Some Recognitions

We were very happy to note that "DonXml" Demsak won the Visual Studio Extensibility Plugin Contest with his XPathMania plugin. This enhances the VS 2005 XML editor to highlight the nodes that would be selected by an XPath expression.  A great way to learn XPath, or debug a tricky expression in your SelectNodes() or XSLT code. 

I'd also like to recognize a very useful article that our colleague Sinan Uşşaklı wrote for MSDN. This addresses one of the most frequently asked questions in the XML world - how do you work with XML namespaces in XPath/XSLT? 

If you are seeking recognition, there are a couple of opportunities at the XML 2006 Conference. If you are a student and want to let the world know of your work with XML, consider submitting a paper for the XML Scholarship.

The winner will receive a one-time award of USD 1,000.00 and an invitation to present her or his paper at the XML 2006 conference in Boston, MA (5-7 December). The winner will also receive free conference registration, a travel stipend of USD 500.00, and two nights' hotel accommodation in Boston during the conference.

Papers must be the original, unpublished work of the authors, must have XML as their primary topic, must be written in English, and must not exceed 5,000 words in length. IDEAlliance welcomes the submission of project reports and case studies as well as pure research.

I'll bet there are a bunch of people out there who have done coding projects, thesis research, or business studies that investigated some aspect of XML.  Don't be shy ... send in a proposal! 

Finally, if you are a small company looking for some name recognition, consider the "Vendor Pechakucha Night.

This is speed dating for vendors: there's no easier, faster, or more fun way to learn about XML-related products and services.

The rules for 20x20 micropresentations are simple: you send us 20 slides in advance, and we show them for 20 seconds each while you talk. When the slides are finished, your presentation is over. As a result, each presenter gets 6 minutes 40 seconds in the spotlight before stepping aside for the the next presenter.

Any vendor, large or small, is invited to submit a 20-slide PechaKucha presentation about an XML-related product or service (1024x768; PowerPoint, PDF, or OpenDocument format): we will accept submissions on a first-come-first-served basis as long as we have space remaining, reserving the right to decline presentations that do not have an XML focus. There is no charge for participating, but the presenter must be registered to attend the XML 2006 conference.

Mike Champion