Get a great deal on a Xbo 360 Bundle with Kinnect:

This year’s six finalists were selected from 19 nominees submitted by their alumni peers and from nonprofit organizations where Microsoft alumni are founders, officers, and active volunteers.

Award winners will be recognized by Bill and Melinda Gates at the Microsoft Alumni Foundation Celebration on November 16, 2011 in Seattle at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The award winners each will receive a $25,000 unrestricted grant for their nonprofit organization, as well as support from their fellow alumni to help continue in their efforts to build resources and scale solutions for their initiatives.

The six finalists:

1)      Nancy Andrews – SCOPE, Co-Founder and Project Manager. SCOPE encourages religious leaders to embrace medical solutions to AIDs cure and prevention in Ethiopia. (http://scopehealth.org/ )

2)      Oliver Hurst-Hiller – DonorsChoose.org, Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President. DonorsChoose uses technology to match public school needs with individual donors on a large scale supporting public schools in the United States. (http://donorschoose.org)

3)      Tom Ikeda – Densho, Founder and Executive Director. Densho creates media-rich on-line archives that preserve historical artifacts and educate students around the world on Japanese internment around WWII. (http://densho.org)

4)      Mahnaz Javid – Mona Foundation, Founder and President. Mona Foundation provides social and economic development through local projects and managed support in countries around the world. (http://monafoundation.org)

5)      David Risher – Worldreader, Co-Founder. Worldreader provides digital e-readers with localized content which greatly increases the availability of books and encourages reading in developing countries around the world. (http://worldreader.org)

6)      Kevin Ross – Washington FIRST Robotics, Co-Founder and Founding Chairman.  Washington First Robotics organizes and motivates volunteers to increase high school participation in robotics competitions and increases student careers in math and science in high schools in Washington State. (http://firstwa.org)

The Microsoft Alumni Foundation brings together Microsoft alumni to positively affect the world’s challenges.  “Our Alumni are innovators in the philanthropic community, creating solutions to help solve problems they care about deeply,” said Jeff Raikes, chairman of the board of the Microsoft Alumni Foundation.    “Our Integral Fellows Program finalists were nominated by their peers for their innovations and their impact on people’s daily lives.  Today, I am honored to announce these six finalists and join Bill and Melinda along with 500 fellow Microsoft alumni on November 16^th to announce the final winners and celebrate all the nominees.”

This year’s panel of distinguished judges will review achievements that reflect the values of the Microsoft Alumni Foundation, which are: innovation; entrepreneurship; effectiveness; collaboration and integrity.  Additional criteria in selecting the winners include: the ability to create something extraordinary out of limited resources; selflessness; passion; smarts; need; and, scalability. The panel of judges includes:

• Phyllis Campbell, Chairman, Pacific Northwest Operations, JPMorgan Chase & Co.
• William Drayton, Founder and CEO, Ashoka
• Sanjay Gupta, Chief Medical Correspondent, CNN
• Beth Kanter,  Author, NonProfit Social Media Innovator, Co-founder and partner, Zoetica
• Eric Liu, Author, Educator and Civic Entrepreneur, Guiding Lights Network
• Pierre Omidyar, Founder and Chairman, eBay Inc.
• Tom Tierney, Co-founder and Chairman, The Bridgespan Group

For more information on the nominees and finalists, visit: http://www.microsoftalumni.org/Programs/integral_fellows/2011_nominees.aspx.

About the Foundation:  The Microsoft Alumni Foundation was established to catalyze the collective power of the Microsoft Alumni Family and leverage our resources to make a difference for others. Launched in 2007, the Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public nonprofit organization with its worldwide headquarters based in Bellevue, Washington, USA. Board members include: Jeff Raikes; Chuck Hirsch; Akhtar Badshah; Paul Shoemaker; Tony Audino; Sharon Maghie; Carla Lewis;  and, Brad Smith.  The Executive Director is Microsoft Alumna Marylou Brannan.

On behalf of each Microsoft Alumnus who participates on September 16th in a Day of Caring project alongside Microsoft employee volunteers, Microsoft will donate $100 to the Microsoft Alumni Foundation (MSAF) to be contributed to Alumni supported non-profit organizations doing work in King County–up to a maximum of $50,000 going out to these local nonprofit organization.

Join thousands of your friends, neighbors and colleagues on Friday, September 16 during this all-county day of volunteering. Your group might add a fresh coat of paint to a daycare center or clear a path on a hiking trail. Last year, 10,500 volunteers came together and collectively changed our community for the better at 424 project sites across King County.

Day of Caring is your chance to make a lasting impact in our community. Be a part of this fun day of community service by volunteering to improve local schools, nonprofits and parks in King County.  And then see your work go even further when Microsoft matches your efforts with $100 cash.  Register today! Even more volunteer activities will come online soon–especially for east King County–so check back often to see what you can do.

After completing the Day of Caring activity, alumni will receive an email asking them to vote for their topfive choices from a list of MSAF supported nonprofits. The top five overall vote-getters will each get an equal share of the Microsoft matching funds.

Alumni-supported agencies eligible to receive the Microsoft donation include:

• Anti-Defamation League – PNW Chapter
• Boys & Girls Clubs of King County
• Climate Solutions
• Community & Parents for Public Schools of Seattle
• Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project
• FIRST/WA
• Foster Care Justice Alliance
• Friends of Youth
• GenerationBIG
• Groundwire
• Lake Washington College Foundation (LWCD)
• League of Education Voters Foundation
• Microsoft Alumni Foundation
• National MS Society
• Pongo Publishing
• Seattle Children’s Hospital
• Seattle Girls’ School
• Starlight Children’s Foundation – Washington
• Technology Access Foundation
• The Center of Wooden Boats
• The First Tee of Greater Seattle
• United Way of King County
• Voices Education Project
• Washington Women in Need

The event’s purpose for the evening is to allow guest to learn about and experience the new methods of learning essential science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) basics with the latest technology curriculum and methodology which Technically Learning is bringing to our public schools.

The event will be held on June 17^th in the new Microsoft Store, located inside Bellevue Square Mall, from 8:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to RSVP to Executive Director, Myles Kahn, via e-mail to participate in the event as space is limited. All guests will enjoy complimentary hors de oeuvres and refreshments while experiencing the store’s state of the art theatre room for the presentation.

Technically Learning believes that every child, regardless of their gender, race or socio-economic background, should have the opportunity to pursue a career in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. By improving the quality of math and science education through technology development and engaging projects, Technically Learning aims to open the door to STEM fields for all students. For more information visit www.technicallylearning.org

That field was narrowed down to the top 22 teams, which will compete against one another during the next four days, demonstrating how they would use their technology solutions to solve the world’s toughest problems.

Now in its ninth year, the Imagine Cup is Microsoft’s signature program to inspire students to combine their imaginations with Microsoft technology to make the world a better place. The winners of the software-design competition will represent the nation at the Imagine Cup 2011 Worldwide Finals in New York this summer.

What: Imagine Cup 2011 U.S. Finals Showcase and Awards Ceremony

Where: The Commons at Microsoft Studios West Campus, 15255 NE 40th St., Redmond, Wash.

When: Monday, April 11, 2011

9–11 a.m.: Finalist presentations — software design and game design

11 a.m.–2 p.m.: Showcase of student projects

2–4 p.m.: Keynotes and awards ceremony

Who: In addition to 22 elite student teams from universities across the country, keynote speakers and key attendees include the following:

Jane McGonigal, world-renowned game designer and author of “Reality is Broken”

Bill Buxton, principal researcher, Microsoft Research

Mark Hindsbo, vice president, Developer and Platform Evangelism for Microsoft

1M/1M will be working with Microsoft in helping entrepreneurs prepare for these grants. I will be traveling in India in April, and doing live roundtables in three cities: Chennai (April 9), Mumbai (April 16), and Pune (April 17). Girish Joshi, from Microsoft, will be attending the roundtables, and scouting companies for the grants with me. I will be reporting back on the companies we see on this column from the road.

At today’s session, first up, Ramkumar RS from Chennai, India, presented Mango DVM, an innovative solution to turn vendors of illegal, grey market music to legal distributors using a combination of mobile apps and media server technology. Ramkumar has made certain pricing model and delivery model assumptions that are yet to be validated. We brainstormed about the risks of those assumptions. However, only the market can tell to what extent those assumptions will hold true.

Next Jigar Doshi, also from Chennai, India, pitched 3gSimplified, in effect, a comparative shopping solution for mobile plans, which are apparently quite complex in the Indian market. As for business model, Jigar wants to sell services like refilling cards.

3gSimplified is a very early concept that has just launched, and the market feedback will be rolling in over the next few months. Our discussion today was around prioritization of the next few critical steps around customer acquisition and validation.

Then Balaganesh S., from Chennai, India, as well, discussed Report Bee, a data visualization solution for schools around report cards and student performance. Report Bee has two paying customers, and we discussed segmentation issues around where to focus for the early market penetration strategy. Clearly, affluent schools that can afford to buy technology, and also parents who have access to computers would be the best early adopters.

Janardhan Swahar from Salem, India, presented Swayam Foods, a health food company that is focused on the Indian palette across snacks, quick-to-prepare items, etc. The company has distribution through about 50 retailers in Chennai, and is looking for ways to market their product through online channels. We discussed guerilla p.r., product reviews through blogs, as well as SEO, blogs, and social media marketing.

Last up, Rahul Mishra from Bangalore, India, pitched Promedik, a “decision support system” for physicians. I wasn’t convinced about the assumptions of the business – there are too many gaps and flawed assumptions around the source and the cost of the data upon which the product is built. I advised Rahul to study Epocrates as a model. I believe, trying to offer a reference manual may be better than trying to offer a decision support system, which is a much more complex value proposition that requires expert systems to implement.

Before I end, let me also point you to an interview we’re running on my blog with Naval Ravikant, founder of AngelList, which you may find enlightening.

Also, some of you have asked me questions about the 1M/1M Premium Curriculum, which I have addressed on the blog.

Next week, the 1M/1M roundtable will focus on entrepreneurs in East Asia, Australia and New Zealand. You can register for the next roundtable here.

You can also listen to the recording of today’s roundtable here and select the business you like best through a poll on the 1M/1M Facebook page. Recordings of previous roundtables are all available here.

Sramana Mitra is the founder of the One Million by One Million (1M/1M) initiative, an educational, business development and incubation program that aims to help one million entrepreneurs globally to reach $1 million in revenue and beyond. She is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and strategy consultant, she writes the blog Sramana Mitra On Strategy, and is author of the Entrepreneur Journeys book series and Vision India 2020. From 2008 to 2010, Mitra was a columnist for Forbes. As an entrepreneur CEO, she ran three companies: DAIS, Intarka, and Uuma. She has a master’s degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

MVP Nation is a new community event in the small and medium business (SMB) channel that will connect three important communities in one place at one time.

These communities are:

1. Microsoft MVPs- The best of the best, these guys are so good that they do not even work for Microsoft but MS has recognized them for being the absolute experts on their variety of products.

2. Community members, channel partners, consultants, and members of the public will be in attendance to learn from the  infamous MVPs.

3. Community sponsors that want your input on new technologies. Focus group anyone?

Why attend you ask? Well, here a just a few reasons:

Reason#1

This isn’t just any old tech conference

MVP Nation brings together a unique network of community members. You have the elite experts, the consultants, and community vendors that are asking YOUR input on what you would like to see next.

Reason#2

Innovative Speakers

The speakers at MVP nation are the best in their class. They will be covering subjects from best practices for the upcoming years all the way to creating you own private cloud and avoiding the bumpy ride!

Reason#3

Grade A beefy content

Relevant, in depth, high quality content that might just blow your socks off! You will leave this conference with immediate applicable how to knowledge. check out the Agenda here: http://www.smbnationevents.com/Agenda.aspx

Reason#4

Keynotes that frame the future

They are dynamic and enlightening. We refer to them as the elite experts, as they are the best in their game.

Reason#5

Hear from the experts on stage and off stage

There will be 100+ MVPs roaming the halls like any other attendee, making them readily available to press hands with.

Reason#6

NETWORKING

You will have the unprecedented chance to network with the experts, consultancy owners, and the vendors! As well as the usual exhibit hall networking experience, you will have the option of attending evening networking parties with free delicious food and beverage and live music.

Who should attend?

Mid & high level IT professionals

IT consultancy owners

Microsoft partner consultants

Small business specialists

To learn more about attending this star studded event, MVP Nation (Seattle, WA, March 3rd & 4th, 2011) visit www.mvpnation.org or call 1-888-SMB-NAT1. Register by Feb. 28th and you can save $100 off your ticket price taking it down to $299!

About SMB Nation

SMB Nation is a publishing and events company, targeted at the small and medium business (SMB) channel partner/reseller/consulting/VAR community. SMB Nation spreads the knowledge of SMB technology trends through its conferences, books, SMB PC magazine, online services, and world-wide seminars, workshops and accredited Pocket MBA certificate (an academic partnership with Aspen University). As an active participant in the technology community, SMB Nation has a long history of enthusiastic advocacy and evangelism. The SMB Nation tribe exceeds 45,000 followers worldwide.

The company was founded in 1999 as Matthew Brelsford Associates and became SMB Nation in early 2003, to promote the books and consulting services of Harry Brelsford, the author of a successful series of books written for the global SMB IT consulting and reseller community. Initially the community conversations focused on Microsoft small Business Sever (SBS) but has expanded into SMB infrastructure alternatives, Voice-over-IP (VoIP), cloud computing and business technology consulting best practices Harry Brelsford is a popular conference speaker on SMB technology consulting topics and sits on several advisory boards in the SMB technology industry. He also serves as the Dean of the School of Technology at Aspen University. .

Today, SMB Nation conferences, seminars and workshops bring forward-thinking IT consultants, technologies and vendor sponsors together, sparking new opportunities in the SMB space. Being THE information source for SMB technologists worldwide, SMB Nation delivers complete business solutions to help consultants and resellers better manage their business, technological and marketing needs. Whether it’s delivered in print, online, or in person, everything SMB Nation produces reflects our unshakeable positive belief in the power of information to spur a profitable global community. Visit www.smbnation.com

Ana Mari Cauce is Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington and a nationally-recognized educator in the field of child development and psychology. Dr. Cauce holds a PhD from Yale University and also served on numerous committees or boards of the National Institutes of Mental Health, Rockefeller Foundation, Children’s Defense Fund, MacArthur Foundation, Carnegie Corporation, Casey Family Foundation, and many others.

Mike Slade is co-founder of Second Avenue Partners, a Seattle-based provider of management, strategy, and capital for early stage companies. Mr. Slade began his career as a marketing executive at Microsoft.  Subsequently, he and Paul Allen created Starwave, a trailblazing multimedia venture where he launched ESPN.com, ABCNews.com and others before selling the company to Disney in 1998.  He has also consulted for Apple Computer (6 years), the NBA, Starbucks, Real Networks, Disney, and the NFL.  Mr. Slade’s leadership in the arts and culture community also spans to other non-profit boards including Broadway Bound Children’s Theater, the Seattle Theatre Group and Pandrillus.

Thinking about buying or selling a home? Call Joe “The Connector” Kennedy – your friend in the real estate business.  425-213-4176

Blair Westlake is the Corporate Vice President of the Media and Entertainment Group at Microsoft and works directly with the entertainment industry, including global broadcasters, film and television studios, cable/satellite programmers and the music industry. Prior to Microsoft, Mr. Westlake consulted for various media companies, including Comcast and NBC Universal, was corporate executive vice president of Gemstar-TV Guide International, Inc., and was Chairman of the Television Group at Universal Studios, Inc. He sits on several boards including The Paley Center for Media in New York, the International Academy of Arts & Sciences, ContentGuard, and is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

The new directors will join EMP’s 12-member board that governs the organization by establishing and monitoring the museum’s objectives, strategic planning, and policies.

About Experience Music Project
Experience Music Project (EMP) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the exploration of creativity and innovation in music, science fiction and popular culture. EMP combines interpretative, interactive exhibitions with state-of-the-art technologies, and educational programming to offer visitors of all ages a first-hand, multi-dimensional experience of the creative and artistic process.

EMP is housed in a 140,000 square foot Frank O. Gehry-designed building. This spectacular, prominently visible structure has the presence of a monumental sculpture set amid the backdrop of the Seattle Center.

GENERAL INFORMATION

FEATURED EXHIBITION

Battlestar Galactica:  The Exhibition – Now through March 4, 2012

UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS

Nirvana:  Taking Punk to the Masses – April 16, 2011 through April 22, 2013

Avatar:  The Exhibition – June 4, 2011 through September 3, 2012

For detailed information about current and upcoming exhibitions and events, visit empsfm.org.

MUSEUM HOURS
Winter:   September 6, 2010 through May 29, 2011, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Summer:  May 30, 2011 through September 5, 2011, 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.

TICKETS
$15 for adults; $12 for children (ages 5-17), students, military and seniors; free for members and children under 5.

CONTACT INFO
325 5^th Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109
206-770-2700, main line
206-770-2702, box office
1-877-EMP-SFM1, toll-free
www.empsfm.org

SOCIAL MEDIA

facebook.com/EMPSFM

twitter.com/EMPSFM

youtube.com/empsfm

flickr.com/photos/empsfm/

After convincing hundreds of youth and parents to spend up to 12 hours camping out for tickets to a Miley Cyrus “concert”, the event turned out to be 4 more hours of waiting and then 4 songs and less than 28 minutes of music.  Not exactly the “concert” that was promised.

Many, many children and parents were upset leaving the venue, with one youth saying “I’m going to sue Microsoft” while leaving the parking lot of the old Safeway store where the “event was held”.

It was a MAJOR PR nightmare – guaranteed to have caused many people to look at software and gaming systems other than Microsoft this holiday season.  I know I will be making my next computer system a Linux system.  Even my daughter Jacqueline Kennedy who turns 7 tomorrow said “what a great birthday present – I cannot believe they would do that.”

At the grand opening of the Microsoft Store on Thursday, I was kind of proud when Microsoft’s bosses called Bellevue Microsoft’s “home town” – after tonight, I am fully embarrassed.  I fully agree with Jacqueline – I cannot believe they would do that ….

The stores will extend Microsoft’s ongoing commitment to the local Seattle community through in-store activities and support of local organizations. In fact, we are kicking it off this week, announcing the chance to help two local organizations receive up to $1,000,000 in software grants.

• To celebrate the Microsoft Store opening at Bellevue Square, we will donate up to $1,000,000 in software grant donations to the two local organizations listed below. People can vote to determine how the funds are distributed to the organizations:

• Help First Robotics inspire students to find their passion in the world of science and technology through organizing team based robotics competitions and connecting K-12 students with mentors in the engineering profession.
• Help Study Zone (KCLSF) – an after school program offered at local Seattle-area libraries — upgrade their computer study room, where K-12 students can receive free computer training and access to online tutors in math, science, English and social studies.

• Visit the Microsoft Store Facebook Page – all you have to do is cast a vote to add $20 to the total amount donated to your favorite group. Share this opportunity with your friends and earn an additional $20 for that organization.
• Join us to celebrate as we announce the results of the voting at the Microsoft Store opening on November 18^th at Bellevue Square.