- Posted by christhi on June 3, 2009
One of the best quotes we got during Internet Week while hosting the Microsoft Experience in New York City and our reception party was "you can tell this is a party thrown by a new yorker and doesn't seem like a Microsoft party" which we took as a serious compliment. We didn't want to throw a run of the mill corporate party but wanted it to truly seem like a art exhibit deliving digital art with a mix of technology such as surface, touchsmarts, etc. The party was a hit in fact the quote I just mentioned came from Mark Cuban himself. Yes he graced his presence at our party, seemed to enjoy himself, and was really a great guy (very friendly and unpretentious).
Here is to a great week of demos and New York vibe.
- Posted by christhi on June 1, 2009
Today Microsoft opens The Microsoft Gallery for Internet Week New York 2009 in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District to showcase digital and digital inspired art alongside Microsoft and Microsoft partner technologies such as multi-touch computing and rich internet experiences.
Where: 414 W. 14thStreet – New York, NY
When: June 2-8, 2009; 12PM –8PM each day
You are invited to attend The Microsoft Gallery during Internet Week New York 2009 in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District. Microsoft will temporarily inhabit the retail space of 414 West 14thStreet, between 9thAvenue and Washington Street, and be open to the public daily for the duration of Internet Week New York 2009; June 1 – 8 at 12:00 Noon. The Microsoft Gallery will celebrate art and technology by showcasing digital and digital inspired art alongside Microsoft and Microsoft partner technologies such as multi-touch computing and rich internet experiences to demonstrate emerging technologies, innovation, as well as, inspire the local technology industry of New York City.
To help bring art and technology to life, The Microsoft Gallery will display innovative Microsoft and Microsoft partner technologies such as Microsoft Silverlight and Expression Studio for designing and delivering rich internet experiences, Microsoft Surface for multi-touch social computing, HP TouchSmart for intuitive multi-touch personal computing, and XBOX 360 gaming consoles for high fidelity gaming and entertainment. As well, the work of digital artists Jonathan Zimmerman and Yorgo Alexopoulos will be showcased with multiple high-resolution projectors and LCD displays. There will also be a number of other digital or digital inspired works presented as video, sculpture, and mix media.
Come Join Us! Bring your family, your customers & your friends to see what it is all about and be a part of Internet Week in NYC.
The Microsoft Gallery will host a number of daily presentations and panel discussions from industry thought leaders at digital agencies such as Schematic, Cynergy Systems,and Vectorform. Microsoft will host startup focused sessions that introduce the Microsoft BizSpark program that provides free access to Microsoft tools and servers products to technology entrepreneurs.
- Posted by christhi on May 28, 2009
Are you a blogger, press, or simply interested in seeing some of Microsoft’s latest technologies such as Windows 7, IE8, Silverlight 3, Surface, and much more. Come visit me at 414 W 14th Street in New York City starting June 1st. I can help arrange discussions with top local agencies, hardware partners, and of course Microsoft evangelists to review these technologies with you in a open forum.
If you are a local startup in New York come get signed up for the BizSpark program (www.microsoft.com/bizspark) on the spot from one of our evangelists. BizSpark will provide qualified startups with free software, support, and visibility for 3 years.
As a venue for thought leadership, the Microsoft Experience space can host at least one presentation, speaking panel, or activity per day of Internet Week. Sample topics and activities are:
· Designing Multi-Touch Experiences for the Web and Desktop
· How Technology Enables Art and How Art Influences Technology – Artist and Partner Panel
· Coming of Digital Age: What is Your Agency’s Mix of Traditional vs Digital? – Partner Panel
· In-Game Advertising Presented by Massive and Microsoft Advertising
· Silverlight 3: Ready for Prime Time
· Surface is a Big Table with Big Experiences - Partner Pane
· Opening Night Reception
· Weekend Evening Reception and XBOX 360 Rock Band or Gaming Competition
· Webby Awards Pre-Event Reception
- Posted by christhi on May 18, 2009
Want to win prizes and meet some of the top local Venture Capitalists face to face? What about some of the top Angels in Texas? Need information on how to market yourself both traditionally, virally, or through SEO? Want access to free software for 3 years? Want to win an xbox 360 elite console and other valuable prizes such as a zune, xbox games, and Microsoft software.
Then join us for SparkStart on June 12th at the Dallas Microsoft Technology Center – www.twitter.com/sparkstart
Registration: http://sparkstart.eventbrite.com
We will have 6 tracks (3 business, 2 technology, and one demo) on key business topics such as “Funding”, “Marketing”, and “Production”. Each business track will feature a panel of business experts. Here is your chance to personally meet panel members from the business community and moderators who are experts in their field, both from the Dallas/Fort Worth area and from all over Texas that include bootstrappers, venture capitalists, angels, incubators, and consulting.
We will feature technology topics such as “RIA Development”, “Cloud Development”, and provide an opportunity to visit our “Envisioning Center” where we will be demonstrating our web technologies and the Microsoft Surface (http://www.microsoft.com/surface/) throughout the day. Attendees will literally get to see what our large customer executives see at the Microsoft Technology Center in Dallas in our envisioning room in order to inspire, ideate, and get answers to vital questions. We will also have a “sign-up” station for startups who want to sign up for BizSpark and begin immediately receiving the benefits e.g. software, support, and visibility. (http://www.microsoft.com/bizspark)
- Posted by christhi on May 11, 2009
with pixel shaders in silverlight 3 effects such as blurs and drop shadows are literally one line of xaml markup – no code required. More advanced effects can also be applied by writing your own pixel shader or leveraging the already converted WPF Pixel shade library for SL which can be found at http://wpffx.codeplex.com/
<Page
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml">
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="300"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="*"/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<StackPanel Margin="8" Grid.Column="0">
<TextBlock Text="This text should be blurry" FontSize="20">
<TextBlock.Effect>
<BlurEffect />
</TextBlock.Effect>
</TextBlock>
<TextBlock Text="Shadow on Text" FontSize="20">
<TextBlock.Effect>
<DropShadowEffect ShadowDepth="5" />
</TextBlock.Effect>
</TextBlock>
</StackPanel>
<StackPanel Margin="8" Grid.Column="1" Orientation="Horizontal" VerticalAlignment="Top">
<Ellipse Height="100" Width="200" Fill="Blue" Margin="10 0 0 0">
<Ellipse.Effect>
<DropShadowEffect ShadowDepth="10" />
</Ellipse.Effect>
</Ellipse>
</StackPanel>
</Grid>
</Page>
- Posted by christhi on May 8, 2009
Want to meet some of the top local Venture Capitalists face to face? What about some of the top Angels in Texas? Need information on how to market yourself both traditionally, virally, or through SEO? Want access to free software for 3 years?
Then join us for SparkStart on June 12th at the Dallas Microsoft Technology Center – www.twitter.com/sparkstart
Registration: http://sparkstart.eventbrite.com
We will have 6 tracks (3 business, 2 technology, and one demo) on key business topics such as “Funding”, “Marketing”, and “Production”. Each business track will feature a panel of business experts. Here is your chance to personally meet panel members from the business community and moderators who are experts in their field, both from the Dallas/Fort Worth area and from all over Texas that include bootstrappers, venture capitalists, angels, incubators, and consulting.
We will feature technology topics such as “RIA Development”, “Cloud Development”, and provide an opportunity to visit our “Envisioning Center” where we will be demonstrating our web technologies and the Microsoft Surface (http://www.microsoft.com/surface/) throughout the day. Attendees will literally get to see what our large customer executives see at the Microsoft Technology Center in Dallas in our envisioning room in order to inspire, ideate, and get answers to vital questions.
We will also have a “sign-up” station for startups who want to sign up for BizSpark and begin immediately receiving the benefits e.g. software, support, and visibility. (http://www.microsoft.com/bizspark)
Here are some of the folks you will get to meet at the event.
Giovanni Gallucci is a recovering .NET programmer turned tech evangelist who provides strategy for social media, brand development, and Online PR for forward-thinking companies and individuals. Giovanni designed, developed and deployed online communities when MySpace was no one's space, has used a Mac since before the “i” anything, and created vertical search engines when Larry and Sergey (Google’s co-founders) were still undergrads.
Look for Giovanni’s upcoming book entitled “Missing Clicks: The Seven Disciplines of Online Marketing” this summer. Giovanni also provides individuals with one day workshops on social media marketing, PR and publicity at ExtremeSocialMarketing.com.
The nexus of Giovanni's online universe can be found at http://gallucci.net. Giovanni is a keynote speaker who presents at national events like ad:tech, FlashForward, Macworld, and Search Engine Watch Live! and has been covered in a variety of media outlets including AdAge, AdWeek, The Dallas Morning News, Fox Business News, The Houston Chronicle, Inc. Magazine, InfoWorld, NBC, The New York Times, The London Telegraph, USA Today, and Wired Magazine among others.
Giovanni provides social media marketing services through Simply Interactive (http://simplyinteractive.net) and other top-tier interactive agencies and public relations firms.
Jeff Brown is Gulf Coast Regional Director for the of Corum Group, a specialist mergers and acquisitions firm for software companies worldwide. He has over 25 years of entrepreneurial and consulting experience building software and services companies. He specializes in strategy, vertical market entrepreneurship and the energy industry. Jeff is a veteran of three software startups and one turnaround. He last served as CEO of Severn Trent Worksuite, a FTSE 100 subsidiary, and a leading provider of enterprise workflow management software. Jeff began his career as a research Geologist at Columbia University and is a published author. Jeff is also on the advisory boards of several Houston start-up companies. His related volunteer activities include serving as Chairman of the MIT Enterprise Forum’s New Venture Clinic, an Energy Advisor for the Houston Technology Center and volunteer executive in the Prison Entrepreneurship Program.
Chuck McCoy is Executive Director of the North Texas Angel Network. Chuck has always been a part of the entrepreneurial community. His first year of graduate school was financed partly by payments from a retail pottery store he co-founded with a friend and partly by profits from buying classic Ford Mustangs in the Oklahoma countryside and selling them in the city. Chuck began 25 years in the software business in Arthur Andersen’s Tulsa office. Eventually, Texas oilman offered Chuck the opportunity to “have your own deal if you will come handle a systems problem for my company”. During the next seven years Chuck developed and rolled-out 3 software products as an entrepreneur. The lessons learned about growing a business without a financing or capital appreciation plan serve well to this day. Since 1992 Chuck has worked as an independent product developer, mostly for large companies such as AT&T, E-Systems, MCI, and others. In time his accounting background, combined with years of face-to-face selling, resulted in being engaged to help grow businesses by M&A transactions or rolling-out new products. The end of his technical career marked the beginning of his focus on new venture development. Chuck spent a year as Director, Commercialization Programs, at the North Texas RCIC. This work was at the right time – the Texas Emerging Technology Fund had gotten its legs under it and was funding technology start-ups. During that year broad conversations decrying the poor state of organized angel investing groups in the North Texas area repeatedly occurred. He founded the North Texas Angel Network (NTAN) at the beginning of 2008. NTAN focuses on fast, well coached companies for the benefit of investors, entrepreneurs, and the community.
Alex Muse is The Texas Startup Blog has been published by Alexander Muse since 2005. With more than 2000 articles on startups, entrepreneurship and venture capital; the blog has garnered international attention with more than 70,000 monthly readers around the globe. The Texas Startup Blog is part of the SpringStage Startup Community. Alexander is a serial entrepreneur with more than a decade of startup experience. Alexander’s day job is with Big in Japan, where his team builds cool applications for mobile devices, including ShopSavvy built for Google’s open source Android platform. In 2007 he sold Fancast to Comcast Interactive and is an active investor and contributor in several companies including SpringStage, Architel, ServiceGuy and WhiteBox. Previously, he was founder and CEO of LayerOne, a venture capital-backed telecommunications infrastructure company he started in the late 1990’s. Alexander has been involved in several organizations including the Entrepreneurs Foundation of North Texas (EFNT), the Young Entrepreneurs Organization (YEO), the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG), IEEE, The Open Management Consortium, DFW Entrepreneur Network, OnStartups, Start-Up Phase Forum and Startup Ventures Links.
Blake Burris is an entrepreneur and is the founder of Corazón Labs, a social applications company which builds social applications for self-improvement, competition and fun. Their first product, Challenge, was profiled at Facebook f8 08 in San Francisco. He is also the founder of CoHabitat, the Dallas coworking community for developers, creatives and entrepreneurs. Their collaborative office space is a 100-year old house located in the State-Thomas neighborhood.
Sean Jackson is the CEO of Lead Maverick - developers of content optimization tools for search marketing. Often referred to as the "Geek that Speaks," Sean has a true passion for technology and how it is applied to the needs of marketing. Starting in the early days of the web, Sean has built more than 50 eBusiness applications for Fortune 1000 companies, founded and sold two technology companies, and is an active member of the Dallas business community, which includes leadership positions with DFW Search Engine Marketing, Dallas Round Table, the Dallas Ad League, and member of Colonial Country Club. Lead Maverick is also a member of SEMPO and the Better Business Bureau.
Bridgette Penel is co-founder and investor, is currently Managing Director and President of the new venture capital firm, Zikyn, Inc., with the head-quartered office located in Houston, Texas. In addition, she has worked with executives in PMO strategies and development and has championed business analysis and technology projects with major corporations, such as Memorial Hermann, Starbucks, Blue Bell, HP, and Shell. While consulting leadership for innovative solutions to improve business objectives and operations, her primary experience includes development of business strategies based on technology utilizations, information technology management, business development, and operations management. Ms. Penel currently sits on the board of all Zikyn, Inc. portfolio companies and frequently participates in various venture review panels, as well as extends membership involvement in various business strategy groups. In addition, she works with forming technology companies in business plan development and strategies.
Kat Rice graduated from the University of North Texas after studying Creative Writing and BioChemistry. She has owned internet-based companies since she was 18 and has 6 years of online marketing experience. She currently owns Veribatim, a web design and consulting company. She is an internet consultant, helping businesses market their companies online through web presence, Search Engine Optimization and other more creative avenues such as Social Media. She has a particular passion for bridging the generation gap between Gen Y and the Baby Boomers and has begun speaking and writing about this subject. Kat and her team have recently begun developing a social media website for nonprofits called GiveCheerfully which she hopes will help charities spread their message online. She also serves on the board of multiple non-profits as a consultant to assist in their online presence including her local political party and CITY House. She is also a member of Nancy Barry’s Gen Y Board. Kat has recently been recognized as a viral marketing specialist after multiple successful grassroots campaigns in 2009.
Caleb Jenkins is a Principal Consultant with Improving Enterprises, National Speaker for INETA, Microsoft MVP, featured presenter for xTrain.com and Adobe.TV, technical editor for Wrox Publishing and certified Scrum Master. Improving Enterprises, Inc (http://ImprovingEnterprises.com) specializes in delivering enterprise solutions, agile methodologies and mentoring on the Microsoft and Java platforms.
Other bios to coming including Maria Smith (North Central Angel Network), Andrew Clark (Houston Angel Network), Marc Nathan (HTC), Yasser Shohoud, David Browne and more …
- Posted by christhi on May 8, 2009
The State of .NET in Dallas (FREE)
When: Tuesday, May 28, 2009 - 1:30 - 4:30 PM
Where: Microsoft - Dallas Offices - 7000 SR-161 (George Bush Turnpike)
A free, unbiased look at the current and future development with .NET.
Join Markus Egger, the Publisher of CoDe Magazine and CSA of EPS Software Corp. for an afternoon of free and independent information about current Microsoft development technologies! What is the state of .NET today? Which of the many .NET technologies have gained traction? Which ones can you ignore for now? What is new in .NET 3.5 and the coming .NET 4.0? What other Microsoft technologies should you include in your development efforts?
For this free event, industry renowned expert, author, speaker, MVP, President of EPS Software Corp., and Publisher of CoDe Magazine, Markus Egger provides an unbiased and independent look at the current state of .NET development. This event is completely free of charge. It is designed for developers as well as (IT) decision makers. Specific prior knowledge is not required.
Exact information to be disclosed is under NDA until after Microsoft TechEd, however anticipated topics include:
Silverlight 2.0 and 3.0
WPF and Visual Styles
Windows Azure and Cloud Services Expression Blend 3 How to make sure your website is IE8 compliant ASP.NET MVC Preview of .NET 4.0 with "Dev10" (Visual Studio 10) Windows 7 Microsoft Surface
Attendees of this event will come away with a clear understanding of which technologies to use for various technical challenges. Questions? Please e-mail info@eps-software.com or call 832-717-4445 x32.
Note: This event is co-hosted by EPS Software Corp. and Microsoft Corporation. EPS is responsible for all content presented at this event.
Click here to sign up! (Link will take you through our VFPConversion signup page)
- Posted by christhi on May 4, 2009
Check out my interview on the business maker radio show last weekend. We discuss the bizspark program and how it benefits startups through free software, support, and promotes visibility for their new company.
- Posted by christhi on April 29, 2009
SparkStart Agenda – June 12th – MTC Dallas
SparkStart is a full day of business and technology discussion (open format) and learning event for startups (“startup bootcamp”). This event will also be a networking opportunity for those startups who are new to the BizSpark program and not yet enrolled in the program and would like to mingle and learn from key business and technology influencers. It will also be an event for those startups who are recently enrolled and need to keep the momentum going by learning key strategies for success, both in business, and in technology.
We will have 6 tracks (3 business, 2 technology, and one demo) on key business topics such as “Funding”, “Marketing”, and “Production”. Each business track will feature a panel of business experts. Panel members from the business community and moderators are experts in their field, both from the Dallas/Fort Worth area and from all over Texas that include bootstrappers, venture capitalists, incubators, and consulting.
We will feature technology topics such as “RIA Development”, “Cloud Development”, and provide an opportunity to visit our “Envisioning Center” where we will be demonstrating our web technologies and the Microsoft Surface (http://www.microsoft.com/surface/) throughout the day. Attendees will literally get to see what our large customer executives see at the Microsoft Technology Center in Dallas (http://www.microsoft.com/mtc/locations/Dallas.mspx) in our envisioning room in order to inspire, ideate, and get answers to vital questions. We will also have a “sign-up” station for startups who want to sign up for BizSpark and begin immediately receiving the benefits e.g. software, support, and visibility. (http://www.microsoft.com/bizspark)
We hope you’ll consider spending June 12th, 2009 with us. Registration
| Time
|
Envisioning Track
|
Deep Dive Track
|
Business Track
|
Open Space
|
| 10:00 – 10:15am
|
Welcome and Instructions
|
Welcome and Instructions
|
Welcome and Instructions
|
Welcome and Instructions
|
| 10:15am – 11:30am
|
Demo of the Show (Envisioning Center)
|
ROOM 1: Cloud Development
ROOM 2: RIA Development
|
ROOM 3:Production Panel
ROOM4: Funding Panel
ROOM5: Marketing Panel
|
General Networking and Surface Demos (General Area)
|
| 12:00am – 1:30pm
|
Demo of the Show (Envisioning Center)
|
ROOM 1: Cloud Development
ROOM 2: RIA Development
|
ROOM 3:Production Panel
ROOM4: Funding Panel
ROOM5: Marketing Panel
|
General Networking and Surface Demos (General Area)
|
| 2:00pm – 3:30pm
|
Demo of the Show (Envisioning Center)
|
ROOM 1: Cloud Development
ROOM 2: RIA Development
|
ROOM 3:Production Panel
ROOM4: Funding Panel
ROOM5: Marketing Panel
|
General Networking and Surface Demos (General Area)
|
| 3:30pm – 4:30pm
|
Networking, Drinks, and Giveaways
|
Networking, Drinks, and Giveaways
|
Networking, Drinks, and Giveaways
|
Networking, Drinks, and Giveaways
|
| 4:30pm
|
End
|
End
|
End
|
End
|
- Posted by christhi on April 17, 2009
Special Offer for Gold Certified and Certified Partners–Save up to 65%*
Offer #1—save up to 65%* off Microsoft® Visual Studio® Team System 2008 Team Editions with MSDN® Premium Subscription Expand your team collaboration capabilities and help ensure better software quality. Select from Development, Database, Test, and Architecture Editions. As a bonus, if you select either the Development Edition or the Database Edition, you can get access to the other edition at no extra charge!
Offer #2—save up to 65%* off Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Suite with MSDN Premium Subscription
Amplify your productivity with the Visual Studio Team Suite to speed up development, improve applicationqualify, and enhance collaboration. In addition to special pricing, with either of these offers, active MSDN Subscribers may also receive priority access to Visual Studio 2010 when available.
Act before June 26, 2009 to take advantage of these offers. Contact your preferred reseller (promo code 324145), or distributor (promo code 320794).
Visit https://partner.microsoft.com/40082293 for more details