February 27, 2008 – Los Angeles, California – Microsoft officially launched its next generation of infrastructure and application platform products today to thousands of customers and partners worldwide in an event the software giant calls its largest enterprise launch in the company's history.

Microsoft chose Opts Ideas (www.optsideas.com) as its lead creative, marketing and event strategy partner for the February 2008 launch of Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008 and SQL Server 2008. In collaboration with the Microsoft, Opts developed an “outside-in” approach, focusing on the unsung heroes among IT professionals and developers around the world.

“We wanted to bring a human element into what essentially was a very complex suite of enterprise products being introduced by Microsoft”, explained Michael Christman, President and Founder of Opts Ideas. “Rather than approaching this launch wave from a product feature and benefit point of view, we did a world wide search for IT professionals and developers who were already using the Beta versions of this software to create exciting and sometimes dramatic solutions that were having an impact on society.”

During the months leading up to the February 27, 2008 launch event in Los Angeles, the team built interest and momentum through a global outreach to IT pros and developers. A website was built, www.heroeshappenhere.com that created a place for the audience to share their own stories and nominate heroes. The site also served as a means to communicate product news and updates as well as registering for local launch events.

Renowned photographer and filmmaker, Carolyn Jones was dispatched to capture the best of these stories, creating a 175-page commemorative book of portraits, and behind the scenes video used on the web and during the launch event.

Well-known comic editor, Jordan Gorfinkel, created a series of “wiki-comics” based on true stories, which were developed by a global team of comic artists, and posted daily on the web.

Opts chose the new Nokia Theater in Los Angeles to host the first launch event, kicking off more than 225 events around the world. The event included multi-media product demos, video of the heroes from around the world, intense product training and a trade show for Microsoft partners.

Tom Brokaw delivered a moving opening keynote about the importance of heroes, and CEO Steve Ballmer showcased Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 and Microsoft SQL Server 2008 to a room packed with more than 4,000 partners, customers and members of the press in Los Angeles, California.
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