Mix07 is coming closer. I’ll be leaving on the 28th in the early morning to arrive around 4.30 PM in Vegas after a small stop in Chicago. It’s going to be an awesome adventure with lots of great sessions, keynotes and panel discussions. From Europe, around 150 influentials will be sent over to the event, and I kind of have to help out to welcome all those people and create digital memories (movies, pictures) around the entire experience.

In the light of that event, I’ve been busy all day today creating a mobile site with some handy content for during the event. More info about that can only be revealed at the event itself, but I’ve put the microsite online here, so you can have a look. It’s nothing awesome, just tried to create a nice design around it.

MIX is Microsoft’s conference for Web designers, developers and decision-makers who make their living at the forefront of the consumer Web. Join the conversation with Microsoft and others on how to harness the latest technologies, unlock new revenue opportunities, reduce development costs and improve customer experience. MIX is for cutting-edge Web professionals designing and building next-generation experiences.

Mix is THE networking event… it’s like ‘information gallore’. Plus, I finally get to meet Tom Raftery, and if he doesn’t punch me in the face in the first 5 seconds, I’ll buy him a beer.

Things I want to attend, if possible (the list is very extended):

• “Family.Show”: I See Dead People, with Windows Presentation Foundation
  Speaker(s): Scott Stanfield - Vertigo
  Audience(s): Designer, Developer
  For a hobby that revolves around dead people, genealogy is remarkably popular: it’s the fastest-growing scene in North America. And a perfect study for Vertigo’s next Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) reference application for Microsoft. Our designers employed every trick in the WPF book (styles, resources, templates, data binding, animation, transforms) to present an innovative visualization of the classic family tree, freeing our developers to concentrate on behind-the-scenes features like XPS, printing, PInvoke wrapper for Windows Vista common dialogs, and Click-Once for WPF. See all of this with hands-on demos and our top-10 list of stuff to know about WPF and Microsoft Expression Blend. And, unlike the real-world case studies, you get the source code.
• “ZAP!, WHAM!, KAPOW!”: Windows Presentation Foundation and the Next Generation of Online Comic Book Reading
  Speaker(s): Nathan Dunlap - IdentityMine, Robby Ingebretsen - IdentityMine
  Audience(s): Business Decision Maker, Designer
  Come see us demonstrate the development of the comic reading experience using the Microsoft Expression suite of design tools. Just as the NY Times Reader project dramatically improves the newspaper reading experience, our Windows Presentation Foundation-based approach to comic reading does the same thing for traditional print-based comic books.
• Build a Media Player
  Audience(s): Designer, Developer
  Build a WMV file and media player with Microsoft Expression Media Encoder, and edit with Expression Blend. Within this exercise, you’ll create chapters, a chapter view with thumbnails, and an overlay.
• Create Your Own Windows Presentation Foundation RSS Reader
  Audience(s): Developer
  In this Mini-Lab, you will build your own RSS reader using WPF. You will be introduced to the concepts of data binding and data templating. In addition, you will style your RSS reader using Expression Blend.
• Fumbling towards AGENCY 2.0
  Speaker(s): Clement Mok
  Audience(s): Business Decision Maker, Designer, Developer
  Marketing organizations are broken. Three out of four marketing departments have reorganized in the past two years. Almost 80% of marketers don’t influence a critical customer interaction, and 85% don’t even own the “four Ps” of marketing anymore (product, placement, promotion and price). In this session, learn about approaches that make it easier for marketing organizations to succeed in today’s complex environment.
• IE7 Past, Present, and Future
  Speaker(s): Chris Wilson - Microsoft
  Audience(s): Business Decision Maker, Designer, Developer
  Hear from Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 7 team about the journey from mea culpa to broad market acceptance. Hear what went right, what had to be cut, and how development priorities are set. Also, understand what Microsoft’s browser investments mean to you, and make sure you get a voice in shaping the next version of Internet Explorer. Hear about what features and layout issues are being worked on, and let us know what causes you the most problems.
• Microsoft Expression Web Overview
  Audience(s): Designer
  In this lab, experience first-hand what Standards-based Web design is all about. Play with Microsoft Expression Web in different scenarios, gaining quick insight into this tool.
• Thinking in CSS: How to Build Great Looking Sites
  Speaker(s): Molly Holzschlag - Digital One Corporation
  Audience(s): Designer
  Delve into CSS with Molly Holzschlag, and look at the power CSS offers to Web developers and designers. Hear Molly’s secrets about how to build stunning sites quickly and easily.

I’ll probably have to cut in the sessions and workshops, but at this time, these really seem to be the best ones for me, apart from the keynotes.

Obviously I’ll also be going to the Mix Party at the Pure Nightclub, the mythical club that hosted hundreds of famous parties already… Yeah, it’s going to be a great Mix. Find me there from April 28th til May 3rd!