Microsoft scales back its big employee meeting, just a bit |
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Microsoft scales back its big employee meeting, just a bit
Seth Meyers
Despite what Chief Executive Steve Ballmer likes to call the economic "reset," Microsoft is still staging its annual company meeting at Safeco Field today, with about 20,000 employees expected to attend. As in years past, the company has brought in the obligatory celebrity host -- this time tapping Saturday Night Live's Seth Meyers, who will be following in the footsteps of such comedic luminaries as Sinbad on the Microsoft stage.
The projected attendance is about the same as last year. But Microsoft will be scaling things back somewhat -- spending about 15 percent less on food, production and other aspects of the event, a spokesman said today.
The meeting, traditionally closed to the public and press except on rare occasions, gives Microsoft executives a chance to rally the troops. But given the company's unprecedented job cuts, the cheerleading stands to be more subdued this year, as highlighted in a recent post by the anonymous Mini-Microsoft employee blogger.
"Folks are going to come into Safeco, grab their box lunch, sit down with their co-workers and friends and as they fold their pink paper airplane, they are going to remark, 'I can't believe they are spending all this money for today. <<Fill name in the blank>> and more could have kept their job if they just cancelled this horse and pony show.' "
Maybe Meyers could lighten the mood by reprising his "Really?!?" bit from SNL's Weekend Update to poke fun at the situation. No word on whether he'll be doing that, but spokesman Lou Gellos says Meyers did tape a few sketches around town that will play on the screens, in addition to his live appearances.
Early indications are that employees are enjoying his act so far.
Overall, there are expected to be fewer presentations at the event this year, but there's sure to be lots of talk about Windows 7, and Microsoft's upcoming retail stores will no doubt be highlighted. We'll be watching the tweets coming out of the event to see if anything interesting emerges.
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