Since I’m in a foul mood and I am procrastinating finishing my book, I just thought I’d write a quick note to express my disapproval for the MVPs at last week’s summit who thought that the opportunity to ask questions of Microsoft executives was actually an opportunity for them to look impressive (or perhaps just stupid) to their peers. The first such idiot, who was a frequent attendant to the mic, thought it would impress his friends to quiz Bill Gates on whether or not he could remember this guy’s name from the last summit. As if Mr. Gates has nothing more important to remember – quit wasting his time. I don’t even remember what this guy asked because, like everyone else in the audience, I was stunned that someone could be such an ass. Other MVPs (whom I won’t call names because they were civil) championed personal crusades for VB6 and Windows 98 at every opportunity to voice a question, which was ok the first time, but grew old over the course of the day. Finally, the MVP who asked Steve Ballmer a question about how Microsoft would improve its image on the security front, and who received a ten minute long answer in return that went into great detail, should have said “Thank you” and sat down. Instead, he had the gall to say “I’m not satisfied with your answer.” I think Mr. Ballmer more than answered the question, especially considering the time constraints he was working under, and at any rate I thought it was pretty rude to disregard everything he had just said like that.

I hope MVPs will make a better impression on Microsoft’s executive team in the future. Overall the summit was a great success, I thought (it was my first), and I think that Microsoft considered it a success as well. I’m just hoping that certain individuals will be a bit more professional and/or thoughtful next year, or that they’ll simply keep their mouths shut. That’s probably just a fantasy, though, since from the stories I’ve heard about previous shows, this was pretty typical.