Microsofties Who Make Stuff (besides software)

anandi — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 03:12:00 GMT

It's like winning the lottery today! You get two new blog posts! Last week I put together a list of folks who sell their handcrafted items or art online, to send around internally in preparation for the holidays. Obviously it's getting late for holiday shopping, but I think it's a good resource for gift shopping in general. Have fun!

Bath & Body

Pepo Park - Kirkland, WA

Fabrics

Quilt Sandwich Fabrics - Marysville/Seattle, WA

Jewelry (Personalized) and Pet ID Tags

Anandi’s Laboratory - Redmond, WA

Jewelry, Photography & More

Bubbly Blonde Showcase - Bothell, WA

Jewelry

Sugar Bowl Jewelry - Kirkland, WA

Knit Clothing

Knytz – Seattle, WA

Photography - 2009 Calendar Fundraiser

Leucadia Creative Arts - San Diego, CA

Quilts, Kitchen Soft Goods, Dog Squeaky Toys and Vests, “Green Grocery” Bags

Quornflour – Seattle, WA

Repurposed Afghans, Dog Plush Toys and Vests, Quilts

Texaskillet - Redmond WA

Why I love working at Microsoft, part 658

anandi — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 02:51:00 GMT

I had intentions of posting here at least weekly. I even have a reminder in my Outlook calendar to tell me to blog. It's just so easy to ignore it. But I've been ruminating on this blog post for a few weeks, and now that I have several items to blog about, it's finally that time. Also, December is traditionally a more quiet month around here as folks who don't take vacation during the year frantically take the entire month of December off so as not to lose those precious vacation days.

This is when I get all my "if I had time, I'd fix that..." work done. I LOVE it.

So in no particular order, here are some reasons why I love working at Microsoft, all of which are due to things I've experienced in the past month.

Opportunities to network with other teams. Yesterday, the Windows Server Womens' group had a lunchtime origami class. An experienced origamist who works as a User Experience Researcher in the Unified Communications Group taught us how to fold a crane, and a small box. Obviously the point was not to ensure that we incorporate origami in our software designs, but it was a social opportunity to meet other women across the division, and just relax a bit in the midst of a busy work week. It was fun, and stretched my brain in a totally different way. I love that Microsoft supports these kind of activies for its employees. And that we even *have* a Womens' Group! Yay.

Events and activities that support my interests outside of work. There's a fairly large number of people here who are into art or crafts, which surprises me for a software company. There's a social email list for artists and handcrafters, and the Microsoft Art Collection has guided tours of the collection, as well as discussion groups and speakers from the art world. Obviously a lot of this has to happen on my own time (ie, it's still my top priority to get my real work done), but the fact that these things are available for my participation and actually sanctioned by work? That's just cool.

Unlimited opportunities for learning. I've always been totally enamored with the huge course catalog available to employees here. Anything from specific technical skills to touchy-feely workshops about conflict management are all available and usually free or nominal cost. I've never had a request to attend a specific training class turned down by a manager. A few weeks ago, I went to an "exam prep" course for a few days to work on my Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. It was invaluable, both in learning some things I didn't know about the PMI methodology, but of course, as a refresher before I took the exam. As a result I passed the exam without too much trouble. And this was all totally supported my my management chain. What a fantastic deal!

So yeah, I know it's not "hip" or "cool" to love your corporate job, but there you have it. To borrow a phrase from Steve (but with less yelling), I love this company! :)

Anandi’s Thoughts : artsy

Microsofties Who Make Stuff (besides software)

Why I love working at Microsoft, part 658