We are pleased to have as our speaker this month Alex Maximiano, orchid hobbyist and the creator of a wonderful orchid database program, OrchidWiz.

Alex was born in Mozambique, finished high school in Portugal, and moved to the United States in 1983. He holds a BS in Management Information Systems from the University of Colorado and an MBA from the Thunderbird Graduate School of International Management in Arizona. His information-technology career spans 20 years and includes managerial positions at several software companies, including database providers Oracle and Informix.

Alex’s involvement with orchids started in 2002, when he was looking for an orchid present for his mother-in-law on eBay and became fascinated with orchid breeding. Soon after, he started to design a new software program to research orchids, which eventually became OrchidWiz Encyclopedia. The first version of the software was released in November 2005 and became an instant success. To date, Alex has sold copies to orchid aficionados in every US state and 45 countries worldwide.

Besides conceiving and producing the OrchidWiz program, Alex also became a certified AOS judge with the West Palm Beach Judging Center. He and his wife Marianna have two sons, five-year-old Nicolas and two year-old Nathaniel. They live in Miami Shores, Florida.

Alex will be giving a demonstration on the OrchidWiz before his talk on Ascocendas. You don’t want to miss either! Raffle table plants will be supplied by Carmela Orchids.