The new Developer marketing boy. : Australia

MSDN LinkedIn Group

chlong — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 10:27:00 GMT

Most of the Aussie DPE Team are on LinkedIn and I thought I’d create a local MSDN group for Australian Developers to enable some discussion.

Click here to join.

We’re going to use LinkedIn to ask Developers if there’s interest in participating in the Azure platform community technology preview (with the launch scheduled for March). If you receive a message via LinkedIn, please let me know what you think.

If you would like a token to join the Windows Azure and SQL Azure CTP let me know.

Introducing FranklySpeaking

chlong — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 09:42:26 GMT

Two of our Developer Evangelists, Andrew Coates and Michael Kordahi (as seen in the “we’re looking for a boss” video) have setup a new podcast, “FranklySpeaking”.

It’s a great listen and if you’re interested in technology, I think you’ll enjoy it too… Let the boys know what you think…

The Economy and the IT Market

chlong — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:25:08 GMT

What do the experts have to say about the economy? Microsoft Financing has invited industry experts, Robert Gottliebsen, Jean Marc Annonier and Tracey Fellows to speak at this 1.5 hour session delivering valuable insight into current economic environment and what this means for you and the IT Industry.

When? Tuesday 25 November, 8-9.45am
Where? Hilton Hotel, 488 George Street, Sydney

Click here to find out more and register today.

Nick also blogged about the below Executive Brief from the IDC summarising the Economic Climate. From a software perspective, projects increasing security and productivity (especially those using virtual environments) are likely to proceed. Click here to download it.

Sydney is a Toy City

chlong — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 05:35:23 GMT

Bathtub II from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

Mic showed me these great videos from Keith Loutit. I thought it was some uber detailed model but it’s a time lapsed video without CGI which is just amazing. It reminds me of micro machines…

Going to the Australia Partner Conference?

chlong — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 10:55:26 GMT

It's been a while since I've blogged with lots happening at work and home becoming a Dad. Another fiscal year has come and gone and my first year in Australia has come to an end. I'm pleased to say they haven't asked me to leave yet so I'm around for FY09.

Our next big event for the Partner Team is the Australia Partner Conference in Port Douglas, which as you'd expect, I'm excited about.

I'm running an ISV Pre-day focusing on reading partners for our Software+Services vision. If you are interested in attending, please review the agenda below and email me and I'll register you.

Proposed agenda for Mon 4 Aug Pre-Day: Get ready for Software+Services:

09.00 - Registration & Arrival
What is Software + Services?
What are the Business Opportunities for SQL Server?
“How to workshop” #1: raising funding
Segment presentations
“How to workshop” #2: Setting up Internationally
The ISV Royalty and SPLA Licensing Partner Opportunities
“How to workshop” #3: Overcoming Challenges for Growth
Business Opportunities for APO
17.00 - Close

Hope to see you there.

Philippine IT Mission to Australia

chlong — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:00:36 GMT

What? PHILIPPINE IT SERVICES ROADSHOW TO AUSTRALIA

When? 29-30 April 2008, Melbourne & 1-2 May 2008, Sydney

Objective: Make the Philippines part of your growth strategy

Bit more detail:

The Philippines presents itself as the ideal Partner for Australian businesses wishing to stay competitive and grow globally
The Philippine IT services industry has been growing phenomenally at a rate of 45% annually, and is developing a reputation for excellence in Contact Centres, Back-Office Outsourcing, Medical & Legal Transcription, Software Applications, Development and Maintenance, Animation, Engineering Services and other allied support services. Backed by strong government support, business-friendly policies, reliable supply of managerial talent and knowledge workers, a strong telecommunications
infrastructure and competitive operating costs, Philippine IT industry players invite you to explore synergies with them at the following events

Where? PHILIPPINE IT SERVICES BUSINESS FORUM
Level 47, MLC Centre (NSW Trade and Investment Centre)
19 Martin Place, Sydney NSW
01 May 2008 (Thursday), 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm (Registration opens at 2:40 pm)

Agenda:

Presentations

Philippine Economic Overview and Policy: Sr. Undersecretary Thomas G. Aquino (Department of Trade and Industry)
Opportunities in the BPO and IT-enabled Services Industry: Mr. Oscar Sanez, CEO, Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPA/P)

Panel Discussions

Industry players (including Australian investors) to discuss practical experiences in the Philippine setting on issues such as Talent Quality and Sustainability, and the Business Environment and Infrastructure
Q&A

One on One Meetings: There will be opportunity to have one-on-one Business Meetings with the members of the Philippine delegation right after the Business Forum of 01 May and also on 02 May. Please select which companies you wish to meet with from the attached list of participants.

To register: Please confirm your participation in the Business Forum and request for Business Meetings with Philippine Trade and Investment Centre – Sydney:
Suite 302, Level 3, Thakral House, 301 George Street, Sydney NSW

Tel. No.: +612 9299 0002 Fax No.: +612 9299 0007 E-mail: dtisydney@bigpond.com

Organized by: Philippine Department of Trade and Industry (DTI); Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPA/P); Supported by: NSW Trade and Investment Centre & Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA)

Attend a Mission to Microsoft HQ USA

chlong — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 06:53:51 GMT

Australian Trade Delegation to Microsoft: Gain early access to MS’s strategic vision for the financial services industry

About this mission:

Be part of the first-ever delegation of Australian financial services technology and solutions providers to Microsoft’s Redmond Headquarters, organised by Austrade and in coordination with Microsoft.

Microsoft is working to expand its platform and assist software providers address the opportunities in the financial services industry (FSI).
Globally, the FSI is seeking new ‘next generation’ technologies to fuel innovation, differentiate their services, integrate front, middle and back offices and provide advanced tools for analytics and algorithmic trading.

Important information:

Date: 4–6 June 2008
Location: Redmond, USA
Application deadline: Friday 28 March

Who should participate? Australian businesses with:

Innovative software technology relevant to the financial services industry
Proven track record of selling technology solutions to Australian and offshore financial services firms
Reference sites
Financial and management commitment to exporting.

Why should you participate?

Benefit from an early insight into Microsoft’s product development and strategic FSI vision.
Gain privileged access to key product managers at Microsoft.
Learn first hand how Microsoft is evolving both as a company and a technology platform to meet the growing demands of the financial services industry.
Get first-mover advantage in positioning your company in line with market demand and future technology trends.

The program:

Tuesday 3 June: Arrive in Redmond
Wednesday 4 June and Thursday 5 June: Microsoft FSI Strategic Briefing Days

In-depth technical briefings by MS on their strategic direction in the FSI
Presentations and discussions with MS product development managers
Tour of MS’s Advanced Consumer Technology Showroom

Friday 6 June: Full day of networking with venture capitalists, industry experts and other potential business partners
Saturday 7 June: Depart Redmond

Application deadline: 28 March 2008

For more information please contact:

Elodie Journet
Senior Export Adviser USA
Austrade Melbourne
Tel: 03 9648 3185
elodie.journet@austrade.gov.au

Aussie Blog Updates

chlong — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 05:30:34 GMT

Andy Coates published the latest Aussie blogs

Roger Lawrence (Sydney) - our new Group Manager, Developer Evangelism. Still drinking from the fire hose, but blogs increasingly frequently. Bit of a Windows Mobile buff.
Dave Glover (Melbourne) - Developer Evangelist extraordinaire and passionate ISV community man. Also digs Windows Mobile, but adds Web things. The keeper of the world's smallest Team Foundation Server.
David Lemphers (Melbourne) - the wild man of Roger's team and the Dynamics Evangelist. I think he's been doing Mo'vember since it began and has racked up a very creditable 500+ posts. He fluctuates a bit between his MSDN blog and another.
Nigel Watson (Melbourne) - Architect Evangelist who (literally) lives with a Princess. Passionate about S+S and architecture things in general. Has trouble with some of his vowels.
Greg Willis (Sydney) - Architect Evangelist. Loves to talk about Web Architecture, Silverlight, SaaS, SOA, S+S and Hype. Hasn't posted for a while.
Nils van Boxsel (Canberra) - Platform Architect. The only DPE guy in Canberra, but if you could only choose one, he'd be it. Organises the Architect Council and Australian Architect Forum, blogs about Architecture, resources, case studies and user groups (amongst other things)
Anna Liu (Sydney) - the other Group Manager, Developer Evangelism. Anna runs the team who look after the web things. Her strong architectural and academic (she's the only Ph.D. in the group) shine through.
Jorke Odolphi (Brisbane) - Web Platform Architect (a.k.a. "Hosting Geek"). IIS7, Command Lines, basically all things hosting - Jorke's your man.
Scott Barnes (Brisbane) - RIA Evangelist (and keeper of the flame). Barnsey loves to talk about stuff. Sometimes it even makes sense ;). Silverlight, RIA, Integration with other environments are all fair game. Prolific.
Michael Kordahi (Sydney) - Developer Evangelist. Concentrating on the web-ier side of things, Michael is an ex stand-up comic who likes to ask the difficult questions. Sometimes he even writes about technology.
Nick Hodge (Sydney) - Professional Geek. Number 9 on Australia's Top Web Celebrities of 2007. Nick's job is to reach the people that the rest of us don't. Basically he gets to play with stuff and interview people who play with stuff. Also has a feline fixation.
Shane Morris (Melbourne) - User Experience Bloke. It can't be easy being the creative one in the middle of the technologists, but ShaneMo carries it out with aplomb.
Jeff Alexander (Sydney) - IT Pro Evangelist. Jeffa just celebrated 20 years at Microsoft. He loves Technology for Technology's sake and his new house is buzzing humming and blinking with cool stuff. He's a hardware junkie and there are no less than 4 machines in various stages of undress on his desk, even though he's been on leave for the last month.
Michael Kleef (Perth) - IT Pro Evangelist. Kleefy's the only DPE person in Perth, but what he lacks in numbers he makes up for in volume - of posts that is. He's not afraid to take on the big issues, but he also loves talking about Virtualisation, Interoperability, Hardware and Software. A geek's geek.
Nick Ellery (Sydney) - Academic Evangelism. Nick is responsible for connecting with tertiary students and faculty. He does this via the Microsoft Student Partner program, by organising competitions and events on campus. He also maintains the Imagine Cup blog.

In addition there's some non-technical/developer blogs:

AusDev blog with thoughts from Jenny Savann and Finula Crowe
Nick Mayhew's blog on everything for partners - our head of partner marketing and strategy who used to own his own content management Gold Certified Partner in the UK and writes about anything partner related
Mike Heald's Marketing for Partners Blog - our token American in the Team who runs the Through Partner Marketing function and is a huge fan of the Seattle Seahawks
and Wendy Smith's blog for Small Business Specialists as a Channel Development Manager (and also interviewed on Partner-TV recently)
Partner-TV, which houses short videos of Microsoft people and partners

Win an AIMIA Award

chlong — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 06:17:35 GMT

Nominations for the 14th Annual AIMIA Awards, the longest running and most prestigious awards in Australia’s interactive media industry, will be closing Friday 9th November 2007!

There are plenty of Awards Categories to choose from, so click here to start your entry:

Best Advertising or Marketing
Best Children’s
Best Classifieds
Best Corporate or Business-to-Business
Best Cross-Platform Content or Content Integration
Best Cultural, Lifestyle or Sport
Best Integration with an Offline Advertising Campaign
Best Interactive TV
Best Emerging Exporter
Best Entertainment
Best Financial Service
Best Learning & Education
Best Mobile Advertising or Marketing
Best Mobile Product or Service
Best News, Media or Reference
Best Non-profit or Government
Best Online Retail
Best Science, Health or Environment
Best Student Developed Content
Best Tourism or Travel
Best Word-of-mouth, Peer-to-peer or Viral
Effectiveness Award
Best of the Best Award
Outstanding Contribution Award

Entries for the Awards are open from Tuesday 2nd October to Friday 9th November 2007, and all AIMIA Business, Associate and Corporate members are eligible to enter. Student members can enter their projects into the Best Student Developed Content category, and all members are invited to nominate an individual for the Outstanding Contribution Award.

Winners of the 14th AIMIA Awards will be announced and celebrated at the Digital Content Industry’s Night of Night’s, a glitzy ceremony bringing together over 650 industry leaders in Sydney on Friday 7th March, 2008.

Be a real winner in interactive innovation. and visit www.aimia.com.au/awards for more details and to begin your entry!

Technorati Tags: AIMIA, Microsoft Partners

Welcome Wendy Smith

chlong — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 13:42:47 GMT

Wendy has joined the team and the blogsphere as the new Channel Development Manager, to help the Small Business Specialist Community be successful, which in turn drives our success.

Welcome to Microsoft, Wendy !

Technorati Tags: Wendy Smith, SBSC

Day One: Australia Partner Conference

chlong — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 06:00:27 GMT

We are half way through the first day at the Australia Partner Conference, in Hamilton Island. Although we have been here since Monday for a series of pre-days, including Unified Communications and Business Intelligence.

I'm looking forward to my presentation tomorrow at 2.45pm and hope to meet more people there.

The weather hasn't been great over the last couple of days, especially compared to NSW/VIC with 26C weather. Today is better with the sun coming out a little bit... forecast is still a little vauge but will hopefully improve.

Keep an eye on my Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/chlong.

Christian.

NSW Cluster Meeting

chlong — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 02:52:53 GMT

I attended my first NSW DOT NET Cluster event yesterday. It was a really good evening, with an interesting panel debate on how to raise capital to fund development. Richard White from Cargowise (sitting on the far right) and two Venture Capitalists (on the left), had some good tips, including a link to the Business Angels Survey. Although the report was published in November 2006, it's a good read and highlights what investors look for with an Angel Interview Guide on page 54.

Occum Enterprises was commissioned by the Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources to undertake a survey on business angel investors and business angel networks in Australia. The survey was constructed around determining the characteristics of business angel investors, the nature of their investments, how deals are sourced, assessed and finalised and possible barriers to expanding business angel investments.

The report lists 36 findings relating to the collective perceptions of individual business angels and a summary of the operations of business angel networks. The report can be downloaded here.

Membership is free by clicking on the links below. The next NSW event is due at the Web Directions event on Tuesday 25 September.

Australia.NET Canberra.NET NSW.NET Outback.NET Queensland.NET Victoria.NET

Technorati Tags: DOT NET Cluster, .NET Cluster, NSW, New South Wales, Australia

Meet me in Hamilton Island

chlong — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 04:14:37 GMT

If you are attending the Australia Partner Conference and are doing some cool things around the Web and/or offering any Software + Services solution, click here to visit my profile and setup some time with me.

I look forward to meeting you.

Software + Services Presentation

chlong — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 03:59:00 GMT

I have almost finished my presentation for the Australia Partner Conference. I've just been told that over 100 have registered, so there goes my plan on secretly moving the meeting to the beach. Unless anybody knows of a large pub on the Island?

My gadget says it's 19 days away now... looking forward to meeting you all :)

If you are unable to go, please check back here as I'll be posting the slides to the blog as well as the usual post-Conference download point.

Technorati Tags: Australia Partner Conference, Hamilton Island, Partners, Microsoft

Help Required with my APC ISV Sessions

chlong — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 05:08:26 GMT

The Australia Partner Conference (APC) agenda has now been published and may be downloaded here. Please register for our two ISV sessions :)

We're going to cover why we think Software + Services is a good opportunity for our partners to make money, how to really partner with Microsoft and some of our new web opportunities.

I'm writing my presentation now, so if you have anything specific you would like to hear in our 2 hours, or have any feedback on what works vs. what doesn't, please get in touch. I promise our slot won't be death by powerpoint and we'll try and make it as interesting as possible...

...and I'm planning to have a little surprise to a couple of random people in the audience to say thank you for showing up.

So if there was one thing you want to hear about, what would it be?

I am really looking forward to meeting you all.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft Partners, Microsoft, Australia Partner Conference