FAQ

These are the answers to some frequently asked questions. If you can not find your answer, please send email to webmaster@wearemicrosoft.com.

Charity

Will there be press at the event. Yes. There will be a photographer on Friday. Print, radio and TV may also be involved.

When is the deadline for submitting proposals? The deadline for submitting proposals is Friday, November 30, 2007.

What types of applications can I request? These are some ideas:
  • Add a new section to your website.
  • Track volunteers for an upcoming event.
  • Run a silent auction.
  • Register visitors to your website.
What do you need from me? Please provide a description of a project that you would like our developers to tackle. It does not need to be a whole website - it may be just for an upcoming event. Or, it can be for a small application. If you are selected, two of your members must attend the kick-off meeting on Friday afternoon and at least one of your members must attend the Demo on Sunday afternoon. The person who attends the demo should be your technical expert.

Will I be able to modify my application? Yes! Each charity will be provided with all of the software required to maintain, update and extend their application.

Where will my application be hosted? If you already have your own hardware or a hosting provider, you will be provided with instructions on how to deploy your new application. If not, Verio has generously offered to provide a free website to each charity, until 2010. The free website will include SQL 2005 Express.

How many charities can you help? We plan on helping at least 15 charities.

How will the charities be selected? It looks like we will have a lot more than 15 charities that register for this event. You must complete your proposal to be considered. Also, the more detailed your proposal the more likely you will be selected.

What should my proposal include? Your proposal will be used as the blueprint for your application. The more specific your proposal the happier you will be with your application. This is just some of the information that you should include:

  • What is the objective of the system? Describe the problem this system will solve.
  • Are you requesting a new application or an update to an existing application?
  • If it is not a new application what software was used to create your existing solution?
  • Will you be hosting your application?
  • What information will you need to track? List the primary data tables and add a brief description of what data each will hold.
  • Do any users have special needs?
  • Describe the ongoing needs for importing data into the system, and exporting it from the system.
  • List any reports.
  • Describe any complex processing/posting/import/export routines? Can some of these processes be run unattended?
  • Describe performance requirements, issues, and concerns.
  • Describe security requirements.
You can google 'Conceptual Design Samples' for some examples. Please feel free to email any additional information about your existing application or your organization to webmaster@wearemicrosoft.com.

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Volunteer

Who is Toi Wright? She is a volunteer - just like you.

Will there be wireless internet available? Yes

What time should I arrive? Please try to arrive by 2:30 p.m. so that you can register before 3:00 p.m. Also, the early worm gets the closer parking space.

What about parking? There is plenty of parking around the building. However, because we are expecting over 100 people the nice visitor spots right in front of the building will probably be full. However, there is plenty of parking on the top of the parking garage.

How late can we stay? You can stay all night. However, showers are not available.

Can we form our own teams? Yes. If you would like to form your own team of 3-5 people, that would be very helpful. Please keep in mind that each team will have at least 1 Developer, 1 DBA and 1 Designer.

  • The Developer will be responsible for programming the front-end and the business logic layer.
  • The DBA will be responsible for the tables, stored procedures and the data access layer.
  • The Designer will be responsible for creating the master page and the cascading style sheet.
When you register, please enter your team's name in the Team Name field.

Can I pick the project I work on? Once the projects have been selected, they will be listed on the website and you will be able to rank your preference.

Can I use third-party components? We will be providing each charity with all of the software they need to maintain, update and extend their applications. There will be a limited number of licenses available for Telerik, ComponentArt and Infragistics.

What about Content Management? We have partnered with the following companies to provide their solutions:

You can see an example of Graffiti running on one of the free Verio sites by visiting graffiti.beverita.com. All we did was unzip the package and FTP it up to the website. No configuration changes were necessary to get it running

Also, Telerik has volunteered to skin a website for one of the charities. If you are the first team to request a SiteFinity skin for your charity, I will send them your information.

Will there be whiteboards available for our use? No.

What will the work environment be like? Each team will be assigned cubicle space. Also, you can use the large meeting room, several smaller meeting rooms and the large breakroom to meet with your teams.

When do you have to finish by? Please have your application deployed to your Verio site by 3:00 p.m. on Sunday. If your application is not a website, please provide a means to demonstrate your application. 

This is a competition - who can vote on the winner? Everyone that attends the demonstrations can vote.

What is the judging criteria? There are 2 criteria:
  1. Meets the business requirement
  2. Wows the audience
Will there be other awards? Yes. We will also have "fun" awards such as "Best Use of Animation" and "Geekiest Solution".

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Partner

If I make a donation to this event, will I be recognized on the website? Yes. If you make a donation, you will receive recognition on the Partners page.

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