Morning everyone, After seeing this story unfold on twitter, we figured we had to put together a quick blog post to tell you about Miguel's latest trip to Detroit. Miguel was traveling to give presentations about a custom software solution we created for one of our clients. When he showed up at the office where he was supposed to present, he found out that there was a gas leak in the building. That might have stopped some people in their tracks, but Miguel is much more resourceful than that! He headed into the sports bar next door and convinced the staff there to let him use their projection system to give his presentation! A couple of pics he snapped with his phone are below... We raise our hands to high five Miguel for his dedication and for thinking on his feet for our client! He'd do the same for you!

Every year the University of Manitoba Marketing Association (UMMA) hosts a conference that brings together marketing students and professionals in the industry to network, build connections and share ideas. This year’s conference was held at the Asper School of Business this past Friday (February 5th) and the topic was “The Future of Marketing.” Our Creative Director, Justen Vogt, participated by conducting a speaker session and round table discussion on marketing and branding. We knew Justen's fun personality and passion about creating engaging customer experiences would be a hit with the students- and we weren't wrong! Check out a quick clip from Justen's presentation below. Additionally, Anvil Digital's Executive Director Cindy Bolduc gave a very interesting keynote address at the Gala Dinner that evening.

We really enjoyed meeting the marketing students at this event. We hope that our presentations helped them to think about where they want their careers to end up.

A couple of weeks ago, ANVIL Digital was featured in the Winnipeg Free Press. The article talked a lot about our parent company (and biggest client) Price, the North American leader for HVAC products (plus it featured a very nice picture of Miguel Carrasco, our head of software, Cindy Bolduc our ANVIL Principal and Joe Cyr, the President of Price). ANVIL Digital is in the business of growing businesses- and we helped Price grow from a $60 million company to a $300 million company! The Price/ANVIL Digital relationship is very unique, but it also allows ANVIL Digital to remain solid in an uncertain marketplace, as the article explains.

Price has always been an innovative, forward-thinking company. It is no suprise that when faced with a recession, Price did not slam on the breaks but instead stepped on the gas pedal, investing in new products and businesses (like ANVIL) in order to diversify and find new ways to continue growing. At ANVIL, we have adopted the same way of thinking- that the more you put in, the more benefit comes out, which is why our customers will always see us investing in new technology, new techniques, and applying new ways of thinking to the business solutions we provide them with.

Check out the article here!

“Where entertainment, technology and business converge”

Every year, Las Vegas becomes the hotbed of consumer electronics with over 2,500 exhibitors showcasing more than 20,000 new technology products and services to over 120,000 attendees. The products unveiled at CES will change the face of global technology and give us a glimpse into the future.

We are always on the lookout for new trends and innovations in marketing and technology to help propel our clients' business growth. While there were thousands of innovations ranging from gaming to entertainment to smart phones, this article will focus on the top 5 business related innovations at CES 2010. These are the innovations that we thought were worth watching, and may actually help you differentiate your business amongst a sea of competitors.
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Slates

There is a lot of buzz about ‘slates’ lately. Some are saying this is just a fancy new word for tablet, but with all the rumors swirling about Apple’s new ‘iSlate’, other companies are scrambling to release their concepts first to try and capture the captive audience attention. These are basically stripped down laptops with touch screen capabilities… think iPhone that’s 2’ wide. There are a lot of business applications for this type of device, here are a couple that come to mind:

· Replacing paper at meetings – it would be great to take something like this into a meeting and everyone brings up a document from an intranet, instead of throwing out piles of paper every year. I could see us using these for this at our office

· Paperwork on a shop floor – if you are a manufacturing company, these may be interesting devices to consider for transporting and communicating product drawings or order information. Of course, you would probably want a super industrial version so that it doesn’t shatter the first time someone drops it.

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eBooks

Similar to the slates mentioned above, the advancements being made with eBooks are very exciting. Case in point, the example above. This device is a combination eBook (with an E-Ink screen on one side) and an LCD on the other side. Microsoft also mentioned them in their Keynote and demonstrated an HP prototype that will be on sale shortly.

· Catalogs – Our biggest client has a 3,000 page catalog that we print for them every 3 years. You can imagine how big and heavy that catalog is to carry! Not to mention as soon as you print it, it is out of date. These devices could hold your entire product catalog and allow your top customers to stay current with your product information, make notes, and even click on links embedded into your catalog to bring up videos related to the products on the left hand side! These are pretty new, so I would watch how this market develops over the next year…but keep them in mind! These will be the new books of the future.

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Pocket size Projectors

I don’t need to say too much about this, other than we would all LOVE a tiny projector that we can take with us for impromptu business meetings. I haven’t personally tested one this small, but we plan on getting a couple and trying them out to see how good they are. They even have ones you can dock your iPhone in and just project the image from your iPhone to the wall…It won’t be long before you don’t even need your laptop when you travel!

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Cellular Service Innovations – magicJack

Advancements in this area excite us more than anything! Being a frequent traveler, my smartphone roaming costs are ‘not ideal’. Our company spends a LOT of money every year on cellular voice and data plans, and anything that could help us cut back would be very valuable. This little device plugs into your laptop, your cell phone recognizes it and uses it to make phone calls via the internet rather than the cellular network. This has been available for a while, but a new and improved device was unveiled at CES this year.

Here is a more detailed article on the magicJack if you are interested in learning more.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100108/ap_on_hi_te/us_tec_gadget_show_magicjack

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Other Notables

Even though these aren’t necessarily targeted at businesses, it’s worth mentioning them for the sheer ‘cool factor’.

Panasonic 152” TV – that’s right 152 INCHES!

This is basically all about bragging rights, but Panasonic had a 152” TV on display. Enough said….

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Microsoft Natal

This is something I’m not letting myself get ‘too’ excited about until I actually see how it works. The Natal system ‘could’ revolutionize game play and utilize gestures for motion control. Instead of trying to explain it, check out the video below. It has a lot of potential, and it sounds like Microsoft has invested a ton of money into R&D for this. This has been hyped for some time, but they are planning on having the technology ready for the XBox by this Christmas.

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Underwater and Ski goggles / camera

I need a pair of these. From Liquid Image - Underwater scuba / snorkel goggles with built in HD Video camera. The headsets are around $300 each. Coming out around May. Neat stuff!

The focus of the keynote presentation will be a case study highlighting how Anvil Digital helped to develop and implement Marketing and Technology solutions to grow a key client's business by over $200 million. The presentation will also showcase examples of work that was done to execute this strategy, including demonstrations of social media elements, world class selection and pricing software and new media solutions.

Check out this link for more information on the UMMA conference and how you can take part in this exciting event!

Anvil Digital Speakers Headline Microsoft
Tech Days 2009

At Anvil Digital we have always been firm believers in supporting the technology community by helping drive user groups like the .net User Group, planning special events like the Silverlight vs. Flash Smackdown and helping sponsor and present at local code camps. We are committed to ensuring our entire team is up to speed on the newest, cutting edge technologies
and there's no better way to learn, than to teach!

Last year’s Microsoft Tech Days were a smashing success, so when we heard Microsoft would be coming around for Tech Days 2009, we were thrilled.  We were even more thrilled to be invited to speak at the event!  This year we had a  total of 6 speakers from Anvil Digital helping lead sessions ranging from Test Driven Development Techniques, to Expression Blend for Developers.

Tech Days are amazing, not only because you get to learn all about cutting edge technologies from industry experts, but also because you get a chance to see what everyone else is working on.  It also allows companies that might not have the budget to send all their developers to PDC or TechEd, a chance to send them to an equally engaging and educational local conference.

Some of the sessions Anvil Digital was responsible for included:

• Building Restfull Services with WCF
• Optimizing Your Apps for the Windows 7 User Experience
• Expression Blend for Developers / What’s New in Silverlight 3
• Interoperable Web Platform: IIS7, Web Platform Installer and Web App Gallery
• Test Driven Development Techniques
• SOLIDify Your Microsoft ASP.NET MVC Applications

Highlights from Microsoft Tech Days 2009

Anvil got the show on the road by presenting Developer Fundamentals and Best Practices.  There was a packed house on hand for the show as we presented Test Driven Development strategies, and how they can be so incredibly effective at reducing pre-release bugs by almost 90% in some cases.  Test Driven development was a perfect topic to tackle since Anvil Digital has really focused on TDD and Agile over the last few years and has really seen some huge benefits.

Next door we had another team talking to attendees about the benefits of using Expression Blend and the Sketchflow product that comes as a part of Blend.  During the presentation, we were able to build a working Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) application using Blend all the way from initial concept, to completion.

If you couldn't attend Techdays, or are interested in seeing our presentations, don't hesitate to contact us for more details!

Make sure you check out the Tech Days 2009 facebook page, read some of the twitter chatter around Tech Days 2009.  A huge thanks to Microsoft for bringing together hundreds of developers and IT Pro’s under one roof for an awesome two day event!

You can find out more about Microsoft Tech Days 2009 at TechDays.ca