what i do

Posted on February 22, 2010

i find myself explaining over and over to people what i do so i decided to reflect a little bit and try to even figure that out for myself. some days it feels like i wear many different hats, but at the end of the day it is all about one thing.

for those that don’t know, i work for a small software company based in redmond, wa called microsoft. i have been there going on 4 years and have held a few different roles, but all technical ones. i reside now in an organization in microsoft called developer & platform evangelism or dpe. it is interesting that there is not a lot of information out there on dpe which is why we are sometimes like a covert force within microsoft (i had to make an army reference). i’ll do a separate post on all the love that is dpe since there is much love to talk about. for now, let me stick to what i do.

 

i am an architect evangelist by title (not a building architect, mom, but a software architect). part of a team in dpe known as the partner team which, by name, focuses on partners. so you might expect a link here to the microsoft partner network, but most of the partners i work with are not necessarily part of that network (yet). the ones i am mostly excited about are the ones just getting started, or startups.

 

startups make up my day to day work life for the most part. i meet with them, talk to them on the phone, speak at events on startups, provide technical training to startups, etc. startups, startups, startups. microsoft introduced a fantastic program for startups called bizspark that empowers technology startups with software, support and visibility. i lead that charge for microsoft’s central region of the united states (yes, that is a link so click on it if you are among almost everyone i talk to that does not know what microsoft’s central region consists of).

 

i truly love this mission as i am able to interface with so many super smart people with incredible ideas. i also learn so much about the business side of things from constantly interfacing with venture capitalists, angel funders, and generally smart founders. i am a technologist (yes, i still code) so being exposed to the other side of the what makes a technology startup work is very enriching for me. so i get to learn every day.

 

i also spend a lot of time speaking at events, planning events (our party at sxsw is going to friggin’ kill me soon), coding training, coding cool demos to show, and generally helping build communities of technologists.  i do believe i have the best job in the world.

 

i started earlier by saying what i do comes down to one thing. i believe that one thing is delighting people with great technology so they are impassioned to use it. i am an evangelist by title, but a “delighter” by trade.