I caught Chris on his Cell Phone as he was on the way back from spending some time down at the Microsoft Redmond campus learning about the next generation of Live Communication Server. He was between flights on his way back to his home in Calgary.  Just to let you know - parts of the audio podcast breaks up and cuts out as the signal comes and goes… I wasn't editing what he was saying (hee hee).

The project Chris worked on really shows how a Microsoft Partner can leverage Microsoft technologies and OTHER Microsoft partners to make a very comprehensive offering.  In this case we're talking about a hosted communications and collaborations suite based on LCS that can support multiple simultaneous video streams across firewalls. Chris also credits the hard work of his team and partners for the success of the solution, but it comes down to good old fashioned hard work to get it done. I had to ask him about the cowboy hat he's sporting in the picture, since I am a hat man myself (I wear a green Tilley Endurable everywhere I go).  He claims it's to show off his western flavour (being from Calgary) to help with his distinction from the other nominees.

Have a listen yourself here in either WMA or MP3 format.

Don't forget to VOTE! http://www.microsoft.ca/technet/innovationaward5