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Here is this week's hyperLINK, your window on the local, national and international IT sector, brought to you by Canterbury Software Inc and editor Carol Webb. It includes news on the next CSI Tech BBQ and other CSI events, as part of promoting success through connections for IT products, services and people. See the full version at http://canterburysoftware.org.nz/current.htm Sign-up options at http://canterburysoftware.org.nz/news.htm + Please forward this newsletter. You can freely re-use the feature stories, provided you acknowledge the credited feature story writer and hyperLINK as source. ############### FRIDAY TECH BBQ JUNE 27: Marilyn's room at LA's Bar and Cafe,31 Dundas St,from 5.30pm. Food and drinks available at the bar. JULY 4: At the Canterbury Innovation Incubator (Cii) from 6pm approx to 7.30pm, following the Elevator Cafe. Come upstairs at Cii, 200 Armagh St, and BYO drinks and nibbles. ELEVATOR CAFE Come along next week to the CSI's July Elevator Cafe - you may learn a thing or two about presenting a product or service, you may find a business partner, and you'll certainly find out about the broad range of opportunities Canterbury's software companies are involved with. You'll get the chance to quiz people about their company, their services and products. And they'll be looking for feedback on their presentations too. It's happening at 5pm at the Canterbury Innovation Incubator (200 Armagh St). It's free to all, and will be followed by the Tech BBQ afterwards (6pm-ish,BYO). For further information (and to see who got snapped by the CSI paparazzi at recent events) go to the Tech BBQ page at http ://canterburysoftware.org.nz/bbq.htm + Canterbury Software Inc is keen to promote the Friday Tech BBQ as a meeting point for the Christchurch tech community. If it's been a while since you last checked out the BBQ scene, now could be the time. If you know of anyone who might be interested in coming along, especially those new to the sector or new to Christchurch, forward this to them. The BBQ is an informal social and networking event that takes place every Friday, 5.30pm to around 7.30pm. It gives members of the tech community a chance to meet other similar people in a relaxed environment, talk shop, network and get to know each other better. ############### hyperLINK contents: Issue 8, June 26 2003 + Christchurch company delivers data how and where you want it + Product and services pricing - how to get it right + Tech Newsbytes from all around + Incredibly useful website of the week + Online with CSI + Hot topics at the forum + Contact us, subscribe/unsubscribe etc NEXT WEEK IN HYPERLINK: A tale of three companies. ############### *FEATURE* DATA HOW AND WHERE YOU WANT IT By CAROL WEBB Dubai motorists checking out news and feature advertisements on screens provided at service stations may be surprised to learn that the content is being pumped across the world from a little-known company in Christchurch, New Zealand. [more here http://canterburysoftware.org.nz/current.htm#feature1 ] ------------------------------ *FEATURE* GREAT PRODUCT, SUPER SERVICE � BUT IS IT PRICED RIGHT? Setting the right price is extremely difficult for any product or service, says KEITH COWAN of Christchurch software company Jade and chair of Canterbury Software Inc. �The price you set maybe a significant detractor to product acceptance. If it is set too high, the market will resist purchase. If it is set too low, the market may either take too much causing a supply problem or profitability squeeze, or the market may think the product has no credibility and not adopt it,� says Cowan. A paper based on a talk Cowan gave at a recent meeting of the NZ Software Association in Auckland is now available on the members' only section of the CSI website. It looks in detail at the many aspects of pricing that companies need to consider before making the decisions that could play a large part in the success or failure of product and services marketing. Cowan draws on real-life examples from sectors he has been involved in, including software and food marketing, to help illustrate the perils of getting pricing wrong. Take the pricing trip with Keith Cowan now at http://canterburysoftware.org.nz/members/KEITH_COWAN-Pricing.d oc ------------------------------ *NEWSBYTES* HEAD START: What do just about all the Christchurch hi-tech companies making headlines for fast growth, awards won and capital assistance received, have in common? They're graduates of the CDC BIZ Hi-Tech Launch Platform programme, where the lessons they learn about doing business in the global marketplace ensure they get a flying start. Companies will be selected soon for the seventh round of the 14-week programme for businesses from the start-Up stage through to 6-7 years of age, and from $0 turnover up to $3-4 million turnover. So if you have a young or emerging hi-tech (software, IT, electronics, bio sciences, precision engineering, etc) contact CDC Business Support Manager John Hamilton now. [EMAIL PROTECTED] phone 353-6858. TOUGH TIMES: A new survey by the Australian Computer Society (ACS) paints a sober portrait of the information and communications technology (ICT) sector for contractors, reporting many independent IT workers are being forced to cut their hourly rates to match tougher competition in an increasingly harsher industry. - ComputerWorld Australia CYBER RECORD: Almost one million copies of the fifth Harry Potter novel are winging their way around the world from Amazon. com warehouses as over-hyped Harry notched up a record number of online orders in advance of its release last Saturday to become the biggest distribution of any single item in e-commerce history. Also from the over-hyped department, Amazon.com is selling the battery powered Segway Human Transporter for US$4950. Read about the science of the Segway, and place your order, at http://www.amazon.com NGI RUMBLINGS: Some state funding may be found to establish a New Zealand Next-Generation Internet, but the government wants �private� initiatives to shoulder most of the responsibility. A stretch of cable between Wellington and Palmerston North, belonging to Tranz Rail, could be the first leg of NGI, providing a demonstration facility to excite interest in building the rest of the network. - Computerworld NZ SPAM OFFENSIVE: Microsoft has filed lawsuits against 15 alleged spammers in the US and UK, accusing them of clogging its computers and those of its customers with more than two billion unsolicited e-mail messages. Thirteen of the lawsuits were filed in Washington state, which has recently passed tough anti-spam legislation, while the remaining two were filed in the UK. FACE THE MUSIC: A US senator wants to develop new technology which would remotely destroy the computers of people who illegally download music tracks. Senator Orrin Hatch, a Republican representing Utah, said damaging computers "may be the only way you can teach someone about copyright". ------------------------------ *EXPORT FOCUS* TRADE EVENT CHECKLIST: International trade events can be a highly effective part of an export company�s international marketing strategy, resulting in increased business and profits. make it work, make it profitable; making the decision; before you go; on site; post event follow-up and evaluation; helping you get the most out of a trade event. Http://www.marketnewzealand.com/common/files/tradeevent-cl.pdf >From a series of checklists prepared by Trade NZ to help companies work through the export planning process. NEXT WEEK: Electronic marketplaces ------------------------------ *WEBSITE OF THE WEEK* APACHE AVALON PROJECT: The Webby Awards technical achievement winner for 2003, the Avalon project is an effort to create, design, develop and maintain a common framework and set of components for applications written in Java. The Apache Software Foundation says Apache projects are characterised by a collaborative, consensus based development process, an open and pragmatic software licence, and a desire to create high quality software that leads the way in its field. �We consider ourselves not simply a group of projects sharing a server, but rather a community of developers and users. http://avalon.apache.org Other Webby award winners: http://www.webbyawards.com/main/webby_awards/nominees.html + Tell the editor ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) about any sites you'd like to share with hyperLINK's readers ------------------------------ *CSI WEBSITE HAPPENINGS* DIRECTORY: A searchable Who's Who in the Canterbury Tech Community. It's free to list your company and you'll find it a useful resource when you're looking for products, partners for collaborative work, and much more. Check it out, and fill in the form to get your company listed. http://www.canterburysoftware.org.nz/directory.htm ------------------------------ *MEANWHILE, AT THE FORUM* The Forum is your online community, where you can: + air your problems and concerns about marketing your software internationally + get rapid and effective suggestions from others like you,who've already done it + raise and discuss subjects of general concern to members Go to http://canterburysoftware.org.nz/forum.htm ------------------------------ CONTACT US ... SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE hyperLINK email options: http://canterburysoftware.org.nz/news.htm Contact the editor, Carol Webb: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------ --> via Canterbury Software email forum: Success through Connections Email your messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Searchable list archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] Leave or rejoin the list: http://canterburysoftware.org.nz/forum.htm
