you can find internal and customer facing opportunities to leverage AI to improve your business and customer experience. The goal is to give you the data, processes and policies to look for that will be low hanging fruit to bring AI to your business.


2:45 PM - Scott

Session 5 - Developer

How to spot the low hanging fruit for Generative AI

Mike Warner
vCISO
HBS

Do you know what is in your digital “closet”, and what is truly valuable?  Does your company know what its data “crown jewels” are?  Where is it?  Who has access?  And what are they doing with it?

Data Governance is the first step in answering those questions.  It helps you meet security, compliance and data integrity requirements while ensuring that a “reasonable person” would look at your protocols and procedures and say you are doing the right things to minimize risk.

In this presentation, we will give you some high-level concepts around data governance and an approach to make the program successful in your organization.

Bottom Line:  It is very hard to minimize the risk of lost, theft or malicious activity if the data is not governed / marked appropriately.   We can help you on your governance journey.


3:30

Happy Hour

Come on, Get Happy!

Sponsored by DTG

Stay for a drink on DTG and network with your peers. We will also draw winners for any table/booth prizes at this time and winners must be present!

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