Hi, I’m Craig Bailey and this is my personal blog where I write about technology, business systems, HubSpot and general life experiences. You can read my posts here.

(If you are looking for the Content is King post by Bill Gates it is here)

I’m involved with three agencies in Sydney:

  • The first is XEN Systems. We help government departments and mid-large B2B technology companies with their sales and marketing strategy, including implementation and training in HubSpot 
  • The second is XEN Create. We provide premium graphic design services to companies, with a focus on using the latest AI tools, including Midjourney
  • The third is XEN Solar, where we help high quality solar companies (dealers, installers) with their sales and marketing processes.

I also co-host HubShots, the podcast and YouTube show focussed on getting the most out of HubSpot. We are the creators of the HubShots Framework.

Craig Bailey presenting

Latest stories

How much preparation for a demo?

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It was interesting to read Greg Low’s notes on his TechEd keynote demo with Eric Rudder. It is easy to think people get on stage and ad lib through a demo they whipped up a few minutes prior. We all know this never happens and it is always the most prepared presentations that come across as the best. There must be some maxim along the lines of ‘the more preparation, the less it looks...

Using Visual FoxPro

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I read Andrew MacNeill’s article from last year again. I think he’s right on a lot of points. VFP is great for some applications, but not for everything. Most IT Managers I speak to want to know our .Net strategy (we have a strong .Net strategy on the web side, but if its desktop database apps then VFP is still the tool of choice) but at the end of the day they just want the job done...

MapPoint denied

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I want to write a quick MapPoint app. But you need to sign up with Microsoft for the free Web Service trial. Which I did. But after registering I was informed it takes 2 business days before my login ID is sent out. Why can’t this be automated? I can’t do anything until next week now.

Finished The Rule of Four

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I finished reading The Rule of Four.
If you are expecting The Da Vinci Code (as I was) then you will be a little disappointed. It is a better written book, but it is not a page turner like TDVC was. However, you’ll like it if, like me, you enjoyed Focault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco.

TechEd 2004 – Day 3

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Day 3 (Friday) – the final day. I had trouble getting up this morning. Its been a whole week without exercise, and hardly any fruit. My body starts breaking down pretty quickly. Also I’m missing my wife big time. Anything over a night away from her and I start feeling down. But I’ll be seeing her tonight so I’ve just got to hold on. Missed the first session cause I was running late...

TechEd 2004 – Day 2

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BizTalk 2004 We’ve used BizTalk a lot at work, but only BTS2002. This new version is incredible. As Scott Woodbridge said, this is a revolutionary jump, not just evolutionary. Everything is done from in VS2003 and the output/deployment is via assemblies. I don’t really know where to start, there is so much to say about this product. See Scott’s blog for more details: User group/MSDN...

TechEd 2004 – Day 1

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Some of my thoughts on TechEd 2004 held in Canberra, Australia from August 3-6. Whilst today (Wednesday) is officially day 2 (it started on Tuesday with registration and a welcome reception) I have labelled my posts based on the 3 days of sessions. Keynote The conference was opened by Dr Joe MacInnis, a marine scientist who has done heaps of impressive stuff. But I won’t note that here, see for...

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