cruel to be kind

When you click techmeme and there is a news about two pages long, then you know, something is hot. :) And now I know why Maryam got a shiny new car – to fit in with the crowd in Silicon Valley!

I am astonished to see so many postings about him leaving, but only so few about what he will be able to start with Podtech? And as if it means that once Robert leaves, nothing will happen any more at MS? Robert surely has been a key to how MS has evolved over the last year, but at the end of the day he is just part of a whole group of people. As he said – there are now more than 3000 MS bloggers talking about what they are interested in and I would like to know how much even more on the inside. That *is* change. And if somebody thinks that only because he leaves the company he will be out of contacts for knowledge – well, think again.

I agree with Chris Pirillo on this:

One would have to be insane to believe that you’d stop supporting Microsoft, personally or professionally, from this point forward. You were helping Microsoft long before you were working there. You continue: “I just made this decision and it got out before I was completely ready to talk about it.” Once the first pin dropped, there was nothing you could do to stop it (few people had heard of Beet.tv until tonight). Remember when you were first offered a job at Microsoft? Were you ready back then? I told you that you’d be crazy if you didn’t accept the position, and nothing could have prepared you for what was to come. And so, again, I say… congratulations.

Yes! Go for it! (It probably also helped that Patrick is living in California).

When speaking about how MS has not changed, I think people tend to forget (or not know about) how much strength, will and energy is needed to move a giant company like MS just a bit around. This is not done like in your favorite startup where you say “yoh guys, moving?” or alike. There is a reason why your first reaction to many things are “what will legal say to this?”, why you do not throw away your business plan every 6 months, why things move slower than in a start up, and and and – the list could go on forever. Is this an excuse for bigger corporations? Not at all.

Take a look at this:

VirtualTechEd.com launched late last week. It’s designed to highlight the best of TechEd including news commentary and on the ground interviews. We’ll be updating the site with video blogs now through TechEd about three times a day.

(Thanks to Steven Fielding for sending me the link!)

Well, that may not be so new and cute, but take a look at what it says at the moment:

Watch the keynote live from virtualteched.com Sunday at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, 4:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time. The says World Cup games will be long over, so no excuses.

Pulling it together: 125,000 bottles of water…700 different learning experiences…13,000 mouths to feed

That is not corporate speech as we are used to. That is from my point of view an honest attemp to make my life easier, be of service. Need more? From the Teched Site:

Order the DVD Set
Because Tech·Ed 2006 sold out so early, we have reduced the DVD set price from $495US to $195US. The DVD set will include streaming media files of the Tech·Ed 2006 breakout sessions, strategic briefings, and keynote address. You will find additional bonus content, including hands-on lab manuals and related breakout session material.

It has started. People do get it – some more, some less, and things change. Now. If you are one of the guys helping seeding stuff for the first time and breaking ice and suddenly your work life revolves around harvesting, and doing the same stuff over and over again, what would you do? Exactly. Find new ground, new people, new chances.

I am excited to see a person like Robert draw even more attention to Podcasting and Videocasting in general. I am sure it will help Podtech tremendously to attract new clients because of his contacts. And I hope they offered Robert things he wanted out of his (work) life. I am curious to see if for example this will mean expanding their business into things like Second Life or others.

But let me tell you what I am most thrilled about: I like SFO and am likely to visit it more often. And the fact that he is moving there means she is too. And I love spending time with Maryam! :)

Tag(s): robertscoble, podtech, chances

Tags: business podcast