A little over a month ago Microsoft flew me out to Seattle, put me up at a swanky hotel and treated me like a VIP. It’s nice to be treated like a VIP, even if only for a weekend.
Back a month or so before that…which would make it about two months ago, I was invited to attend an event in Bellevue, Washington, all expenses paid by Microsoft.
They sent a plane ticket well ahead of time. The NDA followed a while later. Emails kept flying as the date approached and I took a day off from work to get on a plane. Now, I am usually a big fan of flying, but being crowded into tiny planes it not much fun. You see, I’m a rather large guy and I don’t really fit airline seats very well. As margins get squeezed, the airline industry keeps trying to fit more passengers into each plane. The 757 I flew on had the narrowest seats I have ever seen, and then the guy in front of me decided that I didn’t need my knees. My flight from Denver to Seattle was agony.
But, once I arrived in Seattle, things changed. At the airport there was a man holding a sign with my name on it. He grabbed my bags and led me out to a big Lincoln Town Car. I was the only passenger for the 20 minute ride to Bellevue.
Bellevue is an interesting place. It rises suddenly out of the forest on the east side of Lake Washington…and when I say rise, I mean high-rise. In what looks like the edge of the suburbs rise a collection of 25-40 story plus buildings. When you got in amongst them it looks like a busy downtown district except…everything is new.
When I came back from France 30 years ago, everywhere I went it looked like the building’ had been thrown up yesterday. Well, Bellevue looked more like it had been erected that very morning.
I checked in at the Westin, where Microsoft was paying all the bills. The room was nice, but not worth the $529 that was on the card on the back of the closet door. The view was terrible. The eighth floor is just high enough for the view to be dominated by the roof of the building next door.
But I wasn’t planning to spend a lot of time in my room. You see, I was there to be a Launch Ambassador for Windows Phone 7.
Friday night started the festivities with a little get together with food where I got to meet a bunch of people. Most of them were Microsoft MVPs. They run or at least moderate forums. They blog about technology and in return for what they do to help Microsoft customers, the company calls them MVPs and gives them certain resources which help them keep helping others.
Now, I hope that I have come close to distilling the essence of being MVPs because I’m not one and I’d hate to misrepresent them. They seem to be a pretty good group of guys, and week I might need their help someday.
I got my invite to be a Launch Ambassador through the Windows Phone Backstage Forum. Microsoft opened the forum just after they made the announcement back in February. It’s been a place for us to learn what we could about Windows Phone 7 and discuss what we hoped for Windows Phone 7. Several of us were invited to be Launch Ambassadors.
Saturday morning, we walked up the street for the Launch Ambassador Event. After breakfast they brought in some Speakers to tell us more about Windows Phone 7. None of them was Steve Ballmer, but it was pretty impressive who came in on a Saturday to speak to us. Unfortunately, I think I forgot to write down a name, because I would swear I remember there being four speakers, but I only have three names in my notes.
This is getting really long, and I am going to save what I learned about Windows Phone 7 for another post which I will start writing as soon as I finish this one.
We got our hands on preproduction versions of Windows Phone 7 after lunch and of course, the afternoon is a blur, except for phone, which I will talk about in the next post.
Saturday evening the rented a pub for us. Everything on the house...well, Microsoft’s tab, and only two mixed drinks, which didn’t bother me, because I don’t drink.
Sunday morning was the end of the party. I had to be ready at 9am for a ride to the airport. The worst experience of the weekend came out of Sunday morning, but had nothing to do with Microsoft, in fact, Microsoft made the problem disappear. I don’t make a lot of money I and staying in a hotel that costs more for two nights than my monthly mortgage payment was neat, but also a bit nerve racking. I was very worried about getting char for anything extra.
Well, I wasn’t going to get fed on my flight home, so I stopped for breakfast downstairs. I stay at Best Westerns when I travel for the State of Texas and the breakfasts are complimentary. Now this was a much better breakfast that you get a Best Western, but after I started eating they handed me a check for $22. Now, it was a nice breakfast, but it wasn’t anything really special, scrambled eggs, sausages, they had several kinds of cereal and fruit. $22 is what I expect to pay for two huge breakfasts at IHOP. Definitely much more than I expect to pay for a simple breakfast buffet.
But Microsoft took care of it. I signed my room number and mentioned it to one of the what hostesses as I was getting into the I went home a little worried that the breakfast bill would appear on my credit card, but it never did.
So, thank you Microsoft for making me feel like a VIP, if only for a weekend. It’s a fun experience and one I’ll be happy to try again if I get the opportunity.
And as a last quick aside, when I hear the phrase, “complimentary breakfast,” why do I picture a bowl of cereal saying, ”hey, you’re looking good this morning.”
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