For the last four years or so I have been calling myself a “Windows Embedded Evangelist”, both in my own company and in the outside world. In that position I have presented tons of MSDN Webcasts, spoke at lots of international conferences since 1999 and was even invited to speak on behalf of Microsoft at events like Embedded World and various real-time and embedded computing events. In the good old days I might have initiated conversations about wanting to speak and working at the Microsoft booth during such conferences, always offering my services for free. Later on, things changed a little because I didn’t need to ask to participate at conferences anymore, but folks at Microsoft asked me to attend and help out. Somehow over the last two years Microsoft’s attitude has completely changed though. Of course, the first thing I started investigating after not being asked to be present at events was where I screwed things up. Is the information I pass to attendees incorrect? Do people perhaps not like me as a speaker? Is my technical knowledge insufficient? Looking at feedback received during Webcasts and conferences I really doubt this. Oh, just on a side note. If you are attending an event where I am speaking, continue to submit those evaluations, not only if you like what you hear, but also if you don’t like it. They really help me improving myself for future events. Back on track then. Since I didn’t hear anything from Microsoft around the upcoming Embedded World 2007 I decided to once again ask if they could use my services and perhaps have a speaking slot available at the booth for a technical presentation around Windows CE or .NET Compact Framework development. To my surprise I got a reply, telling me that my timing was perfect. There are slots available and it would only cost me a couple of hundred Euros to fill that slot. I don’t want to talk about money, but I do want to talk about principles here. Everybody who knows me, and I am sure this is true for a number of people inside Microsoft as well, knows that I absolutely dislike marketing oriented presentations. In fact, I prefer technical presentations - hey, they don’t have to be deep technical, they also can be of introductory levels thus perfectly usable during a large exhibition like Embedded World – and 9.9 out of 10 times I don’t even mention my company name. So why would I pay to present technical information about Windows Embedded technologies? Sure! I like to speak and share information. Even so much that I am willing to speak for free at conferences and exhibitions. However, paying to be able to speak is just one step too far for me. I also think this is entirely against the spirit of Microsoft’s MVP program of which I happen to be a member. Look at this nice definition, which is public information since it is available here: “Microsoft’s Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs) are recognized, credible and accessible individuals with expertise in one or more Microsoft® products who actively participate in online and offline communities to share their knowledge and expertise with other Microsoft customers.”. An important word in the previous sentence is share. Since English is not my native language I might of course not understand that word, so let me look it up. A definition I like for this word is the following: Let somebody use something, as in sharing my knowledge. In recent history I was allowed to share my knowledge for free, by my own company and also by Microsoft. I don’t know what it going on inside the Windows Embedded team. I don’t even know if this is local European policy or global policy. However, to me it feels that sharing information is no longer free. As a Windows Embedded Evangelist I am still allowed to share my knowledge with people, but only if I pay the price. I have to come up with several hundred Euro’s in order to share my knowledge about Microsoft technologies with people that visit an exhibition. I simply don’t understand what is going on anymore. One thing I do know is that I feel bad about this. Very bad! So bad I don’t know what to do at this moment. Continuing to provide information about Microsoft technologies almost seems like no option, even though I love doing that. But hey, like everybody else I have monthly bills and a limited salary. It seems that I just can’t afford to keep you informed about Windows Embedded technologies. After all, providing free information no longer seems to be an option.

Maarten Struys