Recap, relive, revisit REMIX08

Chris Duckett from BuilderAU took Kordesy and me aside and quizzed us about Silverlight 2 at Remix. A lot of that interview seems to be on the cutting room floor? :-).

Anyway, we managed to remember a few SL 2 features between us...

Christian Long and the partner team are helping to keep the Remix buzz alive by running a promotion with Tekskin. Simply design your own laptop skin and upload it. The best 100 will receive a free Tekskin with their design on it!

Many of you will have seen the racing-stripes Tekskin on my Toshiba tablet.

Enter here: http://www.tekskin.com.au/catalog/competitions.php

If you need something to create your design in, grab an evaluation copy of Expression Design. Don't forget to export as .jpg though!

Shanemo

Australian ReMIX08 is here! Sydney is first today. Melbourne in two days time.

And the little Quokkas will make a small appearance in the the keynote. Watch closely, or you will miss them!

Follow me on twitter, or the hashtag #auremix for all the news if you are out there in the intarwebs.

If you are attending, ensure you introduce yourself.

One of our Remix Oz speakers, Tatham Oddie, has put together Outlook agendas for Remix in Melbourne and Sydney for those of us, like me, for whom it is not real until it is in Outlook:

The case of the missing ICS file - Remix for Outlook addicts

Shanemo

Firstly I'd like to thank all of those who entered our Remix Silverlight videoclip competition.

Actually, scratch that, I'd like to thank both of you who entered our Remix Silverlight videoclip competition.

Don't you people know how hard I worked on this! ;-)

Nevertheless, the judges were really delighted with the quality of the two entries. So, with that (drum roll please):

Check out the links above to see Hege's and Jason's great work.

Shanemo

Some Sydneysiders may have noticed that Remix Sydney is sold out, but not Melbourne, and they may be snickering to themselves. May I point out that, as Steve from Hothouse reminded me today - just as the SCG has a capacity of 40,000 and the MCG 100,000 - we have more places available in Melbourne than Sydney. And better coffee. Shanemo 

Unfortunately, Arturo Toledo is no longer able to join us at Remix in Australia.

Fortunately, Tim Aidlen from Microsoft in Redmond has made himself available, and will be giving Arturo's two scheduled presentations: "Introducing Microsoft Expression Studio 2" and "How to become a XAML-ready designer with Expression Blend". Thanks Tim for coming out at such short notice!

Shanemo

Every quokka loves a new laptop. Even when the laptop is twice your weight, height and width.

If you're planning on attending REMIX 08 in Sydney, get in fast - some of the sessions are starting to fill up, particularly in the creative track! (Go Creative Track!)

I also ran in to Tatham Oddie at Code Camp. He filled me in on his MVC talk for REMIX08.

CameronDamian fills us in on his IE8 talk at Remix.

DG gets into the Live Mesh craze.

Why pay for a Remix 08 ticket when you can win one? And a Silverlight skateboard while you’re at it!

Creating Silverlight™ animations with Expression Blend is quick and easy and to prove it we want you to have a go in the lead-up to Remix 08!

So, we are running a Oz Remix Silverlight Video Clip Contest.

What do I have to do?

All you have to do is use Silverlight to create a “video music clip” for the song we supply (“Step Back” by Sydney/NY musician Matt Broadfoot). The entries judged to be the best win prizes!

More Detail

We provide a song clip from the Matt Broadfoot song, “Step Back”. You create a Silverlight application that plays the song and uses Silverlight animation to create a “video music clip” to go with the song clip. You load your video music clip application up onto Silverlight Streaming then sit back and wait for the accolades!

Here’s a (very) simple example: http://blogs.msdn.com/shanemo/pages/remix-silverlight-video-clip-competition-sample.aspx

Yes we have fabulous prizes!

First prize:

• A Silverlight skateboard!!!

• A ticket to Remix 08 Australia Event in either Melbourne or Sydney

Second prize:

• A generation 1 Microsoft Zune® Scotty had lying around – which will be lovely once upgraded to the latest software :-) (*Note: Some of the online features may not operate in Australia.)

• A ticket to Remix 08 Australia Event in either Melbourne or Sydney

Third prize:

• A Microsoft Wireless Presenter Mouse

• A ticket to Remix 08 Australia Event in either Melbourne or Sydney

More Details

For more information, how to enter, terms and conditions, and a starter project check out: Oz Remix Silverlight Video Clip Contest

DG hires a wizened LOLCODE contractor to complete the low-level code for a new web site.

Hmm, need to think of some way to offload this. A Remix competition methinks...

Credit: Darren Sharp

This year's keynote speaker at Australia’s second ReMIX is Mark Pesce. Like LOLCODE, Mark has his own, well deserved Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Pesce

Australians in the internet community would recognise Mark from his copious writings on freedom, email, free/meshed wireless. He is a thought leader amongst thought leaders in this web-centric world.

I've seen Mark present at various conferences through 2007, and have also enjoyed his writings. At ReMIX, Mark will be elevating our imaginations to a higher plane: what may this highly connected future look like?

Microsoft know Mark is going to provide some thought provoking insights.

DG is getting his Developer track ready for the second Australian ReMIX. Fueled by lamingtons and Quokka-Cola, there is a storm of XAML building.

Seats are going fast! Book today!

Ok, Finula's off to have a little lie down because, the Remix Australia 2008 site is open for Registration!

The sessions are up (except for the secret one), as well as the speakers and all the good stuff.

Those dates again:

• Sydney May 20, 2008
• Melbourne May 22, 2008

So please form an orderly line at: http://www.microsoft.com/australia/remix08/index.aspx

(photo by JJ)

As presented at BarcampSydney3: 

• Imagine the best presenter/presentation you have seen
  • This person has practised more than once.
  • plan for the worst case scenario (no projector, laptop nor audience)
• know audience, topic, environment
  • If you are not comfortable wit the topic, don't present it
• Theatre
  • projecting your voice: always stand
  • volume levels: for any audience above 4 people, you need to turn it up a little bit
  • breaking the fourth wall (that is, walk and talk into the audience)
  • Use props.
  • hot vs cold liquids: careful with water as it tightens the vocal chords
• emotional connection
  • Emotional projection: like voice volume, you need to turn it up a few notches to make an impact 
  • tell stories: humans have brains wired to remember stories and retell them
  • audience involvement: get someone on stage and break the fourth wall
• referential comedy
  • appropriate humor (think of your audience) is always a good thing to incorporate
  • to help: keep referencing one humourous comment/moment
• Dealing with the hecklers
  • attention seekers (so give them some attention)
  • or are pained by some experience (divert to post-presentation one on one)
• always leave your audience wanting more

Thanks, Sridhar, for the positive blog comments.

Who does DG look up to in the world?