I figured I would use this blog not only to talk about some of the cool technologies I'm currently working with, but to also increase the transparency into what the role of Technical Evangelist is actually like here at Microsoft. Keep in mind, of course, that I'm new to this position and hence am still getting up to speed with the position (and will be getting up to speed for a while).
One of the things I love so far about the role of a Technical Evangelist is all the different skills you get to use and all the different people you get to interact with. Today, I believe, is a good example of that. So, let's chat about my day :).
Today, I came into the office planning on doing some coding with TxF (Transactional NTFS). I was happily coding away when I hit a bit of a snag (more on that in an upcoming post) and shot off an email with some questions to a Product Manager in the Enterprise Services area. He was able to answer some of my questions and is going to follow up with others on answering the others.
What I find interesting about this in hindsight though, is that I actually knew of the Product Manager not through my boss, not through my direct coworkers, but through another Product Manager that I'm working with that gave me his name. It only drives home the point even more that sometimes it's not what you know, it's who you know. If what I've seen and experienced in my first couple of weeks here is any indication, this saying is especially true for a Technical Evangelist. And it's not only true when it comes to Product Teams (more on that to come).
Once I shot off the email to the PM, I went to an internal site to start doing some networking with technical contacts for ISVs that I want to pursue to adopt TxF (what do you know, it's that whole "who you know" thing again). What's interesting is that being a Technical Evangelist is not only technical, it is also part sales and part marketing. If you're not willing to be a "shmoozer" or get out there to build up your professional network (meaning, you would rather site in your office and write code), then the Technical Evangelist position is definitely not for you. Luckily, for me, I like this whole aspect of the job, so I'm definitely happy so far.
So, now I've done some coding, started to build up some internal ISV networking support, and I still have many other things to do. Funny, reliving my day like this makes me realize that I'm kind of like a single processor computer (okay, now you have to KNOW I'm a geek after comparing myself to a computer). You know, while I "multitask", it's not _actually_ multitasking. It's more that I switch from thread to thread getting a bit done on each everytime while still trying to minimize the amount of context switching so I can continue to be productive. If only there was a human equivalent to being Multi-Core or Multi-Proc, *then* I'd be set. Anyways.....
After all of this, I switched over to start working on a powerpoint deck that is on my "deliverables list" for my boss. I figure I can dedicate a good chunk of time to this while I wait to hear back from the PM regarding my DTC questions. This powerpoint is a powerpoint roughly titled "Longhorn Server For Developers" and will outline some of the major changes/enhancements coming in Longhorn Server. To me, this is a win-win. It provides an internal/external resource that isn't really distilled in one place yet, and it gives me exposure to a bunch of new features to better build up my mental "road map" of what is coming (and to see if there are particular features that I'm very excited about and want to cover).
In my research so far, it is amazing how many resources are out there available (even _just_ on Microsoft's intranet). It's definitely a lot of information to take in. The challenge I've seen so far though is that so much information I have seen on Longhorn Server is really dedicated to the ITPro crowd. What is it about Longhorn Server that the Developers should care about. It's a challenge, that's for sure.
In that challenge, lies yet another challenge though. How do you take a Core OS feature, give it glitz and glamour, and make it sexy. The .NET 3.0 features? Yes, I can see how you can make those sexy. But, let's say Remote Differential Compression. How do you take something like that and make it sexy for the general development community? Yes, you can make it exciting for the hardcore geeks out there (goodness knows that I almost had a heart attack out of sheer joy when I heard those three words mentioned together). But how do you make it exciting to average Joe Developer (dare I say Mort without risking getting flamed)? It's a tough one. For sure, it will take creativity. Yet, that's another reason that I'm loving this job so far :).
Basically, in a nutshell, I get paid to write code, talk to people and get them excited about the code I'm writing, be creative, work with cutting edge technologies every day, AND blog about it all to boot? Yup, that's what I get paid to do :). There are the other things like commitments and goals that I'll talk about in a future post though (which are cool in of themselves since it gives you measurable items to achieve during a year (and to get reviewed against at the end of the year)).
Yup, that was my day today: Code, Chat, Email, Network, Research, Blog :D.
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