ASP.NET: Problems using Timezone in Profile to convert from UTC
<p>Users have their timezones stored in ASP.NET profiles as strings.  I want to use those timezones to convert from UTC for a given user:</p>

<pre><code>Dim timezoneFromProfile = HttpContext.Profile("TZ").ToString
Dim timezone = TimeZoneInfo.FromSerializedString(timeZoneFromProfile) ' FAIL
Dim convertedTime = TimeZoneInfo.ConvertTimeFromUtc(DateTime.UtcNow, timezone)
</code></pre>

<p>The problem is that TimeZoneInfo.FromSerializedString() expects its input to <strong>not</strong> be just a string such as:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>(UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US &amp; Canada)</p>
</blockquote>

<p>I can serialize the user's TimeZoneInfo into the ASP.NET Profile perhaps using XML, but I'm led to believe that using anything other than simple types such as Strings and Integers results in poor performance with respect to Profiles.</p>

<p>What's the best way forward?</p>
