We've chosen our winners for this year's awards. Let me tell you...it was a difficult task. We had almost 200 samples of beautiful content to choose from. Thanks again to everyone who entered.

 See the winners at: http://www.visix.com/expressionawards09.html

We had almost 200 entries this year and the judging was tough, but we've chosen our finalists for the 2009 Expression Awards.

Finalists and honorable mentions for the following categories can be seen at http://www.visix.com/expressionawards09.html

• Best Visual Communications Campaign
• Best Composite Layout
• Best Original Motion Content
• Best Original Still Bulletin
• Best Remix Motion Content
• Best Remix Still Bulletin

You can see also samples of the awards entries in our Expression Awards 2009 photo gallery, here on the forum.

Stay tuned for the winners - to be announced on Tuesday, September 8.

Thanks to everyone who entered this year's awards!

Thanks to everyone who entered this year's awards contest. I've been overwhelmed by both the number and quality of the entries. We have almost 200 examples of the terrific content that our customers are using to communicate their messages and ideas - layouts, campaigns, stills, flash and videos.

We will announce the finalists and winners in each category in early September. Stay tuned to http://www.visix.com/expressionawards.html for details and links to the winning content samples.

We've had some recent comments from folks about our AxisTV Comprehensive Manual that leave me wanting to know more.

Some folks seem to love it, while others think it is lacking. One client specifically asked for step-by-step instructions with screen captures for basic tasks like creating bulletins and importing media - not realizing that there is a full user guide included with just such material in it. If you can't find what you need, then we need to consider how we're organizing our information.

We want to be sure that our manual is practical and useful, and I'd welcome your suggestions on how we can improve it. Should we split it up into two books - technical manual and user guide? Should we keep it whole, but trim down some of the bulk? Or, do we need to add more to it to make it more useful when implementing, using and maintaining your system?

We also want feedback on how we're delivering the manual. We currently deliver one printed manual with the system, and then post the most recent version on this forum as we make updates. Does the PDF work for you?  Would you prefer an online version instead? These are the things we'd like you to tell us so we can continue to improve our materials.

I appreciate your comments.

As you may know, Visix recently launched a new annual awards contest - the Expression Awards. The purpose of the awards is to create a program for content sharing and recognition for our AxisTV users, whether they are creative contributors or administrators. The winners will be announced on February 29, 2008, and we're really excited about the response we've gotten so far.

Along with the Expression Awards, this User Forum is built around that same initiative to engage our users beyond the technical operation of our products. We want to create a collaborative customer body who can turn to each other for inspiration and problem-solving, and we want you to experience more from Visix than just buying a box or a system. We want to encourage creative communications through content sharing, skills training, design tips and technical articles.

We're evaluating other opportunities for expanding your customer experience, such as client-hosted webinars and a Visix User Conference with seminars and workshops, but we'd like to get a feel for what's valuable to you first, using this forum.

Your constructive feedback is essential to this initiative. Let us know how we can better serve our relationship beyond product features and tech support. How can we engage and inspire you to benefit your audiences and your Visix experience?

Debbie Wilson-DeWitt
Marketing Communications Manager
Visix, Inc.