It’s independence day in more ways than one. Tomorrow morning I report to Microsoft New Employee Orientation, and begin my journey into the belly of the beast.
It’s been a long time since I was a corporate employee. Thirteen years, in fact, since I left Congressional Information Service to start my doctoral program in Alabama. Thirteen years since I had a “manager.” Thirteen years since my last 9-to-5 job.
One of the things I’m most looking forward to is being around a critical mass of smart, interesting people. Say what you want about Microsoft’s products and business practices (and I’ve said plenty…), they have a knack for hiring some of the most amazing people. (Including, much to my delight, Lilia Efimova, whom I hope I’ll see tomorrow at orientation.)
This is particularly important for me, because I’m not someone who’s good at solitary thought and contemplation. My best ideas come not from quiet concentration but from animated conversation. I’ve said before that I often don’t know what I’m thinking until I hear myself say it. So being in an environment where I’m surrounded by people who want to talk about the things I’m interested in will be an amazing opportunity.
A lot of people have been asking me what exactly I’ll be doing at Microsoft—and I’ve not answered it directly because I still don’t know for sure. What I’m hoping to do, though, is play a bit of a bumblebee role, talking to people in both research and product groups and cross-pollinating ideas. I’m definitely planning to do some work with the MSN Search team, since I already have a connection with them through the Search Champs program. I’m also excited to see what’s happening with projects in the MSR Social Computing Group, like Aura and Wallop. (The Aura server appears to be down right now, alas…)
I’m glad Scoble has blazed a path for independent Microsoft bloggers. There will, I’m sure, be things I can’t talk about. But it’s also clear that there’s lots I can blog about, and I plan to do as much as I can.
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