Today is my 1 year anniversary at Microsoft Canada. I’m guessing there are a lot of unhappy gamblers in the pool. It’s been a fun year. May and June are always full of surprises and changes, fortunately this year the changes were much less scary and exciting. Less scary. Anybody remember DemoCampToronto6? Unfortunately I don’t, it has been 2 years since the infamous BarCampER where I had the misfortune of having a heart attack. So I look forward to making it through May without any surprises.
And it’s been 1 year since I joined Microsoft. Can you believe it? Hopefully you didn’t loose too much money on the pool.
The Year in Review
I attended a lot of conferences and events this past year. It felt like I was on the road a lot.I had a great time meeting people, hearing about what you were building and your mixed reactions to Microsoft. Some very positive. Others much more negative. I shouldn’t be surprised at the distribution of reactions and responses, but I think I was most surprised by the positive. I hadn’t really expected to become the public face of Microsoft Canada at many of the events. And I’m pretty sure that providing real-time bourbon-fueled support wasn’t in my employment contract, but apparently if you buy me bourbon I’ll provide substandard support. I haven’t spent a lot of time in the Microsoft ecosystem but I’ve been introduced to great people like John Bristowe, Mack Male, Derek Hatchard, Colin Bowern, Mark Arteaga and others across Canada. I continued to meet folks in the *Camp sphere including Vincent & Phillipe, Patrick Lor, Cam Linke and others. And best of all, I keep getting to see my friends and acquaintances around the country (you know who you are).
Places to Go, People to See
- EnergizeIT 2007
- Expression Product Launch
- FooCamp 2007
- DemoCampToronto14
- Expression around the Clock
- FSOSS 2007
- CMA Digital Marketing Conference
- DemoCampToronto15
- Adaptive Path’s UX Intensive
- UX Meetup in Edmonton
- CanUX
- DemoCampCalgary5
- DemoCampToronto16
- IT World Canada – 12 steps to stellar software design
- Founders & Funders Toronto
- StartupCampMontreal
- blogTO’s – Toronto’s Best Web and Tech Evangelist
- blogTO’s – Toronto’s Best Unconference
- DemoCampToronto17
- Financial Post – DemoCamp warms up to Toronto Tech Crowd
- Interactive Content Exchange 08
- Mix08
- South by Southwest Interactive
- Experience Tech 08
- Flash in the Can
- Canadian Innovation Exchange
- OCE Discovery 08
- StartupCampMontreal
- Founders & Funders Montreal
- MeshU and Mesh
- EnergizeIT 2008
Community Participation
Jon Udell asked that we hold off evaluating his joining Microsoft:
Wait until the evidence is in, then decide for yourself. I’ve been in this game for a long time. I think my record of pragmatism and agnosticism speaks for itself…
Well it’s now been a year. And I want to know what you think? Good? Bad? Otherwise?
What can I do to make the next year awesome for you? the community?