So this is the reason for lack of updates. I made it to the UK Final of the Imagine Cup 2007 with our team Herts of Code from the University of Hertfordshire with our application 'weLearn'.

Last night, Thursday 29th, Microsoft put us up in a very nice Hilton hotel in Wokingham providing us with a free bar and, for once, I was professional and didn't take advantage just drinking J20's all night (boring, but sensible), along with a meal which was Korea themed and was excellent.  During the meal there was a quiz with various different sections, ranging from general knowledge to drawing a picture of the person on your left, and team Choc Ice (Herts of Code (HOC) and Team I.C.E) won, winning a set of 'cube worlds' which look cool.  After the meal, it was straight to bed for an early night.

5.30am, Friday 30th.  Wide awake.  Good start to the day, had very little sleep with the excitment of the day ahead and the presenation running around in my head.  6.15am, alarm goes off, jump in the shower and down for breakfast.  Nice breakfast, discussed the day ahead and came up with a great idea about how to do the poster presentation. 7.30am, final practice of the poster to make sure we were all ready and decide who would be doing the two presentations of the poster itself which we would be judged on - the decision was Paul up first and myself second.

8am, left Hotel for TVP.

8.30am, first team to arrive, which was great as we could have a quick look at the other posters and do a quick run through.

9.05am, first team to present in front of the first panel of judges.  Very scary, but seemed to go well.

9.45am, my turn to present our poster in front of the second panel of judges. Little bit nervous, but I think it went really well.

Long wait until 12.30pm when the teams which would be presenting are annouced - this is when it starts to get interesting.

We were annouced as one of the top three teams!! HOW COOL IS THAT!! We got to present our application in front of all the attendees.  The three teams got taken away into the non-public area and were given a room for us to practice our presentation.  In fact, we completely re-wrote the presentation and the way we were presenting which was a bit high pressured but appeared to be much, much better.  Food was brought to the room however I was far to nervous and busy to have and interest in it.

2pm, taken to setup my laptop in Chicago (the main presenting room in building 3) which had the partition removed but still was no where near as big as I expected. We were then taken away to the EBC while the first two teams presented. Good time to relax, take everything in and have a joke with Mark and Stuart.

Our Presentation

Then it was our turn.  Everything was in place, we were confident with ourselves and our product and everything looked great. We felt it went really well and everyone we spoke to were really impressed and thought we had an amazing application.  I think my bit went well,  I had to demo the application we had created so far, which turned out to be the only demostration from the three teams, got all the main points across and the application didn't crash!  I can now say I have presented in Chicago!

The Results

3rd

Ok, so we didn't win :(

However we recieved excellent feedback and the University are currently looking at using the application in their current plans so its not over just yet.  Plus we were all given a Creative Zen (should have been a Zune but they haven't been released yet).

Overal, a great experience and an excellent day and if anyone is in a position to enter next year I strongly recommend it.

As soon as the pictures are sent to me, i'll upload them onto the site.

Finally, I would just like to say a big thank you to our mentor, David Bowes, for all of the support and presentation practice.

Read the press release about us which was done last week here:

http://perseus.herts.ac.uk/uhinfo/extrel/press-office/press--releases/march-2007/pr-27-03-07-lb.cfm

and

http://www.innovations-report.de/html/berichte/informationstechnologie/bericht-81639.html

I can now start blogging again - apart form the fact that I have a degree to finish.

Just took delivery of some business cards from http://gapingvoid.streetcards.com

Front and back.  The Blur is my phone number :)

I think they look cool :)

MSMobiles.com have just posted an interesting review of the HTC Hermes (originally a WM5 phone) running Windows Mobile 6.

http://msmobiles.com/news.php/6155.html

Not sure if T-Mobile / HTC are going to be releasing an offical update...

Zi Makki has just setup his Wiki for a geek dinner after the MSDN Roadshow on the 21st March in London.

Signup here:

http://www.zimakki.com/wiki/21st%20March%20Geek%20Dinner.ashx

The ones I have been too have been loads of fun, so if your going to the day and can attend I do recommend it.  Hopefully I'm going to the day, not sure if I will be attending the dinner due to the amount of work I currently have on.

Also check out http://www.screwturn.eu/ what he is using as his Wiki.  Its built using ASP.net 2.0 (I'm guessing from the file extension).  I'll install it tonight and post a review sometime this week as I've been wanted a ASP.net wiki for some time.

I've just read over on the Dot Net Solutions rss that there is a new UK Community starting up based in Reading, actually having the meetings at TVP (Microsoft Offices), called VistaSquad.

The first two presentations are "Are you ready for Vista - Windows hardware assessment tools (Scott Belton)" and "Deep Dive into WCF – (Michael Luke)" and it all kicks off at 18:15 on the 28th of March and should end around 21:25.

More info here:

http://vistasquad.co.uk/blogs/announcements/archive/2007/03/09/first-meeting.aspx

and

http://www.dotnetsolutions.ltd.uk/blog/2007/03/11/

Good luck guys, definitely going to keep an eye out on your progress.  If I ever get time, I'll attend a meeting.

As many of you know, I have been a Microsoft Student Partner this year and have had a great experience.  Been loads of fun, met some great people and got a few presents along the way for my effort.  Now its your chance (as long as your at University next year) to become a Student Partner, and I highly recommend it.

<quote from="Stuart">

Applications for the Microsoft Student Partners (MSP) programme 07/08 are now open. If you are a student passionate about technology, ready to share your knowledge and want to develop skills outside your field of study, we want to hear from you.

What is the MSP Programme?

The Microsoft Student Partner Programme recognises top young minds from around the UK who are passionate about technology. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity to develop real-world skills to help you succeed in your future career, to help others learn about the technology of today and tomorrow, and to connect with other like-minded students, all whilst having a ton of fun along the way.

The programme is our way of encouraging students who are interested in building a closer relationship with Microsoft, and those who are simply hooked on technology, to develop their skills further. This year's programme will officially run from June 2007 to May 2007.

What is an MSP?

The Microsoft Student Partner programme consists of the brightest and most innovative student developers and technology enthusiasts from universities around the world.

The ‘ideal candidate’ for an MSP would be a passionate and enthusiast individual who wants to learn about new tools and technologies. You would need to have a whole range of skills including excellent time management, organisation and communication skills to ensure that you could host a successful campus launch event.

An MSP should be comfortable and confident presenting in front of large audiences of both students and faculty members. You may even be asked to present in front of your fellow MSPs at an event. General business and sales skills come in very handy in order to allow you to articulate your ideas effectively when presenting.

MSPs are sociable, friendly and approachable individuals who like to meet new people. You will require the ability work as a team as well as use your own initiative. In summary, MSPs are innovative and creative students who are extremely passionate about technology.

You will need to download and complete the MSP application form at the top of the page. You must send the complete form to ukmspnom@microsoft.com. The closing date for applications is Friday 26 May 2007. We will then review all the submitted applications and select the brightest and most innovative student developers and technology enthusiasts from universities across the UK and Ireland.

You can download the MSP application form and more information about the programme at http://www.microsoft.com/uk/academia/students/student-partners/default.mspx.

</quote>

Good luck with your application.  If you want to ask me anything, leave a comment.