Agilix Wins Top Microsoft Award

Agilix Selected as One of Three Winners in Microsoft's Ingenuity Point Competition

GoCourse Learning System Takes Top Award in Education Category as Part of Round Two of the International Competition to Drive Innovation

OREM, Utah, April 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Agilix Labs, Inc. announced that its GoCourse Learning System solution has been selected as a winner in round two of Microsoft Corp.'s Ingenuity Point contest, a worldwide competition for independent software vendors (ISVs) that recognizes solutions built on Microsoft technology with the potential to drive positive change in the areas of education, healthcare and environmental sustainability. GoCourse Learning System, a personalized distributed learning platform for delivering online courses, is the winner in the education category.

"Educational institutions want to deliver personalized learning through rich, engaging content to their online students. We are pleased to work with Microsoft worldwide in providing a powerful new learning solution to schools and institutions that need the benefits of fully distributed learning," said Curt Allen, Agilix CEO.

"The Agilix GoCourse Learning System is the first hosted 'Software + Services' solution built on the Microsoft platform that can be easily customized and integrated with other components of a complete eLearning system through a suite of open XML APIs," said Allen.

GoCourse Learning System, which is now in its 2.0 released version, is a distributed online learning system designed to address the needs of distance and online education and training around the world.

GoCourse Learning System improves the lives of teachers and students. The solution provides the tools that allow any instructor or instructional designer to create and deliver rich and engaging courses with minimal effort. Instead of publishing course materials as a series of links and text in a browser, GoCourse delivers the entire course inline as a series of engaging learning experiences through an immersive course player environment. The combination of dynamic templates and simple drag-and-drop assembly methods supports the creation of course content, quizzes and assessments and learning activities that are accessed through either an Internet browser or an installed Windows application.

GoCourse's distributed learning model and personalized learning approach provide students with access to anywhere, anytime learning that expands the concept of the classroom to include anywhere the student has access to the course materials, even when Internet access may not be available.

"Ingenuity Point contest winners such as Agilix utilize Microsoft technology to build new, exciting applications that make a difference in the world and demonstrate the true power of software," said Rob Bernard, chief environmental strategist at Microsoft. "We are pleased to recognize Agilix as an ISV leading the field of pioneering software solutions in the education category."

Agilix customers include schools and institutions, such as K-12 school districts, universities, professional associations, and corporate and military training organizations that use GoCourse to author, deliver, and track comprehensive online courses.

Once an online course is created, GoCourse Learning System delivers the course as a series of interactive and media-rich learning experiences, tracking both performance and time spent.

Agilix and the winners in the other two categories make up the final-round grand prize recipients of the yearlong Ingenuity Point competition and are joined by the three grand prize winners from round one. The six vertical winners selected in both award rounds are eligible to be chosen as the Platinum Ingenuity Point Award winner later this spring. Platinum Award winners will receive additional marketing support from Microsoft, as well as a coveted guest judge position at the Microsoft Imagine Cup 2008 competition to be held in Paris.

More information about the contest and all winning ISVs is available at the Ingenuity Point Web site, http://www.theingenuitypoint.com.

About Agilix

Agilix Labs, Inc. enables educational institutions and organizations focused on distributed online learning to deliver rich and engaging online courses. Its flagship GoCourse(TM) Learning System is designed to radically transform instructional management and the learning experience and improve the lives of instructors and students. Agilix products enable delivery of rich interactive learning content through online and offline access. Through partnerships with some of the industry's most progressive technology leaders, including Microsoft, Intel, Higher Ed Holdings and FranklinCovey, Agilix delivers its software applications to hundreds of thousands of users in more than 110 countries worldwide. Founded in 2001, Agilix is based in Orem, Utah. For more information about Agilix, please visit http://www.agilix.com.

Product or service names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Petition to Save Windows XP

InfoWorld is collecting signatures on a petition to save Windows XP. Click here to sign. I'm happy to add my signature. I'm in need of a new computer system, but hesitate to buy one because every machine comes with Vista -- and the time and money it will take to get all of the software I use upgraded, with patches, etc. -- just makes me not want to go there. I just don't have the time to deal with it. So I stick with my current system and hope it keeps working well. If I could get a new computer with Windows XP (that is not a DELL), I'd do it in a heartbeat. I hope Microsoft will listen to what their customers WANT and not keep trying to tell us what they want us to want -- and keep Windows XP around. (It won't be sold after June 30th).

Facebook to Launch IM Service

"Facebook is poised to launch its own instant messaging service as early as next week. The service will be built into Facebook profile pages.

Facebook's plans may be bad news for third parties like Social.IM and FriendVox, which built IM apps on Facebook.

The announcement comes a week after Bebo, the third biggest social network, was purchased by AOL. AOL says the merger's success hinges upon the successful integration of AIM into Bebo.

MySpace also offers a rather sporadic IM service, which debuted in 2004.

Early this month, Facebook announced a music partnership with iTunes, right on the heels of MySpace, which itself is developing a music service with the four major record companies."

http://www.marketingvox.com/facebook-to-launch-im-service-037361/?camp=newsletter&src=mv&type=textlink

Having a Balanced Life

Kicking Off 2008 With ETR: The Balancing Act That's Up to You

By MaryEllen Tribby, ETR's CEO & Publisher

People ask me all the time how I run a $25,000,000 company, raise three small children, travel all around the world, AND manage a household. Essentially, they want to know how I create and maintain balance in my life.

In my experience, the answer is three-fold. It's extremely simple, and something you have total control over. You just need to (1) have the right attitude, (2) make smart choices, and (3) develop positive relationships.

Step #1 to a Balanced Life: Having the Right Attitude

Charles Swindoll is famous for his writings about attitude. One of the things he talks about is the fact that attitude can make or break a company, a church, a home. And that we have a choice, every day, regarding the attitude we will embrace.
MJ, one of the acquaintances I've made in our info-publishing world, runs a nice little consulting company and has two beautiful, healthy little boys and a wonderful husband.

You would think she considers herself to be extremely fortunate. Yet every time I see MJ at an industry function and ask about her family, she starts in about how hard it is to run a company and raise two children. Not only that, she complains about how much more successful she would be if she did not have to take the kids to school and to soccer practice and to play dates.

I have never looked at my children as a hardship. It is a privilege for me (and my husband) to raise them and build our lives together. I am so much better at everything I do because of them. I am a better leader, a better manager, a better multi-tasker, and a better negotiator.

But this positive attitude is not something that magically happened to me.
Early in my career, I was asked to interview for a management position at Forbes - and the competition was fierce. All the candidates had a good education and work experience. Finally, they narrowed their choices down to two of us: me and Natalie.
Natalie had graduated from Harvard, had an MBA from Columbia, and had a reputation for being tough as nails. And seven years later, she still bragged about her perfect SAT scores.

It was finally the day of reckoning - the day of our last interview. But this was not just any old interview. We were both meeting with Steve Forbes himself.
The HR director made it very clear that Mr. Forbes was a busy man. That he would ask the questions and we would answer them. That he would spend no more than 10 minutes with each of us, and that a final decision would be made shortly after he met with us both.

Now Forbes being the intensely competitive place that it is, Natalie and I both wound up sitting outside of Steve Forbes' office at the same time. As I looked over at her, sitting there confidently in her St. John suit, I remember thinking, "I know as much as she does. I can do this."

They called her in first. I heard Mr. Forbes' muffled voice through the door. I heard her muffled reply. This went on for a while, and then I heard laughter. I thought, "How could that be? She was just supposed to answer some questions."

Thirty-five minutes later, Natalie swaggered out, shooting me a grin that said "Don't even bother."

Then it was my turn. I went in. I answered Mr. Forbes' questions. After five minutes, he thanked me and I left.

There was no laughter. No pleasant conversation.

As I opened the door to my Columbus Avenue apartment that I could not really afford, my phone was ringing. You guessed it. It was Forbes. They were calling to offer me the job!

After I'd been there a few months, I mustered up the courage to ask my boss how they made the decision to choose me over Natalie. Her answer rings true in my head more than 20 years later: "Mr. Forbes liked your attitude."

That single experience helped me understand what is really important and what is not. It helped me learn not to sweat the small stuff and not to get upset about things I have no control over. And that brings me to my next point...

Step #2 to a Balanced Life: Making the Right Choices

We all have to make hundreds of choices every day. It starts first thing in the morning. Do you eat your healthy high-fiber cereal with blueberries and skim milk? Or do you eat a chocolate chip muffin with a Starbucks specialty loaded with whipped cream?

As the day goes along, our decisions generally get more complicated and difficult to make.

Last summer, a friend in the industry sent out invitations for a huge networking party he was having at his home in Texas. I was honored to have been invited. Everyone who is anyone in our industry was going to be there. My friend Rich Schefren commented that this was the event of the year, the one that everyone who was lucky enough to be invited should attend.

I immediately RSVP'd, memorized the entire guest list, and thought about all the deals I could make that would benefit ETR. (You may remember the article I wrote recently about the importance of meeting everyone you do business with in person... and how cultivating those relationships can facilitate your deal making.)

That evening, while going over my travel dates with my husband, he pointed out that this networking event was being held on the first day of the new school year.

My husband encouraged me to go on the trip. He assured me that he could handle the kids that day. And, of course, I knew he could. But that was not the point. I told him that my daughter was only going to have one first day of fourth grade. And my son was only going to have one first day of first grade. And I wanted to be there for those once-in-a-lifetime occasions.

He told me to think about it for a few days to make sure I was making the right decision. So I did. I thought about what would happen if I missed the kids' first day of school. I also thought about the business consequences of missing the event.
To help make this decision, I applied my two-two-two rule. I asked myself, "What will be the impact on both sides two weeks from now, two months from now, and two years from now?"

If I missed their first day of school, would my kids still be upset in two weeks? Would they still be upset in two months? And would the disappointment continue to echo in all of our hearts and minds in two years? I knew the answer was yes.
But I couldn't just blow off the networking event. So I went through the same process. I figured that most of the people at the event would remember I had been there after two weeks. But I also figured that the majority of them would not remember I had been there after two months... and that none of them would remember I had been there after two years.

Guess what I decided to do? I skipped the networking event and took the kids to school. And four months later, my son still laughs about how I almost hit his new teacher's car in the parking lot that day.

Of course, I did not just blow off the networking event. ETR's Internet Marketing Director, Patrick Coffey, went and represented ETR proudly. He brought back tons of useful information, and I have since spoken with or met with everyone I would have seen that day.

This dovetails nicely with my final point on creating and maintaining a balanced life...

Step #3 to a Balanced Life: Developing the Right Relationships.

I was fortunate to have someone like Patrick to send to the networking event I missed. Someone who would represent me and ETR, our core values and our policies. I knew Patrick would see it as an opportunity for him - and that is exactly what happened. Many of the people he met there told me what a great job he did.

Now had I not cultivated my relationship with Patrick over the last 19 months, this would have been a lost opportunity for both of us, instead of a win-win situation. Patrick knew exactly what I expected of him, and he over-delivered.

It's funny. Many high-level executives think that if they cannot be at an important business function, they would rather miss out completely than send a substitute. In fact, one sign of a good leader is that his or her business runs smoothly even when they are not present.

I pride myself on hiring and mentoring people who have as much potential as I do (if not more).

It is the same with my personal relationships.

I have a mother's helper that my kids love... and she loves my kids. And though my friends and family know how happy this makes me, every once in a while someone asks me: "Doesn't it bother you that your kids love Nora so much?" My answer: "Hell no!"
I want people in my life who are good for me. Patrick and Nora are two examples. These are positive relationships.

Now don't get me wrong, I am not Super Woman. And I have days at home and at the office that are more challenging than others. Sometimes, the only reason I can accomplish as much as I do is because I have a spouse who is my biggest fan, a spouse who never puts his career before mine.

We decided a long time ago that we could accomplish anything as long as we were in it together, as long as our goals were in alignment, and as long as our philosophies regarding success were the same.

As Michael Masterson has said, we all have the same 24 hours in a day. So when people tell me there is no way they can maintain balance between their business life and their personal life because they have soooo much work to do, I simply don't buy it.

Everyone can have a balanced life. You just need to want it... and act to achieve it.

Glenn Beck Coming to Utah

If you haven't heard the news -- Glenn Beck is coming to Utah -- for the Stadium of Fire - July 4, 2007. I think there may still be a few tickets available, so if you haven't already purchased them, check at BYUTickets.com. Brooks and Dunn are headlining and there are many other great performers, as well as the best fireworks in the West.

Plus I just read a really great article about Glenn Beck and his life after joining the LDS Church. Thought you might enjoy it.

Time Management

I wish there was a way to really learn to manage time more efficiently. I love my Franklin Covey planner. It helps to keep me focused and achieving my goals. But I wish I could find an electronic planner system which would not only allow me to do my work online, but also not risk losing data as my palm pilot has done in the past.

I've considered trying out the new iphone, but have not been impressed with AT&T cell service, so that's the big drawback for me.

Blogging Time and Job Options

Wow. I can't believe it's been so long since I've blogged. I've been extremely busy during the past few weeks -- looking at some different job opportunities and exploring options. I had a 5 hour interview at Omniture and was impressed by the people there. It seems like it would be a great place to work, but I'm not sure the corporate life is one I'm really wanting to go back into. Plus the time commitment would make it impossible for me to do anything else.

I've also been working with another company as the CTO (Chief Technology Officer) and CMO (Chief Marketing Officer). The company is a start-up and is pretty exciting, but I'm not sure that's where I want to be either. I've got the development team together and ready to go, so it should be an easy transition.

I may have the opportunity to work in Alaska which I would love to do, and also have thoughts about going back into the publishing world. I've also considered working in Hawaii -- or just sitting on the beach with my laptop building and marketing new sites. Lots of fun options to think about.

I'm taking the next few weeks off to finish my book, and then I'll look further into my options.

Mitt Romney - Chances a Mormon will be Elected President

I just read a really great forum article about Mitt Romney and the chance he will have being elected President because he is a Mormon. It's interesting to me that this is even an issue in this day and age. Why do we not hear about the churches that all of the other candidates go to? Or do they go at all?

Anyway, this forum was conducted in Florida for some of the nation's leading journalists. It is the Pew Forum's Biannual Faith Angle Conference -- on religion, politics and public life. This transcript was entitled: Mormonism and Democratic Politics: Are They Compatible? I thought it was a pretty fair assessment and interesting to read.

If you want to read anything about what Mormons believe -- you can get the real information (not the media's interpretation) at Mormon.org.

Seth Godin in Utah?

Here's a post by Paul Allen about the possibility for Seth Godin to come to Utah.

Utah blogs are buzzing about the chance we have to get the legendary Seth Godin to visit Utah as part of his new book tour. We just need 500 people to each pay $50 (and get 5 copies of his new book) so that he will stop here on his tour.

I took a trip to NYC two years ago to hear Seth speak, so I paid a lot more than $50. He was the keynote speaker at an advertising conference, and he slammed traditional advertising and explained in a powerful way how the internet changes everything. To hear him speak in Utah would be incredible.

I still think his “Permission Marketing” is the best book ever written on appropriate email marketing. I refer people to it all the time.

So please check out this message from Phil Burns, and jump on the bandwagon. We’re running out of time:

He started one of the first internet companies, yoyodyne, which was acquired by Yahoo, he then became a VP at Yahoo. He more recently started a Web2.0 company, squidoo. He is always talking about internet marketing – he’s one of the experts on it, and he has one of the most popular blogs on the internet.

…. We have a HUGE opportunity to get Seth to come speak to us here in Utah! People have tried to get him to come speak here in the past but to no avail. Now, it will take the efforts of us all in order to bring him here on May 24th of this year!

To get him here, we need to get 500 people willing to pay $50.00 to hear him. Not only will you have an opportunity to hear him speak, you’ll get 5 copies of his new book, The Dip. We are gathering pledges to pay to hear him to see if we can get 500 people to pledge (instead of gathering money up front).

If you’re interested in hearing Seth speak, there are a few things you need to do.

· First, pledge to pay $50.00 at http://www.pledgebank.com/SethGodinUtah

· Next, blog about it! We’re trying to create a blog storm about this, even a quick simple post advertising this will help a lot

· Third, tell everyone at work or who you think will be interested about it!

· Finally, all the details and updates are being managed at a new site, http://www.wordmob.com keep an eye on the site for details

Here’s Seth’s blog post announcing this opportunity: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/the_dip/2007/03/the_dip_tour.html

There’s a big catch here, we have to have evidence of a large motivation to do this my Monday (like, in 3 days)! We have a tentative date from Seth that he’s been kind enough to hold for us, but we have to show we’re going to be able to make it so, please, if you’re interested, stop what you’re doing and go sign up here: http://www.pledgebank.com/SethGodinUtah RIGHT NOW! Then blog about it asap, encourage other to blog about it and talk about it all day!

This is a pure grass roots effort, it will only work if those who are interested (YOU?) take 5 minutes and actually do something about it – so please help out!

Thanks!

Phil Burns

CEO TagJungle.com

This is a brilliant way for an innovative author to start a new book tour. If he gets 5 cities to get 500 pledges at $50 each, he’ll sell 12,500 copies of his book, generate $125,000 in revenue, visit 5 cities with an energized audience, and generate a ton of publicity for once again, being so innovative.

Let’s hope that Utah will pull this off and make it on his list of cities to visit.

Gladys Knight and the Mormon Church (LDS Church)

Gladys Knight Tells Floridians, "This is the Light"
By Geoffrey Biddulph

Gladys Knight and her 60-person choir of Latter-day Saints gave four performances for more than 5,000 people in southern Florida last week.

"This is the way, this is the light," she said in teary testimony regarding The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Gladys Knight is famous worldwide for such songs as "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" and "Midnight Train to Georgia." Over the weekend, she, along with her choir and a three-person band gave four shows to thousands of members and non-member investigators, who crowded into the Fort Lauderdale Florida stake center building. They heard Knight's renditions of "Because I have been Given Much" and "I am a Child of God," as well as several Gospel songs that are not in the Church hymn
book.

Knight sang several solos, but she also directed several choir members who also took the stage alone. They sang songs such as "Uphold Me with Thy Sweet Spirit" and "Oh, How I Love Jesus" with a swelling choir behind them.

The highlight of the evening was certainly when the famed singer and her husband both gave their testimonies of the restored gospel. "It is indeed a miracle that I belong to this church," Sister Knight said. "The image of the Church in the past has not been conducive to my being here. It shows His hand in motion. An African-American woman: Who knew I would have a calling such as this?"

Knight has indeed been given a special calling by the Brethren to travel throughout the world giving her testimony both in speech and through song. Given her fame and her reputation, she may be a vessel for bringing thousands of tens of thousands to investigate the Church.

Several years ago, Gladys Knight's son was the first member of her family to look at the Church. After he got baptized, her daughter came next.

Sister Knight described her search for God's true church, which came after the baptism of her children: "I was raised in a Baptist home. We spent all day on Sunday at church. I was kind of all over the place religiously. I was a Baptist and then a Catholic and then I went to several other churches. I was seeking. There was something good in every one of those churches, but I thought there's got to be more. My daughter Kenya said, 'talk to the missionaries.' I fell in love right away. They were respectful, and the first thing they said was,

'Can we pray?' I believe in the power of prayer. They told me, 'You check it out.' I got on my knees and asked the Lord, and I got my answer. I couldn't wait for my next lessons.. I said I wanted to get baptized tomorrow." Very soon after that, she was baptized.

Her husband, William McDowell, gave an eloquent and humor-laced testimony about his courtship and marriage to one of the most famous singers around.

They met because he was the manager of a spa in San Diego. "As Gladys kept traveling around the world, and I kept on traveling around San Diego, it was common knowledge Gladys has lost her mind and had joined those Mormons," Brother McDowell said.

He would go to visit her in Las Vegas and, "There were a lot of young men on bicycles who kept on visiting — hungry young men on bicycles." McDowell added, "They kept on saying they belonged to the true church of Jesus Christ. I was raised very Baptist by god-fearing people, my grandparents. How could they not be members of the true church?"

But McDowell said he went to seminary and read The Book of Mormon and then got on his knees and asked, and "I received the answers. My grandparents had prepared me to recognize the Truth when I saw it."

He acknowledged his brother, who was in the audience, and said, "This is the first time he has heard my testimony. Hopefully I can bring my family to a truth. The Church of Jesus Christ has been restored. It was restored by a young boy, Joseph Smith, who in a field saw God the Father and Jesus Christ."

McDowell continued, "Take the time to research and find out for yourself. Take the time to pick up The Book of Mormon. Ask whether it is true. If you want to see a miracle, just think that Gladys Knight is running a choir in the Mormon Church."

He then introduced his wife as "Gladys Knight McDowell," and she sang a song to which Brother McDowell wrote the lyrics — "He Lives." It was a very moving song about the Savior that Knight sang to a misty-eyed crowd.

"I have to give this testimony of mine," Knight said. "I have no other choice. Sometimes the truth is right before you and you don't see it."

Knight said that it has sometimes been difficult for her to tell people she is a Mormon. "But this is the true church. It has the 12 apostles, just like Jesus' church. Just like the people in Jesus' day, we need to look farther for the truth. The people in those days got the same ridicule we get today. I was willing to risk that for the honor of serving him."

She asked non-members in the audience, "At least see for yourselves. At least be obedient to that end." She then went into the audience to shake hands and give hugs to the many people who adore her.

Mission President Noel Reynolds said his missionaries received 425 solid referrals from the event.

"The missionaries from the Haitian branch brought 17 people, and one young lady asked to be baptized right away after hearing Gladys Knight's testimony," President Reynolds said. Another ward mission leader had been asking his father, a Baptist, to hear the discussions for year. His father finally agreed with enthusiasm after attending the Gladys Knight event.

A Mormon in the White House?

A new book has been written by Hugh Hewitt entitled "A Mormon in the White House? Ten Things Every American Needs to Know About Mitt Romney." I just read a great article in Meridian Magazine that reviewed the book -- and thought you might be interested as well.

How to Be Happy

I just read a great article entitled How to Be Happy. I thought you might want to check it out.