Rule No. 1: Hide the iPhone from Ballmer at the Microsoft meeting |
Register here for our next TechFlash Live networking event, March 23, featuring an expert panel discussing the future of online advertising.
Rule No. 1: Hide the iPhone from Ballmer at the Microsoft meeting
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's photo on the iPhone? Not if he can help it. (Composite image.)
By all accounts, Microsoft's private company meeting at Seattle's Safeco Field today was a hit -- with a preview of a "Bing 2.0" overhaul, executives demonstrating Project Natal, the unveiling of the first Windows 7 television commercial, comedy from Saturday Night Live's Seth Meyers, high-fives from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, free beer and plenty of Microsoft kool-aid to go around.
And then there was that poor Microsoft employee who tried to take a picture of Ballmer with an iPhone.
Apparently, it was all in good fun, but suffice it to say that the person probably won't make that mistake again. Microsoft employees alluded to the incident on Twitter, and I was able to confirm details independently.
As the story goes, it happened when Ballmer was making his big entrance -- slapping hands, running around, and generally whooping things up, as is his tradition at these events. That was when he spotted someone at field level, allegedly a member of the Windows group, using an iPhone to take his picture.
Ballmer grabbed the Apple device from the employee and made some funny remarks as everyone booed. Then he put it on the ground and pretended to stomp on it, before walking away.
The scene was visible on the big screen, so even people in the upper deck could see what was happening. Later, during his presentation on stage, Ballmer referred to the episode again, teasing the person and making it clear that he hadn't forgotten what happened.
All in all, a funny story, and no doubt a memorable moment for one unfortunate Microsoft employee. Going into the office on Friday should be lots of fun.
Of course, Ballmer might do better in the future by making sure that the employee has good reason to pick a Windows-branded phone over competing devices -- but as one of the person's colleagues noted on Twitter, "you just don't pick up the CEO of Chevy in a BMW."
Follow-up: Video: Ballmer's wild entrance at Microsoft's company meeting.
About Todd Bishop
Todd Bishop is co-founder and managing editor of TechFlash. He has covered Microsoft and the technology industry for more than five years, most recently as a daily newspaper reporter and blogger based in Seattle.
READ FULL BIOGRAPHYRecent Sponsor Posts
Seattle University Software Engineering
Chinwe Okeke (MSE’08) pursued her graduate degree while working as a developer and technical analyst for the Boeing Company. She picked the SU-MSE program for small class sizes and real world learning opportunities offered through the academic service-learning and capstone projects.
The MSE program at Seattle University is geared for working professionals with classes offered in the evenings. The program builds upon the computing experience of its students and offers courses in a variety of technical and management areas of software engineering, with an emphasis on teamwork and a disciplined approach to problem solving.
Marchex is one of Seattle’s largest ad technology companies with 300+ employees providing call and click based performance marketing products, and managing over $100m in ad budget for tens of thousands of advertisers. Our customers range from local businesses to the Fortune 500.
Our talented and creative product engineering group is hiring.
If you are an innovative software design engineer interested in solving difficult problems at scale, across a wide array of technologies from Lucene to Hadoop to Asterisk and SIP then we’d love to hear from you!
Apply now.
Technology Tax Planning – Did You Take The Deduction?
Technology companies require professional advisors who can assist in all aspects of the business. The BDO Technology Practice provides a full range of services tailored to help address the changing needs of domestic and international companies. In addition to core audit and tax services, BDO professionals can assist technology companies with:
· Revenue recognition
· Business combination accounting
· R&D tax credits
· Compensation and benefits
· Business valuations
Backed by 38 national offices and an international network in 110 countries, we have the domestic and global footprint to serve growing technology companies. Contact sphilpott@bdo.com (audit partner), mreeves@bdo.com (audit partner), psmith@bdo.com (tax partner), tzambito@bdovaluation.us.com (valuation), tfiscus@bdo.com, Director, 206.624.2020
Job Listings
- LEAD SDET, Mobile Device Strategy and Commercialization - 705105
- Microsoft Corporation
- Sr. SDE - 712257
- Microsoft Corporation
- Principal SDE - Software Development Engineer - External - 704722
- Microsoft Corporation
- Software Development Engineer - Display Advertising
- Business Services Company
- Principal IT / OPS Program Mgr - 711209
- Microsoft Corporation
