Hi,

Some of you have wondered what has become of me since I started Microsoft. My posting activity on iislists.com has dropped significantly - not due to lack of interest, but due to working massively on new tasks. When I took this job as Server Evangelist at Microsoft specilazing in IIS, I knew they wanted me to hit the ground running, but it was more like hitting the ground in the Indy 500. Day 1 was like "by the way - we have 5 events that you're responsible for ogranizing and the first one is in 6 weeks".

One thing at Microsoft is that people are generally quite helpful but you are on your own a lot to figure out things. I thrive in that kind of environment, but it can be daunting. For example, to pay for some stuff at the events I am managing, like in any company, you have to open a PO. People that have been here can do that in a minute - for me, it's all day task! You have to take a training on how to do it, then figure out what accounting details, etc. Newbie stuff like that can really slow you up.

Muddling through that kind of thing can take - oh, a couple years.

The events I'm working are IIS 7 Technical Previews. Very cool stuff. One thing for real - the IIS team rocks. I kid with people (half kidding), that evanglising IIS 7 is like selling a new Maserati. Just take the cover off and show the car. People go wild then "great job Brett, taking the cover off like that".

While there's a lot more to it than that, it's not entirely untrue. My bias has alwasy been that you let the technology talk, rather than try to overwork the language into marketing blurbs. Techno types spot the hype a mile away. We all just want to know how to works better to solve our problems, what new possibilties it creates, and does it work with what I have. The good news is that IIS 7 has a great story with all of these things.

More great news, Microsoft is a great company to work for.

Later,
Brett