Boston WebsiteSpark Group

Content Strategy: Optimizing Your Efforts For Success

2011-06-06T03:03:00.001-04:00

My boss then said something that has stuck with me and guided much of my work as a content specialist. She said that while my creativity may be admirable, it wasn’t strategic.

A recent post in smashing magazine by Allie Gray, that a lot of the members might really like to check out.

Content strategy is a beast with many heads, names and trajectories. To approach it is to be sucked in full force. Even so, as crucial as content strategy is, conveying its gravity to a big audience, or to key administrators, is often hard. Being so inherently complex, it’s often easiest to tackle by example.

Check out the full article at: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2011/06/03/content-strategy-optimizing-your-efforts-for-success/

Windows 8–UI demo’s an Internet Explore 10

2011-06-04T11:04:00.001-04:00

With recent talks and presentations, Microsoft has pulled the covers completely off the Windows 8 operation system early development for all to see.

With a Windows 7 phone like live application tiles it feels like the Metro design theme on a big screen which users can interact with using touch screen on the desktop. The center “hub” is a screen full of what they are calling “live” tiles which like on the phone system can be push notice feed, thus even with out have the application open the title can be updated with notification , for example email counts, new post…etc. The OS is presented on the screen in a full screen, engaging “chromeless” way that’s very clean and fresh. The system will also come with the similar experience in the newest version of Internet Explore 10 , IE 10, ( I added the link for the Platform Preview at the bottom of the post).

The cool thing is that the “app tiles” and interfaces are all built with common code used today , in what Microsoft is calling “Tailored Apps” environment, using HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS. I was totally expecting the words Silverlight to come out of the presenters mouth but , luckily we were spared that. I am not knocking Silverlight at all, I love it very much but it seems that the community is still cold to it and there size of the development pool is growing slower that I had expected.

The following is a collection of videos I found talking about the upcoming Windows 8 operating system:

Building Windows 8

Microsoft Windows 8 for Tablets

Microsoft Unveils 'Windows 8' to World (full event)

You can also go ahead and download and explore the IE10 Platform Preview 1, that was released April, 2011. It a very interesting experience and for once dose not force out your current IE version.

IE10 Platform Preview 1

What's in the Special Sauce? - Learn what is new and exciting in HTML5

2011-05-28T05:05:00.001-04:00

Merchant Accounts & Small Business Banking

2011-04-18T10:22:00.001-04:00

Tonight we will have a double header.
Jack Contos will be talking to the group about what Merchant accounts are, and how they work and relate to the web designer and developer. Brian Ledet will follow with and introduction on small business banking and how the bank can boost your production & sales.

Merchant Accounts 101
by Jack Contos, Merchant Services

As a web design and developer we have all come across client needing ecommerce solutions. Credit card payments comprise the majority of payments after cash and is the defacto method of payment online. This makes accepting credit cards imperative for most businesses. Tonight we will learn all about merchant accounts, how they work, how to work with them, rates, and security concerns.

Small Business Banking
by Brian Ledet, Business Banking Specialist

Most of our members are freelance or small shops. Some Designers and Developers dread the must do accounting work and never take the time to look at just what your bank can do for you as your invisible business partner. Your banks small business specialist can open a lot of doors and give you a powerful edge and rise above your competitors. Just like leveraging a new application into your work flow, take some time to hear and learn how your banking partner can help make business easier and boost your business.

Pluralsight Joins Group Sponsorship

2011-03-15T11:15:00.005-04:00

Pluralsight provides high-quality training solutions for Microsoft .NET developers that can fit any schedule or budget. The revolutionary Pluralsight On-Demand! training library provides developers with instant access to a rich collection of online training courses delivered by industry authorities. See what you can learn at pluralsight.com and join the @pluralsight community on Twitter.

Special Announcement

Thru the great guys at pluralsight and the Microsoft User Community group joint effort we will be giving away a few, 1 month free access cards that give you access the amazing range of online courses in the pluralsight library, you will not want to miss out on these so stay tuned.

Congrats to Smashing Magazine

2011-02-15T10:59:00.001-05:00

I wanted to share with everyone the great news that our good friends and sponsors over at Smashing Magazine won the Blog of the Year award at the .net Magazine awards_2010. The awards described as:

There are millions of blogs on the web, but which one do you enjoy most? This award isn't about sheer quantity of blogs or traffic, but rather the quality of the content they feature.

In the Final round pitted them against heavy hits “A List Apart” and “CSS Tricks”, but Smashing Magazine came out a top, winning the award hands down. If you have not checked them out, I think you will find them a can not do without resource.

Having Smashing Magazine on-board with us and their support for New England {UX} (Formerly know as Design Camp Boston). Vitaly Friedman (founder editor-in-chief), at Smashing has been a great friend to the group and we are very proud of his and his teams achievements.

Smashing Magazine >>

.Net Magazine Awards_2010 >>

Dynamic Prototyping Book winners !!

2011-02-14T12:53:00.001-05:00

Our book winners are:

Michael Durwin (http://www.mdurwin.com/)

flexeble (site)

Coagulations and guys please contact me as soon as you get a chance to.

Double - dynamic book giveaway.

2011-02-02T12:36:00.001-05:00

I have two copies to give away this week, of:

Dynamic Prototyping with SketchFlow in Expression Blend

DESCRIPTION
This book is for designers, user experience pros, creative directors, developers, or anyone who wants to create rich, interactive, and compelling products. If you want to communicate innovative ideas, research, experiment, and prototype in the language of the interface,

Dynamic Prototyping with SketchFlow in Expression Blend is the perfect text. Learn how to sketch, iterate, and validate ideas–utilizing the power and productivity within SketchFlow.

RULES
If you’re a member of the group through our meet-up account, enter a comment to this posting, and on Friday I will select two winners randomly from the commenters. Book must be picked up at one of our group meetings (sorry no shipping). Winners will be selected and contacted Friday 11 Feb 2011.

2/24 : Introduction to Cloud Computing…

2011-02-02T01:59:00.001-05:00

Mark Eisenberg will tell us why cloud computing came to be and how it is defined and used. As well as an overview of the development and deployment workflow. This is a great cloud computing 101 and how you can take advantage of could computing.

Come learn:

· Why is the cloud?

· What is the cloud?

· How should the cloud be used?

· And just because the presenter can’t help himself – how cool is the Windows Azure Platform for web apps and services?

Mark Eisenberg works for Microsoft as a Windows Azure Solution Specialist. He is currently having more fun doing this than anything he has done in his almost 30 year career. He can be reached at mark.eisenberg@microsoft.com.

Using Social media to promote your new product

2011-01-28T09:23:00.001-05:00

"That's right. No one really cares what you had for lunch but they might care about the new product you are selling. Hear how you can use Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and other social media to support your business objectives.

Mass Innovation Nights is a monthly product launch party and networking event. Every month, companies bring 10 new products to a live event and the social media community

turns out to blog, tweet, post videos, pictures and otherwise increase new product buzz. In a single night, this method can help foster important connections and generate significant website traffic and even leads.

As the co-founder of Mass Innovation Nights, Bobbie Carlton has helped approximately 250 companies launch their products using social media in the last two years. Bobbie (@BobbieC and @MassInno on Twitter) is an experienced marketing, social media marketing and PR executive who headed global PR for large software companies like Cognos and PTC and has worked with dozens of companies to launch new products over the past 25+ years. Her specialty is getting the most bang for the buck, something important to young companies. Carlton PR & Marketing offers a wide array of marketing services -- public relations, marketing and social media marketing -- implementation, strategy and planning, as well as marketing coaching services.

The Presentation slide show can be seen in the groups meetup site at:
http://www.meetup.com/Boston-WebsiteSpark-Group/files/

Happy Birthday Boston WebsiteSpark Group

2011-01-21T14:12:00.001-05:00

Hello every one, and Happy Birthday! It's hard to believe that it really has been a year already. Our first year was not always smooth, but once we got up on our feet we did not stop moving despite mother nature and a few cancelations. Looking back we had some great guest speakers and sessions and we gave out a ton of swag this past year.

In just under 12 months we went from 2 members to 400 members. It took us from January to April to reach the 100 mark.
By July we reached 200 and in August topped 300 strong. We ended the years with 400 members (as I write this 415+ we count) with around 150-200 active members.
with the lessons of year one in-hand and not stopping, but to snap a pic of the snow and keep moving, we already have the start of year two well planned.
Jan 27th – Bobbie is presenting “Using Social Media to Promote Your New Product”
Feb 24th – Mark presentation “Web and the Could – Azure and small business”
Mar 31st – Patrick presentation “ Real world wireframing and UI/UX
April ? – “Ecommerce pathway & small business banking”
May ? – Working on getting Lytiks presentation
Jun ? – Working on getting Splash Media presentation
So yes we have been quit busy working to get things lined up meeting & presentation wise.

CMS Roundtable: ExpressionEngine

2010-11-18T13:52:00.003-05:00

Guys Ruthie from the Boston ExpressionEngine Group will come in an give an overview and talk about EE. This is another in the series we started over the summer to visit the major CMS / Portal frameworks in use today.
We will also spend some time talking about topics and plan for next year. Talk a little about NEW ENGLAND {UX} (formerly Design Camp Boston) event that took place this past weekend, look toward NE{UX} Boston 2011 as well as early talk about regional mini-events : )
I have some new books and swag to give out at the meeting. I have some copies of the very good book Dynamic Prototyping some really nice other little goodies as well.

Getting Started With ExpressionEngine

View more presentations from Ruthie BenDor.

The 411 on Windows Phone 7

2010-10-21T14:59:00.003-04:00

I know some of you did and some were not able to make it to the Windows 7 Phone launch event in Boston on the 12-13th, and with speaker cancelation, Jim O'Neil has stepped up to the plate an will come in an do an overview and talk about designing and programing for the Windows 7 Phone. Jim is also one of the lucky one that already has an phone so he will give live demonstrations as well as some code stuff.

CMS round robin : Editme and webmatrix

2010-08-26T15:46:00.002-04:00

Tonight's meeting will be a double header CMS night. First up will be my good friend Matt Wiseley who has developed and great CMS called EditMe.
About EditMe
Imagine a Wiki or CMS in which any page can be a server side script that implements whatever dynamic functionality you dream up. That's EditMe. No FTP servers, compilers or IDEs required. EditMe's API uses server-side JavaScript and our templates use XML, so there are no new languages to learn. A single front end web developer can quickly create collaborative web applications that previously required a team of back end developers weeks or months to build, test, and deploy.
About Matt Wiseley
Matt has been building web applications, front end and back, for over 13 years. In addition to occasional consulting work, Matt is founder and head nerd at EditMe (editme.com).
the second presentation will be:
WebMatrix –ASP.NET, PHP, Open Source and the Web
WebMatrix Beta (http://www.microsoft.com/web/webmatrix) is a free tool for quickly developing ASP.NET and PHP web applications. You can start with an open source application (WordPress, DotNetNuke, Joomla!, mojoPortal, etc.) and customize it, create a site from a template, or build one from scratch. This will be all demos, and we'll take a look at installing, coding, data, testing, and deployment, plus some of the underlying technology, like the new "Razor" view engine.
about Chris Bowen
(http://blogs.msdn.com/cbowen) is a Developer Evangelist with Microsoft, covering the Northeastern US. An architect and developer with over 17 years of experience, he joined Microsoft after holding senior positions at companies including Monster.com, VistaPrint, Staples, and IDX Systems, as well as consulting with others. He is coauthor of "Essential Windows Communication Foundation" and "Professional Visual Studio 2005 Team System" and holds an M.S. in Computer Science and a B.S. in Management Information Systems, both from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

design an app without writing code

2010-07-29T16:34:00.001-04:00

Presentation by Michael Bourque, who runs the Boston PHP group. He is an amazing speaker and a wealth of web goodness ; )
It is essential you design your app before you go off and build it. I will show you how easy it is it design your next app and prototype it so you can ensure the user experience is just right. Furthermore, I will show you how to test your app design with real customers and stakeholders with paper prototypes.

I will show you the leading prototyping tools and even give several copies away to attendees. This will be an interactive session, so please come with your laptop. All of you will have software to use to follow along in the session. Then we will break up into teams for some of the exercises.
•How to think about your app and start to experiment with your ideas
•Prototyping tools
•Prototyping single pages and user interactions
•Creating a linkable prototype that looks almost like a working app
•Exporting your prototype to the web for remote testing and design feedback
•Paper prototyping and usability testing
•Designing a great user experience with interaction design
You wont want to miss this one!

Silverlight Design Days (Boston)

2010-04-13T22:10:00.005-04:00

A Silverlight Design Day is opportunity to learn about Silverlight and Expression Blend from a design and interface developer perspective.

The first half of the day will start out with a short poll, asking these three questions:

How many of you write code?
What technologies do you use today?
Is there anything specific you want to cover?

The tools and the platform will then be introduced by accomplishing designer tasks based on the earlier poll as much as possible.
The second half of the day will be your opportunity to get your hands on Blend and Silverlight. PCs will be available already configured to run through tutorials, made especially with designer and UI tasks in mind.
SWAG and giveaways will be saved till the end of the day, for those hardy souls that can make it all the way through.

REGISTRATION

VS Day : Visual Studio launch – It’s alive……

2010-04-12T13:42:00.004-04:00

Visual Studio 2010 is packed with new and enhanced features that simplify the entire development process from design to deployment. Customize your workspace with multiple monitor support. Create rich applications for SharePoint and the Web. Target multiple versions of the .NET Framework with the same tool. Eliminate the dreaded "no repro" problem with IntelliTrace.
And much more. Learn more >>
WebsiteSpark members note: Visual Studio 2010 is already available in your MSDN account and ready for downloading.
The New family:
Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Professional: is the essential tool for individuals performing basic development tasks. It simplifies the creation, debugging, and deployment of applications on a variety of platforms including SharePoint and the Cloud. Visual Studio 2010 Professional comes with integrated support for test-driven development, as well as debugging tools that help ensure high-quality solutions. Learn More >>
Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Premium: is a complete toolset that simplifies application development for individuals or teams, allowing the delivery of scalable, high-quality applications. Whether writing code, building databases, testing, or debugging, you can increase your productivity using powerful tools that work the way you work. Learn More >>
Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate: is the comprehensive suite of application lifecycle management tools for teams to ensure quality results, from design to deployment. Whether you're creating new solutions or enhancing existing applications, Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate lets you bring your vision to life targeting an increasing number of platforms and technologies—including cloud and parallel computing. Learn More >>
Microsoft Visual Studio Test Professional 2010: is a specialized toolset for quality assurance teams that simplifies test planning and manual test execution. Test Professional works in conjunction with Visual Studio software for developers, enabling effective collaboration between developers and testers throughout the application development lifecycle. Learn More >>

Why upgrade to Visual Studio 2010?

Because life runs on code. Customize your workspace with multiple monitor support. Develop powerful applications for SharePoint and the Web. Target multiple versions of the .NET Framework with the same tool. Plus much more.

Launch 2010 Event dates

2010-04-06T13:33:00.005-04:00

Learn about the new things you can do.

Find out about the variety of rich application platforms that Visual Studio 2010 supports, including
Windows 7, the Web, SharePoint 2010, Windows Azure, and Windows Phone 7 Series. Visual Studio 2010 is packed with new and enhanced features that simplify the entire development process from design to deployment. You’ll get a full day of training from Microsoft engineers, evangelists, and partners.

Here’s a sampling of what you can expect:

See how quickly you can build rich websites with ASP.NET MVC 2 and Dynamic Data.
See how easy it is to leverage your existing code and move to the cloud with Windows Azure.
Learn how Visual Studio 2010 helps drive tighter team collaboration across the entire software development lifecycle.
See how Visual Studio 2010 tools make it easier to build powerful solutions with SharePoint 2010 and Office 2010.
Find out how to build rich client solutions with Windows 7, WPF, and Silverlight.

Our learn more >> http://www.microsoft.com/business/2010events/DevEvents.aspx

Sponsor Spotlight: AGI

2010-03-30T16:38:00.004-04:00

AGI ( American Graphics Institute) is a top sponsor of the Boston WebsiteSpark Group, an we are lucky to have them aboard, so Who are they? and What do they do?

American Graphics Institute provides training on Web, interactive and application development, including Silverlight classes and Expression classes. They also author the Digital Classroom book series.
Starting This month, March, we will be having our first of many presentations from AGI, so check them out if your returning the web design & development or need to catch up or beef up your knowledge, AGI can help you with whatever you need.

Real World SEO (Jun 24 )

2010-03-29T20:28:00.004-04:00

We are so happy to get this meeting reschedule an back into the line up.
"Designing Search Engine Friendly Websites"
by Greg Hill from Excellira
Brief: A detailed look at SEO from a designer/developer-oriented perspective.

Greg is a great speaker and it rare to hear such a good speaker on SEO that talks down to earth and is not so busy trying to hide things that you walk away from your fourth SEO meeting with nothing really new. You will learn and Greg gives you real examples and experience because he really dose SEO work, not at an old job or read it from a blog but in the real live real world…and he is very successful at it.

So be ready to learn from this meetings presenter and be ready to ask question.

Greg did a quick overview of SEO for the BizSpark group targeted for a different audience. I have the PDF from that presentation loaded an you can view it here.
http://www.greywolfdesign.com/bwg/seo-for-startups-excellira.pdf

You can also find out more about excellira on their website: http://www.excellira.com/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Signature

June 24 : SEO Book Giveaway

2010-03-28T20:40:00.002-04:00

Thanks to our great sponsors at O’Reilly, I am happy to announce the prefect book giveaway at our June, rescheduled, SEO meeting: “ SEO Warrior” by John Jerkovic.

There is an online blog that matches up with the book:
http://www.seowarrior.net/

And A very details good review of the book online:
http://blogcritics.org/books/article/book-review-seo-warrior-by-john1/

And as always Amazon's list of the book:
http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596157081

Adobe Creative Suite 5 global online launch event

2010-03-26T14:45:00.004-04:00

With the right tools, your creative horizon changes. A tree is still timber, but suddenly in a whole new way. Old ideas germinate again, and new ideas branch into unexpected opportunities.
Welcome to Adobe® Creative Suite® 5—software that will allow you to confidently reach more people, more effectively, in more places, with whatever masterpiece you can imagine.

Join us “ the rest of the design world” for the exclusive Global Online Launch Event, Monday, April 12, 2010.
Register >>

Win With WebsiteSpark Training Event

2010-03-17T03:29:00.003-04:00

REGISTER NOW ( it’s an free event ) >>
Microsoft & NaviSite Present:
Win With WebsiteSpark Training Event
Get leads, free marketing, free software and tools to build websites, and discounted hosting. WebsiteSpark™ provides you software, tools, support and training that helps enable you to provide your customers with competitively priced hosting solutions on the Windows Web platform.
Are you a Web Professional...
    * Interested in free software and support to grow your web development business?
    * Who needs help getting your customers’ websites to the top of the search rankings?
    * Looking for tips and tricks to design and develop next generation web experiences?
    * Looking to make your web development business more profitable?
    * Looking to streamline the way you design, build and deploy websites?
    * Looking to mix the best of Open Source with the best of Microsoft in your customer’s websites?
Training Sessions includes:
    * Web Development and Design Tools
    * Search Engine Optimization
    * Benefits of utilizing Hosting services
Come spend a day with us to explore the Microsoft Windows Web Platform and the many hosting services provided by NaviSite!
During this event, we’ll review what’s new in the Microsoft Web Platform and tools, the interoperability improvements in the Microsoft Web platform and the value that NaviSite can add to your project/business.
All attendees will be entered into a drawing to win one of the following:
• HP Netbook with Windows 7
• Xbox 360 Elite
• ZuneHD
• 8GB Zune
Twitter @NaviSiteHosts (Event Tag: #NAVISITEWEB)

We get some press

2010-03-17T03:24:00.001-04:00

In the March 2010 Microsoft WebsiteSpark program newsletter our group not only gets listed in the Local Events section, but we have also caused them to change the title of this section to : Local Events & WebsiteSpark Meetups.

Boston WebsiteSpark Meetup

In the Boston area? Network with other WebsiteSpark members at the monthly Boston WebsiteSpark Meetup. Visit the Meetup.com site at http://www.meetup.com/Boston-WebsiteSpark-Group/ for details on future meetings and topics.
If you’re interested in setting up a local WebsiteSpark Meetup, you can do so through meetup.com. If you have any questions or you need any help with that you can send a note to brianjo@microsoft.com.

The Next Open Web Platform

2010-03-16T22:17:00.001-04:00

This is a full day event, with presentations in the morning, and a hands-on session in the afternoon.

Goal

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is going to present some of the Core technologies that will be part of the future Web technologies.

The morning is intended for a general audience, when we'll have relatively high-level overview of the technologies. The afternoon is intended for folks who are not afraid to get their hands dirty with HTML, CSS, Javascript, or SVG.

If you don't intend to stay in the afternoon, that's fine, but it's highly recommended that you follow the morning session if you're interested to attend the hands-on session in the afternoon.

Pizza and drinks will be available at no cost.

Morning: The Next Open Web Platform
Each presentation will be around 30 minutes with 15 minutes for questions.
9:00-9:45
Introduction to Next Open Web Platform
Speaker: Philippe Le Hegaret, W3C
9:45-10:30
Introduction to HTML 5
Speaker: Mike Smith, W3C
10:30-11:15
Introduction to SVG and Canvas
Speaker: Douglas Schepers, W3C
11:15-12:00
Introduction to CSS 3
Speaker: Bert Bos, W3C

Afternoon: Hands-on session
13:00-18:00
Requirement: Bring your own computer so you can run one or more Web browsers. You may need to download and install software on it.

RSVP Here >>

Windows 7 phone info & development links

2010-03-15T14:22:00.004-04:00

Windows announces the release of all the new an exciting tools for doing windows 7 phone development is now available for downloading.
To support an end-to-end development experience, Microsoft announced the availability of comprehensive tools support for Silverlight on Windows Phone 7 Series. . The easy-to-install package is available for download today at http://developer.windowsphone.com/ and includes previews of: -
· Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone
· Windows Phone 7 Series add-in to use with Visual Studio 2010 RC1
· XNA Game Studio 4.0
· Windows Phone 7 Series Emulator for application testing
· Expression Blend for Windows Phone CTP (available as a separate download).
The most comprehensive collection of information and videos, including presentation demo’s from MIX 2010
Gizmodo Article: Windows Phone 7 Apps: Everything you needed to Know http://gizmodo.com/5493569/windows-phone-7-apps-everything-you-need-to-know

more good stuff
---------------------------------------------------------------
Windows Phone Development http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff402535(VS.92).aspx
Visual Studio 2010 Expression for Windows Phone http://www.microsoft.com/express/phone/
Channel 9 : First Look: Windows Phone 7 Series Hands on Demo http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/LauraFoy/First-Look-Windows-Phone-7-Series-Hands-on-Demo/
Channel 9: Windows Phone 7 Series Developer Training http://channel9.msdn.com/learn/courses/WP7TrainingKit/
Channel 9: GDC 2010: Windows Phone 7 and Xbox live functionality http://channel9.msdn.com/shows/InsideXbox/GDC-2010-Windows-Phone-7-and-Xbox-Live-functionality/

MIX 2010 Live Coverage..lets get started

2010-03-15T12:02:00.003-04:00

Live coverage of MIX 2010 has started with the ever amazing Yo-Yo boy warming up before the keynote
What's MIX2010:
Join us at MIX10 as we continue exploring the art and science of creating great user experiences. Designers and developers will learn about Microsoft’s broad web platform and tools that help bring together the clients, servers and cloud services needed for creating great rich web applications.
Live Links: http://live.visitmix.com/

.toolbox Silverlight & Expression training online

2010-03-14T22:00:00.004-04:00

Thanks to Jim for sending me this link, its an great way to learn real world skills and at your own pace. http://www.microsoft.com/design/toolbox/default.aspx
Welcome to .toolbox, a fun online learning environment, where you will learn basic design concepts and how to apply them, as well as the fundamentals of creating Silverlight applications using the Expression Studio tools.
.toolbox features two core learning paths: Design Scenarios and Design Principles. Both begin with teaching basic techniques and build skills and knowledge incrementally. In Design Scenarios, designers and developers learn to create dynamically-rich Silverlight applications using Expression Studio. You will learn to add code-free functionality to designs by following step-by-step tutorials that illustrate how to create interactive user experiences. In Design Principles, you will learn fundamental design concepts (e.g., choosing the right colors and the right fonts) along with tips and techniques in how to apply them to your creations.

Wire Frame / UI Tools

2010-03-11T23:41:00.001-05:00

Note: This is a re-publication of an article I wrote in June of 2009, I was asked to repost the article here by a member. There is also some updated info added.
Since New Years, I have found and employed some new tools to speed-up the design phase of our firms design-build process.
GRIDS
Grid Designer 2 :
In an effort to speed up and play with the gird layout an elements, I found a joy of a tool online. Grid Designer 2 (http://grid.mindplay.dk/) is nothing short of an amazing tool, rather tool set. You can quickly play and adjust you grid to need, toss in some typography needs, and the pack it all out in html and css that get you off an running.
Boks: This is a new find ( about a week ago) this is an Adobe Air application ( so far only the second one I found useful to me) That seems to operate much like Grid Designer 2, so so far I am not as impressed, but I have only had a few interaction with it an seems it has some potential as well. (http://toki-woki.net/p/Boks/)
NEW:
960 Grid System:
I have almost entirely switched to using the 960 grid system. It’s extremely power and easy to use an quickly create bullet proof CSS grid design pages. It also comes with pre-set up templates for Fireworks, Photoshop, InDesign…and more. Its an easy system to learn and use with speed. ( http://960.gs/ )
WIRE FRAME / UI SKETCHING
IPlotz:
This is a supper nice high-end, simple and easy to use, wire-frame online tool. A tad pricey but the free account will let you mock up five pages for small task or sites. (http://iplotz.com/)
Creately:
Still in beta but it’s got more potential than Iplotz and has alot more to it from charting to layouts and UI wire frames ( with data behind it for building working wire frame models). I am still just getting time to play with it and the more i do the more I love it. It has powerful simple to use collaboration tool that make team coordination a snap. We are seriously loving this new online tool. This is a tool that can speed-up a lotof stuff while making our team much more colabratve with more than task than we currently are. (http://creately.com/)
NEW:
Expression Blend 3 & Silverlight:
Expression Blend 3 revolutionizes the speed and efficiency with which you can take your ideas from concept to completion on the Silverlight and .NET platforms. However, it is Blend’s Sketchflow thats stunning.
SketchFlow revolutionizes how quickly and efficiently you can demonstrate your vision for an application. It provides an informal and quick way to explore, iterate and prototype user interface scenarios, allowing you to evolve your concepts from a series of rough ideas into a living and breathing prototype that can be made as real as a particular client or project demands.
I have had amazing experiences using Blend to create simple and complex wireframes, even though they are not for silverlight but for client websites. ( http://www.microsoft.com/expression/products/Blend_Overview.aspx )
Library collection:
I have be honest in unless the wireframe needs to be complex or interactive, I stick to using Fireworks and an image library of fire framing images. Starting back early last year I started putting together and creating graphic elements for wireframe use for the web and mobile design. This collection has now become a very mature tool with images gathered on layer: web, forms, Jquerry, flash, Samsung, Android, iPhone, and yes even the iPad, and having been a recent Zune HD owner I have even started building one for the later this year release of the win 7 phone interface elements.
I have is set up were i can copy off a copy from the master set, with all the collection layer i typical use for web design, a 960 grid layer, and an blank layer to start working in right away. every time i find or use a new JQuery or script element I will copy it off to the master collection.
I hope this expanded little bit is of some use. If you use a Wireframe of Grid system or tool that I did not list please share it with the group via comments.

7 Secrets to Business Success

2010-02-24T19:16:00.002-05:00

Stuart Goldman, CPA, was our first Speaker during the February 24, 2010 Meeting and gave an greatly informative presentation entitled the “ 7 Secrets of Business Success”. Again we were lucky and had Kurt Eng handy to record the presentation.
Video link: http://kurteng.com/2010/02/bwsg-feb10-7-secrets-to-succeeding/
For any members that have any questions feel free to contact Stuart Goldman, CPA at:
http://www.cpa-boston.com/
or call him at: 781-631-6445

Intro to JQuery

2010-02-24T19:08:00.002-05:00

From our February Meeting, by Chris Bowen. Kurt video tapped the presentation and Chris also shared some links from the presentation:
Video: http://kurteng.com/2010/03/bwsg-feb10-intro-to-jquery/
Links:
• jQuery Home - http://jquery.com/
• jQuery UI - http://jqueryui.com/
• Scott Guthrie on Visual Studio IntelliSense for jQuery - http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2008/11/21/jquery-intellisense-in-vs-2008.aspx
• jQuery Boston Meetup - http://meetups.jquery.com/group/jqueryboston
• Boston JavaScript Meetup - http://javascript.meetup.com/2
For those interested in the Visual Studio plugin Chris spoke about see:
http://blogs.msdn.com/webdevtools/archive/2008/11/07/hotfix-to-enable-vsdoc-js-intellisense-doc-files-is-now-available.aspx

WebsiteSpark & Silverlight

2010-01-28T13:04:00.001-05:00

During our first meeting I will intro the goals for the group and ask for feedback from all the members. We will have two guest speakers:
The first will be an introduction to the great opportunities in the Microsoft WebsiteSpark program. If you have not already heard about this program its packed full of Software and tools for small design & development business.
The second will be on Microsoft Silverlight by Bob Familiar, an Microsoft Architect Evangelist . If you have never had the pleasure of hearing Bob talk about Silverlight you're in for a treat he is a great presenter and Silverlight guru.
There will be pizza & salad and refreshments provided by our sponsors Host The Microsoft New England Research & Development Center.
Some Links From Bob:

Bob’s presentation:http://cid-e626825a6116ba83.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Silverlight%20PPTs?authkey=VsD1*dtZ95A%24

Also here the links I would share with the group:
Learning
http://www.silverlight.net/
http://expression.microsoft.com/
http://www.microsoft.com/expression
Sample Applications
http://www.kbb.com/kbb/PerfectCarFinder/PhotoEdition.aspx
http://memorabilia.hardrock.com/
http://www.bobfamiliar.com/