Why I cancelled my TechEd talks
goodenoughsoftware.net
goodenoughsoftware.net
I'd never speak at TechEd again, and I told Microsoft the same thing, same reasons. The event staff is overly demanding and inconsiderate of speaker time. They repeatedly dragged me into mandatory virtual and in-person meetings to cover inane details that should have been covered via email. They mandated the color of pants speakers wore. Just ridiculously micromanaged.
Am I really reading this? Wow.
The most insulting part: the Microsoft keynote speakers - MS employees - were in jeans and track suits. They were trying to look approachable. Hilarious because you couldn't approach them and ask a question during keynotes.
That is the sort of bullshit that I always call bluffs on. Worse case scenario you get someone all huffy and upset that their rule has been ignored (making them feel unimportant, as they should), and you give them a "whoops, too bad."
Nothing at that talk, but you may not be on the invite list for next time. Microsoft's invite list for TechEd is notoriously political. The leader for each track (an MS employee) picks the session list.
To give an extreme example, one of my submissions was called something like "Fixing Slow SQL Servers." I was told, "At TechEd, there are no slow SQL Servers." It was changed to Building the Fastest SQL Servers. (sigh)
IMHO, life is too short to donate time to people who are going to treat you like a child.
I just created a list of conferences to never attend too.
I live in the real world.
99.9% of the time when you call peoples' bluff on stupid shit like pant color at a talk, nobody cares. Most people who demand that sort of thing have better things to be worrying about.
If Microsoft started alienating the very high number of Windows (desktop) developers (which is going to be higher than the OS X community for a foreseeable future), do you think they'd just abandon the platform?
On the other hand, I'd say alienating the developer community would prevent hackers from making things for new(er) Microsoft platforms like Windows Phone or Azure. Things that might have been the killer app for that platform.
The benefit to Microsoft of having developers on-side is that those developers write applications that make Microsoft's platforms valuable to their customers.
No developer capable of writing platform-defining applications is ever tied more than casually to a specific platform.
If Microsoft alienates the developer community, Windows is dead. Whether its successor would be OS X or Linux or iOS or Android or something else entirely is hard to predict, but that is irrelevant to Microsoft's fate.
What, Office? No. Microsoft actually writes the core software that makes their platform valuable. There are developers that provide additional value, and that's very important, but I don't think it's easy for developers to force Microsofts hand in that.
Edit: in fact, the power gradient goes the other way: as a developer of an end-user application for a PC, you still have to very strongly consider writing for Windows whether you like it or not, because of the software written by Microsoft providing the core value for customers.
What about the thousands of games, utilities, applications that make Windows so though to eradicate from the average business? Windows RT offers little more than that core value and the market shows clearly it's a failure.
Even if half of their 3rd party developers left they would still have thousands of apps.
There's a lot more than just Office.
I'm writing this on a Windows PC with several heavyweight software packages and plenty more lightweight tools installed, all commercial and legally purchased, that are not available on my obvious alternative platform (Linux).
However, I have little use for a heavyweight office suite. For example, most of the text-based documents I create are either plain text files or "serious" work created with more powerful tools than Word.
as a developer of an end-user application for a PC, you still have to very strongly consider writing for Windows whether you like it or not
You're begging the question. The point is that you can develop end-user applications on many other viable platforms today. Some of them, such as web apps, are also accessible from PCs. Others require different devices, but if my expected customer base already has those devices or would be willing to acquire them to use my software, that's not a problem for me.
There are obviously some advantages to writing a native application over, for example, trying to do everything in a web app. However, writing and maintaining native Windows applications is now so unpleasant compared to numerous other options -- almost entirely as a result of Microsoft's choices regarding APIs, installation/update mechanisms, and other system-level functionality -- that the path of least resistance is to use other platforms when you can and write natively for Windows only when you must. That's very bad news for Microsoft.
What field are you in, if you don't mind my asking? I really can't figure out based on this statement whether or not you're in MS' target demographic.
I work with multiple small businesses, one of which is a vehicle for consultancy/freelance work, so we have some diversity. Everything we do is using creative technologies, whether it's software development, web sites, etc.
That means we deal with a lot of technical files (but things like source code or HTML/CSS are all plain text) and a lot of client-facing documentation (but that would typically be done with software like TeX or Creative Suite and probably supplied as a PDF). That doesn't leave a lot for the middle ground where tools like Word are useful, so while we do keep LibreOffice around, it's mostly so we can read word processor documents sent to us and create the occasional simple spreadsheet, not for any of our serious creative work.
Hasn't that already happened though? This is Microsoft with 20 years of bad press in hacker-circles we're talking about!
That's obviously a bit of a joke but it is in fact all a matter of perspective. Most people think the world is populated with clones of them and their friends/colleagues.
It's not.
Until 5 years ago Macs and Linux weren't even a vaguely viable option for selling software.
pg's "Microsoft is dead": http://www.paulgraham.com/microsoft.html
I frequently visit pubs that tell me what shoes I'm allowed to wear! Sounds like micromanaging, but it's really just a "No singlets, no thongs [flip-flops], no visible tattoos, no sneakers, etc."
I have no tattoos, and I'm shocked (a) at the existence of such a place in 2013 and (b) that anyone with a tattoo would put up with it.
No, funny thing with TechEd - there's a million different people involved in running it, none of whom appear to know anything about the others. So you sign the contract, which is fairly innocuous, and then the crazy emails start trickling in, one at a time.
When I talked to my MS track leader about it, even he didn't know about all these meetings and the departments that we're requiring them.
At one TechEd, just after the Surfaces had been released but no technical details were out yet, I found myself in yet another mandatory speaker meeting. We were told that we weren't allowed to answer any questions about the Surface, and that instead we were to just say, "I'm very excited about what's coming."
I'm a SQL Server community guy, not an MS employee, not a Surface advocate, but that meeting was mandatory. That was the last straw.
When people behave like that, the umbrella of some corporate behemoth doesn't prevent me from from feeling pessimistic about people (both those in question and often generally.) Sigh!
While it would have been completely reasonable and courteous of MS to accommodate the speaker's wife, it's kind of wild to equate not letting her in to kicking her to the curb/abandoning her.
I wouldn't have been nearly so polite if I were in his situation, and my wife would have a conniption if I were banned from watching one of her talks.
Again, I can't think of a single legitimate reason not to have let his wife go to his talk, and that simple act would have bought a lot of goodwill. The fact that no one was able to make that simple judgement call is a sign of terrible organization.
Very unlikely to be exploited, but I imagine that's what they're thinking. If they are thinking...
"Other speakers' wives were allowed to attend their talks, but my homosexual life parter was escored out by security!"
"I paid $$$ to attend but this speaker brought 5 friends who got in for free!"
If you depend on common sense, you either have to make sure to hire only people who don't misjudge, ever, or have to deal with embarrassing mistakes.
The alternative tends to lead to questionable enforcement, and it's debatable which is better.
You can't qualify customer support and kindness at a company like Microsoft - although I'm sure they have some USER EXPERIENCE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION ENGAGEMENT MATRIX with a catchy turn of MBA phrase somewhere.
http://www.npr.org/2012/07/05/155986277/new-orleans-struggle...
Leaving someone out in a strange foreign city of this nature to just deal with it is absurd.
That said, it sounds like he and his wife were treated horribly.
Both the perfectness and absurdity of this sentence is awesome.
New Orleans may be bad, but it isn't _that_ bad, especially an area that MS (or any big firm) chooses for a company sponsored gathering. If MS was bright had any respect for their speakers they would have dynamically made room available for this speaker's wife in some area inside the conference center. They are idiots for not bending rules doing it. But to also think they shoved her out a door and steel barred the entrance and left her there by herself in the middle of Voodoo Shantytown New Orleans where the creole shamans and werewolves circled her is just as crazy.
I get where the author is coming from and totally understand his stance, but I honestly do not believe that MS intentionally put his (non-invited?) wife in harms way. From his description MS treated him awfully and I hope they realize this and attempt to correct it in the future and see where being human in some instances is indirectly worth more than the price of admission to TechEd, but lets be honest - they didn't make his wife walk the plank to circling sharks.
I've never seen a major conference center that didn't
have a place to drink coffee and read for 2 hours without
being killed.
The real issue here was conference organizers being officious and failing to use common sense, which the OP had a legitimate reason to be annoyed about given he was a speaker and apparently went to some trouble and expense. No need to be over the top, it was bad enough without the hyperbole.
I got dropped in Paris one day and my friend never showed up, I didn't have a place to go and I didn't know the area or speak French, but I managed to find a guest house and a grocery store and I lived for a few days -- any adult can do the same, this is not rocket science and being a woman doesn't make this more difficult.
Because it's the right thing to do? And because they knew she was coming, and had bought here a ticket?
Sorry, they were wrong. Simple as that.
Seeing as we were that strict when the tickets were in the range of $30-$200 I personally think it was a failure of the initial security guards to even let her in the building to begin with.
Regardless…
> Obviously they didn't expect her to come since he didn't communicate his intentions ahead of time.
That doesn't matter one damn bit.
> You say no to any special kind of request and if the guest insist
Except it wasn't a guest making this request. It was, effectively, the talent. So I'm pretty sure security doesn't make the call when the talent makes a request.
How is that not kicking her to the curb?
I've spoken at plenty of conferences, and brought my wife along, and have had my share of complications, and my wife has been able to "wing it," as I expect any adult should be able to do.
I'm not saying it's completely absurd that she should have to wing it, but I just don't feel like this is the substance of the issue being presented. His wife is not a helpless child with no money, information or ability to move freely, so I am just not willing to accept that being escorted out (which was stupid in the first place) is tantamount to being abandoned.
The article clearly explains this:
> Thinking its a small misunderstanding (security is almost always contracted through the venue not the conference) I went to room 238 to try to figure things out. After explaining the situation going on to three staff members I was given the “opportunity” to buy a ticket (full conference on the last day) for her. They then handed me a shirt and said “you need to head over to your talk”
Basically, the author believed that he could just work something out, so at the time that his wife left, he did not make plans to meet up anywhere, and she did not know what was happening. Furthermore, the conference organizers then said that he needed to go speak immediately, which would have prevented him from letting her know what was going on.
I'm presenting at two conferences in the next week, and my fiancee is luckily able to attend one of them. Not having a seat for her is one thing, but having security bring her out of the building and giving me the "opportunity" to buy a full-price ticket is absurd.
And, which is a severe thing, it would also show that me that the other person allows others to treat him that way, something I'd also think I'd not accept at all for myself.
Do they pay their speakers?
Non-speaker could've insisted on speaking to his wife to arrange a time to meet afterwards, fulfilled his presentation/speech, then written a complaint about lack of flexibility later.
For that matter, they also owe the speaker and his wife an apology. Of course, as you could only expect from Microsoft, this has not happened.
Sounded like a pretty awkward situation as it was handled (shouldn't have been led on, and should've been encouraged to speak with his wife to arrange a meeting time later), but the non-speaker seemed a little precious to me.
All in all, cut him some slack, he as a very valid point. They could have solved this easily, yet they chose to treat him like he doesn't matter.
That's because some guy is kind of egging on Internet commenters, saying, "oh, she should just be an adult."
I'd know. I'm an expat, and while both my wife and I were eager to come to this assignment, we're not the same when it comes to unfamiliar surroundings. If it'd been me? Sure, I'll be at the nearest espresso bar I can find. Her? I would have done the same thing as OP.
This is all anecdotal, I know. But my point being, its wrong to assume that everyone is capable of just seamlessly taking care of things when you're newly arrived in a foreign country. I'd agree that its frustrating when someone can't, or just feels too nervous or intimidated, but that's something we accept and work around when we select the partners we do. OP was right in choosing his partner first. I'd have done the same.
Two hours later, she comes back. "Sorry, I had to give my talk. They didn't give me a choice. I hope you didn't get too bored standing out here waiting for me."
Personally, I applaud the author for realizing that there was, in fact, a choice - and then choosing it.
It is if they had told her they would let her in and then when they got him separated from her, they lead her out to the street. How is that not kicking her to the curb?
When I was in school, I got asked to do a demo for a Senior VP's keynote at TechEd to demo how a student would use Visual Studio. My parents happened to be in the vicinity and I was chatting with them outside the conference venue when a Microsoft employee walked by and asked who they were. When I told him, he asked me to get them inside so they could watch my talk in the big keynote hall, no passes required. That's the only time my dad has ever seen speak me in public and was a very special moment - it probably influenced how I perceived Microsoft and it's employees at a young age.
This particular case smacks of no one with any such decision making authority (basically a full time employee at Microsoft) present there who could help.
Seriously, this should have never happened.
It's the Microsoft way, their events are a reflection of how Microsoft truly is.
(And, of course, Microsoft is a huge organization; even if some policies are standardized, the way they are implemented can still vary wildly.)
(I've ignored the dress code for 15 years, FWIW)
This just in - Scott Hanselman treated better than other presenters at TechEd. Film at 11.
My point is that I've never had a problem like this at any conference anywhere. Being pleasant and explaining one's self has always worked well for me when traveling with relatives to these conferences.
I had the complete opposite experience speaking at One More Thing in Australia. The organisers completely took care of my wife and infant son, were constantly on-hand to provide any assistance. They went beyond what I expected.
Microsoft 201X is IBM 199X
...did you make your wife's inclusion part of the contract? To the folks you dealt with on site, it may have seemed that you were springing something unexpected on them at the last second. "Hey, my wife gets in free to take pictures or I walk."
Yes, it should have been trivial for them to allow that, but is it possible you came off as a bully? I wouldn't have made the same decision as they did, but I can imagine a scenario when bringing up your wife in the 11th hour would have gotten my ire up a little.
He might have convinced me to port to Mono.
He will probably live to regret this as a speaking gig at TechEd as a non-MS employee is not to be sniffed at and now he has shunned the Borg - whom he must be pretty invested in skills wise to be invited in the first place. His wife could have gone and done some sightseeing while he works for a few hours.
While some events are pretty laid back, it looks like the registration for this event cost ~$2000, which is a pretty penny. My gut instinct would be to check with the event organizers first before trying to bring a +1, but I think the OP assumed that because he was able to negotiate with the travel coordinators for two one way tickets, one for his wife (instead of one round trip ticket), he probably assumed that this was implicit consent for his wife to tag along at the conference. Seems like a big mis-understanding that was confounded by poor treatment from security staff (and before we start ragging on the security staff, it is worth mentioning that event security tends to be a thankless, miserable job. Crappy wages and hours, and depending on the event, you spend most of your time dealing with people who treat you like shit.)
At TechEd, Microsoft picks you, guides your session abstract wording, reviews and changes your slides, specifies your clothing, tells you when to show up for booth duty at the Microsoft booth, and pays you for it. You're basically a community mouthpiece for Microsoft. This is very much a vendor event.
These events may charge $2000 a head, but it doesn't cost them $2000, or even $5, to let a +1 watch your talk.
It looks like the OP is an established consultant/teacher, so he probably only goes to conferences that invite him to speak (and my guess is, from what I have heard about you tptacek, that you are in the same boat), so he may be unfamiliar with the practice. But for us peons, with little to no name recognition, conference papers and talks can be a big resume booster, so it's not out of the question to pay-to-speak (you still have to go through the proposal process though). In my old industry, this was standard practice, and because almost everyone had their conference registration and travel paid for by their employer, it wasn't a huge deal.
Lest anyone think I'm being judgmental I personally might have shown up about 0 minutes before I had to talk and behaved exactly like he did.
I hope nothing in life makes you regret more than canceling after security escorts your significant other outside.
As to the admission money, we pay the $ because we gain something. Expecting a speaker not to bring someone is just plain foolish.
Him and his wife were traveling together. He didn't bring her with him to the conference; they changed their travel plans so that he would be able to speak at the conference.
It's a common courtesy and necessary. You need to be able to take pictures on your own to safely be able to use those pictures in your own marketing or other material.
I've never spoken at a major conference, but the folks whom I've worked with who have at a corporate/organization always bring an assistant or friend to take pictures to memorialize the appearance. I've been the assistant role a couple of times early in my career -- 2/3 times I was given a "exhibitors hall" or "sponsored session pass" gratis.
You mean free $0 tickets. It doesn't cost them anything to have her in the speaker lounge. They paid for her plane ticket which actually cost them money, but they wouldn't let her wait for him?
I wouldn't consider TechEd to be a tech conference. It's more of a Microsoft sales event that requires an entry fee.
Maybe this is a bit of a culture clash (I'm Swedish) but my initial reaction is: This has an almost sexist undertone to it (what kind of a man would treat a woman like that - she's absolutely helpless and couldn't even comprehend why I was suddenly gone) and it feels rather unprofessional.
The only people who where treated really badly here as I see it where the (hundreds?) of people who payed for their passes, stood in line to collect them and expected to hear a talk that never came.
Sure you can be annoyed somebody treated your wife poorly, but the appropriate response is an email to the organizers after the event or similar. That's my 5 cents at least.
My simple objection is that he could have had booth.
Something as simple as am "Invited Guest" pass, to indicate that this person is allowed to the coffee shop, merchandise store and toilets unaccompanied, is the least you can do. It doesn't matter who invited them, just give them the Amulet of Warding From Security Drones. Job done.
Then when arranging insurance for the event, make sure you account for expected people +30% to allow for "Invited Guests" brought along by the organisers, stage hands, support technicians, attendees and the CEO of the company running the show who decided on the spur of the moment to drag a retinue of golf friends around the event to show off.
It is not rocket surgery!
As I understood the sequence of events, the staff first separated the speaker from his wife. Then they told him that they could not accommodate her in the speakers' lounge, and that she'd have to wait outside the facility.
So from her perspective, there were some complications to be ironed out, and we'll get it taken care of. And then, suddenly, the door is slamming behind her as she's standing on the street, with no idea of what's happening to her spouse the speaker. Should she stand here and wait for him to come get her? How will we meet up after the event, if he doesn't come out?
The speaker, properly empathizing with his spouse over the way she must feel, chooses his commitment to her.
It's not a question of whether the person kicked out is likely to be murdered. It's a question of being made to feel powerless, with no clear course of action. Those are feelings that any human is likely to have, regardless of their gender.
New Orleans currently has the highest murder rate in the US. It is the most dangerous place to be in the country, and it is more dangerous than many countries in civil war.
If his partner is trained in self defense and marksmanship, armed with a concealed carry, and willing, then it may be safe for her to wander about on her own. It is unlikely though they came with defensive arms since they just flew in from Bali.
http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2013/02/man_who_stabbed_...
You're a fool to go out alone after a certain hour in New Orleans, concealed carry or not.
Buy I would think a company such as Microsoft could figure out basic common courtesy for guests that they invited.
I don't know exactly what I would do or say once I got behind the mic, but you'd probably read about it on here, if not on CNN.
I would be hella pissed if this happened to me too.
Thanks for the heads-up. After this, I wouldn't even go to a TechEd much less speak at one - I know that you need to be invited, and I am not being so presumptuous to assume that I would be, just saying that if I were....after hearing this story and MSFT's non-response, I wouldn't entertain it.
Oh, you think the onus is on him? Weird.
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You seriously think it's unreasonable to get a +1 to your own talk?
If it's opening night for a movie I'm in and the studio invited me to attend, or I'm going to be on stage playing during the concert, you better believe I'd expect my wife to be allowed to attend with me. That doesn't mean she she get to watch other movies in other theaters, or get to watch the rest of a weekend-long music festival for free.