Gold Coast .NET SIG

REMIX Sydney Sold Out! Book your tickets for REMIX Melbourne now!!
Thanks to all who have registered for <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/australia/remix08/">REMIX</a>, we're really pleased to see the interest in these great events.  If you've missed out on tickets for the Sydney event, why not make a weekend of it and catch REMIX in Melbourne! Below is a little "charade" myself and Mike Kordahi did with all the REMIX details (courtesy of <a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/ozpartnertv/archive/2008/05/07/partner-tv-remix08.aspx">Partner-TV</a>!). See you there hopefully!  Fin <iframe style="width: 500px; height: 375px" src="http://silverlight.services.live.com/invoke/22389/RemixDGandFin/iframe.html" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe><img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=8468326" width="1" height="1">

Mark Pesce announced as Celebrity Keynoter for REMIX 08!! Another great reason to register!!
I'm a fan of Mark Pesce having seen him in a few episodes of ABC's  <A class="" href="http://www.abc.net.au/tv/newinventors/" mce_href="http://www.abc.net.au/tv/newinventors/">"The New Inventors"</A> so, I am thrilled (nay humbled!) to announce that he has accepted our invitation to speak at <A class="" href="http://www.microsoft.com/australia/remix08/index.aspx" mce_href="http://www.microsoft.com/australia/remix08/index.aspx">REMIX</A> in Sydney and he even agreed to fly down to Melbourne too!  (maybe he's a secret shopaholic like myself ;-)).  Mark said his mission is "to further the knowlege of the tech savvy" so, knowing the REMIX audience, we think it's a perfect fit!  <img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=8401123" width="1" height="1">

REMIX 08, We have Lift-off: Registration and Sessions Site now live!
Thanks for your patience.  The REMIX08 <A class="" href="http://www.microsoft.com/australia/remix08/index.aspx" mce_href="http://www.microsoft.com/australia/remix08/index.aspx">site</A> is now live so, check out the <A class="" href="http://www.microsoft.com/australia/remix08/sessions.aspx" mce_href="http://www.microsoft.com/australia/remix08/sessions.aspx">sessions</A>, subscribe to the <A class="" href="http://www.microsoft.com/australia/remix08/index.aspx" mce_href="http://www.microsoft.com/australia/remix08/index.aspx">REMIX blog</A> or <A class="" href="http://www.microsoft.com/australia/remix08/index.aspx" mce_href="http://www.microsoft.com/australia/remix08/index.aspx">Register</A>!  It's $199 (inc. GST) for a full day of learning and you'll get a full copy of <A class="" href="http://www.microsoft.com/expression/" mce_href="http://www.microsoft.com/expression/">Expression Studio 2</A> compliments of us (retails for $1,040 inc. GST)!<img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=8378488" width="1" height="1">

Just putting the finishing touches to the REMIX08 Website, it'll be up by noon tomorrow..!!
I should have known better than to put a date to the REMIX08 site going live  - mind you, I didn't really think anybody read my blog which is probably why I felt confident publishing the date but, I've had a few emails today asking me when the site will be live which, apart from the sadness I feel at missing the date (sorry :-(),  pleases me as it shows you guys care and are excited about REMIX08!!  So, sorry for the delay  - I'll make up for it with some nice food and giveaways on the day so, hang in there - get some sleep because it'll be all so very exciting after you've seen the content and registered to attend! 41 Sleeps to go for REMIX 08 Sydney and 43 sleeps to go till we're back in Melbourne for REMIX 08 Melbourne!  Woohoo!  <img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=8371179" width="1" height="1">

Two of Microsoft's finest confirmed to speak at ReMIX Australia, Yayy!! Read on to find out what they are planning to talk about!
We managed to twist the arms of <A class="" href="http://blogs.msdn.com/angus_logan/" mce_href="http://blogs.msdn.com/angus_logan/">Angus Logan</A> and <A class="" href="http://ux.artu.tv/" mce_href="http://ux.artu.tv/">Arturo Toledo</A> to join us for ReMIX Australia in both Sydney and Melbourne - ok, so it didn't take much to convince Angus, who left his role as Portals Technical Specialist in Microsoft Australia last year to join the team in Redmond as a Senior Product Manager for the Windows Live Platform.  Arturo was equally keen to see if he can repeat his popularity at MIX in Vegas at ReMIX Australia (his session was reportedly the most popular in the Designer track..!).  I think he's also keen to take in a few Ozzie sites and experiences so, feel free to make some suggestions on his blog!  So, what are they going to talk about at ReMIX Australia?  Angus will talk about the Windows Live Platform and how to grow your audience through deeper engagement.  He will show you how to get started and be successful in building rich services using compelling tools and easy to understand terms. Arturo who is Designer Readiness Product Manager in Redmond will address the top questions Designers have when learning Silverlight and WPF. It's going to be a fun session which shows you how to get the best out of Expression Design and Blend to create XAML based experiences.  Whether you are a Visual Studio Developer or a Flash Designer, you are bound to get a lot out of what Arturo has to share!  ShaneMo and Michael Kordahi will have the details of these and other sessions on the ReMIX Australia site when it goes live on 7th April and will be available to answer any questions you have about the session content and speakers from that date on. So, I hope you have marked ReMIX Sydney (20 May) or Melbourne (22 May) in your calendars and organised a day away from the office - the registration site is still on track to go live on April 7th so, hang in there until then.  Fin :-) As always, feel free to drop me an email at <A href="mailto:finulac@microsoft.com">finulac@microsoft.com</A> if you have any questions    <img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=8337161" width="1" height="1">

Nothing to do over the Easter Weekend?? Do some Silverlight Hands-On labs!!! :-)
For those of you who are extra eager to get down and dirrrty with Silverlight 2.0 Beta 1, you'll find plenty of brand new hands-on labs <A class="" href="http://silverlight.net/learn/labs.aspx" mce_href="http://silverlight.net/learn/labs.aspx">here</A> to keep you busy (and improve your skills!!).  You'll need to install <A class="" href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=E0BAE58E-9C0B-4090-A1DB-F134D9F095FD&displaylang=en" mce_href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=E0BAE58E-9C0B-4090-A1DB-F134D9F095FD&displaylang=en">VS08 Tools</A> as well as download the <A class="" href="http://www.microsoft.com/silverlight/resources/installationFiles.aspx?v=2.0" mce_href="http://www.microsoft.com/silverlight/resources/installationFiles.aspx?v=2.0">Silverlight 2 Beta</A>.  Happy Easter - finally a legitimate excuse to overdose on chocolate and wear my bunny ears!!!  Fin <img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=8326958" width="1" height="1">