Lately it seems hard for me to find the time to blog, or the topics that seem bloggable. But I’m re-inspired by Jill’s announcement of her award for research dissemination via blogging—how exciting! And it reminded me of how valuable this blog has been for me as an academic.
In her post, Jill notes that she wouldn’t have won that award if she’d been blogging pseudonymously, like so many of the women writing great academic blogs. Like Jill, if I couldn’t write about the specifics of my life—the conferences I participate in, the research areas I’m exploring, the people around me—it wouldn’t really feel like my blog. While I recognize the risks inherent in blogging, my experience has been that the rewards greatly outweigh those risks. I wouldn’t be sitting in this office in Redmond if it weren’t for my blog. I wouldn’t be speaking at SXSW, or have travelled to Dubai. I wouldn’t have the worldwide network of friends and colleagues that I’ve acquired over the past 3.5 years. So yeah, it was worth any risks. And I need to remember that, and not neglect this fertile space that—when properly tended—has yielded such a bountiful harvest.
(The “ftw” is short for “for the win,” an expression I’ve acquired since starting to play World of Warcraft.)
Last week, MSR put on its annual TechFest, which is basically a giant science fair that lets researchers show off their cool projects to the rest of the company. (Most of it is Microsoft-confidential, but a few projects get shown to the press—including two that my colleague here in the Community Technologies Group, AJ Brush, worked on.)
Though a stomach bug knocked me out on Thursday, I got a chance to check out some of the exhibits on Wednesday, and was overwhelmed by the brilliance and creativity of my colleagues here. Which was followed quickly by overwhelming self-doubt. “What the f*ck am I doing here?!” Seven months down (hard to believe), and not a paper to show for it.
That resulted in some deep consideration of what exactly I’ve been doing here, and I found myself thinking about all the connections I’ve sparked—between people in research and those in product groups, between people in different product groups, between people outside of Microsoft and those within. About the events I’ve worked to help make successful, about the meetings I’ve sat in and provided feedback and suggestions. I told Gerald a month or two ago—probably about when search champs happened—that I was finding myself to be most useful as a catalyst, rather than an creator.
Of course, that’s not what researchers are typically rewarded for. Being a catalyst is great fun, and it’s something I’m really good at. But quite frankly, it’s not enough.
[Ha! As I was writing this, I got a visit from another MSR researcher who’s working on a very cool imaging project and wanted to show it to me and get feedback. After seeing it, I realized there was a great possible connection with a not-yet-announced product over in MSN/Windows Live, and gave him the contacts for that group. That’s the kind of thing that I know adds value, but that you just can’t put on your CV! It’s also an example of yet another thing I can’t really blog, because the details of both the research project and the new product are still considered confidential. :P ]
The good news is, I’m about to embark on a project here at MSR that involves creation rather than catalysis. I’m going to be building (well, specifying and helping to build) something that I’m deeply interested in, and will then (if all goes as I hope) turn into an interesting ongoing research project as I study the use of the system in multiple environments. I hate, hate, hate that I can’t be any more specific than that, but I’ve promised the lawyers that I’ll keep my mouth shut about it until we at least file some predisclosure forms. (Please don’t go ballistic on me about the evils of software patents. The reality is that the patent system is broken, and all companies are doing what they need to do to survive in this climate. If I don’t file on this idea, it’s all too likely that someone else will, and will then prevent me from working on it. I agree that it all sucks, but it’s the reality of the current world of software development. Plus from a selfish CV standpoint, it sure doesn’t hurt to have a patent or two listed…)
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