MIX07 - End of Day 2
Day 2 was a busy day. 2 press events - including one that featured an application that the Hospital For Sick Kids in Toronto build in WPF as a next-generation kiosk and potential web presence. The application is focused on helping to increase the connection between donors and the hospital. It's a great looking app that was build in 3 weeks by a Canadian Microsoft partner called Momentum.
I felt that Robbie Bach's talk was a great overview of the kinds of options available to drive traffic in an ad based world - Xbox, Search, Media Center, etc. What I didn't feel worked was the structure of the final keynote. Robbie talked for 45-50mins and then a marketing/business panel discussion started. It was poorly setup and I think the audience certainly wasn't expecting it. Hundreds of people ended up leaving during the final hour, which was certainly distracting. Now, the panel did have a great discussion on the future of marketing - it's too bad more people didn't stick around.
So, Robert Scoble thinks that "Microsoft has rebooted the web". Wow. Even Steve Gilmour has weighed in.
I think that the announcements at MIX this year are certainly a major step for the company. Why?
- MIX proves that Microsoft and our ecosystem can drive thought leadership and market momentum
- The concept of "user experience first" is evident in everything discussed at MIX.
- Silverlight is just cool.
- .NET moves into the web world.
We wrapped up the event with the closing party at PURE. A great venue and a great event.
Here is the strange story of the night. I am talking with my US counterpart - Sheila - when this guy comes out of the crowd and says "hey I know you". Honestly, I didn't remember him - until he reminded me that when he was in grade 10 I worked with his school (I was with Digital Equipment at the time) on a technology education program. He said I was a great mentor and inspired him to go into technology. Now he owns 2 technology companies. Wow, what a compliment.
I leave in the morning for Vancouver and the Vancouver Games Summit, so another MIX is done for me.
If you are in Canada and doing any Silverlight work - let me and the team know.