Elmer Eraña
Self-taught digital designer, Elmer Eraña, came to multimedia from a mechanical drafting background mixed in with some professional photography. With the help of Macromedia and Macromedia Flash, his Web site, e3direktiv.com, garnered many accolades - enough to power the new company Fusion Media Group, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, where he currently presides as the Creative Director. He also participates in organizations such as the Canadian Marketing Association and the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, Multimedia Advisory Board.

His Macromedia Flash related expertise includes, among others, Macromedia Flash 5 ActionScripting, 3D Studio Max, ASP, MySQL, interface design, and animation. When the opportunity affords itself, these interests try to intermix with Macromedia Flash and other multimedia developments. His current version of e3direktiv.com stands as a reference for other designers / businesses of the perils of the industry, plus a showcase of his past and future work.

Interests include entertainment media, snow boarding, environment design, architecture, and photography. His professional aspirations include career and business interests in New York and San Francisco.

Learn and innovate: words to live by.
Link: www.e3direktiv.com

Chris Georgenes
Chris Georgenes is a creative and technically driven animator, illustrator and character designer. After graduating from Hartford Art School in 1989, he paid his dues for seven years as a freelance illustrator and professionally active musician in his hometown of Boston, Massachusetts.

In 1996, Chris joined the animation department of Tom Snyder Productions, responsible for the award winning Dr Katz Professional Therapist. Now known as Soup2nuts Productions, Chris has been responsible for helping design, develop and animate several series for major broadcast networks, including Home Movies on Cartoon Network.

Chris implemented Macromedia Flash into the production process across all projects related to broadcast and Internet. As a result, Soup2nuts entered the world of online content by producing several games and series for Shockwave.com and cartoonnetwork.com to name a few.

Macromedia invited Chris to be a featured presenter at the Flash Forward 2000 Conference in NY. He demonstrated his technique of character animation using Macromedia Flash in conjunction with After Effects and Photoshop for broadcast applications.

At the end of his workday, Chris returns home to his wife and the two best characters he's ever helped create, his two boys. Once his kids are tucked away for the night, Chris continues his career as a freelance Macromedia Flash animator.

Chris does occasionally wander outdoors to enjoy a round of golf or roller hockey. His other interests include building Jeeps, playing drums, kayaking and photography.

www.georgenes.com

Peter Hall
Peter Hall has been a freelance Flash developer for less than a year, but he has already made a name for himself and earned respect from across the Flash community.

Peter graduated in 2001 from Warwick University in England, gaining a BSc in Mathematics. He now lives in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, and runs his freelance business from home.

Peter enjoys live music and he is learning to play the guitar. He plays the saxophone a little better, though rarely finds time for it. He would also like to get back into oil painting, which he loves but hasn't done since college.

Whilst he should by no means be typecast as simply a programmer, Peter has found that he can meet the industry's increasingly demanding requirements for robust and efficient code. Mainly creating Flash games and subcontracting on larger Flash-based projects, he is also developing skills in a variety of web-oriented languages.

Peter's website, www.peterjoel.com features a library of open source Flash movies, which have resulted from his committed efforts on the Flash newsgroup to solve the problems that have been raised there.

Ann Ketron
Many know Ann as "ann k" or "boomer". Ann has been in the traditional offset printing industry since "the blue dinosaur" (1984) and she couldn't wait for computers and desktop publishing to come along. Ann works on the Windows platform and builds customized systems along with all digital communications needs for personal or professional applications. She deals exclusively with Macromedia Flash for Web sites, and uses FreeHand and Dreamweaver to supplement.

Ann and her family live in Northwest Oklahoma, where they dodge thunderstorms and tornados on a regular basis. Ann's family include a husband and a redheaded 16-year-old daughter. Ann met her husband in 1981 during their service in the USMC. They also have two Manx cats that think they run the place and one black Labrador puppy they rescued from the local shelter last year.

Ann is into science fiction (hard science) and all outdoor sports. Ann also enjoys hanging out with friends and family grilling on the "barby," crochet, painting, home remodeling, and woodworking. You should see Ann's benches and tools!

Sam Nseir
Having left university only last year, Sam Nseir has established himself as an experienced and methodical Macromedia Flash developer. Sam spends so much time at the rescue of the lost souls of the multimedia world, that his portfolio does not do him justice.

By day, Sam works as a multimedia developer creating interactive e-learning solutions in London UK. His nights don’t get much better as he is currently developing one of the few completely database driven, Macromedia Flash delivered e-commerce sites with his brother’s company, Revelation Design.

Sam had his heart set to do medicine but got cold feet when he was offered a place, and instead opted to do mechanical engineering. He then followed with a Masters in Multimedia Technology.

Loving the great outdoors and a water baby at heart, Sam still intends to swim the English Channel, which he almost attempted when he was 16. He enjoys rock climbing, canoeing and a wide range of water sports.

http://www.nseir.com

Bill Perry
With a degree in industrial design, Bill Perry brought with him many design disciplines that helped him adapt to the changing environment of multimedia over the past seven years. Having worked for Lockheed Martin, a dot-com, and now a senior consultant for Prosum, located in Los Angeles, CA, Bill is continuing to learn and push the limitations of software, especially Macromedia Flash.

With a love for tech gadgets, Bill found an area in which he could excel by combining his knowledge of creating Macromedia Flash applications and Pocket PC devices. He put together the site www.pocketpcflash.net, as a Macromedia Flash development resource for Pocket PC devices and has received much recognition. He has been interviewed by PDA France.com, is actively involved with the Macromedia Flash Handheld forum as well as other Web sites. Additionally, Bill has been a technical editor for a book and is in the process of authoring and editing several other books on Flash and related software programs.

His Macromedia Flash related expertise includes Macromedia Flash 5 ActionScripting, 3D Studio Max, Dreamweaver, Fireworks and Photoshop.

When not working with Macromedia Flash and Pocket PCs, Bill enjoys playing tennis, other outdoor sports, product design, and spending time with his girlfriend.

Urami
Although now widely recognized as one of the leading contributors to the Macromedia Flash forum, prior to 1998 Urami's sole passion was diving. It was this interest, however, which led by coincidence to Macromedia Flash, when whilst making a CD-ROM for a diving company, Urami came across the application in only its second incarnation.

At this time, the Macromedia Flash community was in its infancy and there were few resources for developers. Nevertheless, Urami became acquainted with a number of leading developers, notably Frank Gelat of Killersound.com, who was behind the sound of legendary Macromedia Flash 3 site Balthaser.com. With help from such figures, Urami's CD-ROM business flourished and soon became a full-blown Web development company, MC-Des.com. MC Des also has an experimental sister-site, Flashfugitive.com, where you can find developer resources.

As well managing MC Des, Urami keeps up with a large number technologies and takes a particular interest in Macromedia Flash. Many thousands of developers learn from Urami's frequent contributions to the Macromedia Flash forum.

Urami expects to continue to push Macromedia Flash to its limits in both an experimental and a commercial capacity, but also to spend an increasing amount of time investigating Macromedia Director - in between dives, that is!