We've asked Mike Harvath to come back and speak to our group again.  His series of Sales Growth seminars and webcasts to our members last year were some of our highest attended, so we've asked him to return.

Click HERE to sign up for this upcoming webcast on Profit Propulsion!

 

We've been told about a new video library coming out soon for partners to showcase their products and services.  Even though the site isnt live yet, you can upload your videos now, and a few will get selected to be shown at the WPC later this summer.

The new services is called Digital Forum and it's a streaming video site dedicated to Microsoft partners. Partners will be able to upload their own “rough-cut” videos that explain their solutions. It's like Solution Profiler combined with Soapbox/YouTube, built all in Silverlight.

The main site will launch in July, but they are accepting uploads now. Any partner videos submitted in the next month will be on the final site when it launches, and may be shown at WPC.

Here is a link to learn more, or upload your video:

https://www.wpcvideos.com

Also, if your wondering how you might capture a demo of your application, you can use a free tool from Microsoft called Community Clips, available HERE.  This is a simple application, similar to Adobe Captivate, which simply allows you to record your voice, and your screen, and syncs them together to create a video presentation.

I hope some of you get to take advantage of this opportunity, and I also hope to meet many of you at the WPC this year.

Thanks!
Brian

 

Based on requests and feedback from our FaceBook members, we have created and launched our Partner2Partner Email List and Marketplace.  This will allow our members to send messages to other members, with us moderating the process.  All members can submit a message for other members.  We will combine messages and forward to the group on a regular basis.  Also, all messages are kept on our Marketplace for exposure to visitors to our portal as well.  You can view the Marketplace and submit your message here:

http://www.partnerpoint.com/PartnerPointHome/Partner2PartnerMarketplace/tabid/731/Default.aspx

 

Overview: The Microsoft Student to Business team will present their program and offerings to the PartnerPoint Community.

The Students to Business (S2B) program is a Microsoft® Community Initiative designed to connect Microsoft partners and customers with qualified students for entry-level and internship positions. S2B will provide skilled workers to Microsoft partners and establish the skill requirements to fuel innovation and enable employability of the next generation.

The objective of the S2B program is to inspire local businesses to communicate the competency requirements for new talent, to evaluate the skills of students ready for an entry-level job or internship and collaborate with Microsoft to provide the curriculum and training needed to ensure students are prepared to meet your company’s needs.

Who should Attend: Any Microsoft Partner who is in need of help finding qualified team members.

Format: One hour Webcast on 2/20/08 - at 1:00pm EST

Presenter: Aimee Z. Sprung | Local Software Economy (LSE) Program Manager US Developer & Platform Evangelism | Microsoft Corporation

Link To Register:   http://www.clicktoattend.com/?id=125087

The URL and dial-in information for this event will be included in the meeting request you can download once you register thru the link above.  However, just in case you need it, it is as follows:

Webcast URL: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/microsoft/join?id=RTG8SD&role=attend&pw=j3%21%5B%7E%407%5BG

Dial In Info: +1 (888) 283-3870, Participant code: 28136

 

 

It was a bit delayed, but we have now officially launched our new FaceBook Widget.  It gives you, our members, easy access to much of our community data from directly within your FaceBook World!  You can check it out here:

http://apps.facebook.com/microsoftpartner 

Be sure to check out our brand new Member Map.  Drill down from Country, to State, to City.  Filter by Partner Level.  Make sure your firm is properly represented so others can find you.  To add or edit any information on your map listing, simply click on your name in the upper right hand corner of the portal (after you have logged in) to modify you member profile.

http://www.partnerpoint.com/PartnerPointHome/MemberMap/tabid/438/Default.aspx 

The Microsoft Public Sector team will be presenting to our community on January 24th, 2008.  If you are eager to learn more about this group, you should attend this short but informative webcast.  Click HERE for more information or to register. 

We are now growing more quickly then ever before.  As of today, our community consists of:

• 234 Facebook Group Members
• 1,272 LinkedIn Group Members
• 6,238 total PartnerPoint Community Members

Coming soon:

• A new Facebook Microsoft Partner Community site.... Very cool stuff, stay tuned
• A completely re-designed Member Map providing a unique way to find other partners, and for others to find you.  This app will be available both thru our community portal, and thru our FaceBook Community site
• A re-designed Member Directory allowing you to reach out to other members, or others to reach out to you, without exposing full contact info for either participant until the receiving party has accepted the invitation.
• An in-person Networking application for members to use at their in-person events.  Similar to the former RIO service, this application will completely coordinate in-person meetings with event attendees.

 

We recently sent out a test of a new idea we have called the PartnerPoint One Click Survey.  It is basically a short email with one question, and a list of possible answers you can click on.. One Click is all it takes to give us valuable feedback, and our email platform tracks the unique clicks per member email, and reports back to us in real time..... I hope this allows us to get more input from you, without becoming a pest... as it is this input that drives where we go as a group. 

We are proud to announce our first PartnerPoint Facebook Widget.  It is called the Microsoft ISV Showcase, and automatically pushes out our member product data in our ISV Showcase into our Facebook Group.  As of the first day in operation, 55 Facebook users have installed and are running the application!  This is exciting because it really illustrates how we can provide centralized Web 2.0 services to our members across whatever platforms you choose to spend your time in!!!!  You can get it here:

http:\\apps.facebook.com\isvshowcase 

The Microsoft SB2 team has invited our community to participate in a brand new program designed to connect Microsoft Partners and Customers with qualified students for entry-level and internship positions.  SB2 will provide skilled worers to Microsoft Partners and establish the skill requirements to fuel innovation and enable employability of the next generation...  click HERE for more information... 

Be sure to check out our new 3D presentation of a few of our current projects with Microsoft HERE