November, 2007

In this issue:

• Canto News
• Cumulus Training During MacWorld
• Canto Employee Profile: Tech Support Specialist, Alain Defrasne
• Cumulus Power Tips

---

Canto Employee Profile Canto Technical Services Manager, Alain Defrasne An hour one way and he's skiing the Alpes de Haute Provence; an hour the other way and he's swimming in the Mediterranean. Yet, somehow Alain Defrasne finds time to be Canto's technical go-to guy in his part of the world, and to be a great father, husband and friend to the people from which his motivation comes.
	Canto Technical Services Manager, Alain Defrasne

Since joining Canto in 2001, Alain has become Canto's secret weapon in the South of France. He supports and trains Cumulus users and Canto partners in all territories outside the US, Switzerland, Austria and Germany.

Originally born in Switzerland, his family moved to France when he was a young boy. His early interests included playing piano and playing sports, but it was during his military tenure that he discovered the gateway to his ultimate calling—a little computer called the "Oric Atmos."

"I loved that little computer!" Alain recalls, though he admits he can't see using it to run Cumulus today.

Using the Atmos, Alain learned to program in BASIC and appreciate the "power" of a 1 MHz processor running with 48kb of RAM. Eventually, he outgrew the modest machine and found himself at that fork in the road known as "Mac vs. PC."

Was it a difficult choice?

"The worst thing Canto could ever do to me would be make me stop using my Mac," he explains, making his preference clear.

In fact, Alain's love for the Mac is a value he instills in his three children: "We have an iMac at home and everyone, except my youngest, has an iPod."

His youngest, 3, might be in a demographic not (yet) targeted by Apple, but Alain remains confident the boy will make the right choice when the time comes. When asked if he would still love his son if he were to choose a PC, Alain laughs: "Don't worry, my 'think different' computer education will also work on the little one!"

After his military time, Alain solidified his computer know-how at the Aix En Provence University where he studied business computing and received a DEUST Informatique de Gestion.

Mastering computers came naturally for Alain, as did any subject for which he held an interest. But, when learning things less interesting to him, his self-described "goofy" side would step in to save him from the boredom.

"My lack of interest for learning English in school meant I spent far more time away from those classes than in them," he admits. His spotted knowledge of English wouldn't pose any problems for him until 2005, when Alain would start to "think different" about more than just his computer choices.

"I was attending a Canto training course in Australia," he recalls. "I'm a pretty talkative person and I found I was unable to just say what I wanted to say!"

When Alain returned home from Australia, his English lessons began, courtesy of Canto. They continue today, though he has long since conquered enough of the language to converse and conduct trainings.

An unforeseen benefit of Alain being such a quick study, is his ability to provide translation services to Canto. From the company's French language website, which Alain maintains, to the French translations of everything from datasheets and press releases to the eNews you're reading now, it all goes through the Defrasne English-to-French translation machine.

But technical and translation services were not what young Alain had in mind, shortly after his arrival to France. Frequent trips to the circus, hand-in-hand with his grandfather, put other ideas into his head:

"I wanted to become a clown when I grew up!" he reveals, as if that might be so difficult to imagine.

In fact, for those that do know Alain, a revelation like this comes more as a missing piece of the puzzle of what makes him tick than it does a surprise. Alain is a man full of life, excitement and enthusiasm. You can't not notice him when he walks into a room, and you can't not smile when he's been around for a while.

The makings of the perfect clown indeed.

---

In this issue:

• Canto News
• Cumulus Training During MacWorld
• Canto Employee Profile: Tech Support Specialist, Alain Defrasne
• Cumulus Power Tips