Go visit the Visual Basic Product Team at TechEd!

It was this time last year at TechEd that Cory Smith introduced me to the Visual Basic product team.  He first introduced me to Ed Hickey, who is the VB MVP Lead at Microsoft.  The funny story about Ed is, less than a week after Ed awarded me the MVP status, he transfers out.  I knew I was hard to work with, but didn’t realize I was …. that …. difficult.

Also last year at TechEd 2007, Cory let me hang out with him at Universal Studios where I rubbed elbows with the Visual Basic product team!  He’s really been a great mentor to me, and I’m very grateful.

All this is to say, go visit the Visual Basic Product Team website and meet some of the product team.  They are all very accessible and have always been very friendly.  If you’re at TechEd 2008 this year, stop by the Visual Basic booth.  Amanda Silver is one of the most visible team members (and very easy on the eyes), so go strike up a conversation.

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Tell Internet Explorer 8 Beta to show your site properly using IE7

Tell Internet Explorer 8 Beta to show your site properly using IE7

For those that want your website to render correctly on IE8, the recent newsletter gave a great example for enforcing IE7 compatibility via a Meta tag.  (You can see the new IE logo above)

Per Site Basis:

Site owners and administrators can include the following custom HTTP header to display all pages in Internet Explorer 7 Strict mode for the site:

X-UA-Compatible: IE=EmulateIE7

Per-page basis:

Site owners and administrators can include the following special HTML tag after the <Head> tag on the page:

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Microsoft adCenter needs a workshop?

While I love Microsoft’s developer products, adCenter (Microsoft’s search advertising / pay per click) makes me want to hide in shame.  See the email I received below.

I completely understand the desire of AdCenter to educate the masses, but do you really need a Workshop to get your customers to understand your product?  Much less, require them to PAY to attend?  Sure you might be giving a 50% credit towards advertising, but why would I pay to attend?  That’s not the way to get customers to move from Google to AdCenter.

Why not give FREE online advertising and search engine seminars all across the U.S., not just 3 select cities.  Use the same principles that built up the developer community like the MSDN Events.

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![Microsoft® adCenter](http://ads.msn.com/ads/PRONWS/ADC0662/1.jpg)

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Dear Randy:

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Are your pay per click Microsoft® adCenter campaigns performing as well as they should be? We know that it can be challenging to manage your campaigns and maximize your return on investments (ROIs). Not to worry, we have just the workshop you need to learn all the secrets successful search advertisers already know.

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At the **adCenter Competitive Advantage workshop**, you can learn how to optimize your adCenter search campaigns for better results. In just a few hours, we can help you get your search marketing campaign on the road to a higher ROI.

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**The workshop will be led by premier search marketing innovator Mary O’Brien.** She’s an independent search marketing expert who literally wrote the book on the subject. She’ll cover it all—from choosing targeted keywords to creating ads that sell to tracking the results.

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_**[Register now](http://msmedia.microsoft.com/Key=15558.KKD.C.C.M2qz2d) and receive a credit of up to $100 toward your adCenter account by attending the workshops!*** Be sure to enter offer code **ROAD00**._

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Three workshop locations to choose from:

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**New York June 17, 2008** Doubletree Metropolitan

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**Los Angeles June 19, 2008** Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles

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**Chicago July 1, 2008** Hyatt Lodge at McDonald’s Campus

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Two sessions offered: Choose one or attend both!

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**Morning Session: Pay Per Click Essentials for Beginners**

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**Microsoft adCenter Essentials:** Discover the best way to organize your campaigns. Learn common search marketing terms

**Keywords Strategies:** Develop strategies that maximize your advertising budget

**Creating Effective Ad Copy:** Master the art of crafting messages that turns clickers into customers

**Account Navigation:** Take a tour of the full adCenter toolkit, and learn how to maximize the pulling power of the assets in your account

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**Afternoon Session: Pay Per Click Power Strategies for Advanced Users**

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**Tracking Results:** Identify ads and keywords that really work, and learn to improve those that don’t

**Advanced Targeting:** Find out how precision consumer targeting from adCenter can focus your campaigns on your most valuable customer segments

**Advanced Bidding Options:** Become the master of better bidding, including CPM bidding, optimizing budgets, and positioning preference tools

**New Tools Outlook:** Find out about our new Microsoft adCenter Desktop Beta and our Add-In tool for Microsoft Office Excel® 2007

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Limited-time offer.

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**Beginner** Morning Session – $99\. [Register](http://msmedia.microsoft.com/Key=15558.KKD.C.C.M2qz2d) now and receive $50 credit toward your adCenter account.*

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**Advanced** Afternoon Session – $99\. [Register](http://msmedia.microsoft.com/Key=15558.KKD.C.C.M2qz2d) now and receive $50 in credit toward your adCenter account.*

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**Best Value:** Full-Day Session – $149\. [Register](http://msmedia.microsoft.com/Key=15558.KKD.C.C.M2qz2d) now and receive $100 in free credit toward your adCenter account clicks.*

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Space is limited, so don’t wait to register. Simply go to our [registration page](http://msmedia.microsoft.com/Key=15558.KKD.C.C.M2qz2d) and enter your Customer ID 68883 and the offer code **ROAD00** to receive your adCenter account credit.

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Questions about the workshop or accommodations? Please call **(800) 507-2958, ext. 702.**

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Make pay per click pay off for you. [Register](http://msmedia.microsoft.com/Key=15558.KKD.C.C.M2qz2d) for the workshop today!

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Sincerely,

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The Microsoft adCenter Team

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Register Now

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_**Receive a credit of up to $100 toward your adCenter account by attending the workshops!*** Be sure to enter offer code **ROAD00**. [Register now](http://msmedia.microsoft.com/Key=15558.KKD.C.C.M2qz2d)._

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20 Business Tips from Intuit QuickBooks

Sadly I had meant to post this back in February.

20 Tips Every Business Should Know

Their #1 tip is serving a niche market.  While not a requirement for starting a business, you need to separate yourselves from your competition.  Whether it be in price, service or value.

#3 is something I can vouch for, outsourcing.  I commonly talk about the misconception of the word “outsourcing”.  This doesn’t necessarily mean an Indian in Bangalore is doing your work.  It does mean simple tasks such as bookkeeping or advertising can be performed by local resources around your town.

As you read through the rest of the tips, remember to not take them literally, but find alternatives to the solutions they suggest.

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Northwest Arkansas SQL Server User Group 1st Meeting

I have vastly been neglecting my blogging.  So as not to be outdone by Chris Koenig ….

I was able to meetup with the organizers of the event, Jason Pluenneke, Curt Wolfe, Boyd Evert, & Dennis Berk several weeks ago.  I am personally very excited about this new user group starting up.  Partly because of my small part in helping them (one of my roles as the INETA Membership Mentor), but mostly because of my passion for databases.  I’m really looking forward to what will be coming out of the group.

I will be donating several swag items, if you haven’t already been enticed into attending.  There will be a free copy of the Heroes Happen Here bundle which includes licensed copies of SQL Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008 and Windows Server 2008.  I’m also bringing a copy of PC-Cillin Anti Virus, an MSDN t-shirt, and a Visual Studio t-shirt.  Chris Koenig is also sending some swag to be given away.

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The first meeting of
**
The Northwest Arkansas SQL Users Group
will be held on Wednesday, May 14th!**

Meeting Details

When:
Wednesday, May 14th, 11:30am - 1:00pm

Host:
Connolly Consulting

Address:
2703 SE Otis Corley Drive MAP

City:
Bentonville, AR 72712


Agenda: This initial meeting will celebrate the launch of the group including pizza, presentations, ideas, networking opportunities, and hopefully some terriffic SWAG! An overview presentation of SQL Server 2008 will be included!


For more information about this group, please email the organization at

info@nwasql.org

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