The upcoming weeks will be busy! Besides the visit of Scott Guthrie to Belgium I will be attending Designertopia in London, an internal technical training event in Seattle, WA. But first there's the the Belgian part of the Worldwide launch event Windows Vista, Office 2007 and Windows Live!

While the event is an invite-only-event the "Experience the WoW" event already got some press coverage (before any press release was sent out), mainly due to Miel posts (status update) which were picked up by Radio Donna, StuBru, De Morgen, webwereld.nl, gamesplanet.be, De Standaard, Het Laatste Nieuws and webwereld.be. Of course we do expect a lot more press coverage in the next few days. 

But lets not forget what this day is all about! January 30, 2007 will be bookmarked as the day that Windows Vista, Office 2007 and Windows Live will be available in stores to millions of potential buyers. For this the very special occasion, the Atomium will be rebaptised “WOW Experience Center”, where Windows Vista, Office 2007 and Windows Live play a central role. Numerous personalities of the Belgian political and economic landscape have been invited to witness this exclusive event.

If you're not part of the lucky few that can attend, you will still be able to watch the Praga Kahn concert on the internet. Microsoft Belux will take care of a unique live streaming experience of the performance. It is unique indeed because the streaming can be picked up through three different media channels, which makes it at the same time the largest streaming effort ever done in Belgium.

The Praga Kahn concert can be watched as of 11 pm (CET+1) on:

• The MSN.be portal: Micrsoft online services portal is streaming the concert live and keeps it on the portal for later watching
• The Vodafone Live Portal where it can be watched through 3G enabled smartphones via Proximus, the mobile telecomoperator who fully realizes the 3G promises by the exercise.
• Second Life, the popular virtual online 3D world, where the concert can be watched at different spots. The Second Life inhabitants will be informed by several billboards on the places to be for watching the concert.

The streaming will be realized technically by Telenet.

It is the first time for all the partners working together in this experience, to be able to stream a Belgian concert live. But the fact that these three channels will be streaming the concert live and simultaneously has never been seen in Belgium. Subscribers to the Proximus services can view the concert is they have a 3G enabled smartphone.

The streaming of Microsoft Praga Kahn concert will mean a great event in Second Life, to be watched in the virtual Atomium and many trendy and crowded ‘Second Life’ clubs:

• The Strawberry Estate with a miniature Atomium. In every sphere of the Atomium there is a plasma screen where people can watch the event. It will be the meeting point for all Belgian people who want to witness the concert.
• The Mermaids Gentlemans Club: a submarine club with tropical fauna and flora.
• The Isle of Lesbos: on a tropical beach in a beautiful region; a very spacy location
• The Showgirls Gentlemen’s Club: a Modern Dance Temple with trendy interior and lots of visitors
• Liquid Dreams: Great atmosphere with lots of Lords of the Acid fans
• The Sanctuary Rock: a Top 10 location in Second Life where more than 50,000 avatars pass daily. It’s an enormous Gothic complex
• The Parioli Club in SL by Virtual Italian Parks. Bruno Cerboni, the founder and CEO of Virtual Italian Parks has opened his whole region for the event. It is a Top 10 location with a daily traffic of more than 30,000 visitors. This place, where Rome has been rebuilt to the smallest detail is the welcome portal for all Southern European people

You can find more details on the Second Life on-line event on Micromiel. For those attending the concert IRL, see you on Tuesday in the Atomium in Brussels!

Technorati Tags: Experience the Wow - Worldwide launch event - Praga Kahn - Second Life