The Adventures of Accordion Guy in the 21st Century

“We enter as friends, we leave as friends,” said Mark Relph, then the VP of Microsoft Canada’s Developer and Platform Group as we did my final interview in early October 2008. I started just under a fortnight later, on October 20th, and for the past two and a half years, I have proudly held the title of Developer Evangelist, representing Microsoft to Canadian software developers, and in turn, advocating for Canadian software developers to Microsoft Canada. If you have read anything I’ve written, caught any of my presentations or seen me evangelize, you will know that it is a job that I love and enjoy wholeheartedly.

Mark may have gone off to Redmond to join the mother ship, but his declaration still holds true. I will leave Microsoft as a friend next week on Friday, April 22nd.

If life is change, then I’ve had life by the truckload over the past few months. I’ll spare you the details here (if you really must know, it’s best done in person and over a pint or two), but it should be plenty to simply say that if I were a more “New Age” sort of person, I’d say that the universe has been dropping hints that I really need to shake things up. Hence my departure, something I would never have predicted a mere six months ago. Life’s like that.

Mine is still a great job. I could’ve spent the past few weeks just winding down and wrapping up, but I love this job too much to do that. I enjoy it enough to keeping “Bringing the Awesome”, right to my last minute on my last day next week. Everything I wrote in the “Now Hiring” post when we were looking for a new evangelist back in October remains the same.

What’s changed is me, and I’ve got to go and follow a different path. If and when the opening to fill my position appears, go check it out – you might find that it’s the job for you. It comes with my highest recommendation, and if you’ve got the skills and inclination, I’d tell you to go for it.

I’m going to wax a little more poetic in a blog post on my final day at the job. For now, I’d like to say that it’s been an honour, a privilege and a joy to have worked at Microsoft. I have worked with bright and talented people on interesting and important projects with some amazing gear, in cities all over Canada. I’ve learned a lot: not just about Microsoft’s tools and technologies, but also about the problems they solve, the customers they serve, the corporation that makes them and the industry said corporation is part of. I am a better geek, a better public speaker, a better writer, a better performer and even a better person for my experiences at Microsoft. For all this and more, they will always have my gratitude. I entered as a friend two and a half years ago, and next week, I leave as one.

Thank you, Microsoft. It’s been a great journey.

This article also appears in Global Nerdy.

I have seen the future, and it is closed for maintenance:

I took off from the conference for an hour to check out Fry’s Electronics. Here’s a snapshot of the integrated circuits aisle:

Got some lunch in the great (and sunny and warm) outdoors at the patio at Cabo Wabo – shrimp tacos, Corona and chips and salsa:

…and of course, Stripper Bar!

When you’re in Vegas and a Dean Martin impersonator, a Sammy Davis Jr. impersonator and a Frank Sinatra impersonator tap you on the shoulder and say “Hey, pally, wanna take that squeezebox onstage and do a number with us?”, the only answer is “Yes”.

The number we did? That’s Amore, of course!

As I wrote earlier, I’ve been waking up to see strange ceilings, what with my spending about half my time away from home since the beginning of the year, and it hasn’t stopped yet. Last Friday, I hopped a Porter flight to Boston to attend a BarCamp there; the full details about that event are posted on Global Nerdy.

After setting my stuff down at the Marriott in Cambridge, I quickly hopped on the T to meet with the BarCamp organizers for dinner. Luckily, my hotel was practically on top of Kendall Station, and my destination was only a few stops away: Downtown Crossing.

My final destination: Kingston Station, for a bite to eat with Jonathan and Stephanie from Grasshopper Group, along with Josh, Jay and some of the other BarCamp people. The food and drink were great.

And finally, as we were walking out, Carl from the band Authentic Counterfeit noticed my accordion and said hi. I asked if I could join the band in a quick jam; he said yes, and I hopped in to solo along with Sade’s Smooth Operator.

(I like to think I was operating rather smoothly that night.)

My bit done, I stepped out of the restaurant to be buttonholed by Justin, who books bands at Kingston Station. He asked if I played with any bands, and I had to tell him that I wasn’t from around there. Still, it was  flattering to be invited to come back and play.

I’m in Vegas for the MIX Conference until very late Thursday night (or possibly Friday morning – I may change my flight home). Expect the usual accordion and what-happens-in-Vegas-ends-up-on-this-blog sort of hijinks.

With me are my coworkers John Bristowe, Jaime Sorgente and Frederic Harper, none of whom have ever been to Vegas before. Fred’s a special case – this is only his second trip to the U.S. (his first one was to Seattle in February), and now he’s experiencing Extreme America, which must be doubly weird for a French Canadian. This should be interesting.

Even just five years ago, you might not have predicted that a computer programmer would have a movie made about him or that he and his software would be on the cover of MAD Magazine.

This article also appears in Global Nerdy.