Michael Carducci
Software Architect & Magician
Michael Carducci spent years learning to see things as they actually are; first as a magician, then as a software architect, now as both simultaneously. And somehow that’s not even the whole story.
He’s the author of Mastering Software Architecture (Apress, 2025) and is currently writing The Semantic Layer. He has spent over 25 years following interesting problems; through roles from individual contributor to CTO and back again, across industries and continents.
As a speaker, he applies the same toolkit he uses in close-up magic: attention, misdirection, timing, storytelling, and the instinct to take the long way around when that’s where the truth lives. Audiences at hundreds of conferences across four continents have described his talks as the kind that change how you think about a problem rather than just what you know about it.
He also makes YouTube videos about technology and curiosity with his wife Kate, because some ideas are too important (or too interesting!) to leave only in conference rooms.
Presentations
Scaling Out MySQL - Architectures and Implementation
Tuesday, 8:30 AM PDT
Whether your goals are higher concurrency, lower latency or high availability; there are proven techniques and strategies you can implement. Each requires careful consideration and comes with it's own challenges.
In this session we'll examine several architectures for running MySQL at scale and will be building each of the architectures live and hands-on.
Fully Optimize Your Memory
Tuesday, 8:30 PM PDT
Unlock your latent photographic memory. In this session you'll learn failsafe techniques and systems that allow you to never forget names, appointments, or numbers. In the process you'll be more effective and imaginative at work; improve reading speed and comprehension, and shorten study times.
An improved memory will change your life, literally. In the session we will describe in detail several memory techniques that, with a little practice, will have you remembering virtually anything you want.
Productivity for the hopelessly disorganized
Wednesday, 7:30 PM PDT
It happens to us all; there are simply days where it seems impossible to get anything done. This session focuses on techniques and tips to get into the zone, stay in the zone and to protect your productivity, even in disruptive environments.
Rather than focusing on any one productivity methodology (e.g. GTD) This talk analyzes the internal and external factors that affect our productivity and offers broader strategies to get back on track.
The Influential Engineer Overcoming resistance to change
Thursday, 3:15 PM PDT
By the end of this conference you will have learned many new tools and technologies. The easy part is done, now for the hard part: getting the rest of the teamand managementon board with the new ideas. Easier said than done.
Whether you want to effect culture change in your organization, lead the transition toward a new technology, or are simply asking for better tools; you must first understand that having a “good idea” is just the beginning. How can you dramatically increase your odds of success?
You will learn 12 concrete strategies to build consensus within your team as well as 6 technique to dramatically increase the odds that the other person will say “Yes” to your requests.
As a professional mentalist, Michael has been a student of psychology, human behavior and the principles of influence for nearly two decades. There are universal principles of influence that neccessary to both understand and leverage if you want to be more effective leader of change in your organization.
In this session we discuss strategies for getting your team on board as well as when/how to approach management within the department and also higherup in the organization.