Call anytime... seriously.
Often times I get asked what it is that I do as an evangelist. Today, at Google Developer Day, I got asked an even more interesting question : "what can you do for me as a Microsoft evangelist?" The answer is, a lot of things. And it depends.
Recently, Zooomr has been in the news quite a bit because of an issue they faced, which caused their service to be taken offline for an extended period of time. The issue got a lot more visibility through Scoble's blog. He encouraged certain companies (like Microsoft) to help Zooomr out. I first heard about the Zooomr issue at roughly 9.30pm on 5/29 through my friend Greg, on chat. Anyhow, long story short, I spent a good part of the following 24 hours or so trying to get a hold of Kris Tate and Thomas Lewis of Zooomr to see how we can help. But Zooomr had already found a nice home by then.
In the end, all worked out for Zooomr, so that's fantastic. I met with Scoble today, and in speaking with him, I gathered that Kris and Thomas are pretty stoked about bringing Zooomr back up. But, I started to wonder - this wouldn't have been an issue if Kris or Thomas would've known how to get a hold of me. And this is, like, my job. And I'm pretty damned good at what I do. Or so I thought. So...
If you have any questions or concerns that are Microsoft related, or not, call me. If you're just in the city, and feel like getting some coffee or a drink or food or whatever, call me. If you need relationship advice, well, call your counselor first (if you have one), but also call me, because I have an opinion about nearly everything, and I'm mostly wrong, but you'll instantly feel better about yourself and you'll at least know what not to do.
My number is 415-972-6526. My email address is anand dot iyer at microsoft dot com. Consider me your local Microsoft technology resource. If I can't get you the answer to something, I will find you someone who can [get you the answer to that something].
Your friendly MS-neighborhood,
"ai"
