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Virtual Business Cards and Avatars

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Virtual Business Cards and Avatars

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sgrant

28 May 2009 3:17 PM

I have been teasing everyone this year with the idea of digital version of the wallet card – now referred to as Virtual Business Cards (VBC). The goals of this project all revolve around employability & identity of MCP’s. Built on Silverlight, fully modifiable, and include direct access to your MCP transcript with a single click. Do you remember Purple Eyes?? Thank gosh – that project is in full swing for a launch coming very soon!

A great mention to this project is you will have control of what art you can choose (your own or one from a provide list by moi) to put on your VBC & Experience site. You don’t all have to be Purple Eyes. Below are examples of the first set of art work that could be used on a VBC / Experience Site that would be provided*.

This is draft one and I am looking for your opinion. I have my opinion & will share later. I don’t want to sway anyone. With that being said, does it speak to your inner geek? Your inner dev / IT pro? What do you think when you viewed the avatars? Would you use any of the avatars I provided above on your VBC?

As always, I heart your opinions.

I’m an MCP

Sarah

*Remember you can always upload your own avatar, photo, so forth – and oh, yea, I will also have a kill switch so no – ah - ‘funny’ stuff. Also, the above images are already owned by MSFT. I feel like LCA right now. :-)

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hk

28 May 2009 3:42 PM

I realy cant believe that there are no comments yet. I was thinking of creating virtual business card as email signatur but that avatar`s on aint got to do with it. Maybe i still miss the good old pin/badges and realworld business cards. ...
Tomek

28 May 2009 3:44 PM

The samples are nice, but mayby you should think about creating more specific samples for .NET, ITPro and SQL. Something, that would immediately association you mind with that particular technology.
Pedro Sayanda

28 May 2009 4:23 PM

mmmmmm, can´t say that i like or would choose any of them , maybe something more high-tech , Microsoft related .... including the product logo maybe ?
Benjamin S

28 May 2009 4:40 PM

I would second the opinions of Tomek and Pedro. The first "avatar" I would look for is either a Microsoft logo, MCITP Logo, etc. Maybe later if a lot of people comment on the virtual card I will put my own photo there.
Greg

28 May 2009 5:16 PM

Agreed - none of these speak to me as "businesslike". Granted, I m an old codger in my late 30 s but these seem very UNbusinesslike to me.
Sasa

29 May 2009 3:10 AM

I don t like these pictures, and these look unprofessional. The avatar I would put on my VBC is my own picture. Together with cert logos, links etc. I would expect VBCs to be nothing but professional. I want employers and students to think of me as someone serious and professional and capable to address their needs. Maybe what we need is professional business card that takes in consideration Logo guidelines, that we could set up using VBC Builder web site or download as a template. We could have different options to choose from: Silverlight, PDF, XPS, Word, Publisher, and with or without links to transcript or/and web page. It would be nice to have option to put something on the back of the VBC (printable one) like certifications or some other information. We could use these professional-looking electronic/printable (Virtual) Business Cards to distribute via email or media along some materials, or on paper, using downloadable templates that we could print on custom sheet or on Avery cards.
hk

29 May 2009 8:21 AM

totaly agree with sasa
Steve Maier

29 May 2009 4:26 PM

I have to agree with Sasa as well. I like the fact that you can had an image if your own and a company might want to have their people use a corporate logo. But I would probably use either my picture or nothing.
Chris Rue

29 May 2009 7:01 PM

Heya Sarah, None of the avatars above trip my trigger, but maybe that s just me. Folks are prolly gonna go one of two ways. Genuine creatives are gonna want to put on their create-a-palooza and use their own stuff. Non-creatives are either gonna want logo/headshot/something suitably geeky (which maybe comes from the bullpen). As an employer, I d definitely be looking at someone s VBC layout as a clue to their professionalism, just like resumes. And employees would be expected to adopt a company-approved design, especially if we felt the VBC program was leverageable with existing customers/new prospects to help promote and add new lines of business. Ping me off-channel if you want to hash this some more. Looking forward to see how Project: Purple Eyes progresses!
Chris

1 Jun 2009 4:26 PM

I d like to see them more geek associated and less art marketing. If you re looking to use these to help sell you, as a person and a technologist associated by your MCITP credentials, I d choose an avatar that would emphasize these and/or be a conversation starter. I m a geek through and through, but I m also a professional concerned about my image, so I d need to balance both. None of these feel like they say enough about me in either capacity. I d shy away from logos because its too obvious, too cliche. Anyone can read MCITP as text or in a designed logo, so I d favor something that isn t just a logo. Too easy and isn t personal enough. Its like choosing custom plates for a car, you could put "honda" on your honda, but its too easy. Choose "surfer" or "1hot1" or something that says something about you or the car. My .02
Tim

10 Jun 2009 2:23 PM

I was expecting something that looked more like a driver s license. Your picture, your stats, a Microsoft logo, done. All of those images are simply too unprofessional for an IT person to use in self-promotion.
urma

14 Jun 2009 2:34 PM

Maybe something like this www.thebcard.com (online business card???)
needazar

31 Oct 2009 1:56 AM

totaly agree with sasa
Ali Needazar

31 Oct 2009 1:59 AM

totaly agree with sasa
Alan

22 Dec 2009 9:13 PM

I like the avatar, which has a tree. Check out this web site http://www.wawame.com. They have a virtual business card on mobile phones.

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