Skype events

Cross-posted from the Skype for Business blog.

We’re holding small focus group discussions with potential partners and businesses. If you’re intrigued as to how Skype could benefit your business, or interested in helping us refine our offerings for business customers, please get in touch through our marketing research partner Hawkeye.

Groups are this Thursday evening in London. There is limited seating, so please email Janese Evans with your contact information and, a few sentences about the size and focus of your business.

We’ll get back to you as soon as we can with a few questions and the details. If you qualify for a open position and participate in the discussions, you’ll be paid an honorarium to compensate you for your time.

Gordon and Rita Galletly make a Skype video call to their friend Mitchell Block.

Today is Britain’s Silver Surfers’ Day, and to celebrate the occasion, I thought I’d bring you a heartwarming story from a few months ago. Our friends at Age Concern managed to set up a conversation between two UK-based senior citizens and one of their friends in the US at one of their regular IT events at their centre in Islington in north London.

It was the first time Gordon and Rita Galletly hadn’t seen their old friend Mitchell Block for 20 years, so the Skype video call was a special occasion, but the Galletlys seemed to be bitten by the Skype bug after the experience.

There are loads of events happening today to celebrate – take a look at the Digital Unite blog for more details – but to all of you older readers, now’s the time to introduce a friend to Skype

Gordon and Rita Galletly make a Skype video call to their friend Mitchell Block.

We’re always trying to come up with ways we can improve how Skype can help your business. To help us do this we are inviting our business users to talk to us about how they use Skype.

We are planning a research group in London on the 18th February 2009. As a thank you for taking part in the research, we will compensate you for your time.

We’ve hired a research agency called Saros Research Ltd to help us organise this research. If you are interested in participating in the project, please fill in our short questionnaire.

Replies to your email will be directly received and processed by Saros who will confirm your participation and the location of the research group.

Just a quick one – a little birdie tells me that our friends at 3 are showing off the new 3 Skypephone S2 in a marquee in Leicester Square in central London today. They've also got various freebies to hand out, so if you're passing by, drop in and say hello

Did you know that we only smile 35% as much as we think we do? And that the longest recorded laughing fit was in a village in Tanzania in 1962 and lasted two years? Two years?!

Well, 1962 was ages ago. At Skype, we've decided it's high time we had another laughter epidemic -- but this time it should be around the world. So, we're creating the world's first and longest giggling fit, and we want you to join it

Just plug in your webcam, watch the start of the chain below, and film yourself watching it. Send us your video and your laugh could be added to the chain.

Find out more about the Laughter Chain (plus find out how many calories a good laugh burns up) at the Skype Laughter Chain website.

A little message from [Ants over at the Devzone blog](http://share.skype.com/sites/devzone/2007/04/skype_geek_event_in_london.html):

> As summer is coming and we enjoy meeting colleagues and friends after work , we would like to raise to your attention that Skype is inviting you!

On **Thursday 10th May, from 5pm till 8pm**, Skype will be offering you free food, drink and entertainment at our London offices ([map](http://www.viamichelin.fr/viamichelin/int/dyn/controller/Cartes-plans?mapId=-tkdf6tig05qcye&dx=359&dy=222&empriseW=678&empriseH=400)). Whether you're a developer, beta tester or just a keen Skype user, it'd be great to see you. You'll get an opportunity to meet plenty of the Skype team, and to chat about the good, bad and ugly of Skypeland.

If you'd like to come along, just [pop us an email](mailto:sdp_newsletter_editor@skype.net), telling us:

* Your name
* Your company or other affiliation
* Your location
* Are you an existing Skype developer?

I look forward to seeing you there

So I'm in Las Vegas, where I'm neither hob-nobbing with Elvis over a frozen margarita nor racking up my chips on the poker table. Instead, I'm crouched excitedly over a hot laptop in the bowels of an expo centre approximately the size of the Isle of Man. Hey, Elvis can wait.

I'm here for CES, the technology industry's annual product-launching shindig. In its 40-year history the Consumer Electronics Show has grown from a minor geekathon into an enormous platform for the likes of Bill Gates to proclaim his passion for all things electronic and cyber.

Internet telephony is up there with IPTV and HD in this year's CES buzz – which will be music to the ears of Skype founders Janus and Niklas, who've now made a splash in broadband TV as well as leading the world in online communication.

Over the next couple of days I'll bring you a round-up of Skype news from CES, including the latest Skype-certified gadgets and Skype software announcements. Watch this space, Skypers...

Skype recently turned three, in the same week that I turned somewhat older, and I got completely trounced in the battle of the birthday cards. But I'm not bitter. Not. At All.

Hundreds of you responded to the Skype birthday card competition by sending all manner of creative e-cards, pictures, videos and even a podcast.

Creator of the celebratory masterwork you see above is called Susan Falkenthal. Virginia girl Susan is currently living in South Korea, making her the perfect poster-child for a global communications company.

Continue reading "Skype's birthday winner" »

Today is Skype's third birthday, so I thought I'd look up its horoscope. Here's what Horoscope.co.uk has to say about our Virgo software friend:

"A delightful surprise may come from a friend who has some keen ideas on what to do next."

A friend like, saaay, eBay? Interesting...

"An important career concern could require considerable effort on your part today in order to enable you to advance whatever it is you're trying to accomplish, dear Virgo," says Yahoo Horoscopes, in what may be the longest and most meaningless sentence I've read all month. "Today you're capable of accomplishing wonders."

Accomplishing wonders... you mean like letting me throw away my phone bill? Sounds about right. Bottoms up, Skype.

Stand by your headsets, cash-savvy chatter-fans - a Skype Gift Day is coming to a computer near you next Tuesday, 18 July.

Now, don't get carried away. Skype Gift Days do not involve pitching up at a secret location and saying "I'll take the diamante webcam and the cuddly toy, please." They're much better than that, because you don't have to leave the house to get your freebie. Just log into your Skype account and claim 10 minutes of free SkypeOut calling. The offer starts at 7am on the 18th and runs for 24 hours.

Continue reading "Fancy a SkypeOut freebie?" »