HTG19 - revisited

Remember "Rick Bahl selected to Facilitate HTG19?" Well, today was the day. And a GOOD day it was. It began with about 30 HTG members gathered in the Presidential Suite of the Omni Mandalay hotel in Dallas. These folks gathered early, before the meetings began for a devotional time led by Jeff Wood. Jeff spoke to a committed group of business leaders about the importance of being an Ambassador for the Lord. The message was rooted in 2 Corinthians 5:20-21. It was very appropriate for a group that was about to spend the day interacting with nearly 200 business leaders.

I met with six of those leaders, founding members of HTG 19. Collectively, we will invest in one another for quite possibly years to come. As the facilitator of the group, I was privileged to introduce them to the "HTG Way."

Arlin Sorensen stopped by to present the "Big Picture" and to elaborate on the Mission, Vision and Values of Heartland Tech Groups. After that we jumped right in! The guys were well prepared and we set about addressing the topics on the agenda and setting the foundation for many meetings to come.

Mike Murphy from the Microsoft Local Partner Engagement team hosted a Lunch & Learn. I think that it is safe to say that his presentation was well received and relevant to all.

A long day was capped off with a pleasant dinner at a restaurant walking distance from the hotel. All in all, I think these guys "get it." I'm looking forward to watching as they work together to grow their businesses and improve the balance in their lives.

Today was a GOOD day.

Windows 7 download extended

The following is a partial repost form Eric Ligman, the Global Partner Experience Lead, Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group. You can view the entire article here.

I have not loaded Windows 7 myself but I have spoken to several who have. THEY say it ROCKS. Two of them go as far as to say, "Skip the Beta, release it..." Now, back to Eric.

At 10:30 am today (Friday), I posted on my Blog that Tomorrow
is the last day to get the Windows 7 Beta!. After all, I wanted to make sure that all of you remembered the date and what was announced earlier so you didn’t miss it. Sure enough, tonight at 8:35 PM, the Windows 7 Team posted on their Blog, “General availability for the Windows 7 Beta to end,” which includes an update stating that, “Because enthusiasm continues to be so high for the Windows 7 Beta and we don’t want anyone to miss out we will keep the Beta downloads open through February 10th.”

They just had to show me up, didn’t they? :-) Well, it is all goodness since this means that you all have additional time to access and download the Windows 7Beta! Now, for those of you who haven’t done so already, this really does not mean you should just continue to put it off until “tomorrow.” For as I stated in my earlier post, you know what will happen… Tomorrow will turn into the next day, which will turn into the next day, until you ultimately end up missing the download deadline and then emailing me asking for a “one-time exception” which we won’t be able to grant. So let’s save both of us the hardship and get out there and download the Beta today! :-)

By the way, here is the new timeline announced by the Windows Team tonight:

Starting January 27th, the Windows 7 page will be updated with a warning that time is running out on downloading the Windows 7 Beta and that we will be limiting downloads shortly. People will be encouraged to register and start the download of the Windows 7 Beta sooner rather than later.

February 10th, new downloads of the Windows 7 Beta will no longer be available. People who have already started their Windows 7 Beta download and have not yet finished will still be able to finish their download and are encouraged to do so.

February 12th, people will no longer be able to complete their download of the Windows 7 Beta. Anyone who hasn’t finished downloading the Windows 7 Beta will be unable to do so.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,
Eric Ligman
Global Partner Experience Lead Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group This posting is
provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights