Microsoft hired House Party to create more than 10,000 sampling events across 12 countries during the week of Windows 7's October 22 launch. The end result: More than 800,000 people got the chance to experience the new operating system first hand at a friend's or neighbor's house.

To get people feeling festive, Microsoft sent Windows 7 "party packs" to hosts. They included branded streamers, balloons, napkins, playing cards, posters, puzzles, tabletop centerpieces, tote bags and one copy of Windows 7 Ultimate. Attendees were given the branded giveaways, as well as coupons for the new software.

This hands-on approach was an important tool needed to debunk the software's reputation of being buggy and hard to use through countless "I'm a PC. I'm a Mac." attack ads. "Windows 7 was much awaited. There was lots of press around it for lots of different reasons," says Kitty Kolding, CEO of House Party. "An operating system isn't something people would sit around exploring and discussing in a party environment, but it turns out it was a very powerful event."

One inadvertent offshoot of the events was a viral Internet smash. The "HostingYourParty" online video which was meant only for the eyes of the hosts was viewed by more than a million people “ mostly because they found it to be cheesy. It even spawned spoofs. Still, any buzz is good buzz and all of that word-of-mouth led to a 234% boost in sales during the first two weeks of the product's launch compared to Windows Vista, per the NPD Group. Revenue from the product was also up 83%.

Kolding says she couldn't have been happier to have been linked with the successful launch. She says the trick for any sampling event is "to have the product front and center and to have relevant offers to allow attendees to take action. You don't want them to just talk about it afterward. You want to give them action steps. People love to walk out of these parties with things that will make them remember it."