The new Developer marketing boy. : Designer

Innovation Day Tour 2009

chlong — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:17:39 GMT

Sarah in the Partner Team is organising a lap around the map for a series of Innovation Days.

The morning sessions is on emerging opportunities for the web, mobile and beyond:

To deliver innovative experiences to attract and retain loyal customers.
To create products and services that are integral to customers' lives - from social experiences with Microsoft Surface to mobile experiences on Windows Phone.
To learn how Silverlight is enabling Australian companies to deliver unique, compelling and most of all interactive services on the web.
To learn more about game-changing tools like Expression Blend, Sketchflow and Visual Studio 2010 which will allow you to envision, design and deliver your ideas faster and cheaper - driving down costs and time-to-market.
To drive revenue and manage traffic with Microsoft's range of advertising platforms and tools, from Microsoft Advertising, to Bing and beyond.

This session is designed to inspire you, demonstrate latent opportunity, and make partnering with Microsoft simple.

Please visit our site at

https://partner.microsoft.com/Australia/40047632

In the afternoon we are running sessions for ISVs covering:

Professional Developers Conference (PDC) Highlights
xRM (Anything Relationship Management) - understand Microsoft's CRM strategy and how you get to market first with world class business solutions.
Windows 7 and Windows Server Application Compatibility
Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 and Microsoft Office 2010 - what's new for developers including the tooling in Visual Studio 2010 and simplified debugging & integration with Team Foundation Server.
Windows Azure - Understand the new platform announcements from the PDC
Windows Marketplace for Mobile – how to manage and distribute your applications, and directly connect with millions of Windows Mobile users worldwide

Please visit our site at

https://partner.microsoft.com/Australia/40047632

and register for the morning session only, or for just the afternoon, or come along for the full day. Places are limited.

City	Date	Time	Venue
Adelaide	1-Dec-09	8.30am - 5pm	Microsoft Adelaide, Level 2
Perth	3-Dec-09	8.30am - 5pm	Level 2, QV1 Building Perth
Brisbane	8-Dec-09	8.30am - 5pm	Microsoft Brisbane Theatre 1 & 2
Melbourne	10-Dec-09	8.30am - 5pm	Microsoft Melbourne Exhibition Room
Sydney	15-Dec-09	8.30am - 5pm	Microsoft Sydney Theatres

3 weeks to submit your AIMIA Amy nomination

chlong — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:22:43 GMT

AIMIA is calling for entries into the 16th Annual AIMIA Awards, which celebrate the very best examples of digital media in Australia and New Zealand. Known affectionately as “The Amys” by the industry, the awards showcase work undertaken by Australia’s Interactive Media and Digital Content sectors across a broad range of consumer, business, government and not-for-profit categories.

There are loads of categories including 3 new ones:

Best Sport: Given to the best sports-based interactive media or digital content which demonstrates best practice, innovation and excellence in promoting and covering a sport, sports brand, product, service or event.
Best Online Video: Awarded to the entry that shows appropriate, relevant and best use of digital video as a creative and distribution medium in the application.
People’s Choice: This award is voted for by AIMIA members. The most voted entry from the total pool of 16th Annual AIMIA Awards category finalists will determine the winner of the category.

Awards are now open and close at 5pm AEST on Wednesday 4 November 2009. Finalists will be announced in mid-January. Entries must be submitted via the AIMIA website. For more details and entry criteria, please visit www.aimia.com.au/awards.

Visit www.aimia.com.au/awards or email awards@aimia.com.au for more details!

BizSpark: calling all startups

chlong — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:36:14 GMT

Video: Steve Ballmer announcing BizSpark at the Developer Liberation Day, Thursday 6 November, Sydney, Australia (click here for the official video)

Steve Ballmer announced Microsoft BizSpark during his visit to Australia, following the success of DreamSpark, which allows students to download our developer and design tools at no charge.

What is a startup to Microsoft? Do I qualify?

There are four pre-requisites for a startup to join BizSpark. These are:

be building a software based product,
have been in existence for less than 3 years,
make less than USD 1 million and,
be privately held.

BizSpark is ideal for companies building Web applications, or delivering Web based services. A startup can be a part of the program for three years (and will have to renew their membership annually), unless they are disqualified because they have gone public (or have been acquired by a company that does not qualify for BizSpark) or if their revenue is greater than USD$1 million.

What kind of software is BizSpark offering?

We are offering development tools as well as production licenses of our server products.
For development, testing and demonstration, startups can download the software included in the Visual Studio Team System Team Suite (VSTS) with MSDN Premium, plus VSTS Team Foundation Server (Standard Edition).
For production use (that is, to deploy and host an application over the internet), startups can download and use Windows Server, SQL Server, BizTalk Server, and Office SharePoint Server for Internet Sites hosting, as well as Systems Center for managing hosting server operations
(please refer to the BizSpark Startup Program Guide for full details)

"No up-front cost" - do I pay when I leave the program?

Yes, there is a $100 fee when a startup exits the program.

What happens after three years of participation in BizSpark?

After three years in BizSpark, a startup will exit the program. A startup can continue to use the development tools although if updates are required to the development tools however, the MSDN subscription at usual rates and terms. apply. Or you can join the Microsoft Partner Program and receive complimentary tools as an Independent Software Vendor (ISV).

To continue using the production licenses, a startup may choose to take advantage of a licensing program like Microsoft’s Services Provider License Agreement program (or other Microsoft licensing programs that may be available at the time) but is in no way obligated to do so.

How do I join BizSpark?

Via a BizSpark Network Partner. This ecosystem will comprise of academic institutions, entrepreneurial organisations, business accelerators and investors who will help startups enrol. Find a Network Partner near you.

How does this help me, a startup?

Software - via the program
Support - via MSDN (two support incidents per startup) and the resources that the Network Partner has to offer for startups
Visibility - via BizSparkDB. Startups can profile themselves on BizSparkDB.

Is Azure going to be a part of the BizSpark offering?

Windows Azure, announced at PDC last week, is a natural platform choice for early stage companies.

While Azure is appealing to everyone from large enterprises to hobbyists, it is going to be particularly interesting to startups and Web 2.0 companies as well who want to take advantage of a rich, highly versatile web-based platform to build scalable applications for the web.

BizSpark program startups will receive preferential access to the Azure Community Technology Preview. To sign up for the CTP, BizSpark participants should enrol on the Azure site and profile with the same Windows Live ID they used to enrol in BizSpark. During the CTP, access will be assessed and assigned on a company-by-company basis and will be confirmed as capacity becomes available.

Where does Empower or Action Pack for Web Developers fit?

Click here to download this image as a pdf. Some information is specific to Australia only.

Where can I get more information?

http://www.microsoft.com/BizSpark

or http://microsoftstartupzone.com/ and the blogs from that page, like Anand Iyer's.

ReMix Australia 2008

chlong — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 10:41:33 GMT

Details on ReMix Australia have been announced. The details are:

1 day in 2 cities

20^th May in Sydney
22^ndMay in Melbourne

Opening Keynote followed by 2 streams (technical track is owned by Michael Kordahi and the creative track is owned by ShaneMo so give them your feedback on what you need)
Tickets will be $199 incl GST (includes a copy of Expression Studio Version 2 – NFR, valued at over $1,000)
Registration will open 7^th April
We will host the Imagine Cup Finals again
If you are interested in being a sponsor, please let Finula or myself know

Technorati Tags: Remix Australa 08

US$99 Expression Web Offer

chlong — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 01:21:00 GMT

A professional design tool, Expression Web creates modern, standards-based sites that deliver superior quality on the Web. It is available both as a full retail version and as an upgrade from Microsoft FrontPage (any version); Office and other products (see below table) are eligible for special upgrade pricing.

Visit http://www.microsoft.com/expression/products/retail.aspx?key=web for more info.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft Expression Web

How XAML Transforms the collaboration between designers and developers in WPF

chlong — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 00:16:50 GMT

Great software requires collaboration between developers and designers. In this white paper, learn how Microsoft’s new user interface platform, Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), emphasizes the collaboration between designers and developers. Revolutionizing software design in the process. To access the whitepaper, click here.

Happy Applications

chlong — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 08:28:42 GMT

Our very own RIA Evangelist, Scott Barnes, talks about some of his ideas on how UX could be different tomorrow... what if applications reacted to your emotional state and had a focus on cheering you up should you be angry? Or look to ensure you are kept focused should you be in a goofy mood? http://visitmix.com/blogs/Mossyblog/Putting-the-Rich-in-RIA--User-Account-Profiles/

How's the carpentry course going Scott?

Technorati Tags: RIA, Scott Barnes

Expression Silverlight Designer Training

chlong — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 10:40:47 GMT

Our User eXperience "bloke", Shane Morris (who is part of our Evangelist team) is promoting Expression and Silverlight training for Designers.

Training is held in either Sydney (13-14 Dec) or Melbourne (17-18 Dec) via New Horizons and Alpha Computer Consultants. Sydney is looking pretty full and there's places left in Melbourne.

New Horizons in Melbourne on December 13-14 and Sydney on December 17-18.
Alpha Computer Consultants in Melbourne and Sydney on 10-11 December.

(Or if you have a developer focus, check out Readify).

Click here to visit Shane's blog.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, Designer, Expression, Silverlight, Australia, New Horizons, Alpha Computer Consultants

Alpha Computer Consultants Expression Training

chlong — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 07:16:38 GMT

If you are interested in Microsoft Expression, Alpha Computer Consultants are one of the first training partners to deliver a course: http://www.alphacc.com.au/course_outlines/microsoft-expression-silverlight.html

Microsoft Expression-Silverlight Course Outline

Course Aim:
This course introduces users to the features of Microsoft Expression & Silverlight. Users will be able to use Microsoft Expression & Silverlight to produce rich media. Microsoft® Expression® Studio takes your creative possibilities to a new level. The professional design tools and innovative technologies in Expression Studio give you the flexibility and freedom to bring your vision to reality—whether you are designing standards-based Web sites, rich user experiences on the desktop, or managing digital assets and content.

Course Prerequisites:
Previous experience using applications on a PC is an essential prerequisite for this course.

Course Duration: Two days; 9:00am - 4:30pm

Classroom courses include:

Adobe Certified instructors (with min 10 yrs experience)
Commercial courseware used in this course
Certificates
After course support (via email, to reinforce the learning)
Training guarantee
FREE repeat of public course within 6 months (where required, and on same version), see terms & conditions

Alpha Course Registration Steps:

please choose your course
call/email the office for specials/availablility,
register online BUY SYD BUY MELB or call one of our sales consultants 1300 880 860

Click here for Course Timetables

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

Microsoft Web Experience DVD

chlong — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 16:18:32 GMT

As part of the new Web solutions pages up on the Partner Portal, you can request a Microsoft Web Experience Stack DVD. This is a great resource which is proving to be really popular as it allows you to really test drive our new platform, push it's limits, learn about our new products and see how it compares against the competition. It also includes software that may not be available through other means, like an Action Pack etc. So if you are a Microsoft Partner based in Australia I can give you a complimentary copy... keep reading.

The DVD includes trial versions of (which expire March 2008):

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition, SP2
Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 and .NET Framework 3.0
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, SP2
Microsoft Visual Studio Professional
Microsoft Expression Studio (includes Microsoft Expression Web, Expression Blend, Expression Design, and Expression Media)

There's a bunch of additional resources on the DVD as well:

ASP.NET 2.0 | ASP.NET 2.0 Virtual Labs | ASP.NET 2.0 Webcasts | Microsoft Web Development Learning Series (ASP.NET 2.0)
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition | Overview | Virtual Labs
Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition, SP2 | Overview | Training
Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, Professional Edition | Overview | Virtual Labs | Webcasts
Microsoft .NET Framework | Overview | Virtual Labs | Webcasts
Microsoft Expression Studio | Overview | Virtual Labs | Training Videos

So, do you want one? :)

Do you want to pay for the postage?

You can either click here and then click on this graphic --> complete the online form and pay US$5.00 for postage

- OR -

if you are based in Australia and are a Microsoft Partner, send me an email or leave a comment and I'll post you one at no charge (limited to the first 100 requests, 1 copy per organisation). I will also have a small supply of these at the Australia Partner Conference in a couple of weeks time.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft Web Experience DVD, Microsoft, Microsoft Partners, Web 2.0, Windows Server, .NET Framework, SQL Server, Visual Studio Team System, Expression

I Hate My Website

chlong — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 15:45:43 GMT

Reading the Office Live blog, I saw this eBook (sponsored by Office Live), “I Hate my Website: 10 Easy Ways to Improve Your Website, Plus 9 Things Never to do” was released last week. If you are new to the web or want some practical advice on what you should do to improve hits to your site, take a look at this 54-page pdf which includes tips, techniques and tools to help you design an effective and engaging Web site, generate more Web site traffic, maximise search engine results, engage a Web professional, provide a more secure online experience, and much more.

Download your own copy today, click here.

Technorati Tags: Office Live, Web Design, SEO

Web Partner Resources Now Online

chlong — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 05:43:42 GMT

There is some new content on the worldwide Microsoft Partner Portal for Web Partners, built in Silverlight, which highlights the resources available to you. It addresses the different audience types - IT Generalists, Custom Development Companies and Agencies.

Click here to take a look at let us know what you think.

We have also produced a DVD - the “Microsoft Web Experience Stack”, which is a VPC image of Windows Server 2003 R2, .NET Framework 2.0 and 3.0, SQL Server 2005, Visual Studio Professional, Expression Suite (Web, Blend, Design, Media). Partners can order this DVD from here where you will also find webinars, case studies, and white papers. I will have a small supply of these available at the Australian Partner conference if you would like one.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, Microsoft Partners, Microsoft Expression, Silverlight

Designer vs. Developer

chlong — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 11:17:53 GMT

Frank posted an entry about this little competition last week... with an interesting photo to start judging if the person is a Designer or indeed a Developer.

Visit http://designervsdeveloper.com.au to see how you score.

Even Michael Kordahi makes an appearance.

Technorati Tags: Designer, Developers, Expression