ServerBeach Blog

I had the opportunity to attend the Dallas WordCamp 2008 this past weekend. Aside from the drive from San Antonio to Dallas, the weekend was great. Cold, but great. WordCamps brings the largest gathering of WordPress bloggers, podcasters, designers, programmers and aficionados to teach, learn, eat, drink and generally have fun with one another.

In the opening segment on Saturday March 29th, Matt Mullenweg, founder of Automattic and founding developer of WordPress spoke about WordPress 2.5 and the changes that were made from previous versions. The poor man just had his wisdom teeth removed and was in a little pain that day, but he was a trooper! While he spoke, he displayed the changes in WordPress 2.5 on the big screens. A couple of changes included a new Dashboard (many people learned of WordCamp 2008 through the Dashboard widget), new Gallery Features - upload feature: set thumbnail sizes, proportions of pictures, extracts all photo information from your digital camera (date, time, pixels, camera type), comments in 2.5 - editing has been completely re-designed, cookies are now encrypted and a couple more added security features.

The Mayor also popped in for a few minutes to thank everyone for coming, that was a pleasant visit.

Lunch was catered in from Rudy’s BBQ, thanks to Find My Host who funded it. It was the perfect opportunity to mingle with other bloggers, podcasters, and the like.

The majority of the event, we sat and listened to bloggers and podcasters speak about tips and tricks, how to drive traffic, security, and best practices. These people have done their homework. I was really taken in by some of the tips they were giving, things that had never crossed my mind. Did you know that Google Analytics only tracks people who have Javascript turned on? If someone has Javascript turned off (I generally do), they’re not being tracked - skewed numbers, not good.

After Saturday’s event, many people got together afterwards for a night out and had a great time. Sunday was a jam packed day full of a lot of Q&A and the weekend in general was a very good learning experience for all bloggers and podcasters. John P. moderated the panel and asked very real questions that companies face when looking at building a blog presence. Why should businesses have a blog? What if my employees post something bad? What if my customers post something bad? These are questions that companies have to take into account when making a decision to have a blog - just as ServerBeach did. One of the panel members, Liz Strauss, was dead on when she said, “a blog can turn the faceless company into real humans you can relate to.”

All in all, it was a great event. The city of Frisco, TX allowed WordCamp to use their city council chambers. Many thanks to those who made this possible and I look forward to attending many more in the future.

You can see some of the photos taken at WordCamp 2008.

According to A List Apart, “sign-up forms must die“. Now, when I read that my first thought was - I agree. I find myself often going to a website just to browse around or read an article but find that I cannot do so without filling out a sign-up form. What does that prompt me to do? It makes me move on to the next website and browse elsewhere.

To quote the author of this website -

I’ll just come out and say this: sign-up forms must die. In the introduction to this book I described the process of stumbling upon or being recommended to a web service. You arrive eager to dive in and start engaging and what’s the first thing that greets you? A form.

We can do better. In fact, I believe we can get people engaged with digital services in a way that tells them how such services work and why they should care enough to use them. I also believe we can do this without explicitly making them fill out a sign-up form as a first step.

I certainly agree with the above quote. I agree that showing a potential customer or visitor what services you have to offer, if nothing more than a sample, will entice them more to stick around if interested and be more than willing to fill out a brief form to sign up.

The article, “Sign Up Forms Must Die” is a very interesting read. The view is mainly from a user standpoint and does not really discuss the views or impacts from a business perspective. One comment (#10) in the discussion forum from the article makes a very good point from a company perspective -

I notice that you are giving opinions from the user perspective only and thought I could give a company perspective on this. A web application I created a couple of years ago (www.ausrackid.com) went through this thought process. Ausrack ID allows IT pros to configure 19” racking systems in a visual way, save print out the results, and get quotes from the company I work for. I chose having no sign up until the user decides they want to save, at which point you are asked for username and email address, if they want a quote for items they get asked for more details. This is quite a way through the process. I was advised to put in a signup process at the front end to allow us to collect information on the users which we could potential use for emailing info. I resisted this at the time, and still do today. However, for the first year, the site was getting significant traffic, and significant usage, but very few people were saving their design, or asking for a quote. As the site needs to fund itself, it was very difficult to justify it’s existence at this stage, and the whole project was almost pulled. I think the moral of the story is that your user details have a value, and giving those to a website you use may be the only way they can stay afloat. Think of YouTube, they can justify their existence by the data provided by the number of users. That is why Google bought them. At the smaller scale my advice would be if they ask for it, and you want to use the service, give them your details, it might just help them survive in a competitive world.

Great point. So how do you create the ultimate user experience, get the data you need to remain competitive, and create a win-win for all?

Read the full article here and share your thoughts.

ServerBeach is now home from the SXSW events. We attended the Interactive Festival on Sunday and remained there until yesterday. We had such a great time and had the opportunity to meet many of our customers and learn more about their business, while they had the opportunity to get to know some of our employees.

Monday night, March 10th ServerBeach co-sponsored the South by Northwest (SXNW) Geek Fest Party at the Iron Cactus in downtown Austin and wow was it an awesome night! There were so many people lined up outside waiting to get in we opened the doors early so we could get the party started and enjoy the rest of the night (well…night through early morning!).

We’ll definitely be looking forward to doing this again next year! You can view pictures of the events here.

ServerBeach, Blue Flavor, and Raincity Studios are proud to present the 3rd annual South by Northwest (SXNW) Geek Fest Party at the Iron Cactus in downtown Austin, TX. This is one of the hottest events during SXSW. There will be plenty of free drinks and cool people to meet. Over 1,700 people showed up last year with line ups out the door. Come early and meet the Beach crew. We’ll also have a booth at SXSW Interactive and will be giving out plenty of Beach swag.

About Iron Cactus: a Southwestern style grille and Margarita Bar. They pride themselves on presenting authentic Southwestern cuisine, gleaning recipes and ingredients from Southern Mexico to Utah. Plus, Iron Cactus features more than 80 Tequilas and is considered in the top 10 best Tequila bar in the world.

Venue: Iron Cactus, 606 Trinity Street at 6th Ave, Austin, Texas 73301

For more details about this event, including maps, comments, and other attendees, visit the event page by clicking here. We hope to see you there!

Earlier on this month I posted about a promotion here at ServerBeach with a few details. Today, I’d like to share the press release that went out today that includes full details of our “Sandbox Servers” -

Developers explore and test a suite of Microsoft design and management tools within a secure, dedicated environment

VANCOUVER, BC – February 26, 2008 – PEER 1 Network Enterprises, Inc. (TSX-V: PIX), a leading provider of online IT infrastructure, has partnered with Microsoft to offer 50 free developer sandbox servers for a 30-day trial. Web developers now have a chance to work with full control on a collection of Microsoft website development applications in a dedicated server environment.

“We are pleased to offer this great program that meets the needs of developers who want to explore new applications and ensure that they work well before exposing them in a production environment,” said Robert Miggins, vice president of business development for PEER 1. “With the sandbox servers we give developers the platform and tools they require to build applications, test, and deploy, all with a seamless experience.”

The 30-day free period is a unique opportunity for web developers and agencies to explore both the internal and external aspects of testing and developing a website and other online applications using some of the latest Microsoft software that has been pre-loaded into the sandbox server and is connected into PEER 1’s extensive online network infrastructure.

“This program is a good opportunity for developers in any field,” said John Zanni, director of hosting for the Microsoft Communications Sector. “Working together in a more collaborative and supportive environment enables developers to build better applications and compatible offerings, which can better meet customer needs and increase both business and customer revenue.”

The developer sandbox supports IIS 6, .ASP.NET 2.0 and PHP 5 and provides the following design and management tools:

* Microsoft® Expression® Studio: Expression Studio includes Expression Blend, Expression Web, and Expression Design - The professional design tools and innovative technologies in Expression Studio give you the flexibility and freedom to bring your vision to reality.

* Microsoft Visual Studio Express Editions: Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition and Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition – This is the ideal tool for productively building object-oriented applications for Windows on the .NET Framework.

* Microsoft Silverlight – A cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in for delivering the next generation of media experiences and rich interactive applications (RIAs) for the Web.

* Microsoft SQL Server Standard 2005 – This tool contains features that will help your team develop data applications in a fraction of the time, helping to drive data to the corners of your business.

Microsoft and PEER 1 invite developers to apply to participate in the sandbox. Once approved developers gain free root access to a server set up in PEER 1’s San Antonio data center for 30 days with no contract and no obligation.

***As a bonus, developers who decide to order a server from PEER 1 at the end of the free sandbox server period will receive a Microsoft tool package, including Microsoft Expression Web ($299 value), Microsoft Expression Studio and Microsoft ASP.NET training ($1099 value), at no additional cost.***

Visit http://www.peer1.com/hosting/sandbox.php for more information.

About PEER 1
PEER 1, a leading online IT infrastructure provider, believes in the limitless opportunity of the Internet and the business growth and continuity it provides for its more than 9,000 customers. PEER 1 delivers highly scalable managed hosting and co-location solutions to ensure customers’ online presence is always fast, always available. Since 1999, PEER 1 has grown to include data centers and network points of presence in 17 major cities across North America and Europe. Serving a variety of companies, PEER 1 offers solutions that grow through every stage of web commerce, regardless of company size. The company’s headquarters are in Vancouver, Canada and the stock is traded on the TSX Venture exchange under the symbol PIX.

For more information visit: http://www.peer1.com.

We are proud to offer the MGuard Smart hardware firewall, the smallest security device available delivering amazing security and performance. *

With the growing problem of malicious activity on the Internet, security is a huge concern. To counter this growing issue, ServerBeach has released the mGuard Smart single server hardware firewalls on Category 3 and Category 5 servers.*
To order a mGuard Smart firewall, please contact an account manager or a sales representative at 1-800-741-9939.

* Available as a limited release starting February 25, 2008.
Available only in our San Antonio, TX data center at this time.

Peer 1 hosted its first “PEER 1 Social” at the Elevate Lounge in Los Angeles, California last Thursday evening. Having a diverse geographic footprint across North America gives us an opportunity to meet clients face to face. Something that isn’t very common in the hosting industry today.

Our goal is to have these Peer 1 Social events on a quarterly basis allowing us a chance to mingle with clients and merely say “thank you for your business.” It is a “no frills,” casual environment with good drinks,
food and most importantly, real people. This quarter is Los Angeles, next quarter we might be stopping by near you! Keep an eye on your e-mails!

You read correctly! Get a Free PEER 1 Sandbox Server!

PEER 1 and Microsoft are offering 50 sandbox servers (valued at $1,000 each) free for 30 days, packed full with the very latest MS development software for you to work with. This is a limited time offer and available to qualified applicants only. To become eligible for this rare opportunity, please fill out the online application. If you are selected, a PEER 1 representative will contact you directly with details on accessing your server.

SANDBOX SERVER SPECS:

* 2 x Intel Xeon 5320 Quad-core CPU
* 2 GB RAM
* 1 x 250GB HD

Each sandbox server includes:

PLATFORM

* IIS 6
* .ASP.NET 2.0
* .NET 2.0

* PHP 5.0
* Silverlight
* SQL Server Standard

EXPRESSION TOOLS

* Expression Blend
* Expression Web
* Expression Design

VISUAL STUDIO EXPRESS EDITIONS

* Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition
* Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition
* Visual C# 2005 Express Edition

As a bonus, we are also giving away the following to each Sandbox user that establishes a new Microsoft dedicated hosting account with PEER 1 at the end of their sandbox server trial period:

* Microsoft Expression Web (valued at $299) - a professional design tool to create modern, standards-based sites that deliver superior quality on the Web.

* FREE Microsoft Training (valued at $1099) - A free one year online subscription for Microsoft® Expression Studio & Microsoft® ASP.NET training delivered by Total Training™.

Included in Your Subscription:

o Total Training™ for Microsoft® Expression Studio - 27 hours: Watch and learn as we show you how to take your creative possibilities to a new level using the professional design tools and innovative technologies in the Expression Studio.
o Total Training™ for Microsoft ASP.NET - 23 hours: These training videos will get you up to speed quickly, exploring all of the key features of AJAX and Building Web Applications, and then guide you to mastery level with advanced topics and techniques.

Check out the full details here!