by Don Burnett
I have arrived today in Chicago for the Phizzpop.com Design Challenge. I am staying at the luxurious Hotel Sax next to the House of Blues. It's spacious and very comfortable. So why travel all the way from Michigan to Chicago? Well quite an exciting event is happening this week. Microsoft is holding the Chicago Edition of the Phizzpop Design Challenge. What's so exciting about this event? Microsoft is getting the best of the best designers together for a competition. This event is exciting because hopefully people will walk away from it with a whole new outlook in solving design challenges and issues in a limited amount of time. A lot of spectators at the competition are expected to be attending the event as well. It's not often you get the kind of talent in the room that Microsoft is bringing to the table for this event. The event will be held this coming Wednesday at Chicago's swanky The Underground nightclub. The winners of Wednesday's regional event will go on to national competition at the South by Southwest Interactive Conference in Austin, TX.
If you haven't heard about South by Southwest, it's held this year March 7-11th. The interactive conference celebrates the creativity and passion behind the coolest new media technologies. In addition to panel sessions that cover everything from web design to bootstrapping to social networks, attendees make new business connections at the three-day Trade Show & Exhibition. The newest element of the event is ScreenBurn, which adds specific gaming industry programming as well as a two-day Arcade to the mix.
The event has grown over time, it also includes the SXSW MUSIC AND MEDIA CONFERENCE , which showcases hundreds of musical acts from around the globe on over fifty stages in downtown Austin. By day, conference registrants do business in the SXSW Trade Show and partake of a full agenda of informative, provocative panel discussions featuring hundreds of speakers of international stature. The SXSW FILM CONFERENCE AND FESTIVAL emphasizes all aspects of the art and business of independent filmmaking. The Festival has gained international acclaim for the quality of its programming with a special focus on emerging talents who benefit from having their films in the company of the cinematic greats whose work is regularly presented.
Meet the Challengers
I hope this week to add a new feature to this blog and bring video blogging to document the competition first hand and interview some of the folks competing in the Design Challenge, plus a take an "insider" look at the competition. This wouldn't be possible without the full cooperation of Microsoft (and in particular Chris Bernard) for allowing me in to take an in-depth look at what's going on. Thanks so much to Microsoft for allowing me such an "all-access" pass to the event. Hopefully I can bring you this same kind of look. So keep a close eye to this blog and Phizzpop.com. This week as news happens, I will be posting it to Phizzpop, along with interviews and a action-to-action play-by-play of the event..
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