Well on our way
I am amazed to report that we had 57 nominations submitted for our TAP program. One of my concerns when I started this project was that I might not be able to get the word out broadly enough to garner the interest necessary to fill the 20 spots in the program. I am really glad to say I was wrong.
We had a selection meeting yesterday to narrow down the candidates. The next step is for me to figure out which legal documents we need from these candidates who made the first "cut". The set of documents required includes:
- Standard Microsoft Non Disclosure Agreement
- Required since we're giving folks access to pre-release software and feature information well in advance of the product release
- Microsoft Master TAP Agreement
- Central agreement that only needs to be signed once for participation in any Microsoft TAP program
- Speech Data License Agreement
- Documents the agreement of the participant to share their Speech Server logs and audio recordings with us so we can improve the product
- Speech Server v2.0 TAP Program Description
- To be signed by the participant company's executive sponsor to indicate understanding of the program terms
Everyone will need to return the signed TAP Program Description doc, but many of the nominees have some of the other documents on file with Microsoft already. I am in the process of wading through our centralized NDA website, our team's filing cabinet (don't ask), and two other internal websites to check for the existence of the first three documents for each of the 20+ companies that we've selected thus far. I should have this info by the end of the week, and will begin notifying our nominees next week.
The next step is getting those documents signed and returned to us by a deadline in early September. Final admittance to the program will be based on having the complete set of documentation returned to us and will be first come first serve. If at this stage we have more than 20 participants, the selection committee will meet again to ensure that we have a good cross section of partners, enterprise IT departments, and varied applications. Notification of acceptance into the program will be sent via email in mid-September.
Our program kickoff is tentatively planned for late October in Redmond, but the exact dates have not yet been determined. It will be a four-day training session on Speech Server, focusing especially on the new features. In addition, I will speak about the dates, requirements, and incentives of the TAP program in detail. More on that to come.
Those not selected for TAP will receive a special invitation and automatic acceptance to our managed Beta program in early 2006. Thanks to everyone for their interest in our program!
