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With Startup Weekend Edmonton coming up in just a few days time, as an organizing committee, we’ve been discussing why different types of people might participate. Many people who participate in Startup Weekends around the globe are developers, but really, since a Startup Weekend is about learning, there is not only room for participants building a concept, but people testing, writing, designing, planning, discussing and brainstorming — many roles which could be filled by someone who doesn’t necessarily bring software development skills to the table.

Traditionally, I don’t bring a lot of deep technical value to the table; in fact, I would need much more than 54 short hours to write any code, regardless of the complexity (and we’re definitely not counting HTML here). My reasons are much like anyone else, but I thought I would list a few here to help people who might not think they

Every Weekend needs to start with an idea.

Come to Startup Weekend ready to share and collaborate on a new ideas. Or an old one. Next weekend will bring 75+ people together to turn a nebulous idea into something somewhat workable — maybe that idea could be yours.

Speaking of HTML, learn a technical skillset.

There are lots of gaps in terms of skills for any team pulled together at Startup Weekend. Learning is a critical component to the weekend, and don’t just talk startup, do startup. There’s really nothing to lose by taking on something outside your comfort zone.

Think, design, write, test.

At the last Startup Weekend Edmonton, I was part of a team building a social gaming experience centered on environmental factors. While several people were focused on creating the framework, the Sunday night demo wouldn’t have been very compelling without a brand, user interface, content or strategy.

Startup Weekend is not the place to write your business plan, but you can definitely use the opportunity to think about your business model, how the product is going to be used in market and how people will interact with it. These questions form the basis of any good decisions around user experience — regardless if you’re at Startup Weekend or not.

Testing is a critical component which goes hand-in-hand with planning and content development, and avoids disappointment on Sunday night (and we all know that developers don’t test their own code very well anyways).

Start building your network.

It doesn’t matter if your weekend creates a successful launch, Startup Weekend here in Edmonton is a critical component to our Startup Edmonton annual cycle. Use the opportunity to meet other people in the community, including entrepreneurs, technologists, thought leaders and mentors.

Have fun.

When I describe the Startup Weekend experience to new attendees, I liken it to a weekend at summer camp as a child. You get to meet new people, try new things and maybe work a little outside your comfort zone. Unfortunately, there aren’t any campfires or acoustic guitars, but you can still have fun and make some new friends.

Be a part of something bigger than yourself.

With Startup Weekends happening all around the world (and our second one happening here in town), you have the opportunity to be a part of a global movement. And, who knows, maybe a new opportunity will be waiting for you come Monday. That is, if you make it through the 54 hours.

In order to answer several questions that I get about SharePoint 2010, I thought I would consolidate some information about SharePoint licensing. SharePoint is licensed through a series of different editions, all which can be purchased via all volume licensing agreements. SharePoint 2010 requires 64-bit infrastructure.

SharePoint for Internal Use

SharePoint Foundation 2010

SharePoint Foundation is the equivalent to 2007’s Windows SharePoint Services 3.0. This free download provides the core of the collaborative and document storage capabilities of the SharePoint products and technologies.

Licensing requirement: Windows Server, SQL Server OR SQL Express

Office Professional Plus 2010

In order to access the web-based functionality of Office Web Apps, your organization must license Office Professional Plus 2010 or higher. For the most part, all other Office integration components are available within Office Standard 2010. Office Professional Plus also includes InfoPath 2010, for the customization of Forms Server content, Access 2010, which is required tocreate Access Services-based content, and SharePoint Workspace 2010.

Licensing requirement: Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010

SharePoint Designer 2010

SharePoint Designer 2010 is required for management and administration of page layouts, complex workflows and master pages. It is a free download, from Microsoft.

Licensing requirement: None

SharePoint Server 2010 Standard Edition

SharePoint Server 2010 is licensed in a server plus client access license model.

Licensing requirement: SharePoint Server 2010, Standard CAL, Windows Server, SQL Server

SharePoint Server 2010 Enterprise Edition

SharePoint Server 2010 is licensed in a server plus client access license model. For the enterprise feature set, it is an additive CAL, meaning both the Standard and Enterprise client access licenses are required.

Licensing requirement: SharePoint Server 2010, Standard CAL + Enterprise CAL, Windows Server, SQL Server

FAST Search Server for SharePoint

Licensing requirement: Licensing requirement: SharePoint Server 2010, FAST Search Server for SharePoint 2010, Standard CAL + Enterprise CAL, Windows Server, SQL Server

Future Licensing: Office 365

In early 2011, Microsoft will be launching the next generation of its cloud-based computing suite, Office 365. This upgrade from the original Business Productivity Online Suite, and will be available in Standard and Deskless Worker editions.

It has been announced that the Standard Edition will be compiled of Exchange, SharePoint Foundation, Lync, Office Web Apps and Forms Server, while the Kiosk Worker will include Exchange, SharePoint Foundation, Office Web Apps and Forms Server.

Licensing requirement: Office 365 Standard CAL OR Office 365 Kiosk Worker CAL

SharePoint for External Use

SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Sites, Standard

For the development of an extranet, portal or public-facing website, SharePoint 2010 can be licensed on a per-server basis. This license does not require additional Client Access Licenses.

The Internet Sites license includes licensing for content editors and owners for publishing to the external audience. In the case of a blended model, with the same server hosting content for internal use only (i.e. an intranet), the SharePoint Server 2010 and internal Client Access Licenses are required for all named users. Both server licenses can be assigned to the same instance.

The Standard FIS license covers the same features as the SharePoint Server 2010 Standard CAL features.

Licensing requirement: SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Sites (Standard), Windows Server, SQL Server

SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Sites, Enterprise

The Enterprise FIS license covers the same features as the SharePoint Server 2010 Enterprise CAL features. In addition, the Enterprise FIS license provides rights to FAST Search Server for use in Internet or Extranet scenarios; however, the FAST Search Server requires a separate instance. For example, if two licenses of SharePoint Server FIS Enterprise are purchased, one may be assigned a SharePoint instance, and the second may be assigned as a FAST Search Server instance.

Licensing requirement: SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Sites (Enterprise), Windows Server, SQL Server

Related Server Suites

Project Server 2010

The Microsoft enterprise project management offering has comes leaps and bounds, and is now 100% SharePoint oriented, requiring an investment in the Enterprise CAL, as well as the Project 2010 infrastructure.

Licensing requirement: Project Server 2010, SharePoint Server 2010, Standard CAL + Enterprise CAL, Windows Server, SQL Server, Project Professional 2010 (Recommended)

Typically, as an evangelist for this technology over the past few years, the major reason for investment in the Enterprise CAL was based in two features: InfoPath/Forms Server and Excel Services. With the advent of the 2010 set, there are several features that I think make the uptake much more valuable for any business or organization.

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For the most part, organizations that invested in SharePoint, or had SharePoint CALs as a part of their Enterprise Agreement, were taking advantage of the Standard features of the product. Powerful, yet inexpensive, as far as enterprise content management systems go.

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Since my most popular blog post of all time happened to be the one on licensing for SharePoint 2007, I thought it may be valid to put together some information for people trying to understand how to position SharePoint 2010 in their enterprise (read: figure out which edition to purchase).

This is going to be several articles, focusing on Foundation, Standard, Enterprise, Internet Sites and Online.

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Yesterday, Gizmodo broke the story regarding Microsoft cancelling the Courier project. With the HP Slate being cancelled, even after unveiled at CES, there is very little upcoming for Microsoft in terms of tablet-based computing. There is little doubt, with the purchase of Palm, that HP has some sort of vision for mobility that may or may not include Redmond.

Like in Joel Johnson’s article at Gizmodo, I too am most disappointed about the fact that the thinking behind the device isn’t going to make it to production. EAVB_IBGIEFKRHF

I thought I would take the time to write a few posts about my newest phone, the HTC Touch Pro2. After the first day of usage, I’m coming around to really enjoying the phone –and I’m going to tell you why. This is review is going to touch on a number of different facets of the experience, including the hardware, the TouchFlo interface and, of course, Windows Mobile 6.1. I was looking for fairly specific functionality in my new mobile device, and this will be reflected in my review.

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Microsoft SharePoint vs. Enterprise 2.0 Start-ups
(via @gannotti) An interesting article on the challenge of selecting SharePoint as a platform versus some of the more nimble (yet unstable) e2.0 options. Based on my experience, the SharePoint Decision (by Robert Ludlum, available at your local bookseller) can be a difficult one because some of the ‘cutting edge’ features that are so trendy now will not make it into the final release. However, as the old adage goes, no one is ever fired for hiring IBM choosing Microsoft; they are stable, and as the article states, will be “here for forever and a day.”

Most appropriate, I think, is the question in regards to whether or not SharePoint is “good enough”. In my experience, many organizations are (a) already licenced for SharePoint, and (b) when implemented, are not using the feature set to its fullest potential. Food for thought, I suppose.

Microsoft SharePoint Social Computing
New MSFT website outling SharePoint’s potential in the realm of social computing, focusing on customer wins and case studies. Bonus: it’s running on SharePoint 2007 for Internet.

Alright, this isn’t a normal blog post (and its a fairly old link), but I thought this was a great example of using Excel’s charting capabilities for good, not evil. Well, maybe not necessarily good, but good design in an IW product set.

There have been a lot of times when I’ve had a client say, after a presentation, “How did you do that in [insert Office product here]?” In this case, I actually had to ask, “How did you do that?”

Recreating the NY Times Cancer Graph

The video (in Quicktime) is not short (and may not be exciting for people who don’t like making pretty graphs in Excel), but it is worth the watch.

Note: I realize this is my first post in 20 months. I will try harder, I promise.

An interesting artcile put forth by Tom Austin at Gartner on the prevelence of Windows SharePoint Services in the years to come:

 http://blog.gartner.com/blog/index.php?itemid=1637