Eurodam, The Inaugural: Surfing the Digital Workshop

Eurodam guests can return home from their cruise with more than a tee-shirt to remember the journey. Earlier today I explored several different ways to enhance my cruise memories with technology in the Eurodam’s Digital Workshop powered by Microsoft Windows. During the complimentary session this morning, Eurodam’s Microsoft-trained “techspert” outlined the series of workshops and we got right down to business using Windows Vista’s photo editing tools. (I didn’t even realize I have them on my home PC, so I discovered something important right away.) I learned to easily remove red eye, improve the color, crop, and resize photos, and even stitch together five separate images to create a panoramic shot.

In the classes (soon to be available fleetwide on Holland America Line), even novices can learn to take better vacation photos, create away-from-home movies, edit pictures, make scrapbooks, and share digital memories through email, blogging, and social networking. Friends and family members can see where you've been cruising and what you’ve done even before you're back at home.

The free workshop sessions are hands-on, with personal assistance from the “techspert” on how to unlock the possibilities available in the digital world. I knew I could make custom greeting cards on the computer, but was unaware that I could also get creative with stickers and even personalized wrapping paper.

Workshops include:

• On the Download - How to move images between a digital camera and a Windows-based personal computer, with basic instruction.
• Put Your Best Face Forward - How to crop and color-correct digital photos and easily create panoramic pictures by stitching photos together using Windows Live Photo Gallery.
• Your "Home Away From Home" Movie - How to add music, special effects and titles to your videos and publish to a DVD using Windows Movie Maker.
• Show and Tell - How to create and upload photos to a personal Web page, invite friends to view the Web page and email photos using a variety of Windows Live services.
• Your 15 Minutes of Fame - How to turn your vacation journal into a blog by creating a basic Web page and blog entries using Windows Live Spaces and Windows Live Writer.
• A Click Ahead - How to design a photo card and a basic scrapbook, as well as how to order notepads, stickers, posters and other photo-related items from the Internet using Windows Live Photo Gallery.

Take one course or attend them all. Mine was really fun, easy to follow, and totally not in “tech-speak” so that even non-geeks can understand. I’ll put what I’ve learned to the test tomorrow afternoon—that’s when Eurodam is being named by Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands right here in Rotterdam.