Today I
spoke with Todd Bishop, a reporter from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (“the
Seattle PI”). He was interested in my spout entries about my initial experiences
with Microsoft, specifically the BillG
ThinkWeek stuff. He called last week, but I didn’t call him back right away.
Instead, I asked my grandboss (my boss was out on vacation) what I should do. I
remember during NEO that MS has very clear
instructions about when to talk to the press, i.e. never. Of course, some folks
at MS talk with the press, but unless it’s specifically part of your job, you’re
supposed to refer the press to other folks more trained in the ways of the wily
reporter trying to get the dirt on MS.
Todd: “Thanks for getting back
to me, Chris. I’m glad you went though official channels. That tends to make
things go easier.”
I thought that was strange. If I was a reporter,
I’d want to track down the defenseless MS employee when they were least
expecting it. That’s what I figured Todd was up to when he called my direct
MS line w/o any introductions. Luckily, I work from home in PDX. Bwa ha ha
ha ha!
Chris: “No problem, Todd. Sorry it took so long to get back
to you. They were clear my first day at MS not to talk to the press unless
explicitly instructed and I’m new.”
Todd: “Did you get the list of
things I’m after? I’ve already written the story; I just want to check some
facts.”
Oh sure, I thought. This is Todd buttering Chris like
toast…
Chris: “Yes. What can I tell you?”
Todd: “You spell
your last name S-E-L-L-S?”
Chris: “Yes.”
Todd: “What’s your
position at Microsoft?”
Chris: detailed explanation of MSDN,
DevCenters (including their need in the world) and how I’m doing the
Longhorn DevCenter.
Todd: “Can I just say you’re an MSDN Content
Strategist?”
Chris: “Sure.”
So now the reporter’s got me
giving him more info than he actually wants. I’m in trouble…
Todd: “And your blog is http://www.sellsbrothers.com/spout?”
Chris:
long explanation about how I organize my site, how the Spout is just the
editorial section and that I announce everything from all sections on my
home page.
Todd: “Oh. So your blog is just
http://www.sellsbrothers.com. I’ll correct that. Thanks. That’s all I need.”
Chris: “Really? I expected to be grilled.”
Todd: “Well, you’re lucky
you waited. If you’d have called last week, I’d have really hammered you.”
