So after doing community and marketing for the Architecture Strategy Team in the last two years, I'm changing roles on the team again. I'm going to work for John deVadoss as a solution architect. In other words, I'm going to actually do architecture work for the Architecture Strategy Team. Go figure. :)
Seriously, I've actually enjoyed working for Norman and with Tanya. This has been in the works for a while and I chatted about it with some of my friends who I saw at TechEd. Someone quipped that I was "getting my brain back". Maybe I'm not getting the whole brain back, but I don't really see it that way. Marketing is very very very different from technical jobs like development and architecture but it's just as hard. However, it does use a different part of the brain. So while I'm excited to moving into a role that plays to my strength, I'm walking away from my marketing experience with a new respect and understanding for the job. John wrote about SteveB talking about "selling what we build, AND building what we can sell". I feel that spending time in marketing has made me a better equipped to build what we can sell. Frankly, I think more (all?) technologists should spend a stint in marketing so they understand what it's all about.
Anyway, I'm still going to be involved in community and Norman considers me a "stealth" marketing technologist (plus, he replaced me with an experienced marketing person) so I guess I'll also do some marketing stuff. So I'll continue to be involved with stuff like Architect MVP and TechEd ARC track, which I've really come to enjoy. But I'll also be involved in projects, doing customer briefings and I've got a bunch of other things brewing. So it should be fun.
However, before I make the switch I'm going on paternity leave for four weeks first. Ahh, four weeks of rest and relaxation...yeah right. We move into our new house on Monday so I'm looking at four weeks of heavy lifting, sorting stuff in boxes and changing diapers (it is paternity leave after all). I'll try and post occasionally, but I'm going incredibly busy and have spotty network access. I'll probably post pictures to my MSN Space on occasion since I can do that with my phone. Otherwise, I'll see you on the other side.