Extraordinary Things

Welcome back!

Before I jump into the meat of the post, a quick note of interest to many of you – the Windows 7 Publisher App from Datazen is now available for public preview.  You can download it and try it out today at this link – http://www.datazen.com/start

This post is a little different than the previous posts on this blog.  I’m writing this in the Microsoft office in Malvern on a rainy Saturday.  It’s the last time I’ll sit in this office in my role as a Technology Solutions Professional for the Mid-Atlantic.  I truly loved this job, and the coworkers and customers I got to meet and work with these last couple years made it a truly special place and time in my career.

But why am I leaving a role I so enjoyed?  It can be traced back to an hour-long meeting I had when I was still at SAP in April 2013.  That was the day I first met with the team from Datazen.  Not sure why I saved a copy of this appointment, but I’m glad did.

From that day until now, I have worked very closely with them, and in my role here at Microsoft, I watched customer after customer smile from ear to ear when I’ve shown them Datazen.  And when the opportunity to work with them and the rest of the Power BI team presented itself,  I jumped at the chance to work with such a talented and passionate group of individuals.  And that’s why I’m at the office on a Saturday – I’m waiting for prospective home buyers to finish looking through my house, since I’m headed to the Redmond campus starting this summer.

One of my favorite motivational speeches was one that Jim Valvano gave in 1987 to the Million Dollar Round Table.  This particular section is my favorite –

I get pumped up every time I watch that clip, because it speaks perfectly to how I try to do my job, as I’m sure it does for a lot of people reading this.  I consider myself one of the ordinary people he speaks about, who has accomplished some extraordinary things thanks in large part to Microsoft’s tools and technology, from LightSwitch to Power BI to Datazen.  And I’ve seen that same thing happen at customer after customer during my time here.  I’m thrilled to be joining the team and working with all of you to continue that proud tradition going forward.  And I’m also excited to get back in my house – I’m dying to take a nap.   

Thanks for reading!