Next week we will hold our first-ever live Facebook chat featuring Ben Lower, Senior Product Manager Windows Phone Developer Experience at Microsoft (or better known as the phone ninja). Visit the Microsoft Student Facebook page on Thursday, March 29, 9:00-10:00 a.m. PDT (find your time zone here) and ask Ben all of your Windows Phone development-related questions. RSVP to attend the Facebook chat here.

To help you get to know Ben a little in advance of the chat, we asked him a few questions. See what he had to say.

• How long have you been at Microsoft? I’ve been at Microsoft for 5 years at Microsoft and on the Windows Phone team for a year and half.
• How would you describe your job? Living the dream!
• What do you enjoy the most about your job?  Helping developers unleash their vision and be successful.
• What is your favorite Windows Phone app & why?  Find My Champ because it helps new & existing Windows Phone developers build relationships with local Microsoft employees (Phone Champs) who can help the dev be successful.
• What advice would you give to a student new to developing on the Windows Phone platform?  I’d give them the advice from our two of our participants in the recent Big App on Campus promotion:
• Jeremiah Isaacson (creator of Ninja Fruit and overall winner in Big App on Campus Free App category):
• “Take the time and develop an app for Windows Phone! Microsoft gives students free access to all of the software tools, samples, and accounts necessary to produce and release a quality app quickly.” 
• “Don’t be intimidated to start developing an app. Each developer had to start from scratch and the only way to learn is to ask questions and seek answers. Microsoft has a large, friendly community of developers that have likely faced the same problems you may face and will be happy to help.”
• “Use contests as your motivation to develop apps. Microsoft often sponsors contests specifically geared toward student developers. Currently, there is a Dream.Build.Play contest going on for Windows Phone, which features over $115,000 in prizes. I encourage you to take advantage of this contest and develop a game for Windows Phone.”
• Chevon Christie (creator of ScanBizCards and Big App on Campus “People’s Choice” winner in Paid App category):
• “Follow relevant Windows Phone Twitter handles - @windowsphone @wp7dev, etc.”
• “Reach out to the Windows Phone community if you ever need help.”
• “Don't wait forever to publish your first app. Just get it out there to get the ball rolling!”
• What do you know now that you wish you would have known as a beginning developer? I developed a philosophy that basically states, “Whatever problem I’m facing has most likely been solved already.”  That meant that I became really good at finding code samples or examples online that I could learn from to keep my development moving quickly forward.  It also means that I spend more of my time focused on the unique aspects of my application rather than on reinventing the wheel.

Are you planning to attend the Facebook live chat event next week? Leave us a comment!